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rbent Forum
https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl General Category >> Ride Reports >> LSR Italy Brevets https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl?num=1261274421 Message started by Bud_Bent on Dec 19th, 2009, 8:00pm |
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Title: LSR Italy Brevets Post by Bud_Bent on Dec 19th, 2009, 8:00pm LSR hosted 200k and 300k brevets out of Italy today. I took off with everyone at 7:00 am to ride the 200k. Rumors about other recumbent riders showing up were greatly exaggerated. Bryan and Shellene were the only other recumbent riders I saw. It was 40 degrees with the north wind already blowing at start time, and I struggled to keep my fingers warm, even with chemical packs inside my glove covers. I ended up with a group that included Val, Robin, Vicky, Mark Thomas, Gary, and Charlie. It was a nice tailwind and we made great time on this part of the ride with very little effort. In our group, only Charlie and I were riding the 200k, so everyone else stopped at the Mexia control while Charlie and I headed on to Groesbeck. We caught Debbie Breaud on the way to Groesbeck, and joined her. I made it to Goesbeck, almost the halfway point at mile 63, in less than four hours, with an 18.0 mph average. That dropped quickly once I left Groesbeck, though. The remaining 68 miles were mostly against the north wind. And the further we got from Groesbeck, the harder the wind blew. By the time we got to Dixie's at mile 93, I was fading fast. Bryan and Shellene were still at Dixie's when we arrived. Shellene left right after we got there, but Bryan, having knee issues, joined us for a slower pace finish. The Dixie's stop seemed to rejuvenate me for a little while, but by the time we turned straight into the wind on FM 308 at mile 101, I was slowing down again. It wasn't long before I was just turning the pedals. And just turning the pedals against this kind of head wind will get you nowhere fast. It ended up being one of those rides where I made pretty good time for 80 miles or so, then just seemed to pedal forever to ride the last 50 miles. Somewhere along the way, Bryan started feeling better, and I watched him disappear off into the distance in front of me. The temperature really started dropping on the last part of the ride, and my toes got cold. The insole chemical pack I was trying out worked well, but like me, faded before the ride was over. I did manage to eventually pedal myself back into Italy. I ended up with 131.5 miles, with an overall time of 9:45, finishing at 4:45 pm. After a seriously unhealthy dinner at the Grandy's inside the last control with Bryan and Shellene, I called it a day and headed home, a seriously tired camper. It's funny how often these long rides end up being tougher than you thought they would be. Good job, Bryan and Shellene! |
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Title: Re: LSR Italy Brevets Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Dec 21st, 2009, 9:07am Bud, you didn't think coming back north against a cold wind for 60+ miles was going to be a tough ride??? Liar.... Glad you finished in daylight!!!!! |
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Title: Re: LSR Italy Brevets Post by jcsadowski on Dec 21st, 2009, 9:24am Quote:
Good point there. |
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Title: Re: LSR Italy Brevets Post by Bud_Bent on Dec 21st, 2009, 6:18pm FlyingLaZBoy wrote:
Perhaps your forecast was different than mine. We always have to guess when to believe a forecast and when not to. Mine said sunny, 50 something degrees, with moderate winds. That's not bad riding weather. But the wind blew harder than advertised, and Italy is a very open route, which really catches the wind. So yes, it was tougher than I expected. We randonneurs tend to be adventurous souls anyway, figuring we can conquer all. Those hills of The Texas Time Trials weren't tougher than you thought they'd be? That 200k we rode in July wasn't tougher than you expected? My best clue about what was coming on Saturday was probably when Steve and Peggy didn't show up. They'd ridden this route with a north wind before; I hadn't. But I had extra incentive to ride this past weekend, anyway. On Sunday, I officially became a two year lung cancer survivor. Doing a 131 mile ride the day before was my own little way of celebrating. |
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Title: Re: LSR Italy Brevets Post by jcsadowski on Dec 21st, 2009, 9:39pm Quote:
Yes definitely worth celebrating. Congratulations. |
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Title: Re: LSR Italy Brevets Post by shellenefoster on Dec 22nd, 2009, 12:35pm Huge Congratulations to Bud! He rode great on Saturday. Everytime we turned around, there was Bud with a smile on his face :D The plan for Bryan and I had been to ride easy and save his knee. Of course, in the first few miles, he had to red line it and go to catch Mark Metcalfe. That gave me room to play as well, so I had fun catching up to Steve Gray and Rani Freeman who had teamed up on the tandem for the day. They were riding GREAT! However, most of the riders out that day were not interested in slamming it, so we took our time at the controls and were able bring Pat Nolan into our little band of riders. This little group rode together until somewhere between Groesbeck and Dixies in Mount Calm. In that section, Bryan's knee really started bothering him and he requested that I go ahead so that I could drive backwards on the course to check on him when I finished. You can tell how wary we all are of knee troubles now! Luckily, Bryan found that if he scooted forward in his seat, the knee pain was aleviated, so with his speed he finished close behind the rest of our little group. Bud and the rest of his group finished very close behind Bryan. We had a great calorie restocking at Grandy's! It was fun to get to eat with Bud, but we weren't polite enough to wait for him. Something about feeling like you are gonna pass out if you don't eat.... I ate one of my mashed potato servings and a piece of chicken before Bud was able to get his food, but that still left a piece of chicken and my other serving of mashed potatoes. Isn't this the real reason for riding? You get to feel justified in eating this way at least one day out of each week ;) For any rider wanting a 60 mile ride on New Year's Day, there is a populaire starting in Arlington. You don't have to be a member of anything, you only have to show up and ride. Here's the details: Ride Start: Dan's House, 2811 Hollywood Drive, Arlington, TX 76013 Start Time: 10 am Post Ride Party (food lots of food) at the Start/Finish. Let us know if you want to come! |
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Title: Re: LSR Italy Brevets Post by aikigreg on Dec 22nd, 2009, 7:03pm Well, Alexis came and surprised me with a night out including a play, so thre was no way I was going to make it back from Italy. Ended up doing a short ride here and didn't enjoy it much. Like Bud said, the wind was killer and I rode the x-stream. Had a crappy flat on those miserable kenda tires and realized I had left the pump in my carbent bag. Had to call Alexis to come get me 2.8 miles from home. When I got home I discovered I'd left a glove at the site of my tire change and of course it's no longer there. Ah well! |
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