There were multiple times during the Katy Flatland century ride yesterday where I could easily have said "You know something? There is absolutely no reason I should be suffering through this heat and humidity..." - I could easily have called it a day and been done with whatever number of miles I had completed. It was hot, it was humid, it was windy. BUT it was the first 100-miler since the bike wreck in Galveston during the Half-Iron, and I wasn't about to let Mother Nature win this one! (Thanks, Maddie, for that little bit of mental reinforcement.)
100 miles ridden in 5 hours and 17 minutes... not my fastest, but I was okay with it, given the elements. I didn't manage to keep the higher average from the first half (almost 23, versus a 18.93 average overall) going all through the second half of the ride, but I had acknowledged that would happen eventually from the outset, given my 2 previous Katy ride experiences. For the first 30-40 miles, there are a LOT of people to contend with, many of which will drop off because they are riding the shorter distances which all progressively break off to different routes somewhere in the ride. With all those people, it is difficult to get into the aero bars and really focus on triathlon biking. I ended up riding with a group of about 10-12 other riders for most of the first 40 miles. We were pushing the horsepower a bit and not stopping at the first couple of aid stations, but I was okay with that; I needed the workout, even if it was handed to me by strangers, and it got me out in front of a lot of other riders so I could get into the aeros (and alone) and mentally in tri-mode a lot sooner in the ride.
So up and down, in and out of the aeros for 50 miles or so. About then, one of the guys in the pace line that had wrapped itself around me said "Keep an eye on those aero bars in our pace line." OK, whatever, dude - your pace line, your rules, but remember I was here first? And right after him, one of his guys who I had talked with a couple of times during the earlier miles, came up next to me and said "Yeah, he is one of those --- we think the same thing!" That was okay with me; I was ready to get the tri thing going, so as soon as we crossed over I-10 in Sealy, I let them take off so I could get some space, settled into the aeros and cranked away. I passed a few singles and exchanged a few niceties along the way. From about mile 65 to mile 80 the route is on back roads in the country. I really think over the last 3 years I have seen these roads get progressively worse. I felt like this was worse than the 3 miles of chip seal going into Sealy, but since they are back roads, I don't expect the county will do anything about them.
Coming out of the aid station at mile 80, I heard "I am on your wheel - if that's okay, Mr. TriAthaleeete". I laughed and told him that was fine with me as long as he was prepared for a slow ride. There were apparently 2 bikes there, and after about 5 minutes, I got "Are you planning on letting us pull for a bit?" so I told him I would be happy to oblige. The wind had really picked up right after we left the mile 80 stop. I dropped off to the left and let them roll by, and only then realized we had picked up a tandem and another bike in the process. We ended up doing a 1minute30sec rolling pace line so nobody was fighting the worst of the ride, and I stayed up out of the aeros whenever I was in front. This lasted for about 8 miles, until we made a turn and two of the riders fell off. We had been pushing a 19mph average through the pace line, but I backed off and rode a few minutes with a guy that had started struggling a mile or so earlier.
The route was changed from mile 85 to mile 94. We went past the turn that used to be part of the route to another road that went into Brookshire-Royal, making the last aid station at one of the Royal schools 13 miles from the finish. I stopped only long enough to refill my bottles (which I did a lot of, considering the heat and humidity) and was disappointed they didn't have watermelon at this last stop as they have in the past (nothing like ice cold watermelon to finish off the ride with) - I was ready to be done with this. So back into the saddle and headed for Katy-Hockley Road for the long home stretch. This was the busiest part of the entire ride, traffic-wise, but all but one driver were very courteous and gave us plenty of room. There were a few riders I went by that were really past the point of being done, and you could watch them as you came up behind them, wandering back and forth across the lane.
The plan was to run 30 minutes after getting off the bike, but I only managed 15 minutes or so before the legs and feet were screaming. So I finished off with walking and drinking more fluids. I wondered if I had stopped drinking late in the ride instead of keeping the hydration up. Lessons learned...
The ride organizers offered chopped beef sandwiches or veggie burgers post-ride. The veggie burgers were good, but I think they needed a bit more time on the grill. A big glass of lemonade, more water and a snow cone definitely helped.
I think of all 3 years, this was the best support effort I have seen. I actually met the aid station coordinator at the post-ride meal, and told him how much I appreciated the fact that every aid station I stopped at had multiple flavors of Gatorade mixed, and that they didn't make it too strong. While I had my Infinit for the ride, I decided to change one of the three bottles to the blue Gatorade. I would go back and forth between the Gatorade and the Infinit, and it was very refreshing. Plus, they never ran out of ice! Kudos to the volunteers and the Boy Scouts - well done!
Coming out of the aid station at mile 80, I heard "I am on your wheel - if that's okay, Mr. TriAthaleeete". I laughed and told him that was fine with me as long as he was prepared for a slow ride. There were apparently 2 bikes there, and after about 5 minutes, I got "Are you planning on letting us pull for a bit?" so I told him I would be happy to oblige. The wind had really picked up right after we left the mile 80 stop. I dropped off to the left and let them roll by, and only then realized we had picked up a tandem and another bike in the process. We ended up doing a 1minute30sec rolling pace line so nobody was fighting the worst of the ride, and I stayed up out of the aeros whenever I was in front. This lasted for about 8 miles, until we made a turn and two of the riders fell off. We had been pushing a 19mph average through the pace line, but I backed off and rode a few minutes with a guy that had started struggling a mile or so earlier.
The route was changed from mile 85 to mile 94. We went past the turn that used to be part of the route to another road that went into Brookshire-Royal, making the last aid station at one of the Royal schools 13 miles from the finish. I stopped only long enough to refill my bottles (which I did a lot of, considering the heat and humidity) and was disappointed they didn't have watermelon at this last stop as they have in the past (nothing like ice cold watermelon to finish off the ride with) - I was ready to be done with this. So back into the saddle and headed for Katy-Hockley Road for the long home stretch. This was the busiest part of the entire ride, traffic-wise, but all but one driver were very courteous and gave us plenty of room. There were a few riders I went by that were really past the point of being done, and you could watch them as you came up behind them, wandering back and forth across the lane.
The plan was to run 30 minutes after getting off the bike, but I only managed 15 minutes or so before the legs and feet were screaming. So I finished off with walking and drinking more fluids. I wondered if I had stopped drinking late in the ride instead of keeping the hydration up. Lessons learned...
The ride organizers offered chopped beef sandwiches or veggie burgers post-ride. The veggie burgers were good, but I think they needed a bit more time on the grill. A big glass of lemonade, more water and a snow cone definitely helped.
I think of all 3 years, this was the best support effort I have seen. I actually met the aid station coordinator at the post-ride meal, and told him how much I appreciated the fact that every aid station I stopped at had multiple flavors of Gatorade mixed, and that they didn't make it too strong. While I had my Infinit for the ride, I decided to change one of the three bottles to the blue Gatorade. I would go back and forth between the Gatorade and the Infinit, and it was very refreshing. Plus, they never ran out of ice! Kudos to the volunteers and the Boy Scouts - well done!
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