MEC Fall Century Ride

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Dstew
Bill Crothers
Posts: 3463
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2005 7:41 pm

MEC Fall Century Ride

Postby Dstew » Sun Sep 24, 2017 9:29 pm

At the beginning of the year, I decided I would do a century, 100 mile ride to be specific this year. I started to train for the same and immediately regretted that decision. Whereas cycling had been a fun hobby and I could not wait to explore new routes and distances, it became a chore where I "had" to do this or that. So I completely abandoned the thought of such a ride. Plus, it was an artificial and arbitrary round number that really did not have any meaning other than what one or others placed upon it. It has been called the "marathon" of biking.

Funny thing happened. I was just going out cycling for fun. I got faster and could go further. This lead to signing up for some fun and "short" 100 K rides. That lead to the Highwood Pass Fondo of 135 K and not only did I survive all of this, I had fun doing it. So why not sign up for the MEC 100 mile ride in September.

Pushed a little too hard but managed to get in 1,000 K in July. It worn me down more than being hurt or sore. So I started to skip rides and added in weights and recovered enough to sign up for the Kootenay Gran Fondo of 151 K two weeks before the century ride. Long story short, smoke and three wildfires close to Cranbrook resulted in that ride being cancelled. It was a blessing in disguise as it added in my recovery.

Was in Toronto Tuesday to Thursday before the ride. Had some concerns I would not be on my bike but then again, it was cold with rain and then snow. All of a sudden there was some question whether the ride would proceed. One weekend it is too hot and smoky and two weeks later, too cold and snowy. What a country we live in.

The weather changed just enough so that it was + 1 at the start of the ride and it turned out to be about + 1 up in the Highwood Pass area where we turned around on an out and back course. The plan was finish and minimize any risk of injury or harm. But then I got the pre race email. The start time was changed from 9:00 to 8:30 am. They imposed a cut off at the 50 K aid station of 2 hours. And you had to be back in under 7 hours if you wanted the post race meal.

I was cold and tempted to put on my wind breaker but the underarmor shirt I bought for the nasty Boston Marathon and a good cycling jersey kept my back warm and front a little cold. So do I sweat too much or endure the cold. The bib shorts I had developed a rip in the very last ride and although I was able to patch it up, given the temperature at the turn around point had been predicted to be below freezing, I bought was cold weather bib shorts - a wise investment for this ride and to extent my cycling season.

I started off fairly strong. I stayed with the back of the main Peleton for around 5 K but my guess is that is because it took them that long to warm up. I stayed with the back of the middle of the back for another couple of kilometres before I decided I needed to moderate my pace. I am great for 100 K. Over that, if I do not watch my pace, I can run into a lot of issues. Plus I knew that with a pace I could keep over 100 miles, I was going to hit the 50 K aid station with around 10 minutes or so to spare. Which in turn meant not a lot of other riders behind me. Thus I was going to finish near the back of the pack whether I pushed myself very hard or comfortably hard.

Some leap frogging with a couple of other cyclists until the 20 K mark. Saw a group just in front, did put the pedal down and caught up with them, dragging two other cyclists with me. It was a good group, supper pace but at the risk of too much information, enlarged bladder, well hydrated and cold, I had to stop at the 30 K aid station and see the group leave. I was then on my own for 10 k, found another small group. One guy asked if I was cold as I looked and I said I was. He was only going to do 100 K and so volunteered to drag us to the 50 K aid station. Decided to stop there was well but kept that under 5 minutes. I was essentially on my own for the rest of the 110 K. I rationalized and pondered that this was actually better as a pace line or a pacer in an ultra was sort of authorized "cheating". In reality, my guess is that there were about 60 or so cyclists doing the 100 mile ride and a good 20 - 25 were in a fast peleton I could keep up with 5 K out of 160. The one nice thing about not being able to "cheat" was that when in a paceline, I am not good enough to look around and stay close enough to the rear wheel at the same time. So I got some great views of the sheep river and snow covered mountains as we made our way up the pass.

Stopped at the 70 K aid station as time was becoming increasingly irrelevant. It declared a minor victory as the got off my bike just as the first rider passed the station and with a large peleton closely following on his heels. So I was "only" 20 K behind and for me, an accomplishment. There were a few more cyclists behind me than I thought, around 10 but a good 50 or so in front. Felt strong on the climbs and energized as I got closer to the turn around point. I was afraid the total distance would be just under 100 miles but when I looked at my computer, it was at 81.5 K and others had the same reading.

Stopped at the 70/90 K station on the way back. Had a wonderful cookie and was enjoying the net down hill. No really "fun" hills so my speed never got above 65 kph. As my other long rides had shown and despite the more moderate pace and using other cyclists here and there, at the 100 K mark I was starting to see a little fatigue set in. So my entire focus was on getting to the 50 K aid station. I made a quick stop and was able to regain feeling in my back side and hands. Saw 5 guys zip past but there was nothing I could do.

