With only four weeks left to train for the MS150, I was looking for a 40+ mile weekend ride, and Rosedale fit the bill perfectly. So I signed up for the 43 mile route and hoped for the best. Each rider gets paired up with a student at the school, and the race packet contains a little bio of your kid, which I thought was cool. My figurative partner was Dezirae, an 18 year-old student enrolled in the Project Search program at Dell Children's Hospital.
The course was flat out awesome--rolling, smooth and scenic, it began at the Samsung Semiconductor offices and ran out past Lake Pflugerville and into that great abyss of farmland Northeast of the city. I had such a good time on the first 20 miles that I decided (spurred on by an enthusiastic ride volunteer) to take the turnoff for the 63 mile route. Why not? If I can't do 63 miles with four weeks to go, I might as well give it up, right?
I didn't stop at all for the first 40 miles, and up until that first break everything seemed perfect. I felt like I could ride all day. I ate some cookies, had some orange drink and set out for the last third of the race. Then, the wind picked up.
My tea'mmate April had warned me about the wind on this ride, but I didn't listen. After 40 miles of relative ease, the last 20 miles felt like an extended rugby scrum. My average speed dropped from 17mph down to 8mph, and I thought several times about packing it in. Then, with around 8 miles left to go, my rear tire went flat. With no extra tubes or even a pump, I was ready to flag the SAG truck down and catch a ride back to my car.
But thanks to some very nice ladies with pink jerseys and a C02 cartridge, I got enough air in my tube to get rolling again (thanks ladies! Sorry I slowed you down) and I decided that since I'd come this far, I might as well finish the thing. The tire held up pretty well until the last turn, when the finish line--now about a half mile away--came into view. By that time, I'd lost so much air again that I was pretty much riding on the rear rim. So I leaned forward as far as I could and did the last stretch standing up. Eventually, I limped across the finish line with my tire completely flat, and then I collapsed onto the lawn.
Overall, it was a good ride, but it was really, unbelievably tough. And if I took anything away from it, it's the knowledge that 63 miles is really, really far, and that the MS150 is going to be even harder than I imagined.
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