Last Weekend
Last weekend I rode up to Thurmont for "Doctor Discs Century of Centuries". It was a beautiful morning (4am) and there was enough ambient light to turn off my headlight on for large sections of the W&OD. The temperature was right where I like it when its cold outside...I traveled up 15 and hung a left to do the climb up Mountville Rd, then worked my way around the west side of Frederick, making the climb up Teen Barnes Rd. Yes, I had heard the name before, but I didn't put 2 and 2 together until I was actually on the road. It is an ultra steep, but thankfully short climb. I was supposed to make a left on Walter Martz, but after several miles of not finding my next turn, I backtracked and found that there was another left turn for Walter Martz less than 300 yards further on the road I was traveling. 300 yards, 1500 feet...My bike computer is not that accurate. Needless to say, I arrived in Thurmont late and stopped for breakfast at BK and water at Sheetz. A friendly motorist warned me that "you should start heading for home, its going to rain soon."
When I arrived at the ride start, I found that Crista had not left any cue sheets outside her vehicle, so I was left to copy the route directions to lunch and hope I could catch them there. The weather was looking so crappy that she didn't think anyone would show up. It started raining right after that as I started the climb up Sabillasville Rd. It wasn't too bad though, It would rain, then stop for awhile, my body heat would warm me back up, and then it would start raining again. Even taking a 4 mile shortcut to lunch, and skipping a rest stop, and knowing that they usually stop for 1 hour for lunch, I couldn't catch the tandem. It turns out I was about a half hour late.
I backtracked to get back to the ride start as the temperatures started dropping and the breaks between rain were getting less and less frequent. By the time I reached Blue Ridge Summit I was drenched and freezing. I called home and asked Adrienne to pick me up in Thurmont. I had two miles to go up hill and then 7 "fast" downhill miles to Thurmont. Those last 7 miles were the slowest "fast" downhill I've ever done. I don't know if my perception of time or mileage was off or what, but that just seemed to take forever. In actuality it did take over 45 minutes...45 minutes for a fast downhill? That was about 15 minutes longer than it should have taken. Weak and weary, I ordered some more grub at BK and sat around waiting for Adrienne. When I finally left the booth, there was a lake underneath me and little rivers running to other tables. We stopped at her parents house in Frederick, where I got a shower and we fed the kids. Total mileage 146 and 12 hours on the bike and around 14 hours overall.
Sunday was much better, I drove to the ride "Point Lookout Double Metric". There was an error with the cue sheet and I made a 4 mile shortcut, but after the first rest stop I drafted Chuck and Crista the whole day. It was relatively flat and at times mind-numbingly boring. Again, my perception of mileage and time seemed to be affected and I seemed to be coming down with a cold. Mileage for the day was 126 in around 8 hours. Both days were ridden in my aerobic zone; although, drafting the tandem, I was below my aerobic zone for much of the day.
BikeSebring Weather Check: Saturday Mostly Cloudy Chance of Rain High Temp: 75 Low Temp: 52. If past years are any indication this will change drastically by race day.
