When driving out to the
East Coast for nursing school my dad and I were planning on driving Skyline
Drive, unfortunately we were running short on time, and decided to skip that
attraction.
Spring finals wrapped up last
week, and I took the opportunity to visit the park via bicycle.
Skyline Drive is 105
miles long built over the course of 8 years from 1931 to 1938; it was commissioned through
the Work Projects Administration, part of the New Deal agency. There is a lot of
good stuff about the park and the drive, like the views and the wildlife. You
can go there yourself, or look it up online.. I am pretty tired and I would
rather tell you why I am so tired.
Today was the first day
of the Amgen Tour of California; stage one was 102 miles with 11,100ft of
climbing. I figured I would give something similar a shot. My ride along
Skyline Drive was 100 miles with 10,200ft of climbing. The professionals are
MUCH MUCH better than I am. The winner took the yellow jersey in 4:31:23. It
took me almost three hours longer to cover less distance, less vertical feet,
and in cooler weather. They averaged around 22.5mph where as I was around
14mph. Making the jump from a 50-mile ride last week, to a 100-mile ride this
week may have not been my brightest idea. You can see the details of the ride at the link below.
Riding a bike for hours
at a time is bound to create some issues. My yard sale find from 05’ or 06’ has
treated me very well, however I am beginning to wonder if it is not quite the
best fit for me; at times my back, neck, and arms were hurting just as much as my legs. Wearing my camelbak may not have helped the situation either; it was
full of over 2L of water, two spare tubes, a hand pump, patch kits, tire irons,
food, phone, camera, more food, wallet, keys, and plenty of bike tools.
My mom has been fortunate
to attend the Sea Otter Classic over the past few years. She has been a
competitor, a volunteer, and lately worked a booth in the vendor’s section for
Mt. Hermon Redwood Canopy Tours.
 |
| Pretty crazy weekend of racing. |
Not only does she have a
great time while there, she is also great at getting free goodies and bargain
deals. I was grateful for this care package she sent me, and took most of it
with me on the ride.
 |
| The only things that did not come with me on the ride was the hat and the sticker. |
The ride did confirm one
thing for me: A pair of good shorts or bibs with a good chamois is important.
The pervious two weeks I had been having some chaffing issues down under and I wasn’t sure
if it was due to my saddle, ridding in the rain, or wearing hand-me-down shorts
that I have no idea how old they are. I figured that it was worth spending the
money and buying a bit of new riding gear. I wasn’t sure what to get, so I read
up about bibs vs. shorts.
I got some bib shorts,
and they worked out marvelously; where as before I was having trouble with
30mile rides, I had no issues on this 7-hour ride. Well that is not exactly
true… Bibs are kind of like wearing a onesie with a dipper, expect you can’t
use that diaper… going to the bathroom can be a challenge.
My friends often ask me
what I think about when I go for these long rides or runs. I never seem to have
good answers, so this ride I spent some time thinking about what I was thinking
about. I realized that I don’t have too many profound thoughts when riding my bike;
here are some that I remember:
“I wonder if I am going
out too hard?”
“Why did I pick this for
my first century ride?”
“That’s a nice view.”
“I’ve only gone 8 miles?!
This is going to be a long day.”
“Oh my Lord, these
sunglasses seem to drain all the sweat from my face straight into my left eye.”
“Hughes River Gap, hey I
know the Hughes.”
“I think I can go
downhill faster if I tuck rather than pedal, ooh, careful, speed wobbles.”
 |
| Heinrich Haussler probably going much faster than me. |
“Shut up legs!” –Jens
Voigt
Side note, here are a few
more funny ones from him:
-
If it hurts me, it
must hurt the other ones twice as much
-
Maybe they just think
I am a pretty face
-
No, I do not accept
defeat here. I do not accept this
-
Shut up legs! Do what
I tell you to do
-
Of course I am blessed
with a little bit of talent
-
Oh, you poor thing,
you’ve got no chance, you’re already beaten
-
You’re all beaten; I
am just laughing at you
-
I get paid to hurt
other people, how good is that?
-
You have got to be as
insane as the insanity around you
-
In the hierarchy of
the family, I’m just above the dog. But I like it that way
-
Having things
organized is for small-minded people. Genius controls chaos
-
Oh man, it’s going to
take days to kill all these people
-
While I’m not very
talented at cooking, I am very talented at eating.
-
I am confident that
when I get really old, the human lifespan will be extended
-
Everybody has to
suffer, suffer, suffer until they’ve all had enough
-
Every time I race, I
will race so fiercely my legs cry
-
I get paid to inflict
pain and terror, for other people!
-
If you go (with a
break), you can either win or not win. If you don't go for it, you definitely
won't win
-
I'll burn, I'm ready
to die for you on the bike
-
Cycling is not rocket
science
And here are some more:
Ok back to my thoughts:
“Oohh, 30miles out, I
could turn around now, that is respectable.”
“45 miles out, ooh I’vs got
it now.”
“Halfway there, and my
legs are shaking, what was I thinking..”
 |
| It was both encouraging and discouraging to have these every mile. |
“There are no lights in
this tunnel, I can’t see anything.”
 |
| It was fine on the way down because I was going around 30mph, but it was sketchy on the way up, especially when cars didn't use their headlights. |
“I haven’t gone pee since
I this morning, I wonder if my urine output is less than 30ml/hour… that
wouldn’t be good.. I better check that when I get home.” (I did, it was 725ml
for 10hr)
So as I got more tired my
thoughts shifted from G rated to PG-13 or R, I wont repeat them here, but if
you want to you can add a few choice vulgar expletives to the these last few
thoughts.
“Where is the end of this
hill?”
“Why isn’t the road
smoother?”
“Wind really?! Really?”
“Where is the down hill,
there is suppose to be down hill now.”
“I am never going to do
this again.”
“Y’all can just wait
behind me, I doubt you would be taking these corners any faster.”
“Hey there is the car,
that wasn’t so bad now was it?”
I don’t know when or if I
will ever get around to doing something like this again, but I think I enjoyed
it in the end.