Was playing leap frog with another cyclists who I caught until I heard a hissing sound and so sealant spray from what was tubeless tire. I went ahead and I forgot about the second hill just before the 30 K aid station. Funny how early in the ride the kilometers flew by and now, they crawled. Had a good stop there and the tubeless tire cyclist had to abandon. It put me "just" finishing into perspective.

Was doing fine with close to a 30 kph average speed until I had to turn into a headwind with a slight uphill. Where I had been calculating when I would finish in my head, all of a sudden there was some doubt I could. Or at least finish in time to eat and not "limp" to the end. The worst of it was after making a turn where the wind was aiding me, there was a very nasty hill. I was struggling up it when another cyclist passed me, saw the look on my face and gave me an encouraging pep talk.

A series of rolling hills would have me "spin" up the hill, gun it to build some speed, tuck to conserve energy and repeat. I forgot about one last hill and yelled "sh*t" when I saw it. I was so angry at that hill I actually attacked it with some vigor. A nice long downhill meant I had some momentum.

I was literally now counting down the kilometers but so where several other cyclists. I passed a few not so much because of my will or determination but I was keeping a solid and consistent cadence and they were fading badly. A very slight uphill felt like Mt Everest but I made it to the top, turned at the stop sign, went a quarter block and finished. The total distance was 163 K or around 101 miles. My moving time was around 6 hours and with 26 minutes at the aid stations or according to plan. My plan was 5 minutes per aid station and I expected my pace would be 6 hours or so.

MEC charged $45. Great route, easy bib pick up and actually liked that there was no timing chip. Well stocked aid stations manned by cyclists who were very encouraging. A pasta lunch that I would have paid $20 on its own. Wonderful memories for my first and very likely my last 100 mile ride.

I am a little stiff and a little sore today. But was able to go for a 6 K walk to pick up milk and back. Did some yard work. BUT ... I feel that it disrupted my system. I am still not feeling quite right although I cannot say why or how. It am off. But more importantly, at my age the first 100 K was fun and interesting. But with each passing kilometer, it became less so. The last 20 - 30 K was more of a chore. A meaningless and arbitrary task to be completed. I have no regret doing the ride and I am thrilled at my accomplishment and proud of what I achieved but ... there was an almost immediate sense of been there and done that. I have an absolute blast doing a weekly 90 K ride. But over and above that, it becomes more like work or a chore. I loved doing the 50 K road race and my finishing time was irrelevant with that race as well. And like the 50 K race, it was a very neat and memorable experience I will forever cherish but I see no need nor reason to do it again.

Alone on my bike and counting down the kilometers left, I asked why would I do this again. The answer came down to ego, to vanity, to pride. So few people do a 100 mile ride - probably less than 500 in the Calgary area every year and so the badge of honor in doing so is that because it is so hard, so painful that so few do it. But for me, it was not really all that much fun or enjoyable by the end. There was no pleasure in the last 15 K as I went into survival mode. I loved that I did survive, that I finished strong but what more do I have to prove, especially to myself. That I can inflict and endure a lot of pain and suffering and misery and drudgery and torture and pay for the privilege of doing so. Or take a more sensible and reasoned approach for me where I can still do 100 K rides but have fun doing it. I missed not being able to attack a hill or even better for me, a slight down hill with a tail wind as I had to reserve some energy to ensure I could actually finish the ride. Of being silly or foolish in sticking with a group of riders much better than me just to see how long I could do that. And as I get older, anything over 4 hours whether that be on a bike, running or golf, I start to lose interest. 100 K with a 5 minute stop at one said station take me around 3:30. Nine holes 2- 2:30 on a busy course. I suspect 30 minutes of running or intervals is short enough where it remains fun. Add in 8 marathons, 1 50 K run and now a 100 mile ride, there is a big part of me that wants to be "normal" again. That will still mean 90 K bikes and running and golf and weights and mountain biking and gravel bike riding and ... but without any race or ride or formal event to enter. There is no doubt part of this is I am no longer competitive. I cannot compete against my peers running. I am middle of the pack. A decent golf handicap but not anywhere near tournament capable. And with cycling, only the real diehards where riding yesterday. I estimate I was in the bottom 20% or so. I finished and again that was great but there was no joy, no reward for how long it took. So why enter a race or ride or formal event and pay money just to finish. That is just me and others have different motivations. It does not mean I am stopping what I am doing, just applying moderation to where an official ride, etc is no longer justified. Unless of course it is a cool course I would not otherwise do and less than $50 - a MEC ride very spring on the Cowboy trail comes to mind. But few, if any other events do.

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