Booty Ride Part 2

So after we got all dried out and they reopened the booty route (and we had our fill of watching the crappy remake of The Longest Yard) Luke and I went back out. We were both drowsy and about ready to call it a night, so we knew we had to get a move on. We moved our trashed tent to the side and I got out towels I'd brought and started drying things off. We stocked up on food and drink and got back out on the course.

It took a couple laps but we started waking up and getting back into a grove. We knocked out another 20 miles and then I got a call from my friend Hank. Luke and I pulled over and I called him back, he and Mary Ann had come out to visit and cheer us on. Just as we pulled over we saw Tom. We had been wondering when he was going to show up. It turns out he'd been riding for a while and we just didn't find each other. The three of us continued the lap and I came really close to crashing. I let my tires slip off the road and on to the shoulder a bit, I'm still not sure how I stayed on the bike and didn't slam into Luke and Tom. It was a pretty careless mistake on my part. As we pulled around to head back to the camp area and meet up with our friends we saw Steve had arrived as well. Tom decided to keep riding and we told Steve to catch him. So those two went out for more laps and Luke and I took a break.

After a while we went back out, we found Tom and Steve and decided it was time to ramble! The four of us make up a bike gang. We call ourselves the Midnight Ramblers (which was also the name of the Observer's booty team). We did a lap together but soon Steve took off and I didn't even try to fallow. Luke did though. So Tom and I went at a more "comfortable" pace (that means slow). We rode a couple laps and then Tom needed to stop to fill up his bottle. I decided to keep going and went out solo. But Luke and Steve were waiting for us at the start/finish line. Steve went back with Tom and Luke chased after me. It was crazy how the riding partners kept switching up, but that's good. At an event like this one of the biggest obstacles is just trying not to be bored out or your mind. Good conversation is a must.

Luke said he tried to catch me on this climb and almost had me at the top, but I poured on a couple little accelerations and he said "screw that." He caught up with me a bit later. That made me feel really good to hear because Luke is an animal on the climbs. He rides a single speed fixed gear bike. Here's what that means to non-bike geeks: He has one gear and can't shift to an easier one on hills, and if his bike is moving his pedals have to move, no coasting allowed. So knowing I was going up the hill fast enough for him to say it wasn't worth the effort to catch me really did mean something. Luke and I did a couple laps and then needed to stop for a "natural break" as they call it in the Tour de France. Tom and Steve had gone back out on the course by the time we took our breather. We were at about 65 miles. I wanted to try and hit 75 before calling it a night, but Luke was done and went into chill mode.

After only a short break I thought it'd be better to get back up and knock out the last few laps before I got too tired. By that time Tom had come back. He said he'd ride with me as long as we didn't go fast. I was more than happy to oblige. We went up the little hill and I felt really good at the top. We didn't go fast, but it was a consistent pace and my legs didn't burn much. I thought I'd get those last couple laps easy. But fate intervened.

It was past 3 a.m. by this point and we noticed there were bats flying around the street lights. Probably to get at the bugs flocking to the lights. I was telling Tom about the time a bat got into my bedroom in college and thwacked against the wall by my bed. It fell on my pillow and I crawled out of my room screaming. Tom and I were discussing whether or not it was an army crawl when BAM! A bat flew right into the top of my head! This was too crazy to believe. I kind of swung my hands all around my head to make sure it was not stuck to my helmet. How was I able to stay upright and not crash? I don't know. We looked at each other and agreed, "That's it! Riding is done for the night."

We went back in and told everyone what had happened. Steve decided to pound out a couple more laps to reach 50 miles on the night since he had been at work for the first couple hours and got a late start. Tom and I rode home. We kind of forgot that a massive storm had moved through just a couple hours before. Once we were on neighborhood roads off the booty course we remembered though. Hundreds of cyclists hadn't been riding on these roads to smash up all the fallen sticks and branches. On the trip home we saw a guy who runs with the Lucky Cycles crowd. He was walking back after doing some crazy number of laps. He recognized us as "the Observer guys."

We ride past Lucky Cycles bike shop every night and in the summer there are sometimes late night gatherings going on there. I once was at a stop light next to this cyclist and he asked me if I was one of the guys who rides by Lucky late at night. After I confirmed I was he asked what the heck we were doing out there. Ever since I told him we were commuting from the paper those guys yell "Yeah, Observer!!" when we ride by.

