24: The Booty Season Finale

First things first, I've posted pictures here on my flickr page. The last photo is a scanned image of my Bicycling magazine profile if you haven't seen it yet. Click for all sizes and choose large, I think it'll be big enough to read.

(And now, the exciting conclusion to 24 Hours of Booty)

I woke up about 10:30 on Saturday and I could tell I had done 70 miles the night before. I was moving a little slow. I gathered my stuff and started getting into my bike gear while I watched the end of stage 19 of the Tour. I got back out to the Booty a little before noon and ate some food. I really didn't feel like eating but you don't have a choice when you're trying to keep your body going. If you don't, you just lose all your power and get all woozy. It's funny, because at the start of the 24 hours everything looks great. There's every kind of snack bar and drink you could ever want. But after a while you just want something hot or to just stop eating altogether.

I got out and did a few solo laps. Then I found my friends Franco and Liza who came out to ride and visit with everyone. At one point I went out with Steve, Luke, Franco and Liza but it was so crowded at the entrance to the lap we soon were all split up. I really wasn't feeling very fresh at all. I was pretty much dragging. I think part of it was I'd done so well the day before about eating, scarfing down a bunch of pancakes hours before the ride started. But Saturday I slept too late and seemed to be playing catch up after that.

At some point Tom and his wife, Katie, came by with their two kids PJ and Emma. They were cracking me up. Tom played hide and seek with them. PJ kept hiding behind the mangled frame of our tent and Emma always decided to hide behind her big brother. PJ also showed off his Batman bike and his sweet aerodynamic riding position, which Tom swears he didn't teach him to use. After a bit Katie walked back to the car with Emma and Tom helped PJ ride his bike a roundabout way back there.

I went and did a few laps with Steve and he said he was starting to get burned out. We went back in to freshen up some and he said he was thinking about calling it a day, he had 120 miles in already. I told him I was getting tired too and wasn't sure how much longer I'd go. There was some kind of miscommunication because he thought I was ready to head home. When I said I was going back out again he said "Well, I'm not going to be the first to quit!" So we went back out for another 3 laps. After that he was so close to 150 he could taste it.

We chilled with Franco and Liza for a bit. Steve found some ice cold cokes for us. I never realized how many carbs are in coke. It proved the perfect thing for me since I was having to force down food. Franco agreed to go out and try to speed through some laps with Steve. Liza and I went out and did some laps at her pace. She impressed me. The last time she was on a bike was last year at the Booty when she did 100 miles! And she was doing all this on some old bike of Franco's that he tried to make fit her the best he could. We chatted about this and that. Steve and Franco blew past a couple times. Then she decided she'd had enough and pulled off.

I went out for one more lap and just killed it. I was flying up the hill and down in my best time trial position most of the way. I think I knew it was my last lap so there was no reason to leave anything in the tank. Franco and Liza cheered for me as I came in. I went back, grabbed a snack and drink. I came out to the roadside to cheer everyone on. I yelled "Ramble on!" as Luke and Tom rode by. Luke stopped to talk with me and see where I was at. I said I was at 130 miles and calling it a day. There was about an hour left. While we chatted Steve came up the home stretch and we cheered him as he reached his goal of 150. He swung back around and talked with us. Then Tom came back around again and Luke chased after him to ride some more.

Luke's computer had crapped out in the rain. We pretty much did the same amount the first night, so we knew he was over 100 miles for sure. Last year Luke did 150, this year he just decided to ride as much as he could and not worry about a number. He said he really felt relaxed this time around and he still got a ton of laps in. I went back to the camp and Steve and I broke apart the frame of his tent and trashed it. Luke and Tom came back and we packed everything up. We rode back to the start/finish just in time to watch the last few people come in as the 24 hours came to a close. I rode home with Tom and Steve while Luke drove to drop off all our chairs and bags and stuff. I dumped a bag of smelly stuff in the laundry room and took a shower. I was exhausted.

I'm in day two of recovery now. On Sunday I got about 5.5 miles of riding in. I've read it's better to ride again the day after a ride to help clear out lactic acid in the muscles faster than if you just rest. Ever since the ride I've been hungry all the time. I think my stomach got bigger! I've also been tired and kind of look like an old man when I walk around, especially going down stairs.

