Many/most of you have probably seen our other threads:
Please, donate to help fight Multiple Sclerosis! Riding the Houston MS150
Help Mrs Masraum raise money for Multiple Sclerosis, only 2 weeks left!
Mrs & I need bikes, Houston MS 150, complete beginners
Fun with cycling!
Cycling, thoughts, observations and the bonk
Tonight it really hit home since we had to pack our bags. The event begins Sat, but I have to take our luggage for the Sat night and Sun clothes/stuff to work tomorrow to give to the guy that's driving the van for our team.
I'm not worried about making it, but it is a lot more than I've previously ridden in a day. My max to date is 52 miles. And it's two days in a row. The first day we'll be riding 84miles. But, I'll be riding with the missus at her pace which means well below what my pace would be. Fortunately, I think the wind is forecast to be at our back the whole time (Hallelujah!!).
Last weekend we went on a group ride with one of Houston's bike clubs, and 3 of our team's other riders were there as well. We (myself and the other 3 guys) went out with the 14-16mph group. That's the group that my buddies been riding with, and since I'd never done a group ride or been in a paceline, I figured it would be safe. The first half was so boring with the pace strictly kept to the 14-16mph. After the break, the group had slowly been splitting up, and the 3 of us broke away and had a good time. One of the guys said "come on, lets see what you've got and build some momentum in this downhill to help with the uphill that's coming up." That was the beginning of a ton of fun. I told my buddy, that he could easily move up to the 16-18mph group and could probably manage the 18-20 or very nearly. We averaged 18mph for the second half when we broke off from the rest of the group, and we could have gone faster.
The missus is worried about making it, but has come to accept that if she has to take a SAG van, it's not the end of the world. Unfortunately, we haven't really trained as much as she would have liked and probably needed, but I think she'll be able to make it. She's more of a 12mph girl. Her max so far has been 39 miles (she's done that several times). I think she'll make this, it just won't be in record time, but that's fine, it's not a race. As my buddy said when the guy at the bike store showed him a $4k bike "I'm not planning to win, I just want to finish."
I have begun to think, "I wish I'd gotten something more lightweight" vs the Cro-moly bikes that we've got. I do like the wide (38c) tires though. We both changed out our saddles and handlebars (same bars, just different sizes). We've got 3x8 (50-39-30 and 11-32) drivetrains. So far, I haven't ever
needed the 50t (or 30t for that matter) chainring. I'm kind of wondering about an upgrade in my future.
Thank you to everyone that's donated on our behalf to support Multiple Sclerosis.
The missus wanted to do a little something personal for the folks that donated, so she's started a blog chronicling her adventure in cycling. The posts are short and hopefully entertaining/funny (I think they are). I've posted the link in a couple of the other threads.
She's posted 3 more updates and wanted me to let you guys know.
https://thereluctantcyclistms150.blogspot.com/
We should have a grand adventure. I'll post back assuming we survive.