Folks on Spokes 40 miler... and more...

Part II in an ongoing series of increasingly long-winded posts.

Sunday, September 12, marked the day of my first organized cycling tour: the Folks on Spokes 40 mile ride through Milford, West Haven and Orange, Connecticut, to benefit a community mental health and substance abuse counseling agency. In some ways, it was sort of a big deal, as it was my first real athletic event since my basketball playing days ended in high school (slow-pitch softball in more recent years doesn't count). Also because I've been going to 5K, 10K, 13-mile, 20-mile and 26.2-mile races for years to cheer on my father, my brother, my sister-in-law, my mother, my grandmother (yes...really!). As I said, running seems to run in the family. But this was my first thing; the first time people were coming to watch me do something like this. I found this to be a particularly bizarre experience in some ways: I truly wasn't making as big a "deal" of it as most people; I was just going out for a bike ride. Don't interpret that as me being ungrateful in any way; I have more gratitude toward the people that support me than I have ways to express that gratitude. It is just very humbling, that's all.

Anyway, the FOS ride was a target on my calendar particularly because it A)goes right through my in-laws neighborhood and B)benefits a cause that is obviously pretty important to me. It also served as a fun way to get my side of the family together with my wife's side of the family, something that doesn't happen often enough.

The morning of the ride itself was threatening rain...serious rain. Temperatures were probably in the low 60s when I arrived at the park to check-in, and there was nary a blue spot in the sky. The (rough guess) 40 of us that were riding the 40-mile tour gathered in the Start corral for last-minute instructions (which included: "Try to ride in pairs or small packs; it makes the ride more fun and more safe") and for our send-off. This was a cool experience, because it would offer my first chance to actually ride with somebody else and should prove to be a different type of barometer as to the progress I'm making. I like to think that I ride pretty well and can keep up a good pace, but have absolutely nothing to compare to, so I was excited about the idea of keeping pace with "real cyclists" on their $1000 (or $2000...or $3000...) machines.

8:30 finally rolled around and it was time to head out. I was stationed probably 3/4 of the way behind the pack as we left the corral, but was feeling pretty good. Turned the first corner through a side street and toward the main street (and just out of sight of my family who had come down to the start) when things came grinding to a halt, both literally and figuratively. Yes, at about the .06 mile mark, I downshifted and slipped my chain off the smallest gear. Aforementioned chain proceeded to wedge itself nice and tight between the smallest gear and the actual frame of the bike. Awesome. Within seconds, the rest of the crew doing the 40-mile ride was around the corner and out of sight, and I was alone in the woods. I had to get off the bike, take out my tools, loosen the rear wheel, dislodge the chain, re-engage the chain, relube part of it, re-pack my tools, gather myself and get back on the bike. Thankfully, this had happened once before, so I knew what I was doing. But it still took me a good 5-6 minutes from start to finish. So much for riding with a group. Now I was completely on my own (which at least is what I was used to). Off to a terrible, near-soul-crushing start.

I finally made my way onto the main drag and, just as I suspected, I was the only cyclist in site. Not a huge deal, I was just going to have to keep my eyes peeled for signs to keep from getting lost. The beginning of the ride was essentially through some ocean-front neighborhoods. Not all that scenic, but a nice tour of all of the plentiful, available real estate in the area. Around 1/2 mile in, I caught up with a small group of riders; not a difficult task given that they were pulled over attending to someone's flat tire. Bummer. My spirit started to improve at about the 2 mile mark, as I saw a decent sized pack of riders coming out of a neighborhood that I knew was sort of a giant loop. I was still obviously 5/6 minutes behind them, but at least they were in the same neighborhood. Around mile 3.5, I came up behind two guys that I figured I could ride with for a while, but a look down at my computer revealed that they were only keeping a pace of about 11mph. Respectable, but if I had any hope of making my goal of averaging 15mph for the 40 mile ride, I couldn't hang with them for long. So I didn't. Back to riding by myself again.

Miles five through twelve felt incredibly long. Very beautiful, as it was seven miles of nothing but beach and waves on the right as we headed east. Sadly, it was not very enjoyable, as there was a rather gnarly headwind coming from due East, which made it difficult to maintain a cruising speed of anything over 13.5 mph. It felt like a seven-mile long hill. Not as fun as it sounds. Spirits were lifted again around 7.5 miles, as my wife, daughter, father, mother and sister-in-law were at the side of the road to cheer me on. Such a surreal feeling...it really does energize you for a little while.

