Bike MS Day #1 Recap

Well, I had a very restless night the night before Day #1 of the Bike MS event. But that always happens before a big ride.  We had a team dinner at the Olive Garden in Lewisville (carb-loading) that ran late into the night.  When I got home, I was so tired from running around all day that I didn’t pack until Saturday morning.  I awoke at 3:30 like any abnormal person would do (yeah right, everyone is still asleep).  I packed my Saturday night sleepwear, my post-ride wear and shower stuff.  I packed my blanket and pillow and then realized I had not frozen my camelback the night before.  I opted instead for two water bottles of which I filled one with water and the second one with Gatorade.   I packed a baggie of bars, sport legs pills, and gum.  I packed another two empty snack-size baggies for my cell phone and camera.  I wrapped my signed bandana around my never-used seat bag with spare tubes, levers, and allen wrench.  No, I don’t carry CO2 cartridges. They scare me.  I instead have a hand pump (never used either).

The Denton team riders met at The Bicycle Path (bicycle shop) and loaded up the van with all the bikes, riders, and equipment.  My husband took all the remaining camping gear in our truck.  We headed to Frisco.  As we drove into the east, we could see a beautiful lightning storm.  Ah, not again, I thought.  My fears worsened with the Text from 777111 saying the start was delayed.  So after we got to Frisco, we unloaded, prepared, and waited by the port-a-pots.  We snapped a couple of team pics then realized that we were missing two riders (darn!  Keeping up with a big team of 23 was hard for me but I know a guy who can photoshop them in and make it look like they were always there).

The start of the ride was great!  The storms had moved farther to the east, the clouds were parting, the sun was shining, you could hear the Angels playing their harps…Dooley sounded out the start signal and in waves, the cyclists were released!  I was excited to have been stopped at the start line!  Our team was not lost in the wave.  We were the start of a wave!!  How fun!  Dooley shouted out our team name and a plug for my blog and made fun of tu and called out the greatest university in the world – Texas A&M – WHOOP!…oops, sorry I digress.

When we were released, I finally felt at ease.  It was happening. We were on the road towards a world free of MS. What the? Pssssssss….. 2.7 miles into the ride, I got a flat!  I have never gotten a flat on this Bike MS ride and have only gotten TWO FLATS ever on a rally since I started riding in 2006.  They were both near mile 70 in the San Antonio to Corpus Bike MS ride in 2008.  Half of our team stopped to help change one measly tire. : ) We created quite a rubber-necker’s dream even if we were all on the sidewalk away from the cyclists.  You could hear all the “slowing” and riders up in the flow of cyclists on the road.  But that was ok. It gave us all some time to strip our jackets off and show off our neat jerseys!

23 Riders showed up for Team Dangerous Curves!  I had 25 signed up but two riders turned in their packets Friday because one rider was working and he was father to a minor who couldn’t ride without him so needless to say, they did not ride.  19 riders finished the full route, 4 did the lunch express.  We improved 3 hours overall from 2009 for Day #1.  I can’t remember our 2008 finish time but I’ve never crossed the finish line on Day #1 this early.

I was ecstatic to know that our team was courteous and responsive to the Ride marshals.  I have to say this.  I was not happy with the way some of the riders responded to the Ride Marshals (or should I say not responded).  I hope that in future Bike MS events, captains of teams are asked to really convey to other team members safety and cycling etiquette.  These come hand in hand for the perfect ride experience.  Ride Marshals know what they are doing and are trained to recognize dangers.  But, when riders don’t listen, it puts them as well as other cyclists in danger. End of soap box.

Our team did well.  We had several strategies that worked to our advantage this year. (1) Ride Buddies – we made sure everyone had a riding buddy.  Someone that rode at their level so that no one rode alone.  With the exception of two of our fast riders (who should have been paired but never met – Matt and Vin, I’m talking about you), everyone had a fellow team mate with them.  We had one young lady compliment us on our team’s togetherness.  In fact, she rode with us for about 10 miles or so.  And to those of you around me who heard the story of my chewing a fly into my gum in 2008’s ride, yes it was true, and sorry if it disgusted you (guy in a solid blue jersey was making faces as he rode at the back of our pack alongside me – I should have gotten his name). : )  I’ll save that for a later post.  (2) Ride Strategy – Stopping at every other rest stop.  We did this on the first day.  We had a different strategy for Day #2, but I’ll save that for my Day #2 post.  (3) Minimize stop times at rest stops.  We made sure to limit the time we spent at the rest stops because we realized that in 2009, we spent WAY TOO MUCH time at rest points and it made it harder for us to get back in the saddle and finish early.

I LOVED that there was no rain (2007), no cold weather (2008), no heavy winds (Valero Bike MS 2008), and no cold rain WITH cold weather (2009). : ) I realize a lot of people were praying and a lot of people were doing anti-rain dances and maybe a combination of both.  I did my own chants and anti-rain dances.  My favorite was a sacrifice!  Yes, I sacrificed my wallet (money) to buy a rain jacket.  It never fails.  Everytime I buy something to wear for cycling, I will not need it immediately.  Well, I bought a rain jacket,  was excited that I was going to get to use it as we approached Frisco, then tore the tags off of it, put it on, zipped it up and almost immediately, it STOPPED raining!  Magical moment, I know.  Couldn’t return it anymore. : )  But at least that stopped the rain!

I finished the ride with my riding buddy Marsha.  We crossed the line with a 16.3 mph avg over 87 miles and about 5 hours total ride time.  I was impressed with our average.  I know for some of you it’s not much (My fast riders finished a lot sooner than I did) but for me it was an accomplishment to finish strong over the course of the full day.  we made the last 10 miles our pretend “time trial route” and tried to finish in the amount of time it takes us to do our Wednesday night time trials.  We avg’d about 22 mph for the last 10 miles.  It was an awesome rush!

I was overwhelmed as much on day #1 as I was in 2008 when I saw the last rider come in.  I was there for this one too.  Two ladies (I didn’t see what team they were on) crossed the finish line hand in hand with the Motorcycle SAG support behind them blaring sirens and flashing lights.  What an emotional ending to Day #1. People raced to the finish line to greet them in.  Our team tent was on the tent row nearest the finish line so we all stood in amazement at the ladies who had traveled 87 miles and almost 11 hours on a saddle for this cause.  The determination in oneself on this ride is just beyond measurement!

We finished day #1 with lights out at 9:30.  We helped some team members set up camp in our team tent, while four riders and our team sponsors The Bicycle Path, headed back to the lime green camper for a cozy night of sleep.  Tomorrow, the REAL hills would challenge our already tired legs and our tender bottoms would get the surprise of a lifetime!