Amazing - would love to hear more about your AK trip. On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 12:23 PM, Jim Davis <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Congratulations, > Great report, > Jim > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Lucas <[email protected]> > > To: CyclistsOfWilson-COWs <[email protected]> > > Date: 03/21/11 11:07 > > Subject: [COWs] Weekend 600K Ride Report !!! > > > > 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. > > -- 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]. 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