Louisville Bicycle Club 400 km Brevet
I'll be the first to admit that I was too tired to write much about my 400km Kentucky brevet following the ride. I wrote a quick Facebook note to let folks know I finished safely. So here are some details from the ride. Unlike the KY 300 the weather was far better and I didn't have any tire or mechanical issues this time. However, with winds from the west averaging 20mph it made a hilly course downright brutal. At 4AM start the temp was in the upper 30's and all of rain had moved east. The roads were still wet in places, but not slick. The skies were clear and a bit chilly. I should have worn booties, not just toe covers, not so much for the pre-dawn chilly temps, but after sunset even my two pairs of wool socks were not keeping my feet warm. I rode well during the predawn and daylight hours. As the sun rose you could feel the winds gradually get stronger as the day heated up into the mid 60's in the afternoon. For more than the first half of the out & back route I rode with Bob Bruce (from Indiana). Bob developed some pain in his right Achilles after the turn around control in Liberty. He needed to slow down considerably and told me to go ahead. So for most of the remaining 115 official miles I rode on my own.
I caught up to Tim Carroll from Cleveland before I reach Stanford. Tim has been riding all of the brevets this year on a fixed gear bike. I cannot begin to imagine how anyone could manage that feat. He did admit that he had to walk a couple of hills. On some of the truly steep hills I must admit that walking would have been faster than riding. I left the control in Stanford before Tim as he needed more time to rest and replenish.
The route section between Stanford & Harrodsburg has somewhat of an "L" shape to it so there is a long section going west - northwest with plenty of long, moderate climbs before heading north. This is where my average speed started dropping. I got to Harrodsburg by 6PM. Harrodsburg was the last control (65 miles to go). I ate & refilled the bottles. I also reset my lights as I knew it would be dark before I got to Lawrenceburg. I saw three other riders coming into the control as I was headed out. It had been my goal to get past the route section that drops down along the Kentucky River and back out before sunset. That area is the most dangerous part of the route. The road is very narrow and it has several blind curves. (One car cut a curve too far out and almost clipped me!) There are two bridges made of steel grate in this section. On one of the bridges the asphalt has broken down in several places along the bridge's edge creating a gap between the road and the steel bridge plate. On the 300 I picked the wrong track, hit one of the holes and flatted. I later discovered that I also tore the side wall in the tire and bent the rim. So I was determined to go much slower when I approached this bridge. Of course this bridge is at the bottom of ravine, so I had no momentum as I climbed up & away from the bridge.
In Kentucky there are no "leash" laws so dogs are a common nuisance. On my two previous rides we encountered only a few dogs, but on the 400 there were many encounters. I expect that from experience most of you know you get a rush of adrenalin when you find yourself having to yell, ride faster, and hope the dogs don't come too close. But, then after the rush, your body has a bit of a let down. I hate those drops of energy and I dislike encountering a dog when I'm trying to ride uphill!
I made it up the long climb from the Kentucky River before sunset as planned. I can't recall how long the climb actually is, but it is really long. Heading west is not as steep as the outbound southeast side we encountered in the morning. On that side there is a sustained length of 20+% grade. The climb averages about 15% for nearly a half mile. Imagine climbing Chicken Coop, but with twice the distance at the same grade. Got the picture?
By the time I reached Lawerceburg, and my last planned stop, it was fully dark. I normally enjoy riding, at night, but around central Ohio I'm not following a pre-determined route or I'm with a group. In addition there is usually more ambient light. Right out of Lawrenceburg I had difficulty finding the first turn and backtracked thinking I had missed it. Actually I hadn't gone far enough, so I lost time there. Later, I completely missed one turn & had to backtrack. I rode 8 extra miles, plus the time lost. The night sky was bright with stars, but no moon to provide additional light. The temperature was dropping fast without any cloud cover to hold in the heat. Expecting cooler temperatures I was carrying an extra jersey which I had put on at my last stop, but I'll admit that my feet were chilly, probably due to moisture building up during the day and my fingertips were feeling the cold, too. (Valuable lesson for future 400/600 rides and the upcoming Fleche.)
Due to getting lost Tim, Steve Rice, the Kentucky RBA, and a couple of other riders eventually caught up to me. Tim and I rode together for a number of miles. It was good as I felt more confident that I wouldn't miss any more turns. Apparently, I was riding stronger than I believed although the aches in my shoulders and mid back were telling me otherwise, because only Tim wanted to ride at my pace. My original goal had been to finish before 11PM, but after getting lost I thought I could still make in by midnight (20 hours). I was on the edge of Shelbyville only 1.5 mi from the finish when I had to wait 8-10 minutes for a freight train. Tim Carroll came up about 5 minutes later and Steve came up just as the train finished crossing the road. While randonneuring is not a competitive event, we were the second group of three riders to finish (#4, 5, & 6) at 12:05. More than 3/4 of the riders were still out on the road after I took a shower, ate pizza, and chatted with other riders at the motel finish. I'll bet the remaining riders had a very long night as temps were quickly dropping back into the mid 30's after a high in the mid 60's. By this time it was after 1AM and I crashed in my motel bed. The official route was 251.9 miles. I ended up with 259.8 and the Garmin showed 15,323 feet of elevation gain.
I never heard the alarm I set on Sunday morning and woke up at 10:15AM. So I quickly packed up before the 11 AM checkout time, ate a huge breakfast at Waffle House, and headed home.
So next week is the Ohio 300km brevet: Springfield - Oxford - Springfield. This is going to be a recovery period lasting all week as I still have some sore muscles and a sore butt. I don't know if my bike position is off, or if I'm "rocking" too much when I climb, but my back was really aching the last 100km.
Later,
Ned
Louisville Bicycle Club on Facebook
What is a brevet?
How can I start riding crazy long miles?
Ohio Randonneurs
After these experiences I figured that cyclo-cross would be a relatively civilized discipline. While my fledgling mtb skills were a great asset, I learned that cross is painful, exhausting, frustrating and the most humbling best damn time anyone can have on bike. Cross says,"Give me your young, your old, men, women, experienced or inexperienced, I have a race for you." I particularly enjoyed watching fathers warming up with their sons and daughters in tow around the course (I wonder if Mom knew where they were). To begin, you can spend over $5,000.00 on a Sven Nys inspired rig, or do as I did and put together a sub $1,000.00 ebay and old parts bin project. (Great way to burn up all of those old Shimano parts collecting dust in the garage.) Your bike handling skills and appropriate tires are the most important pieces of technology. Plus, cross is a great spectator sport. I believe my support crew and official photographer enjoyed her weekend excursions. And I earned money! Yes, I was given a $1.00 hand up at one event for shouldering the bike correctly.
