My First Brevet
11/13/04
Paul Layton
Well, I had been monitoring RUSA’s website for about a year and had even joined when I saw the start of their Permanent program come out. I had not joined earlier as there were no events in Arizona other than the Pac Tour and I am not currently in the position to afford that right now. So I started working on a permanent so I could have a go at completing a double century and get some sort of credit or recognition for it somewhere (if I am going to sit in the seat that long I want some credit!). About the time I was entering the finishing stages of organizing the permanent I was browsing the RUSA website and noticed a new RBA for Arizona. Of course having an RBA likely means Brevets as well and I went right to the new website to see what was up. Sure enough there was a Brevet series scheduled for 2005 and an introductory 200k in November of 2004.
After much anticipation and many commuting miles later I found myself at the start of a 200k Brevet starting in Casa Grande Arizona. There were around 15 cyclists getting ready to ride and I joined them in my preparations and soon we were all lined up with our Brevet cards and bicycles at the edge of the street waiting for Susan Plonsky (our RBA) to start us. We followed her out to the edge of town and I stayed with the front group for about seven miles when they dropped me at the corner of McCartney and Az387. I had been expecting that as the 22-25 mph pace they were setting (on a slight uphill grade) was just a tad out of my zone and I knew if I was going to: 1-enjoy this ride and 2- finish without excessive pain, I would need to fall behind at some point so I let them go. It was at this point I really started to notice the beautiful country and after crossing I-10, enjoy the steady climb to the pass in the Sacaton Mountains before dropping down to the first control. I descended the other side of the pass at around 30 mph and heard something flap out of my pocket just as I was getting into the thrill of the wind in my face. Sure enough it was my Brevet card. So 2 minutes later I was again enjoying the thrill of the wind in my face with my recovered Brevet card in a zipped pocket. The descent quickly came to an end and I rolled into the first control and had Susan stamp my Card. It seemed like we just saw Susan back on McCartney road where she stopped leading the pack out of town, must be a shortcut up here. Anyway, I was feeling good and headed out without stocking up on supplies as it was a chilly morning and I was not consuming water very fast. I quickly found Skousen rd and took a right down through Coolidge (I will never get over the thrill of traveling between towns by bike, I just like the feeling that I can go anywhere under my own power I guess). After a few more turns I was on Woodruff heading through some more small hills. Had no idea these areas existed before the ride. I had always seen signs for Central Arizona College around this area but had no idea where it actually was as it is kind of out in the sticks so to speak. I saw lots of Cotton farmers harvesting cotton on this segment returning to Coolidge. The wonderful thing about these rides is the opportunity to see things in a way you just miss in a car. The smells (well, I can skip the dairy farm smell), the feel of the wind (light wind…..light wind….please stay light!), and the sounds that surround you when on a bike (excluding the guy who keeps honking at you every time he passes you of course). After crossing I-10 again the route took me back into Casa Grand and the start doubled as the second control. There's Susan again. Hmmm, this is getting a little like the hitchhiker as I haven’t seen her pass anywhere. I am still feeling good so I take advantage of the facilities and refill my water. At this point I was mentally ahead of myself thinking in terms of controls and not distance and mentally placed myself halfway instead of a third of the way done and I didn’t top off my fuel bottle with perpetuem. Before I can do anything the gentlemen at the control asks for my card which he stamps. Pretty cool.
Heading out of the control I make several turns and then cross the railroad. No sooner did I cross the tracks then I hear the sound every bike commuter loves to hear, train crossing bells dinging BEHIND him/her. From here I headed out down chiuchu road into the reservation. I have to say this stretch I started to wear down a bit, partially because it was here that I started to realize that the 34 miles to the next control that I had mentally pictured actually didn’t start until I got to the edge of the reservation, seven miles out. So, in reality I had two 42 mile legs left. There was a bizaare person in a little Suzuki car that kept passing me (why he kept passing me is a mystery) but he would lay on the horn everytime. It got a little annoying. Fortunately there was a club of Classic cars that was coming the other direction. Everyone of them waved at me and the man in the 20’s era police car turned his siren on and waved. It was really cool. Also cool were the volcanic hills that rose black above the desert and turned the desert red all around them. I can imagine the rocks falling all around the cactus and bushes thousands of years ago. Anyway, among all this cool scenery was one of the smoothest roads I have ridden in Arizona. I was amazed that ADOT (Arizona Department of Transportation) had not included this on their bicycle suitability map! I mean, wide shoulders, smooth pavement, low traffic! It was a beautiful thing. Soon my legs were not feeling so beautiful though. I was now bordering on 80 miles of pedaling on my own and I was starting to feel a little tired. I suppose the fact that the last 40 miles held to a 1% grade up and a headwind hadn’t helped any either. Anyway, I reached down for my bottle and noticed one swallow of perpetuom left. I downed it and hoped I would hit the turn-around soon. I hadn’t seen the lead group yet and was wondering how far it was. I had plenty of water so I wasn’t in too bad shape as I had extra perpeteum in my back pocket but it would have been a better plan to top off at the last control. Luckily it was about this time I saw them pass me and I was only 6 miles from the turn around I figured. I saw a water tower in the distance and figured that was the turn-around. Sure enough there was Susan. I knew she was going to be there though as I had seen her pass over an hour before.
I took full advantage of this control to fill up on food water and a brownie or two before heading back. A few other people pulled up after a few minutes and after I started back one of them followed me. He was on a nice bike that looked like a titanium version of a softride. I wondered to myself how much all those aerodynamics really helped as we talked (I eventually found out on the first big down hill grade as I slipped behind). Our conversation helped the next 20 miles to just melt away as we cruised back to Casa Grande, of course he eventually pulled ahead as he could glide at a good speed without even pedaling and I fell behind. He later told me he didn’t even know I had fallen back. Anyway, mental note to self, get some aero bars before the big rides. It wasn’t too long until I was slogging along alone in the creosote, mesquite, saguaro, and other desert foliage next to the road.
Just when I was pondering dropping the pace a bit and was thinking how tired I was I spotted something in my rearview mirror. Could it be a paceline? As they passed me a lady said hop on. Not needing to be asked twice I greedily latched onto the back wheel of the last rider. I tell you that when you are fresh having a paceline is nice, but when you are tired there is nothing better than pulling into a good slipstream. I felt my spirits rise and enjoyed the group. It seemed to me they were a pretty laid back crew as they worked to keep a pace everyone was comfortable with and some took extra turns without complaining. I was getting ready to take my turn when we pulled into town. I hope I can hook up with them in January and return the favor.
All in all it was a great ride. I think next time, rather than focus on staying with the lead group I will try and find some of the people in this last group or David (the guy on the Titanium bike) as they were a friendly group and I imagine the ride would have been much more enjoyable without as many tired moments due to having to go it alone. Not that there isn’t a place for that zen feeling you get from being alone with your bike, out in the desert, on a highway in the middle of nowhere, buzzing along like a fine tuned machine with the wind rushing through your helmet.