My First ACP Certified Brevet
1/22/05
Paul Layton
The day started out with a light drizzle as I pulled into the start. I knew I shouldn't have pulled those fenders off! Now I have jinxed everybody! It soon stopped however, due to one of the other riders still having his fenders on I am sure. I was soon to become acquainted with how complacent I had become towards these rides. I made several errors during the day, but had enough luck to pull me through decently.
The Brevet started at 7:00 AM in the early twilight so I left one headlight on and both taillights. I started out with the lead group heading out and even pulled for a few miles before we got over to the highway. The group seemed to be a lot bigger than in November. Anyway, I managed to stay with the lead group until someone at the front ratcheted us up to 22 mph and I started to feel a little stretched. After we topped the overpass and started heading up the hill I was feeling a lot stretched and dropped off the back. I don't mind riding this first section alone as the rocky hills are quite beautiful and they were particularly beautiful this morning. I rolled into the first control just as the last of the first group were leaving. After chatting with Susan for a bit about my homemade framebag I am trying out (needed someway to get my camelback off my back as I get a soreback really easy) I headed out onto state route 87. The farms had a misty haze over them that made one want to break out into the opening song of Oklahoma. I finished the first half pretty good but think I pushed it a little too hard. I felt much weaker today than I had in November for some reason.
At the second control I just refilled water (there was a line for the bathroom, luckily I had helped out some oleanders earlier). Mixed more Cytomax, and I was off. I hadn't gone far when my brake made a funny noise and the bike slowed. Upon closer inspection my drink tube had fallen into the wheel and the bite valve was gone! Well, I followed the drops of water back to where the bite valve was and retrieved it. At this point I was passed by a nice cyclist from Colorado who had been left behind by his group at a light. I decided I was going to tuck into the aero-bars and pass him. Anyway, I did pass him but hadn't gone 3 miles before the headwind started to slow me up and my legs started to go weak again and he caught me. We decided to ride together (which was a very lucky break for me). I thought he saw me ease up and so he caught up thinking I was slowing for him (yeah, that was it, yeah, I was slowing for him, not because I was getting tired!). Anyway, I have to say I did a lot more wheel sucking that pulling but did my best to maintain speed when I did pull. My legs just weren't cooperating today. In any case it was very nice to have someone to talk to particularly after we left the valleys and mountains behind and headed out into the long slog into the middle of nowhere (well, there is a water tower at the turn around but that is about it).
At the turnaround I made the second mistake of the day, I ate way too much. Now I have to say that one of the things I like most about bicycling is it allows me to eat, and I really like to eat. Unfortunately, I consumed to much for my stomach to handle efficiently (combined with the cytomax) and it really dinged me on the way back.
On the way back we picked up a real nice guy on a recumbent and proceeded as a threesome with me sucking wheel mostly. I did pull some but it was never long before someone else moved to the front as I had a real hard time maintaining speed. When we reached the big valley in front of Chuichu hill I slid into the aero-bars and pulled us down into the valley and up the other side. It was nice to be able to use those aerobars for something other than slicing headwinds. That was the last time I pulled until the very end. We kept good pace from the top of Chuichu hill hitting 20 often. As we finally pulled into town I was feeling bad about all the dragging I had been doing and since I knew the last couple of turns I said I could smell the barn and I could pull into town. The funny thing is that I had my mileage turned off on my computer and didn't know that we were only like a 1/2 mile from the finish and I felt really stupid as the railroad tracks came into view like 10 seconds after I said that. Anyway, good but tiring ride. My legs were totally spent crossing I-10 just before town.
A couple of things I learned on this ride. First one is take it easy on the first half (I always knew this but seem to have forgotten lately). Second, treat your week of tapering as sacred. Third, don't overdo the calories no matter how good the lunch is! Lastly, never discount the value and help of a good couple of riders you meet along the way.