That is amazing! Congratulations! I am very envious about the Alaska trip! That would be so cool. I guess I will have to live vicariously through you on that one too.
On another note: I qualified for the Boston Marathon this weekend! Woo hoo. (Sorry Nick, but I thought I could throw in a little run report on top of my bike report-reply.) Soon as I recover, it's back on the bike. :) I'd love to hear about the weekday B rides. kp --- On Mon, 3/21/11, Lucas <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Lucas <[email protected]> > Subject: [COWs] Weekend 600K Ride Report !!! > To: "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" <[email protected]> > Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 11:07 AM > Ok, here it > goes again. I signed up for the 600K like I didn’t > have anything else better to do this weekend. The > route started in > Lumberton doing various loops out towards the coast. > 380 miles, hmm, > that’s like from here to Philadelphia. PA. John o. > is also doing the > 600K as well so we ride down together. 60 riders > gather for the event > doing various lengths from 200K, 300K, 400K or the > 600K. 19 are with > us on the big one. Mass start at 7:30, I’m forced > to miss the start > to move my jeep so it starts out being a bad day. I > leave about 5 > minutes later but I totally missed getting to ride with the > top guns. > I rode hard for an hour passing several groups into the > wind trying to > catch them. I finally caught John about 45 > minutes into the ride as > he was meandering with the second group, but I could now > see the front > group so I continued on but ran out of gas about 300 yards > back. I > had ridden for an hour averaging 19.5 mph to no avail and I > was > trashing the rest of my ride if I continued at this pace, > so I waited > up for John’s group. JoAnn was in there as well and > we’re both signed > up for a 1200K in Alaska in August so we chat a while > discussing > logistics of that ride while I recovered. > Most of the riders in this group > are doing shorter routes so > about mile 50 John and I are by our selves as they turn off > in a > different direction. We have like a group of ten > riders in front of > us and 7 or so behind us. The wind is brutal. > It would have been > nice to have had a couple more riders with us to help but > it wasn’t to > be. Mile 85 we get to Wallace, NC where it’s time > for lunch, and we > pass Jerry & Wes at a country grill but we’re going > to Andy’s for a > cheese steak and milkshake. 2 other riders are there, > Brian and Mike > from DC, who is a colonel in the military in Russian > intelligence. We > would ride with these guys for the remainder of the > day. 4 guys > working the wind was much better than 2. We ride, and > we ride, and we > ride. We watch the sun go down and still we > ride. Mile 185, 8:45pm, > we’re in Garland and we need food. A little mom > & pop pizza joint > looks really good so we dive in just before closing. > Pizza is great, > just what I needed because the night is young and Sunset > Beach where > we have motel rooms waiting is still 85 miles away and we > are slowing > down as the wind has taken a serious bite out of us, and > we’re all > exhausted. > Things are slow now as we’re > cruising under the full moon. White > Lake comes at mile 200 and the wind still blows. John > and I cursed > those winds all weekend. Mile 227 in Hallsboro and > our store is > closed as its well past midnight. John is cold and is > stuffing his > jersey and shorts with newspapers, wrapping his feet and > hands in > plastic bags and I loan him my rain jacket. There is > a picture of > that floating around so I’m hoping to get a copy. > Now we are fighting > sleep as well. Been up for about 24 hours now and the > body is tired > of this crap. We’re riding individually now as > we’ve launched into > survival mode. We arrive in Shallotte around 3:45am, > 258 miles into > the ride. Into the store for another round of > caffeine. Newspaper > lady comes in at 4:00am to stock the selves and replies > “You guys are > up early this morning”. We give her a > thumbs up but are too tired to > explain. John and I are dreaming of showers and a bed > so we head on > but Brian has called uncle and needs a few minutes of shut > eye so he > and Mike stay behind. We get to Sunset Beach just > before 5:00am mile > 270. We’re beat, but we have only 110 miles to go, > but first, shower > and a nap. Lights out at 5:45, set the alarm for > 9:00am. > Freaking sun bust through the > window at 7:45 just 2 hours later > and the da… seagulls are having a party on the > deck. We curse as we > gather our things, suit up with fresh kits and dawn the new > day. Life > is good. All the other cyclist are still here and > some are still > arriving. We learned that even the riders up front > struggled through > the night getting here. 8:30 and back over the bridge > for mainland. > 10 riders again left 20 minutes before us. Brian and > Mike are still > sleeping so John and I are it for our group. We pass > the main group > while they are fueling at Hardees, but we stop a few miles > farther to > fuel at McD’s. Jerry and Wes are the first to leave > town. A big > group of 8 riders cruise by before we finish and now > we’re about 10 > minutes behind. It would be nice to catch that group > and John is > feeling good, really good. We have a control stop in > 30 miles so if > we can match their pace we can catch them there. That > will be our > last chance to join the party. John is taking us 18 > to 19 mph into a > cross wind and I’m thinking I can’t do this. He > hands over the lead > as we turn with a tail wind and now we’re cruising > 21/23mph, we turn > back into the wind a few miles later and I hand him back > the lead. > What are friends for? :) We arrive in Tabor City, > S.C., mile 305 and > the group is still there and now it’s a party! 75 > miles to go. > Jerry and Wes leave first then > John and I leave out and soft > pedal as we wait for the peloton to catch us. We ride > with the group > to the next control but there is lots of pain and suffering > in that > group and their pace is all over the place. John > leaves out first > from Boardman followed by Jerry, Wes and I. And then > just like the > last 600K I cycled a few weeks ago my body completely > recovered and I > felt really good. It was my turn to cruise 18/19 mph > into the wind. > We picked up John and the 4 of us would finish the ride > together. I > picked the pace up to 20/21 and I got a STFD comment from > the back so > I backed it down a bit fearing retaliation. I > pocketed the rest of > the county line sprints. We were leaving the last > control with 27 > miles to go as the big group arrived. John and I had > worked ourselves > to the front of this event and we were all smiles as we had > a tailwind > for most of the way back. We are the first to arrive > back in > Lumberton at 4:30pm Sunday afternoon. We polished off > 380 miles in 33 > hours. :) We celebrated a bit as we waited for the > second group to > arrive 30 minutes later. My feeling really good came > to a halt on the > way home as John had to finish up the drive back to > Wilson. Even a > chocolate shake couldn’t revive me. Dang, it’s > Monday already! : > ( > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the > Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CyclistsOfWilson-COWs" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cyclistsofwilson-cows?hl=en.