Tom and I turned up another road and were almost home. We saw a car ahead heading our direction. We went single file and moved to the right as much as we could. All of a sudden we noticed a big branch had fallen in the road and we were headed right for it. The headlights from the car had made it hard to see and we didn't realize the branch was there until we were almost on top of it. Tom slammed on his brakes and moved left. I was behind him and pretty much copied him. Again we were lucky and didn't crash.

It was pretty much smooth sailing after that. After a shower I went to bed. It was well after 4 and my body was happy to stop moving. (to be continued ...)



That's me re-enacting what I looked like when the bat hit me.

Booty update!

Everything was going great. I was cruising along, chatting with people, laps were flying by. Then the heavens opened up and it started to pour like I haven't seen here in a long time. It was crazy out there. Luke and I were about to go in and grab some food, but when it started to rain we just had to stay out. So we rode. Everyone was leaving the course. They were taking side roads to get back to camp. We started singing songs. "I can see clearly now the rain is gone! I can see all the obstacles in my way!" Or "Here I go again on my own! Walking down the only road I've ever known!" Then just screaming crazy stuff. "Allez, Allez, Ariba Ariba, Andale Andale." It was pouring so bad I couldn't see anything. There was so much water. It was like riding in a river. The water was getting to be ankle deep, even on the bike. Finally the police on duty made us stop riding and leave the route. We went back to camp and found our tent had collapsed. The rain had built up and was too much for the polls. They had broken in a couple spots. Luke and I rigged it up so there was enough room for the two of us to sit under there. Then we went to the food tent with literally a thousand other people and ate a burger. We called around and found out the rain wasn't going to let up for at least an hour. With us being soaked and not riding any more we started getting cold. So we decided to head back to my house. Which is where I am now. We tossed our stuff in the dryer and are getting ready to head back out. 30 miles down and a lot more to go. More later.  

The big day is here

The past couple days I've finished up most of my final preparations. I got a couple short rides in and am feeling pretty good on the bike. Everything seems to be working smoothly. That picture is all the stuff I'm going to toss in my bag. Socks, jersey, shorts, long sleeve jersey in case it rains, heart rate monitor and watch, extra batteries, mosquito repellent and candle, sun glasses and cliff bars. That doesn't even include a towel, my helmet, camelbak, sweatband, hat and shoes. So much gear!

I went out to Bootyville, which is the athletic field at Queens University where all the riders set up camp. Luke and I found a great spot and set up a tent and table and chairs for all the people who will come to hang with us later. We put up this big Ramblers sign that Luke made, but the tape wouldn't stick to the tent that well. We tried to compensate by using about half a roll.

We were sweating like mugs out there. It was 88 with about 50 percent humidity. The Forecast: Should be almost 90 at the 7 p.m. start with humidity at 60 percent and climbing. There are supposed to be "isolated thunderstorms" with a 30 percent chance of rain. For those of you not living in Charlotte that is pretty much the forecast for every day in the summer here. Some days it rains, most days it doesn't, so we'll see. After sundown the temps are supposed to drop into the 70s but humidity is going to climb into the 80s. It's going to be pretty much the same for tomorrow but in the afternoon chances of rain climb to 50 percent. Well, I'm not worried. I'm going to be sweaty and disgusting any way so what's the difference? I'll just have to take the corners a little bit slower.

I'm pretty much ready now. I still need to run to the bike shop and get a cheap computer and stick it on my bike. I think I might also try and find some place that's still serving pancakes and have some flap jacks for a late lunch. Perhaps the International HOP? Then I'm heading on over about 6. I'm taking my camera so I'll have to get some pictures for you all to see and I write another post to let everyone know how it went. My record for most distance is 104 miles. I think I'm going to be able to beat that this time. I'm really excited, feeling relaxed and confident. I've raised $647 and there are a couple people who said they still may give. Just awesome.

Damn you Vino

When Alexander Vinokourov was coming into the Tour he was the strong favorite. So of course there were rumors he was doping. His team was stacked with dominate riders, some who weren't allowed to start the Tour because of their own positive tests. I started out wanting anyone but him to win the Tour and hoping the winner would come from another team. When he crashed and struggled so much and then came back with 2 wins in 3 days he started sucking me in. I knew he wouldn't win it all, but I started feeling happy that he could at least win a couple stages. I guess the only thing positive I can take from this is that he was caught. But it sure makes me wonder about Rasmussen and Contador and whether they're clean. Well, now team Astana has pulled out with Vino's positive test and they're taking with them two riders who were in the top 10.

