Activity: Road Bike
Area: Paskenta Century course.
Weather: numbing cold for the first 30 miles, perfection for the last 30. Windy for about 2/3 of the ride, however that works.
Distance: 62.5 miles
Avg spd.: 15.5mph!
How I felt: This ride was awesome. I'm getting numbness in both of my feet, which makes me think it's time to burn these crappy Sidi shoes. At mile 52 or so I bonked pretty nicely. The last ten miles were nice and flat though, lucky for me.
Thing to remember: I met up with a guy named Jeff. I didn't know him in person, but we had exchanged a couple of emails via the Chico Bike Rides Y! group. Jeff is the Principal at Prospect High School in Oroville, Ca, and it turns out that we have quite a bit in common. First off, he's a really cool guy (ha). But he's also a cyclist and a drummer, which if you didn't know, I am as well.
Being a high school principal, he had some hilarious, choice stories to tell. When I first asked him about said stories, he said he didn't think 50 miles (our intended distance) would be long enough to tell me all of his daily "challenges". If I weren't writing this in a public forum I might pass some of his stories along, but I don't want to put his reputation at risk. I'll just say that if you happen to be one of Mr. Ochs' students, you have yourself a very cool Principal. ;-)
The California school system needs more people like Jeff.
Anyway, once again the Chico Velo maps were all wrong in terms of distance, and we rode managed to somehow ride 62 miles on the 50 mile Paskenta Century course - by following the map. Maybe it's time to update your maps, or your mileage counters guys?
The upsides of this fact are that Jeff and I tested our endurance limits, and healthily finished a 62 mile ride. We spent our Sunday morning riding through some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen; oak-speckled hillsides, and emerald green fields of new winter grass as far as my eyes could take me. Mt. Lassen, to the east, followed us everywhere on this clear day. Tiny country roads guided us through the northern part of this great state - sometimes showing their age with pocked asphalt, and other times passing their newly acquired lack of irregularities through to our tires, and then through our bicycle frames, and our arses gladly accepted! We passed one brown cow who had escaped its fence, and she hardly stopped eating the fresh greens on the side of Meridian Road to look up at us as we rode by. Her eyelashes must've been two inches long, and I'm pretty certain she winked as we pedaled by. We saw evidence of the previous week's floods in the orchards. Walnut tree trunks were wrapped with miscellaneous human-made debris, and lined the side of the street opposite the river. The wind was pretty kind to us, and there were even some points that she was us pushing along at 21mph!
The question remains though - how am I going to feel tomorrow sitting at a desk all day?!
Update: Another point to make is that this ride put me at 110 miles pedaled for the past week. If I can keep that up, things might look good for 2006!
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4 comments:
I was interested in this blog you spoke of and saw that you must have recovered a little quicker than I did. My 3 hour recovery consisted of a hot shower, a meatball sub, and a nap in front of football on tv. I thought I'd be hurting, but around 4 PM I was working in the backyard. I am surprisedly not very sore today, however.....the day is still young.
I got back to One-Mile at 59.8 miles and decided I had to be at 60 before I quit. I rode up the road a tenth and back. From what I figure, you did closer to 65 miles total with the ride to and from your house. The bonk you refer to was just a minor blip in our otherwise outstanding experience. I might have bonked right next to you had it not been for that last gel. Thanks again.
I looked at the map again and noticed that we may have cut a portion out by not going to downtown Corning and even added by taking the Meridian/Lassen Rd route, but it shouldn't have been that much of a difference. One of these days I'll have to make the drive to clock it correctly. Just for peace of mind.
Would be happy to ride with you again. Had a great time. maybe we can help each other get ready for the big ride.
Jeff
While I was writing the above post, I ate about half a box of Wheat Thins (I needed salt after the ride!). Then I slept for a half hour or so, and made my way to La Salsa for a steak burrito as big as my head. I had salt caked all over my forehead and neck from the ride, but I was too tired to care at that point.
Today I feel pretty good, no soreness. But it's usally two days after a good exertion that gets me. I'm going to find some different shoes before the next long ride, and I may have to try a different saddle as well.
Good ride Jeff! See you again soon.
Oh man!! I am sorry I missed this ride! Maybe next weekend. Sounds like you guys had a great one.
Ha! You discovered the secret surprise of Skenta...the fifty (spelled sixty-two) mile option. I hate to say it, but it's been like that since I last rode it back in 1996. I got blown out the back of the group early, and opted for the shorter fifty mile loop. My only companions were two women, one way shorter than me, and the other too skinny to provide a draft. It was a death march the whole way back to Chico.
Good luck with Skenta - there's some Bay Area folks (along with some of my old Chico State Cycling teammates) planning to head up there for the "race". Have fun!
Alden
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