Holy Moly, the missus and I are about to bicycle 150 miles!

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by David

A couple of points on safety:

1. rest stops are the most dangerous, enter and exit to the FAR right.

2. there's one really long and fast downhill, you'll know it when you're on it. Stay to the right since bikes may pass you on the left at over 40 mph.

3. if you do ride two abreast (which you shouldn't do but many do so they can talk), stay to your far right so pace lines can pass you safely.

There will be no pacelines near him...He and the wife will be doing 12+ mph.

[David]

Steve, how was y’alls ride.

The weather was chamber of commerce good but I forget how painful and hard this ride is!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

There will be no pacelines near him...He and the wife will be doing 12+ mph.

I have been doing my best to pace for her.

Pacelines sounded like a blurred version of "on your left".

I did just top 40 down that hill, but had to hit the brakes about 1/2 - 2/3 down due to people being spread across the lane. The missus almost hit 35 (34.7 per Strava) down the same hill which is her record.

She made it to mile 45 the first day after averaging 13.5mph. She caught a SAG to the end of day 1. Apparently, most of the other folks in the SAG were very upset that the SAG didn't stop at the last rest stop, and made the driver and following vehicle with the bikes pull over so 15-20 of them could ride the last 4 miles in so whoever they had been riding with wouldn't know that they had gotten the SAG. Once she got on the van, I turned up the pace. Out of the 38 people on out team, we were probably around position 30 when she got the van. After I turned up the pace, I caught a couple of my buddies and then dropped them. I was the 2 or 3 rider from our team to finish.

We both made the full 65 miles today. We didn't do the Lunch Express or the Betchel Challenge route. We did the Park Bypass. We averaged 13.5 again. I was really glad that she was able to finish today. I swear today was much easier than yesterday with better wind (the wind picked up in the last 20-30 miles) and much easier hills. Yeah, there was the one that was a beyotch, but it wasn't that bad. The worst part about it was that it wasn't part of a pair. Most of the time, you go down a hill and build some momentum to help get you up the next, but that thing went from a flat section, to a mild rise that turned into a heck of a climb. There were lots of walkers.

I'll provide more thoughts and update tomorrow.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by David

Steve, how was y’alls ride.

The weather was chamber of commerce good but I forget how painful and hard this ride is!

Great. I'm super glad that today was more successful for the missus than the first day. I had a great time. I missed a few spots with the sunscreen, but nothing too horrible. Never has such a crappy shower been so fantastic! I am pretty sure that both the missus and I will be back next year.

How did you guys do? How many on the NRG team?

[fastfredracing]

Cool, glad to hear you, and the missus enjoyed it . Im assuming this is the MS 150? I did this ride here in Pa a few years back, and really enjoyed it . My wife drove the sag van( my van ) for our group.
I was an avid mountain biker and a smoker back then. I had no road experience, and I also had no idea that I could ride that far in a day .
I left most of the normal road bike riders in my group in the first hour or so. A few of the faster guys were making fun of me for taking smoke breaks at rest stops. I passed all of them too, and then just poured on the steam the rest of the way .
I wish I were still in that good of shape .
My arse hurt ..
looking forward to hearing the details .

[masraum]

The ride was great fun and also not easy. It was great seeing the countryside in a way that I'd otherwise never see it. The relative quiet was nice too. Headphones aren't allowed on the ride, but bluetooth speakers are allowed. Some folks listened to music on the ride. I prefer the quiet, but sometimes for short periods the music was fun. It was interesting riding with that many people, but it's not that long before everyone gets pretty spread out. Police were stopping traffic to allow us to go almost the entire way. I think for the full 150 miles, I probably only had to stop for lights or signs 4 or 5 times. Any time there was a stop, the crowd would build again, but then within a few miles, things would spread out. It was interesting that throughout the whole ride, we got passed by faster riders. You'd think after a short period, they would have all been past us.

The rest stops and support was fantastic. There were police at pretty much every stop sign, stop light and turn on the entire route. There was plenty of food and water and drinks along the entire route.