Another perfect day

The weather was amazing again. Not too hot, not too cold. I got out and rode for a couple hours. I drank my entire CamelBak pouch. I think it's a liter and a half. I actually probably should have drunk more.

Since I got my new bike Silver I've pretty much always stayed seated when going up hills. I'm not sure why. I guess because I always had to get out of the saddle on Mr. Fuji when climbing before. But today I tried to get up and dance on the pedals a little bit and it seemed to work well. At first I was climbing like I normally do, in the seat, trying to have a smooth, complete revolution. But then one time going up a hill a car passed me only to stop to turn left once it was in front of me. So I was half way up the hill with no momentum. At that point I had no choice but to get out of the saddle just to get moving again. I didn't stay up the whole time but I made it to the top faster. Another thing that I noticed was my heart rate was dropping lower faster after the climbs. I don't know much about heart rate stuff, so I'm not sure what that means. Maybe your heart rate drops back faster after you've been riding for an hour. Maybe I was just tired and not pushing myself as hard.

In preparing for previous rides I always thought of my training in terms of how many miles I put in before the event. This time around I didn't have an odometer on my bike so I tried instead to focus on how much time I spent on the bike. We'll see if that works out. And I'm also still trying to learn the best uses for my heart rate monitor. Now I know what my max heart rate is and can see what my average rate was during a ride, but I don't really know what those numbers mean. I'll have to do some more research.

During the ride today a mom asked me to stop for a minute. She was in the park with her two kids. She said someone had broken into her car and taken her purse and some other bags. She asked me to keep an eye out for the bags or any stuff that might have gotten tossed and to turn it into the park station. I don't know if it's all cyclists or just me because I look so nice, but people are always stopping me to ask stuff like that. Once before a grandfather with two grandchildren asked me if I knew where a nature museum was. And people are always asking for directions. Another time, a couple from Canada asked me for advice on what to do and see while they were in Charlotte.

I was nice and sore after the ride and really wanted a nap. Instead I got to sit at my desk for 8 hours. After work me, Steve and Tom rode by the Chipotle going up down the street. There were two guys inside who acted like they didn't see 3 dudes ride up at 1 in the morning on bikes covered in flashing lights. We know you can see us! There was a giant sign confirming that it is indeed opening Friday. Yes!

With the tour having a rest day Tuesday I'm going out to hit the links. It's been a while since I went golfing. I've been doing mostly bike stuff in my free time these days. But even with the golf I imagine I'll get out for at least a short ride. That just leaves Wednesday and Thursday, which I'll probably ease off on so I can be nice and fresh when the Booty rolls around Friday. I was talking with Luke and we agreed the Booty is properly named since with such a long ride your booty is going to be sore no matter what. Accepting that pain or the pain in my hands is probably going to be the toughest part of the ride. At least that's my guess. Unless of course it ends up raining, then rain will be the worst part of the ride. I'm just hoping this awesome weather holds out until the ride is done.

What a day!

What a great stage today at the Tour. Going in there were 6-7 guys with a real shot at winning it. And those guys were duking it out on the mountains. One after the other just kept trying to crack the others. And gradually they started falling off the back until it was down to just 2 guys. I noticed two things that I thought I'd mention.

First, I find myself getting mad at America's best hope, Levi Leipheimer, for never attacking and never exploding up the mountains. He just goes along trying to hang on to someone's wheel. After the stage he said he just doesn't have that kind of acceleration on the mountains and is most concerned with not cracking himself and riding his own race. Then I realized I kind of ride the same way. OK, I'm clearly no Tour rider. What I mean is I don't explode up any hills either (note that I ride hills and not mountains). I just get going at my own pace and get to the top when I get to the top. It's not really cool or anything to brag about. Which kind of describes Leipheimer.

Second, I loved the teamwork by team Discovery today. People will remember Contador winning and Leipheimer gaining time on his rivals, but they were set up by American George Hincapie and Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych. When you ride behind someone you save about 20 percent of your effort. When you're behind two guys it jumps up to about a third less effort. These guys went all out and gave everything they had, basically cracking themselves so that Contador and Leipheimer would be at the front and ready to go for the win. There's a lot of teamwork in cycling and a lot of strategy too.

