Marvelous ride yesterday!
I did yesterday’s century for MATHCOUNTS in conjunction with the Peach
Peloton ride. It was the grand finale PP
ride of the winter training season, going from Barnesville to Pine Mountain and
back. The planned route was 124 miles. Because I knew I couldn’t hang with the PP
guys for that long at their pace, I planned a slightly shorter route, which
turned out to be 108 miles. I rode with
them for about the first 40 miles (more on that in a moment) and rode most of
the remainder solo. It was definitely a
harder century for me than in January, but it was satisfying.
Rotations
I owe a lot to Chad Madan (Peach Peloton organizer) and some
of the other veteran riders for teaching me how to ride in a group. Riding in a group obviously is different from
riding solo, but it’s also very different from racing in a group. The point of a group ride is to be smooth,
consistent, and predictable so that the group can stay together, except when
there’s a designated attack zone. For
example, if you want to ride well together as a group, the front riders on the
double pace line generally should exert less effort on the uphills and more
effort on the downhills. This might seem
counterintuitive (and is opposite to race strategy), but it keeps the effort of
the group more constant.
One training technique that we use during PP rides is
rotations. During rotations, the double
paceline moves continuously in a counterclockwise direction. When a rider on the right (closer to the
white line) reaches the front, he/she moves to the left as soon as he/she
clears the front rider on the left; he/she then begins to drift back toward the
rear of the paceline. The next rider on
the front right executes the same move.
As each rider reaches the back of the paceline on the left, he/she moves
to the right and begins pulling forward again toward the front. In this way, the paceline keeps rotating
counterclockwise. The key is to continue
doing this smoothly.
Rotations take more
effort than regular double paceline riding, which can make them hard for the
not-as-strong riders like me. I’ve done plenty of rotation drills, but on a day like yesterday
when I knew that I would need as much energy as possible, I opted to sit at the
back during rotations. If you sit at the
back, you hang out behind the rotation on the left-hand side. This isn’t as easy as lying on the sofa
eating bonbons, but it does use less energy than taking part in rotations. My original plan had been to ride with the
group until the store stop in Shiloh at about mile 57, but about half way
through rotations at about mile 40, I just couldn’t hang with the group any
longer. (The guys did rotations for
about 15 miles!) Getting dropped really
wasn’t a problem. I just wound up riding
by myself a little longer than I had planned.
I tried to keep up a decent pace while enjoying the lovely scenery on
this beautiful February day. West
central Georgia has some of the prettiest terrain in the state!
Store Stop
When I got to the store stop in Shiloh, I was pleasantly
surprised to find the guys still there:
My Peach Peloton Peeps
They left before I finished my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and
banana, but I’m glad I got to see them again before I split off on my shorter
route.
The PB&J sandwich I had packed, rather besquished after being in my jersey pocket for 57 miles
From the store the guys headed west
to ride the Pine Mountain ridge, and I went north toward Warm Springs. (Warm Springs is the home of the Little White
House, where Franklin D. Roosevelt spent much of his time when he was away from
Washington, D.C.)
Detour
There was a detour in Warm Springs due to road
construction. The route was loaded into
my Garmin bike computer, but it can be a little tricky to find the course again
if you leave it. The Garmin doesn’t show
a real map, just a depiction of your current position and any imminent turns. However, between my Garmin, the route that
Chad Madan had uploaded onto his PP blog, and the mapping app on my phone, I
got back on course. Unfortunately, I
added about two miles to my route by taking a slightly wrong turn! At least I hadn’t gone too far before I realized
that I was going north but needed to be heading east from Warm Springs.
Dogs
As much as I love dogs, they can be a real bane to
cyclists. Just ask my friend Bill
Causey, who has had two serious crashes from dogs running into him. Generally, I can tell if a dog is simply
curious, more bark than bite, or a true threat.
Fortunately, most dogs do not fall into that third category.
After I had ridden several miles on the correct road
leaving Warm Springs, I went past a house with dogs that started to chase
me. They were…killer attack
Yorkies! There were four of them. They may have even had bows in their hair. They did their best to defend their
territory, yipping and running after me for about 10 feet.
Rest Stop
I kind of have to remind myself on these centuries that it’s
not a race, particularly when I’m by myself.
So, I took a rest at about mile 75.
What a nice stop! I sat in a
grassy area by the side of the road and enjoyed the pretty view across the
road:
I also ate a Clif bar and drank some water. Hmm…I was getting kind of low on water…
Divining for Water
After another five or ten miles, I decided to get some water
at the next available opportunity.
Churches can be a good place to refill.
There are tons of churches throughout rural Georgia, usually lots more
than stores. Often churches have an
outdoor spigot. I can’t imagine the
church folks would mind giving a cup of water to a thirsty cyclist. On the few occasions I have encountered
church members when I was looking for water, they have always been extremely
gracious.
On my current quest for water, the first church I came upon
was Deliverance Tabernacle of Praise:
I
would have offered praise of my own if they had delivered on the water – but no
spigot. So, I continued on my
bicycle. After only another mile or so,
I approached Beulah Baptist Church:
Is
this not the land of Beulah? Apparently
not – they had a couple of spigots, but the water was turned off. I think this was a sign that I needed to pray for water…
After a few more miles, I saw a fire station – bingo! If they hadn’t had water, I really would have
been worried. There were two very nice
fire fighters relaxing at the station. I
asked if they had a spigot I could use.
They said that the water there had sulfur in it, and instead they gladly
offered me a cold bottle of water. Thank
you Pike County Fire Department on Highway 109!
Y’all are the best!
Do You Carrot All?
I wasn’t much of a carrot because it was a matter of when,
not if, the peloton would catch me before the end of the ride. They finally did
with about seven miles to go. I was glad
to see them regardless, but I was especially happy that it looked like I would be able to
catch onto the back for a little boost back to the parking lot. The guys were taking turns with a regular
double paceline. For the first two pairs
that pulled, everything was going fine for me.
I was very tired, but I felt like I was exerting about the same amount
of energy with the faster group as I had been by myself. Then, I was thrown into…The Stoney Grinder.
Stoney is a mo-chine of a rider. He pretty much pulverizes everyone, and I
don’t know if he even realizes it. When
he started pulling, I immediately knew he was there even though I couldn’t see
exactly who was at the front. I simply
couldn’t keep up, and I dropped off the back.
Robert (sweet husband!) stayed with me for the few remaining miles. Shortly thereafter, Chad Davies also hung
back to accompany me, too. The Georgia
Neuro Century Escort Service rides again!
Wrap Up
Yea, I made it! I was
whupped, but I was thrilled to have finished my second century in A Year of
Centuries. I rode nearly 70 miles of
that by myself, which was a big accomplishment for me. I told myself several times during yesterday’s
ride that since I made it through the long recovery period after my crash, I
could do this whole ride.
As I rode, I couldn't help but think about rate/time/distance problems (r x t = d), which are fairly common in MATHCOUNTS. Even more importantly, I also thought about all of the MATHCOUNTS
mathletes who are competing in chapter competitions during February. I hope that in the same way that I persevere
through riding and training, they will persevere through the problems they
face, whether in math or life.
P.S.
I had considered having some cycling MATHCOUNTS problems for
the guys to do at the store stop, but Robert convinced me that I’m the only one
in our group that really likes to solve math problems. Even so, here’s a fun one that I know they
all could get:
If John Cozart shows up for Tuesday Worlds, what is the
probability that he rides wearing dress socks?
100%
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