Today was the Colorburst, an annual charity ride put on by the Rapidwheelmen, a local cycling group. The purpose of the ride is to raise funds for MADD and to have a good ride near the peak of the autumn colors. I participated 2 years ago and rode my first Century (100 miles). That ride was very hard but also very rewarding. It was my first real taste of what I might be able to accomplish on a bike. Since that time, I have ridden 2 other century rides, but I have not forgotten the sense of accomplishment I had with the Colorburst.
I was determined to do it again this year so I signed myself up. Michelle, Hannah and David are out of town this weekend, visiting Grandma and Grandpa Vander Heide (Smooches, Hon!), so I had all the time I needed to prepare and to enjoy the ride without having to be concerned with time. My level of fitness is adequate to finish the ride so it was just a matter of going out and doing it.
The Colorburst takes place mostly in the Lowell/Ada/Cannonsburg/East Rockford area. It has some truly beautiful riding. Most of the terrain is rolling hills and the colors were wonderful. If you are participating, you can choose to do a 17, 34, 62 or 100 mile ride. They also have 32 and 62 gravel road routes available. The road rides consist of a series of loop with a central rest stop at Townsend Park, in Cannonsburg. In order to do the 100, I would stop at Townsend Park 3 times. You can check out a course map here.
This year had a couple different "wrenches in the gears". First, I have been having a problem with my rear wheel. Back in mid-September, I had noticed a broken spoke. I took it into the bike shop to be fixed and it took them a week and a half to fix it. Whatever. This did give me an opportunity to ride my single speed, but that is a whole different post. I got the wheel back this past Monday and did not get a chance to ride on it until this past Thursday. I was barely 8 miles out when another spoke came loose. Imagine my frustration. One day to go before a big ride and my rear wheel is out of commission. Yesterday, I took it back to the bike shop and they fixed it for free. Thank you very much.
I was around 25 miles in today when I started to hear the telltale ting-ting-ting-ting of another loose spoke smacking the seat stay every time the wheel went around. Honestly, I wasn't all that surprised. I suspected the wheel was going bad.
So this is the situation. I am a quarter of the way through a ride I have been looking forward to for about 2 years. I have a rear wheel that is no longer 100% structurally sound. It is entirely possible I could have finished the full 100 miles without incident. It is also possible I could have been all the way up near Sand Lake and have my wheel taco. If I was lucky, I wouldn't be hurt. If I wasn't, I could be seriously injured and my bike could also be totaled. The best case scenario is that I freeze my hind end off waiting for the SAG vehicle to come pick me up.
I decided to finish the loop I was on because I was already half way through and the wheel didn't have too much of a lateral wobble. I managed to tuck the loose spoke into several other spokes so I didn't have to listen to it the rest of the way back.
When I got back to the Townsend Park rest stop, I was pleased to see a mechanic from Alger Cyclery. We talked for a minute and he told me I could probably finish the 62 mile ride but the 100 would really be pushing it. His guess was that the rear wheel hub (the central part of the wheel) was probably worn out. There was no way to fix it today. In order to get it structurally sound again, I would need a complete rebuild. By the time you do that, you might as well buy a whole new wheel (better start saving my pennies now).
From there, I took it easy and avoided as many bumps as I could and managed to at least get a Metric Century (100 km/62 miles). I do have to admit, there was a small part of me that was relieved I wasn't going to be doing he 100 mile route, which leads to the other "wrench in the gears".
WIND!!! Steady, strong, unrelenting 25 MPH wind coming from the northwest the whole day. Gusts were easily above 35 MPH. There were several instances where I was going into the wind and a gust just about knocked me over. At one point on 5 Mile, east of Cannonsburg, I could barely keep myself moving at 10 MPH. This was on a smooth, flat section of road where I would normally be cruising at 18-20 MPH. When I was going perpendicular to the wind, I often had to lean my bike slightly into the wind to avoid being blown into the center of the lane.
Riding in a strong wind is demoralizing. You are working so intensely hard and your speed is just pitiful. It can take the most enjoyable ride and just tear it to shreds. The only upside to a strong headwind is when you turn around and it becomes a tailwind. Once you turn around and the wind is at your back, you begin to have visions of yourself as a pro cyclist. "Why yes, I do believe I will enter the Tour de France next year. Should be fun." Thankfully, most of the end of the ride was with a tailwind.
The other upside was I got to come home in time to see Michigan State smack (literally) Michigan for the fourth year in a row. GO GREEN! GO WHITE!
The Colorburst will be on my agenda again. I just have to do it. The next time, I will have a strong, durable rear wheel and hopefully the wind will be a little calmer.
No comments:
Post a Comment