Some final thoughts

I had a lot of fun being stupid in the rain, but I wish I could have had the two hours we were not allowed to ride back. I know I could have done even better than 130 miles. But it made for a good story and that's what counts. On the other hand, I'm actually kind of glad that bat hit me in the head. Otherwise I would have been out even later and not gotten much sleep and had a terrible second half of the Booty. And it too made one heck of a story.

I spent a lot of time reflecting on how things went this year compared with last year. I had no idea what my fundraising goal should be and set a pretty low one last time around. Going into last year my longest ride ever had been 30 miles. I had never been in any organized cycling event. I was riding a bike that was about 3 sizes too big from the '80s that I got from my uncle Mark. That thing was creaking and croaking the whole time so people could hear me coming from halfway around the loop. Not long after the Booty, one of the pedals would snap off while I was riding up a hill.

Last year I was wearing my first cycling jersey I'd ever owned, which I bought just for the Booty. At the ride I had no clear plan of attack. I drank mostly water the whole time and sometimes didn't eat when I took breaks. Later in the night I started eating and only after the first bite did I realize how famished I was. I was gasping for breath on the first hill and almost every time up I thought I couldn't make it around for another lap. I ended up doing 65 miles the first night. I had to work the next day so I only rode out to cheer on the team for a couple hours.

This year, I rode a new bike I got in March that fits me perfectly. I trained on hills to get used to the two gentle climbs on the Booty loop. I didn't count miles because I didn't have a computer on my bike. Instead, I focused on how much time I spent riding and what type of riding I did. Coming into this year's ride I'd completed a 100 mile ride. During that ride I under trained and experienced suffering I didn't know I was capable of riding through. It was really rough, but it also showed me I could take a lot more than I thought.

This year, I used a Camelbak hydration pack I got for Christmas and filled it with Gatorade so many times I lost count. Every time I came in I was eating and drinking everything I could get my hands on. I also learned that I needed to ride at my own pace and not go into the red zone at the start, using myself up and being useless for the rest of the day. It was night and day going up that hill. Almost every time I made it up I thought "that wasn't so bad."

And this time I tried a little experiment: I pretended I was riding a single speed bike. I didn't shift once the whole time. This put a ceiling on how fast I could go down hill, but it also ensured I had a minimum speed I couldn't go below when riding up the hills. Most of the ride I repeated a pattern of being passed by riders when we were going down hill and then later, as things went back up hill, I'd slowly climb past them. I know I lost efficiency and speed with my approach. But for me (and to paraphrase Sheldon Brown), cycling isn't always about going as far and fast as I can with the smallest possible effort. Along the same lines, I didn't draft that much. I chose instead, when possible, to ride alongside people and have conversations. I could have saved energy by constantly latching on to another person's back wheel, but the time would have passed so much slower for me. And I wanted to know that I wasn't leaning on anyone blocking the wind for me to get the ride done.

So I did 130 miles in 24 hours in one gear. When I told Luke, he said I have to go single speed now. And I think I agree. I'm not going to be racing ever. I don't plan on riding up mountains any time soon. If I ever decide to enter other rides it'd mean I'd have to train much harder. And I think I'm OK with that. If I end up losing 20 pounds and getting faster, maybe I'll change my tune. But now I think I'm ready to take the plunge to one gear.

One last thing. I really appreciate every one's support. All the friends who came out to the ride. Everyone who donated. And everyone who dropped me comments or e-mails, letting me know they were reading this silly blog and interested in my progress. I don't know why I should be surprised by every one's kindness, I've seen it firsthand so many times before. These last couple weeks have been great. I was part of almost 1,400 riders who raised more than $650,000, and donations are still coming in. The best part is participating in this event just makes me feel good.

My friend Priscilla asked me what my next project is going to be. She knows how I get so obsessive about something and really focus on it. But right now, I'm not sure. I don't feel burned out on cycling like I did after the century ride. My plan is to keep riding a couple times a week and get back to weight training at the Y. Maybe I'll look for another bike event to ride in before it gets too cold. But maybe I won't. If I do, I won't be fundraising again like I did for the Booty ride, but I just might have to bring this blog back.


Mission accomplished.