Well... Anyone who was there will tell you... This had to be the coldest one ever... Unique in many aspects... They offered the 62mile option... Ya, Ya, I know I wanted to do the 62, but after settling in and seeing the gap, I figured I wanted to finish at a reasonable time and opted for the 52. Even with the 52 you ride some sections twice, doing the 62 would of required a Lil more backtracking. I sat there and contemplated it, but then I said, Nah, Imma go for the 52 and stick a feather in my cap and call it macaroni...
The eve before was anti climactic. I was not that pumped up, not that psyched, not that excited. Rob Roberts was down right giddy. Seriously, I believe I heard him giggle a couple of times. Regardless, the morning of the rise was steady, the packing was done briefly and we rolled out at 545am heading towards the NORTH. On the way there we encountered seemingly microscopic pieces of ice falling from the sky. WE could hear them pelting the car, and we could feel them if we stuck our arms out the windows, but you couldn't really see them even in the headlights...
I believe they call this SNOW around here. And if this is SNOW, then I cant wait till I encounter the real thing, LOL...
WE got there on time, and boy was it chilly... I met a guy who follows the Blog, John, I hope I remember his name right. Met several Blog readers that morning and it always makes me feel real good to see that somehow these people found my annoying musings entertaining and read it and appreciate the work I am doing with all these dirty ambitions. I leaked to him the Transflorida, which I just leaked to everyone, that's right folks. Dirty from coast to coast... It can be done and were doing it...
Anyhow, got suited up, got our stuff together and we rolled out. For a good part of the morning I felt like the domestique. I set pace for a while, then after several miles, the boys took the front, and then after they waited for me at lunch for lord knows how long, I told them to hammer on without me. Truth be told, I had found my groove, and I felt good with it, and I would have just hurt myself trying to keep up. The last time I touched a bike was 3 weeks ago, when I took the fixie out Christmas day? And before that was the Huracan attempt. I tell you what, If I was to ride more and prepare better I could probably be a threat to these fast boys and gals around here. Cause for the first couple of hours all we did was absorb people and get to the front of the group.
Eventually, as always, I was alone and I was OK with it. I was enjoying. With the exception of my toes, and my nose, I felt fine. Wool is probably the most miraculous Organic material for cold weather managing that I have ever used. The only problem with being alone sometimes is that you think. So I spent a lot of time thinking about a certain someone that I don't need to devote so much thought too any longer. And, although I avoided sadness, there were some close moments there.
Eventually I settled into my pack. I would pass a group of people or guys, they would pass me and back and forth, till we were close to the end and I was happy O so happy to get out of these clothes and get warm.
With 2 miles left, MK, who had ridden the longer route, caught me, (damn) so I actually picked up the pace to avoid getting caught by Rob Roberts, who had also taken the longer route. After all my strategy for taking the traditional route was so that they would not have to wait for me or vice a versa.
The ride ended, I got my shirt, we got changed and we left. Rob Roberts was shivering Like I have never seen and it took a little bit of time in the car before he warmed up. Felt bad, cause I fell right asleep after we ate dinner and headed towards Clermont. But Rob, is the man and he held it together. Boy, it was a whole different amount of calorie burn, riding, climbing and staying warm.
I have not pulled the official GPS file, BUT, I started at 817am, ended at 326pm, rode 52 miles. Major props to the Felasco crew for accurate mileage numbers. In the past, they tell you this far to here or this far to the finish and its more mythology then reality, not the case this time. Countdowns help me when motivation is low and when they said, it was this far, it indeed was. I dig that. Accurate numbers, the other rides should take notes on this.
Well, I got the Ididaride next, in two weeks, and then I am going to go out and attempt to conquer the Huracan, I am betting dimes to donuts that were going to be cold for the rest of the month, boy am I going to miss those $60 electric bills.
Good ride, Super cold, but We did the work...
Take Care,
Laters,
The NaKeD InDiaN
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