One last thing about the Tour. It seems like Wednesday's stage, the last one in the mountains, could be the deciding stage of the tour. If you've been paying attention here and there this is the one to watch. It's got a brutal climb at the finish. The time trial later could be key too, but my guess is after this one we'll have a pretty clear leader.

So after the Tour I went to brunch with my two Amy friends. That was fun. I had the shrimp and crab omelet special. Mmmmm. We wanted to sit outside but all those spots were taken. It was amazing out today. Not too hot, nice breeze, low humidity. It couldn't have been much better. After brunch I got on the bike and rode to the post office. I dropped a couple things in the mail box (I knew where to find this one). Then I rode off to this cemetery uptown (where I got caught in the rain before). It's pretty big and offers a nice place to just do some loops. It's a popular destination for Steve, but I didn't see him there today. He told me he was planning on doing a longer ride today and the cemetery was not in his plans. I rode around in circles, getting my heart rate up on one half of the loop, letting it come back down on the second half. After about 30 minutes I was in a really good grove. I don't know if I was getting to the top of the climbs faster, but I felt like I had a little bit more left in the tank each time I reached the top. I felt like I could have stayed out there forever. Alas, I had to head back and shower before work.

Friday's coming fast. I think it will be an interesting booty this year. Last year I didn't really know what I was doing. I spent as much time socializing as I did riding. This year I think I'll try to have a clearer idea of what my plan of attack is. I don't have a computer on my bike right now. The one I bought is a piece of junk and doesn't work. I don't really want to buy a new one. But having one is by far the easiest way to keep track of how far you've gone. I've toyed with the idea of getting one of these and sticking it on my bike. Of course at some point I'd probably start forgetting to click it. But it'd almost be worth it to see some of the incredulous looks I'd get (I imagine some of them would come from my own teammates). Of course, I have no idea where to find one so I'll probably just end up with another cheap bike computer that'll last 2 months.

Mixed results

So with the bike seemingly in working order I was able to get a nice little ride in on Friday before going into work. It was mostly more trips up and down the hills around my favorite park. Everything went well and I felt pretty good at the end of it. But work called. Back home and showered I was trying to decide what to do for a late lunch. My roommate Fiscus was starting work at the same time as me. She agreed to grab me a sandwich and bottle of water on her way in while I rode to the library and returned Ten Points.

Ten Points is a memoir by the editor of Bicycling magazine about the season he tried to earn 10 points at the weekly bike races in Emmaus, Pa. The book had an excerpt published in the same issue that my profile ran in. The funny thing was it mentioned my step mom's brother as one of the other guys in the weekly races. Crazy! The book was a pretty quick read. Some cool insider type scenes of what it's like to race in a pack and to just be hanging on for dear life. The author also gets into his childhood and abuse at the hands of his father. It's pretty heavy. For cyclists I'd say it's a good read.

So I dropped that off at the library downtown. I really had a lot of fun on that short ride. It was pretty busy and it felt like I was riding through an obstacle course. I'm sure some people much prefer to have nothing in the way and want only to worry about keeping the bike moving. And I like that too. Especially when I'm riding a longer distance. But sometimes it's fun to watch out for car doors or the person about to step off the curb in front of you because they're on the phone and not paying attention, or the guy moving his hot dog stand into the road, etc. I really felt at ease and comfortable on the bike. It really made me think of how different I feel from even a year ago when I was still riding Mr. Fuji. My new bike is 5cm smaller and it makes a world of difference. On the old bike I never really felt balanced. It was hard to stay on the seat and really pedal. And I did 65 miles on it at last year's Booty!

At the end of work I did my best to race Fiscus home. But my chain got all fussy on me. It couldn't decide which gear to stay in and it seemed like it wanted to be somewhere in between. I had to shift to an easy gear and spin like crazy to get going at all. So that was annoying.

Today, after watching the tour (nice work Vino btw) and mowing the lawn, I got Silver up on my car rack. I was messing with the shifters when Steve rode by. He'd just been out for about 2 hours and was sporting his Blazing Saddles jersey. He offered the use of his work stand down at his house. Like most bike problems I've ever had, this one took longer than expected to fix. And the air was soon filled with profanities. I had to head to work and left Steve to figure things out. But luckily things are back in order, which is good, cuz I need to be riding!