The range of folks riding was impressive. The lower age limit was 12, and there were plenty of young folks riding. We had a kid on our team that had just turned 13 in the past month. There were also folks that were well into their 70s riding. There were also some folks that had to be 300-350 lbs out there riding (including a guy at the high end with a rainbow colored tutu). There were a bunch of couples on tandem bikes and was even at least one triple tandem. There was a guy riding a penny farthing that from what I have been told, did both days. I don't know how he did some of the steep hills (up and down). Maybe he had to walk it for those. There was at least one Elliptigo. I also don't know how he did some of the hills. It was mostly road bikes, but there were also a bunch of hybrid bikes, and even folks riding full suspension mountain bikes. I was chatting with one. I think I mentioned something about him having an advantage with gearing to make the hills easier, and he responded that yes, and he also wasn't having to ever tell anyone "on your left". He had at least, just in the last week, swapped out the knobby tires for something far more street/road friendly.

It was impressive how many folks that we saw doing the ride that had MS. I saw one young guy on a regular road bike doing it as well as folks on eBikes and recumbent trikes.

The first day was 84 miles. The second day was 65 miles.

The first 27 miles of day one was almost completely flat. It felt easy and downhill the whole way. We averaged 14 mph which looking back was probably a bit much for the missus. We should have gone a little slower so she'd have more reserve for the back end of the ride. We averaged 12.5 mph for the rest of the ride that she was a part of (until 45 miles). She was concerned that if she pushed to go farther, that she may not be able to even start day 2, so she got the SAG van at the stop at mile 45 to the end. Up to that point, our avg had been 13.5. My buddies had averaged 16.7 and were over 50 mins and 8-10 miles ahead of me. Once I wasn't trying to pace her, I just wanted to finish so I cranked up the speed. Unfortunately, that's also about the time that the hills started. My buddies that had been averaging 16.7 dropped down to 12.4. That enabled me to catch them and then drop them. Where we had been some of the last folks in our team, I finished 2nd or 3rd. First in our group was a young guy who does triathlons.

The showers were in portable shower trucks, and the stalls were just big enough to stand in, but after the day of riding, the shower was fantastic, but honestly a flower-watering can full of ice water would have been pretty welcomed. There were two camps for the first day. One was about 1/4-1/2 mile down the road and on the opposite side of the road from the main camp. Our tent was in the smaller camp. We had to pass our camp, then ride a long loop through the main camp to be able to get back out on the road to ride back down to our camp. The dinner the first day was good, half a chicken (breast, wing, leg and thigh in one piece) BBQ sauce, beans, pasta and cole slaw.

I slept pretty well, but I did wake up and look at the time at 330, then 4, then 415 when they turned the generators on. Fortunately, the generators were pretty quiet and not right near the tent, so it was mostly just a low hum in the distance, but the lights came on. I think I laid there until almost 5 when more and more folks were starting to stir. We got up, got ready, packed up and had pancake breakfast (lots of syrup) and were on the road by 7.

The second day was easier than the first to me. My legs were a little tight and my hands and rear were a little sore, but not much. The hills seemed like they were mostly easier, although there were a few steeper hills in the bunch. We did have the really nice downhill where I topped 40mph and the missus almost hit 35. About half way down, I had to start riding the brakes because there were people in my way. I guess I should have started calling out "on your left" but it didn't seem worth it to start freaking people out at that speed. I did find it surprising throughout the entire ride how many people coasted downhill instead of pedaling. One pimple faced kid from the BP team cut the missus off with about half a wheel gap, stopped pedaling and got into his "I'm aero and going fast" position in front of her which made her hit her brakes and irritated the snot out of her. I like to pedal down hill (not necessarily furiously, but at least a light or moderate effort) to build some momentum which helps with the uphill that almost inevitably comes right after the downhill. The sad thing is that the worst hill of the whole ride didn't have a downhill right before it. It went from flat, to a mild uphill to help scrub off speed and then a pretty steep hill. Lots of folks walked up that one.

