Gentle Start 200K Ride Report: May 14, 2003
Fast and Fun
Today's ride could have indeed been a gentle start if, this where really the start of the season, and if I had chosen to ride a more relaxed pace. However, since I have already ridden two brevets prior to this one, and my decision to stay with the fast group, this ride was neither a gentle nor a start.
Today's ride wasn't much for conversation, omnivorous delights, or scenery as I spent a great deal of time well above my lactic acid threshold and the bulk of my concentration was spent either maintaining my rhythm while pulling, or trying to avoid getting sucked into the wheel of the guy in front of me. Thankfully there were many memorable moments along the ride.
It all began early in the morning. Once I got my act together and stumbled out of the house at an hour that I normally reserve for sleeping, I was delighted to find that there was next to no traffic, or wind, or daylight. The ample street lighting was enough to guide my way along roads that at almost any other time of day would be choked with traffic. Unfortunately, there were a few burnt-out streetlights here and there, and you guessed it, there was a rather large pothole lurking in the dark. I managed to see it, but it was too late as I was futzing with my light to better point it in the right spot. Three of my four water bottles were ejected from my bike and the caps from two of them were completely destroyed by the impact as I was going quite fast at the time.
I rolled into - you guessed it - Tim Horton's (will wonders never cease?) in the Erin Mills mall at about 5:32 AM. There were already 3 other bikes out front and Alan remarked, "Well itâs about time you got here!"
As other riders arrived, and we had once again applied the necessary dosage of bagels, muffins, and coffee we began to mount our trusty steeds. It was less than three turns and five minutes into the ride when I found myself up front taking a big pull. Almost immediately after establishing the rhythm and desired heart rate for this early in the ride, I heard Marilyn comment, "Can you ease off about 1 kph? This is the part of the ride where we are supposed to talk!"
"Talk? What the heck do you want to do that for?" I replied. I did ease off a little, but evidently it was not enough, as when I dropped off the front 10 km later to take a breather I noticed that from the original 15 riders, I was now only riding with seven.
I continued to ride with the Mark Hopper/Scott Chisholm train for the rest of the day, putting in pulls when either Mark or Scott peeled off the front. Strangely enough, we always seemed to go 5 kph faster when either Scott or Mark was on the front.
As we arrived at the second control marked ãLunchä on the route sheet, it wasn't even time for morning tea. It wasn't even 10 am, and the place designated as the control wasn't open yet. Thankfully the Mr. Sub sandwich store right next to it was just opening for the day and we stopped there to get our cards signed, replenish fluids, and have a snack.
At about 170 km into the ride, the Mark and Scott train had now fizzled to two riders. Tony Kaduk and myself had run out of gas pretty much at the same time. We lost contact with Mark and Scott and didn't want to risk digging into what little reserve we had left to reconnect. It almost seemed like Mark and Scott were just teasing us as they were only about 100 meters in front, but not disappearing into the distance as they normally do. Thankfully we were only five km away from the Bruce Trail Eatery and we were able to bridge the gap without as much effort as I would have expected.
At the eatery, I opted for a brownie, a butter tart, and a half-litre of chocolate milk. I also drank a can of a "meal-in-a-can." but the combination of the butter tart and the chocolate milk really hit home. I will definitely be stocking up on butter tarts for future rides! The rest of the ride was just as fast, or faster than any other portion of the ride. We rolled back into the Tims at 2:40 pm. Which gives us an 8:40 Brevet time. I checked my computer when I finally got home and I noticed that the time spent in control stops totaled just over an hour. I went straight to the Wendy's for the "Largest order of French-fries you have please." And proceeded to douse them with a liberal helping of ketchup.
Don Magie was gracious to offer me a ride somewhat eastward to cut a few km of my return home. I'm thankful for the ride, but I'm not so sure it helped, as the extra few minutes in the comfortable chair were just enough to convince my body that today"s ride was over. Needless to say, the return from Mississauga was a bit of a struggle.
All in all, today was a great ride. But, I will enjoy the next few brevets at a much more relaxed pace.
by Cameron Ogilvie