Mile twelve saw my spirits improving greatly, as miles 12 through 16.5 were headed back West along the route we had just taken, meaning the gnarly headwind was now a gnarly tailwind. Where it had been tough to keep up 13mph, now it was very little work to keep up 18-19mph. I was also starting to see other real cyclists again, and due to the out-and-back nature of certain parts of the ride, I saw that my pace was not unlike theirs. The family was still waiting for me, as what had been the 7.5 mile mark on the way out was now the 16.5 mile mark on the way back. I think they could tell I was in better spirits at this part of the ride. While there were points early on that I briefly contemplated throwing in the proverbial towel (especially after the chain and wind issues), those thoughts were long gone.

Just after leaving passing the family at the 16.5 mile mark, our course took a 90-degree right hand turn off the coast and headed inland toward the hilly part of the ride. There are three main hills: a long climb from mile 18 to mile 20, a shorter yet steeper climb from mile 21 to mile 22.5 and the steepest climb from mile 25 to mile 26.5 (the latter marker was also a very well-positioned water stop). The first hill is where I really started to encounter other riders, much as I expected. Climbing can be tough when you are on your own, but I was able to catch up to a few other "lone wolf" style riders on each hill and we could thus use each other as motivation to keep climbing. I actually felt great on the first two hills...they were good, solid climbs, but nothing that I wasn't used to from riding in Wakefield, so they were certainly manageable...and in fact they were not as bad as I was gearing myself mentally for.

The third hill proved the best test, not necessarily because of its incline (though it was certainly steep), but mainly because it was a narrow, windy, not incredibly well-paved old farm road, meaning it contained a lot of pot holes and oncoming traffic. The fam was waiting for me at the 26.5 mile water stop, the only one that I actually stopped at, albeit only for about 2 minutes and just to say "hi." I started feeling guilty that they were traveling all that distance just to see me pedal by for a few seconds. Plus, a hug from Morgan is always good for refilling the tank!

Just after leaving this rest area was , I caught up with a guy that I would spend the next 12 or so miles riding with. He was embarking on his first ride since completing a Century ride on Long Island a few weeks prior, and was contemplating training for his first Double Century ride next spring. For those non-cyclists out there, a Century is a 100-mile ride; a Double Century is, of course, a 200-mile ride. Gulp. Something to shoot for, I guess. Anyway, nice enough guy, and it was cool to actually have company on a ride for a change. Around mile 37, my butt started to get sore. Not intolerable, but definitely bordering on uncomfortable. I stood up for a minute coming down the last hill (mile 38) which provided a much-needed break, but also allowed my riding partner to get so far ahead of me that he was out of site after about a half-mile. So much for a riding partner.

The remainder of the ride was rather uneventful. It should be pointed out that the Folks on Spokes 40 mile ride is actually closer to 41.75 miles, according to both the MapMyRide program that I use and to my Cat Eye bike computer. Not entirely sure who made that decision and why they made it, exactly. Also, the end of the ride was very unceremonious. It loops you back through the parking lot that we started in, but there is no formal "end;" merely just a bunch of people on bicycles milling about. Rather odd. All told, it took me somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 hours and 42 minutes to complete the 41.75 miles (I had a stopwatch and my bike computer running, but they stayed running while I was fixing my chain at the beginning, so I don't count that). And I felt great. I probably had another 10 miles left in me anyway, which is a very cool feeling. My brother and sister-in-law were gathered with the rest of my traveling cheering section at the end...a welcome surprise!

As for what comes next...well, I'm not really sure. Since I had multiple goals (being under 200 and completing the 40 mile ride) that I reached in the same week, I have to find some new way to keep pushing myself. Obviously it is still a goal to maintain a more healthy weight (and I've still got some to lose), and I'd like to keep riding regularly, but I'm getting concerned that I'll find it too easy to fall into old patterns again, especially with the winter coming, which brings with it the colder weather that renders outdoor grilling and outdoor cycling next to impossible. Maybe yoga. Maybe I'll try running again, now that I've built up decent leg strength. I've started doing some exercises to work on my core muscles again. But I'm still not really sure what is next.

Oh, I also thought it would be interesting to post some of the comments I've been hearing about the fact that I have dropped weight. It has only been noticeable to me in the way that my clothes fit (dropping from a 38" waist to a 34" waist is pretty noticeable), but otherwise I feel that I'm the same shape. But other people have certainly noticed: I've heard comments that range from "you look great" to "it's really working" to "keep up the good work" to "are you healthy?" to "seriously, do you have something terminal?" to "losing weight and cutting your hair short gives the distinct impression to those that don't know you that you have either cancer or AIDS." I'm not exaggerating any one of those.