I also found it really surprising how many folks would be grinding uphill in the saddle with 3-5 lower gears to go. If you're going to be at super low RPMs, then stand up. If you're going to stay in the saddle, then downshift and benefit from increased cadence and mechanical advantage.

The missus slogged on one hill at a time and kept going. We both made it to the end. Again, at the end, we got to the destination and there seemed like there was another mile to go to get through the gauntlet until you could actually get off of your bike.

At the end, we dropped our bikes off at the semi that was being loaded to take them back to our starting location. Then we found our team tent and went and got showers at the shower trucks. Then we got dinner which was smoked brisket, beans, pasta salad, and a free beer from Karbach brewery.

It was a good time and one that both myself and the missus are ready to do again next year. she wants to train more this time so she can make all of both days next time AND increase her overall speed and power for getting up hills.

Thanks again to all who donated money and advice and encouragement.

[red-beard]

narrower tires will help tremendously...

[red-beard]

Does some of this look familiar?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Does some of this look familiar?

Exactly, but this year, more Karbach and less St Arnolds.

Good stuff.

Another note, you get to see a lot of various road kill, turtles, various fowl, a hog, skunks, opossums, snakes, etc....

[red-beard]

And actually, it was 2013. And yes, if I do it again, it will be on the Karbach team.

[masraum]

[RSBob]

Congratulations on a ride well done. Quite an accomplishment. You and the Mrs should be proud.

[BRPORSCHE]

Originally Posted by red-beard

narrower tires will help tremendously...

Agreed. Put some 28s on there Steve.

[BRPORSCHE]

Steve, look up NPR for some fast rides during the week. Stands for No Promises Ride. I ride NPRN in the woodlands on Wednesdays and it's a pretty swift group. The slogan for the ride is literally eff your legs.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Congratulations on a ride well done. Quite an accomplishment. You and the Mrs should be proud.

Yes indeed....way to go Steve & the cute one!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Congratulations on a ride well done. Quite an accomplishment. You and the Mrs should be proud.

Thanks. We are planning to keep going. The missus will increase her speed, strength and comfort (both physical and also mental by increasing her control and balance and capability) and I'm wanting to increase my speed and strength as well. We want to do it again next year even more comfortably.

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Agreed. Put some 28s on there Steve.

I will probably end up going a bit smaller for both of us, but I don't know if I'll go as small as 28. We'll see. They say that the "narrower is faster" thing has been scientifically proven to not be the case. Yes, over perfectly smooth surfaces, narrow hard tires are fastest, but over rough surfaces, wider tires running at lower pressures are actually faster.

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Steve, look up NPR for some fast rides during the week. Stands for No Promises Ride. I ride NPRN in the woodlands on Wednesdays and it's a pretty swift group. The slogan for the ride is literally eff your legs.

Sounds like fun. I'm not sure if I'm up to that yet, but I will be. I figure over reasonably flat-ish ground, I should be in the 16-18mph range at least for 30-50 miles. I think with a little work, I could be a 20+ guy.

Originally Posted by KC911

Yes indeed....way to go Steve & the cute one!

Thanks!

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Agreed. Put some 28s on there Steve.

Actually, 23s. I use 25s for training and 23s for long distances.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Agreed. Put some 28s on there Steve.

And it's great to see that you're still around!

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Congratulations on a ride well done. Quite an accomplishment. You and the Mrs should be proud.

And a tip of my hat to all who participated for a good cause. Someday, a long awaited cure.

[BRPORSCHE]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Actually, 23s. I use 25s for training and 23s for long distances.

As someone who rides 40s almost exclusively 23's freak me out. I compromised and went 28.

23's in a front fork that is supposed to can handle 40 with disc brakes just looks comical.

And way to go Steve. Check out DK200 if you want to do gravel. It is certainly where the whole "fatter tire runs faster" theory works to an extent. I run the 40s tubeless around 35-39psi for rough terrain, but the second I hit something that is even moderately smooth my mph avg plummets.