Goose, Double congratulations for completing your first century and the BSG ride in such a strong fashion especially with such a short time from beginning training. Very impressive. James ----- Original Message ----- From: Goocey M.K. Joshua To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:49:45 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [COWs] The Gucci BSG Report
Well, I don't have a lot to add to the veterans version of the ride, but I will throw in a few of my own highlights. Since this was my first century and I spent seven months training for it, I felt a little nervous the night before. I had dreams of empty water bottles and little kids passing me on banana seat bicycles. Fortunately, neither happened. Actually, I took great pleasure passing people riding bikes that cost 4 and 5 times what my piece of metal cost. To make sure I had enough fuel, I overloaded my jersey with gu, fig newtons and drink mix, thinking this ride would be like the only other organized ride I did: poorly organized. Fortunately, I was wrong. The volunteers were awesome. The route was well directed, and there was plenty of water and fuel. I completely enjoyed every part of the ride, except for the last 12 miles. I felt really strong riding up to Snake. I got about 400 yards from the top, my heart rate hit 190, and I thought, "well, i can gut this mountain out, and risk not finishing the ride. Or, I can listen to my body, get off the bike, walk for a while, and finish strong. I opted for the second. I walked about 100-150 yards, and climbed back on to slay the Snake. Except for that and one more long climb around mile 82, I felt very relaxed, and confident . . . then I rounded a corner at mile 98, I think. I looked up, saw another hill, and the guy behind my yelled, "well, there is a kick in the balls for ya." Exactly. Apparently, this is where David was sitting in an ambulance. If I had known that, I probably would have laid down and died. But, in my ignorance, I stopped for a 30 second stretch, and screamed all the way to the top. Those last 12 miles were pure hell, and rolling across the finish line at 8:03 felt great. All in all, the BSG ride was a great experience. The training, the planning, the riding, the scenery, the camaraderie, and the support!! I thought I was hooked on cycling before BSG. I'm looking for my next big challenge now. Oh, and Lucas, 400k is way too much of a challenge at this point. So, I will sit that one out! Goose Rev. Joshua M.K. GooceySenior MinisterFirst Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)207 Tarboro St. N.Wilson, NC [email protected] Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy On Jun 28, 2010, at 11:17 AM, SteveS wrote: Great job to everyone that finished. For those that finished, I bet this puts a much greater appreciation for the pro cyclists that compete in the Tour de France. On Jun 28, 10:38 am, Lucas wrote: Great finish DC!!! I should have stopped and felt a little guilty but I saw the ambulance about 100 feet behind you so I knew you were in good hands. I was also afraid my legs would cramp solid if I stopped. So many factors go into fairing well on such a ride. I was most surprised at Josh riding in just a couple clicks over 8 hours. Ronnie rode a smart ride, pacing and resting to finish strong. I should have rested more but I really draaaag on long climbs so I took short breaks to compensate Nearly cost me at the end. Great effort by all. Been there, done that! tim On Jun 28, 9:22 am, david caudle wrote: Great report guys and great ride I agree with you guys about a well organized and supported ride..could not have been better. This was by far the hardest, steepest and longest ride I have ever done. This was harder on my body then the half iron man at white lake and that was pretty dang hard on me. I started out feeling great and that continued through mile 60ish at the bottom of "snake". I thought I was holding back enough and not pushing to hard. I looked at my avg and it was 16+ so I thought hey I'm good, this "snake" want be too bad and I will finish this ride strong. At the SAG I filled up the water, had some food and rested for about 5min. Saw Ronnie and Steve come in and I think they were going to visit the little boys room. I was still feeling great so I decided to take off up snake. WOW that is one BIG/LONG hill.....I guess the highlight of my day was that I made it all the way up snake without getting off the bike, but I will admit it took about all I had. I stopped at the SAG at the top of snake for another 5 min. I thought to myself, David the hard part is over you are home free now. WRONG!!! the desent was fast and my hands started hurting from holding the breaks. there was another SAG at the bottom of this hill, but I past it by....bad idea! at mile 69 my legs cramped and I had to stop and stretch them out. a few riders past and most asked if I was ok...of course I'm ok I'm a Cow! lol after this my pase slowed a little and I begin to think for the first time all day I may have pushed a little hard. a few miles up the road on one of the many climbs I was huffing a puffing up this hill and a very sweet female voice came into my ear...I thought wow some beautiful young lady has come to save me. NO...well it was a pretty young lady but this lady was on a tri bike and pulled up beside me and started a conversation. at first I was thinking to myself, please don’t talk to me right now...I'm dying here. but after riding about a mile up hill with her I was grateful because it took my mind off my craps. She pulled away like if she had just started the race...never saw her again. Mile 80 my ride totally changed.....my body began to crash. Somewhere around 90ish miles Steve passed me with very little effort. Did not take long til he was not in site. I was able to push on until mile 98 when my body said NO MORE! I had to stop; I just could not go on. I pulled off the side of the road and got off the bike. This is that point where Tim saw me curled over. I guess I was there a good 10min and Tim goes rolling by. One of the aid guys came by to check on me. He wanted to know if I was going to try and