It started as a pipedream. To ride over 100 miles in one weekend. It has become a reality. I gained a lot more than just mileage over last weekend. Good friends, great sights, cycling comraderie, and oh yeah, an aching body and about 5 extra pounds of water weight.
I learned a lot about myself though- about my drive to finish something I start, how I can push myself to go beyond my own expectations, and how my competitiveness is my best quality.
The ride was for a cure for MS, which is so much more important than anything I took from it, so knowing all 13,000 of us were there to support that cause made me feel like Oprah or Angelina Jolie, minus my hot Brad Pitt hubby. Like we were rock stars, with people yelling well-wishes and thank yous, some in wheelchairs with signs saying "I was diagnosed with MS...",reminding us why we were there. It gave me chills every time....
I had a great team to ride with. The five of us packed up a buttload of gear and took off to Houston Friday night. The great part of this ride is it starts in Houston but we are riding HOME. The Finish Line is in front of the state capitol building in our hometown of Austin, TX. So it was a bit of a trek to make to get to the Starting Line but well worth it on the other end. We got a hotel within a mile of the Omni hotel, the official starting point of the MS150. Our sponsor team, Team Dow, due to its size planned to start at a secondary start location which actually would've made our first day trip 20 miles shorter. I was pumped about this idea. Only 80 miles the first day instead of 100? Oh yeah, count me in-- that sounds doable. Never mind that my longest single day trip before this was only 54 miles long and that wasn't my best biking-riding-attitude day. I was sure that with my training along with the frequent stops and the comraderie of this big of a group ride, I would be able to pull off 80 miles. But due to logistics with getting our bikes there and some of the team (the guys) wanting to do the Omni start, we as a group (I got vetoed 4 to 1) decided to go for it and do the Omni start and the 100 miles. In one day. With a second day of over 70 miles. WTH am I thinking? Horrible butt-pain, weakened muscles, dehydration, mental failure, bike failure, general body failure were a few of the things I was thinking...
So 5am came and up we were and away we went, into the dark rainy morning, over to the huge group of folks amassing around the Omni Hotel. As with all organized rides, 80s music was playing and an announcer was announcing loudly on the PA, so quickly I forgot it was only 6am and I was getting jazzed to head out. Rolling our bikes closer to the Start, we hear a bang and looked over in time to see some poor dude fall over with his bike, still clipped in. BEFORE the ride. If that'd been me, I'd have crawled back to the hotel. Not even out of the gate and you're already sniffing pavement. Blimey!
100 miles on a bike is called a Century Ride. This would be my first. I never in a million years thought I'd do my first Century Ride with another 70+ the very next day. Ay-yi-yi, what had I done? Off we went...the first 25 flew by and we were at the first (actually the 2nd, we bypassed the 1st) rest stop on the ride. This was a massive amount of happy cyclists in a grassy and because of the rain, muddy, area with bikes laid around everywhere and people chatting and snacking and waiting for the port-a-potties, which was where I headed. Then I grabbed a banana (my first of many on this ride), an orange, and a pack of Grandma's PB cookies (so yum, and so naughty but perfect for a workout kick), and refilled my water bottles.
After that we didn't stop again until lunch, in Bellville, TX. Another great part of the ride was the scenery-- all farmlands and fields among the small Texas towns with Main Streets and water towers and wildflowers that held the MS150 pitstops with pride. Props go to towns such as Industry, Nelsonville, Fayetteville, Winchester, Bastrop, and of course La Grange. Probably the MS150 ride was one of the bigger events of the year in their towns, with folks sitting in lawn chairs and on their porches to wave to us and cheer us on. There'd be banners and signs welcoming us, and good luck wishes on their store signs and church marquis. One man, with his yellow compact car, would stand by his car and swing a noisemaker around and jump up and down cheering for us and pointing at us and yelling who-knows-what as we rode by. He showed up no less than 4 times in 4 random locations along the way. Always excited, always happy, always cheering. Thanks to that happy Dude, because he was a welcome sight each time for us weary riders.
We rode the rolling hills through Central Texas that afternoon and ended up in LaGrange for the night. This was tons of tents set up on the fairgrounds with all the different teams and individuals bunking there for the night. We got bused to the showers at the nearby high school and back to our fancy tent for an excellent fajita dinner with our Dow team. Sleeping on cots in a huge circus tent with 200 others was a new experience for me.
I was pleasantly surprised, and my 100 miles of riding-fatigue knocked my ass out so I didn't hear the snoring, the rain, or whatever else was going on in there. Dow did it right and our tent was awesome and even the squeaky camping cots didn't suck to crash on. One BIG surprise in my quasi-camping experience? The port-a-potties. Yes, I said port-a-potties. These were no ordinary nasty open-hole p-a-ps, these were swanky, upscale p-a-ps. I could NOT believe it. They were lighted, with bath mats, and a shelf in there with bath items, kleenex box, and pot pourri. A mirror, a sink with water pumped by a floor pedal, and a toilet that flushed like a airplane potty, but with foot pedal like the sink had. I didn't ask the men if they had the same ones, but ours said WOMEN on them. Why would I ask them? Its our little secret as far as I'm concerned. I know, I shouldve taken a picture, but I didn't. I do have manners.
The overnight rain cleared just in time for our mass exodus from LaGrange and all 13,000 of us took off (in waves so it took a while) and rode off into the semi-dark for another long day in the saddle. But all I could think is, I'm going home. It made it easy. I'd heard the lore of the hoop-lah awaiting us. And 6 hours later, Austin did NOT disappoint! Tons of people lining the roads into downtown cheering us into the Finish Line.
I don't think I've ever felt anything like it. They knew we'd just rode all the way from Houston. They knew we'd raised millions of dollars for Multiple Sclerosis. They knew we were tired and our butts were sore. The sheer number of people there, cheering with the majestic Capitol building in the background just filled me to the brim with pride and happiness. I'd completed my first Century Ride and a second 72-miler day, both of which are now officially my PB, or "personal best". I pushed myself longer and harder than I'd ever done before. I flew past athletes in better shape than I, or younger than I, because the speed and the cardio is what I love on the bike. I was able to plan and execute a 3-day ordeal of which I didn't grasp the hugeness until it was finally over. And now, as my muscles are starting to feel normal again, I'm thinking about my next long ride already, as a mother with a newborn forgets her miserable pregnancy and labor pains and dreams of baby #2. And yes, I am thinking I would like to be a part of the MS150 again next year.
By golly, I think I'm addicted. Who knew?
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