After all that training, the ride was finally here! We gathered in the predawn light at the ride headquarters at the Cities of Gold Casino just north of Santa Fe. We were both pretty tired - Ali from dealing with a cranky baby who was stuffy from the hotel air conditioning, me from a bout of food poisoning which left me writhing in agony with feverish dreams. I felt better by morning, but probably only got about 3 good hours of sleep. Same for Ali. But we were ready and excited for the days ride!
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| The whole team ready to depart! |
Just before the 215 riders departed for the day's ride, the organizer gave a little talk about the meaning of the ride. She spoke about all those living with MS, and how we were all making a difference. We all got a little choked up at that, but the feeling passed as they let loose the first wave of riders (fast riders first). After a few more waves, the Penultimates were on our way, biking as a team for the first time all year! Five of us were doing the long 90 mile ride (map here), and Ali was doing the short 40 mile ride (map here). The best part was that the route was the same for the first 20 miles.
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| Biking through the hamlet of Ohkay Owingeh |
So as a team, we wound our way through the town of Espanola with a police escort blocking roads and alerting traffic (really the only segment of the ride in traffic). We were quickly out into the country side of New Mexico biking through some beautiful scenery. It was really nice to bike with Ali, and the first part of the ride went much too quickly. We parted ways at the 2nd rest stop, as Ali headed off toward the finish line with a group of ladies from the team Women Riding Well.
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| Storm approaching! |
For the next 30 miles until lunch it was just Frank, Andrew, and I chasing the other two guys from the team, Chris and James. We would just catch them at the next rest stop as they were leaving. But we settled into a nice rhythm as we biked from rest stop to rest stop (remember, the theme of the day was to finish without a huge toll on the body - another ride tomorrow!). One thing I love about this ride is the volunteers manning the rest stops. They cheer you in, refill water bottles, hold your bike, give you food (often times home made goodies like chocolate covered strawberries), give you iced towels, apply sunblock, and cheer you off to the next stop. (Often times their kindness would overwhelm me, and I would get a little verklempt.) The fellow riders are also great - often commiserating and joking with you while you stand around eating food and stretching. I guess if you do a volunteer charity ride you have to a pretty nice person!
The last 10 mile segment before lunch was a long 6 mile hill climb. Andrew was off like a rabbit, leaving Frank and I to tail him slowly up the mountain (big guys are not built for climbing). At the top, some volunteers were there offering us iced towels, to help us cool down before the long 4 mile descent into El Rito for a nice break over lunch.
Just after lunch, we embarked on a long 10 mile segment of gentle downhill. Frank and I, being the euphemistic "Clydesdale" riders, were built for this segment! For me this was the most fun of the ride, as we took turns pulling and cruising along at roughly 20-30 miles an hour. Poor Andrew was trying to keep up whole time, but was no match for our greater mass (revenge for the uphill portion!).
The whole way were were noticing menacing storm clouds on the horizon, and just after mile 60 the rain started. First slow, then building up to a stinging icy rain, that followed us for the next 6 miles. We were quickly drenched, but strangely this part of the ride was too one of the highlights. We don't get to ride in the rain much here, and it really helped to cool us down. It was pretty epic - I felt like the theme from Chariots of Fire was playing in the background as rivers of water poured of my speeding bike cruising through the rain.
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| My parents, Ali, and Connor meeting me at the finish line |
The next excitement of the ride was when I blew my back tire at around mile 78, just a quarter mile from the next rest stop. We had spent the last 10 miles, slowly passing packs of riders as we were settling into a nice groove. But in that quarter mile of walking, all those groups blew by us. At the rest stop, the mechanic quickly and efficiently replaced both tube and tire (this ride is so well supported!), and we were off for the last segment. We ended up crossing the finish line around 3:15, about 8 hours after we left. Over all (according to my bike computer), we averaged 15.5 miles an hour, maximum speed of 35 mph, and a total saddle time of over 6 hours. All told, a great day of biking!
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| Finished day 1! |
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