finish or should be call someone. There was an ambulance just around the corner so he went to get them. I told them my body was not going to let me finish so they called for someone to come get me. I waited in the AC of the ambulance for a good 30 to 45min. by this time I was thinking to myself….I can do this…I have never not finished an event and I’m not going to start now. I told the aid guys I was going for it. I took a deep breath (just about barfed when I did) and hooped on the bike. I made it up some of the next to last hill and had to get off and walk the rest. I was able to get back on and climb the last little bit and at least ride across the finish line. Steve and Josh were waiting for me looking refreshed……I was wasted! Josh got me some drink and I sit there for a while. After a shower and some food with Josh, his wife and a friend of theirs I began to feel a little better and headed home. I really need to learn how to rehydrate and eat better in these events…. Great event and the CoWs had a great showing. Josh does get most improved rider and all should be proud to have even tried this ride. DC ________________________________ From: Steve Thomas To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, June 28, 2010 7:24:00 AM Subject: Re: [COWs] BSG Report! (Tim's version) Great report, Tim. My memory of the ride is similar. I'll add a few memories to Tim's report. We (wife, daughter & me) stayed with friends who live outside of Boone. After reading the detailed ride route, my buddy spent the rest of Friday night laughing at the difficulty of the course. David C, Jim, Ronnie and I started together. The initial long climb up Shulls Mill was wonderful. Shaded road with a moderate grade loaded with both 50 and 100 mile cyclists with fresh legs. DC and Ronnie left me early on this one. At the 1st SAG, I was surprised how long the ride already felt. Saw Ronnie, DC, Goose and a flash of Tim as he flew by the grazing cows. Don't remember many details between 1st and 2nd SAG except non-stop beautiful views and tons of steep climbs and fast descents. The 2nd SAG wasn't until about mile 45...took forever to get here! Saw Ronnie, DC and Tim again. 3rd SAG was at bottome of Snake Mtn. Lots of banter about this "snake mtn" in the crowd before heading up. It got VERY steep at the top and lived up to all the hype. More people walking than riding near the top of this bad boy. 4th SAG at top of snake mtn near mile 65. Thinking most of the "hard climbing" was behind me, I felt like a champion at top of snake and skipped 4th SAG. WRONG! Plenty more climbing on the way. Some unbelievable riding between mile 60 and 80 with final SAG at mile 80. Smaller crowd at this SAG. Saw Tim again. Folks at this SAG seemed in the "almost finished/cruise-on-in" mind-set...maybe it was just me. Could not be more wrong. For me, the next climb was the the most challenging of the day and almost broke me...long, steep, long, steep, steeper, longer...top finally. Final climb was about a mile or two shy of finish. Short, but very steep. Casualties all over this one. Saw as many walking as on snake mtn. In my book, it's an accomplishment just to attempt a ride like this. Congrats to all COWS! Event was well organized. Seeing Red Cross volunteers on motorcycles/scooters about every 10-15 minutes throughout the day was very comforting. It was a blast and hope to do this one again! Steve T ________________________________ From: Tim & Susan To: [email protected] Sent: Sun, June 27, 2010 5:09:15 PM Subject: [COWs] BSG Report! (Tim's version) Most of the CoW's gathered at Joe's Friday evening for carb loading. I think our group took half the seats available at this little Italian restaurant. Food was great and the conolies were excellent! It was a cool and foggy morning in the highlands. Over 1000 cyclist gathered for one royally insane event. Most of the CoW's gathered together at the start, but we (the breakfast crew) found us a comfortable porch and waited out the main start. A few minutes after the grand start, Pete, James, Susan and I mounted our bikes and rode our chips across the line to start our time. I shortly said good-bye to them as I had time constraints and they were headed towards Banner Elk for the 50 mile route. I soon caught up with Jim looking comfortable in the saddle as we climbed the first 7 mile hill! Why not just get toasted on the first 7 miles. Later we found out that really wasn't much of a hill. It was a very pleasant start, just trying to take it easy. Josh, David, Ronnie and Steve T. were further down the road staying closer to the front. At mile 15 we entered the Blue Ridge Parkway. That was some of the easiest riding we had. The views from the bike were awesome and traffic was very light. Aid station at mile 21 on the BRP. I didn't need this stop so I kept going, waved to the other CoW's as I went by and they rolled up along side a few minutes later. I think DC and Ronnie were adding a little heat to the pace but I wasn't ready for that yet so I watched the 4 of them ride away. Brutal cross winds a couple times on the parkway nearly separated me from my bike. Aid Station #2 was at mile 46 and I stopped for fuel and touched base with Ronnie, DC, Steve and Josh. Everyone seemed to be doing well and ready for more, and more we got! DC and Ronnie headed out and Steve and I rode a bit together as we encountered a rare flat section of railroad grade along a river. Very, very nice! Next aid at the base of "Snake" mile 57. I didn't need this stop either and I glanced a couple of CoW's standing around but I continued. The "Snake more than lived up to it's name. The grade started easy enough, about 3 miles total to the summit. 5%, 8%, 12% then with a mile left it got a little nasty. More and more people were off the bikes, I trudged along very slowly. I can ride a bike at 2mph. One highlight of my ride was passing a dude walking his $10,000+ Pinarello Dogma. Priceless!!! I did stop shortly afterwards to reinflate my lungs then mounted up and rode some more. By this time, for every one person on a bike there were 3 walking. 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