A couple of weeks ago I was invited by a friend to ditch our normal Saturday bike shop group ride for something a little different. The ride was billed as a mixture of gravel, dirt, and road riding for a total distance of approximately 60 miles. Sounded great to me! I spent at least a week getting excited about this ride. Last year a few friends and I did some riding that included gravel roads and some single track riding, all on cyclocross and touring bikes. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the idea of getting off road for this ride was something I really was looking forward to. The night before I swapped out the 25mm tires on my Bianchi Tangent for some worn out 35mm (actually they measure more like 32mm installed) cyclocross tires.
The morning of the ride we arrived in the parking lot of a brewery, strategically chosen for the convenient post ride beverage availability. As I got my bike and myself ready I started looking around at the riders congregating for the days' adventure. A small sense of panic washed over me. A significant portion of the group was comprised of some of the faster riders from our usual Saturday morning shop rides. This was going to be faster than I anticipated.
After a short pre-ride briefing on the course and re-group plan, we were off. The ride started on the road for the first few miles and was mostly up hill. I stayed towards the back of the ride trying to assess the situation. Was this going to be a hammer fest or was it going to be more mellow? While I'm not the strongest climber I pretty much stayed with the back of the group. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all?
The fun started just a few miles in when we turned off the road onto some hard packed dirt single track trails. Flying through the trails for the next few miles was the highlight of my day, by far. If the ride had ended then, after probably just 10 miles or so, I would have been perfectly happy. But, that was not to be. Some gravel riding, at a moderate pace, was next. This was fun too, the swoops, bumps and turns of the trails made me feel like a kid again. Next came a few miles of road riding. The terrain was fairly flat and the pace reflected it. We kept a 20+ mph pace until we eventually turned onto a flat, wide, gravel trail. To my dismay, the pace didn't just maintain, oh no, it increased. I hung onto the back of a 23 mph group of very strong riders for probably 3 miles. At this point I slowly dropped off the back of the pack. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one feeling the pressure of the pace and my friend dropped back with me. Even at 17-18 mph, they simply walked away from us and were out of sight around a bend in the trail in no time.
Just a few miles down the gravel road we completely lost sight of the group. There was a little confusion at one point and we ended up accidentally taking a shortcut to the next regroup location at a park. Being so far off the back, it actually worked out well. After a walk across a really cool suspension bridge that crossed the river at the park, we turned back onto the roads to finish up the ride. I was familiar with this portion of the ride. It was same route as part of one of the large local organized rides. Unfortunately for me, feeling rather whooped at this point, I also knew that this route included a decent climb, about a mile long.
I worked my way slowly up the climb, legs screaming for mercy. I crested the hill and caught my breath during the short down hill section and then quickly slowed to a crawl again as the climbing continued. This is where the ride ended and the struggle to get home started. I cramped up in both legs at the same time. I felt it come on suddenly and tried to ease up a little, but because of the climbing, it just didn't happen. I stopped and could barely stand up. This was not good. I still had close to 30 miles of riding to get back to the car. On top of the cramps, I was worn out, and quite hungry. My tank was empty.
Rewind a few miles. I had realized just how little I had been eating and drinking when we stopped at the park. I had been eating and drinking like I always do. I've been really working on that since the STP (Seattle to Portland) last year. The problem was I had been doing so just like I do on my other rides. I had not taken into consideration the significantly higher pace of this ride and was way behind the curve. Unfortunately, I realized this far to late in the ride. I was doomed to miles of paying for my mistakes.
Never have I had to ride so far while feeling so miserable. I've bonked, I've cramped, I've been flat worn out, but never, ever, have I been all three with 30 miles to go. I came closer to calling for someone to pick me up than I ever have before. If it wasn't for my friend that so kindly stayed back with me, I'm certain I would have. This is the only ride I have ever done that I look back on and don't just brush off the pain as making myself stronger. I hated it. The first part of the ride was a blast, and the route was great, but the pace was simply way too fast and I did a poor job of adjusting my hydration and food intake to the fast pace of the ride. The last part of the ride was just getting back to the car to get off the freaking bike.
When I think about the ride now, it still sucked. No fond memories of pushing my limits but feeling good about it in the end. Nope, not this time. I screwed up. I can still learn from it though. I need to be more careful about matching my hydration and nutrition to my pace. I know my "normal" and will have to adjust on the fly or else suffer the same fate again if I find myself riding with a fast group. I also need to know when to say enough is enough and stop trying to hang with the fast guys. I like to go fast. I like to push myself by riding with people that are faster than I am sometimes. It is a great motivator. However, I need to back off a lot sooner than I did on this ride.
Maybe some day I'll go find that same route again and enjoy it at a pace I can maintain the entire ride. While it may not be the same route entirely, I will be riding that climb again at the end of this month when I do the large organized ride that takes riders up that same hill. There will be plenty of casualties on the side of the road at that ride too. Worn out riders walking their bikes. Riders stopped half way, or less, chugging down half a water bottle of some sports drink with the hope that it will somehow turn their lead filled legs into hill crushing pistons. That hill has never beaten me before, and I don't plan a repeat.
Pace yourself, drink, eat, and enjoy the ride.
