Down and out

It's a strange title for what was perhaps my strongest ride in years...but as the story unfolds, you'll understand.

Saturday was the Huntsville Century (yes, that should be the "Huntsville All-you-can-eat Century, but I didn't eat all I could, so I've shortened it for this year). I took Molly up with me on Friday afternoon to play with her cousins while Cathy's brother did an eye exam for me. We stayed with the brother and his family that night.

Early Saturday morning, I left Molly behind to spend more time with kin, and I drove to the other side of Madison County to the High School which served as the start and finish for this ride. Pulling into the parking lot, I saw about 3 cars there, and recongized DirtDog's Scott CR-1 attached to the back of his truck. Already the day was starting out great...I didn't think he was doing the Huntsville with Six Gap just a week away. We chatted for a while and I told him I was looking to do less than 6 hours because 1) I wanted to, and 2) I had to be back in Birmingham (100 miles away) by 3:30 for a meeting. I also mentioned that I'd be leaving a bit early to ride with some friends who were on their way, and to holler when he passed me so I could hook on with this group for the rest of the ride.

Russ and Katie, and their friends Brad and his wife Sue (who flew in from Park City, UT just for this event) arrived, all attired in matching University of Utah jerseys. At least my blue and black kit was somewhat BYU'ish. Now you realize, don't you, that I'm going to have to get a BYU jersey to offset this horde of Utes.

At 7:30 we rolled out of the parking lot and joined a smattering of other riders in the extraodinarily comfortable morning air. And since I mentioned it, I'm just going to say that when the only thing you can find to complain about regarding the weather was that there wasn't enough breeze to give you a tailwind anywhere, then you'd probably just better stop complaining.

Riding past the cotton fields waiting to be harvested, the area was blanketed with white and green. It was almost like snow in some spots (if you ignored the red clay dirt underneath it all). The terrain was much gentler than I remembered from several years ago, the rollers seemed considerably smaller and fewer in number.

Just past the first feed zone, DirtDog and a small group caught up with us. Russ and Brad and I hooked on with them, but after a mile or two, Russ began feeling guilty and convinced Brad to drop back to ride with their wives. DirtDog and his group had left about 10 minutes before the 8am start, and so it was about 15 minutes later when the first large group caught us. Without any difficulty, we raised our pace and joined with the nearly 100 other riders. It was fast and it was fun. We rolled over the rollers at a nice 22-23 mph pace for miles and miles. Nearing the 40 mile rest stop, there is a large downhill, followed immediately by an equally large uphill. I was at the front of the group on the descent, and upon hitting the uphill portion, I shifted to my small ring...but I messed up the shift and dropped the chain. I came to a complete stop as I tried to get things working again, and when I finally got the bike moving forward, I was 75 yard behind the last riders in the group. So I began to chase. And chase. And chased some more.

Descending from Lexie Crossroads into what Jeff Mills and I call, The Valley That Time Forgot, I continued to chase. I could see the group up ahead, about 1/4 mile, but I just couldn't get any closer. And I was on my own in "no man's land" with riders behind and the group I wanted up ahead. Turning onto Marble Hill road, to climb back to the top of the ridge, I decided I was done chasing. Hopefully I would catch some of them at the next rest stop (back at Lexie Crossroads again). This climb, contrary to the rest of the course seeming easier, was more difficult than I remembered. I knew that when Katie saw the hill, she would be cursing me under her breath, and possibly even aloud, and if Russ was nearby, he would probably join her.

Immediately after cresting the climb, I descended down into the valley on the east side of the ridge and turned back south toward Lexie Xroads. Somewhere along this valley I was caught by DirtDog and another small group of riders, some who had been in the large group. We climbed back onto the top of the ridge and arrived at the RS. I asked the folks working that stop if they'd seen a group wearing U of U jerseys. The girl I talked to said they had just left 10-15 minutes before we got there. I left a message apologizing for the hill and we took off for the last 50 miles. As we rode, we picked up more and more stragglers who had experienced ejection from the front runners. By the time we were at 85 miles covered, we had a fairly sizable group formed, but few of them would take pulls, so it was up to just 4 of us to drive the bus. If I might just brag for a moment, I felt good. I took strong hard pulls, and stayed within myself, and didn't blow up.

The last 50 miles of this course are considerably hillier than the first 50, but certainly not unmanagable. And they weren't hurting me the way I expected. I finished the ride, 105 miles, in 5:18. Yeah. I was happy about that. I quickly ran into the showers to get changed and hurry to Bham, but found the line at the showers was going to take a while.

Now, I don't know what kind of High School has but 2 shower stalls (not 2 gang showers mind you, 2 stalls with one head in each), but this one did. And someone forgot to have them turn on the hot water. Which was a blessing, because each of the 40 people ahead of me in line lasted about 90 seconds in the icewater and then it was the next rider's turn.

I'll compress this next bit somewhat...I got dressed in my suit, ate a plate of spaghetti, (not all-I-could-eat, but all I had time for)and pointed the car south. I eventually made it to my meeting, a bit late, but I got most of it.

After the meeting, which lasted a bit over 2 hours, I called Russ' cell phone to jokingly ask if they were done riding yet.

He said they'd finished many hours earlier, when his wife Katie, had crashed descending the same hill where I'd had trouble with my chain. He was a bit ahead of her and waited and waited for 5 mintues or so before another rider asked if he was waiting for a rider wearing a jersey like his. "Yes" he said. "Well, she crashed pretty badly back up the hill". When he got there, I guess it was a mess. She lost control of her bike at 35 mph and hit the metal guardrail. Luckily for her, Russ is a doctor. Anyway, they got her into an ambulance and took her to Winchester, Tennessee, to the hospital where they ran tests for the remainder of the afternoon. Cat scans, MRI's, x-rays. She's pretty beaten up. I've seen dozens of riders who've crashed, and she's the first I've seen with her face all cut up. Skin missing from most of her right arm and right leg, shoulders, backside, etc. And 35 stiches in a gash on the left side of her abdomen. We aren't really sure what caused that gash, but we speculate that it was the end of her handlebar, which had lost its plug during the crash.

I'm guessing that today, she's going to be more sore than she was yesterday. It sure isn't any good when something that's supposed to be fun turns out that way.

So, we'll see how long it takes to get Katie back on a bike. I'm hoping she's okay and it doesn't take much.