I was sleeping by 8 PM Saturday night, but with Day 1’s ride still burning my legs, I periodically woke despite exhausting myself with my fastest ride of the year. At 4 AM I was debating on just getting up to start the morning since the alarm was sent for 5, but the hotel bed was oddly comfortable, and somehow staying in bed kept the next day’s ride farther away. The alarm still found me in bed.

I inhaled a hotel breakfast: fresh waffle, cereal, juice, banana, and a cinnamon roll; still feeding hunger after the previous century ride and also preparing for the next one. It was certainly superior to the cold packaged food found at the campground that never seemed to say good morning.

We collected our bikes and were on the road around 7:15 AM. I was thankfully less saddle-sore than on the second day from previous years, which kept my spirits up getting started. The first 7 miles of rolling hills set the tone for the day. They’re awfully fun speeding downhill, and almost as fun racing back up if you have enough momentum and strength to climb to the next peak, but otherwise they’re just awful. I had to fight up many of those hills, along with several others throughout the day. Day 1 was much flatter; had the Day 2 route been used the first day I think it would’ve been easier, but on the second day it was just mean.

We stopped at most of the rest stops for gatorade, bananas, and sugar to keep the body working. We rarely stayed long, typically just enough to fetch fuel and our breath.

I rode with Hans and Kurt for most of the day. We held our own paceline (where Hans most often pulled) and connected with other trains whenever possible to try to keep the speed up.

The sun was out baking the skin more today which contributed to sapping my energy a little faster, and between that and the cumulative exertion, later in the ride I was feeling the effects. Because I’m a pansy, I was partly hoping the forecasted thunderstorms would roll in and “force” me to take the 75 route instead of the 100 mile turnoff — such thinking probably kept the sun out, and around mile 50 I had to make the choice to ride the 100.

I honestly don’t remember much of the ride at this point. There was lots of pavement, some more rest stops, but mostly I just focused on just moving forward. Kurt and I ended up together for most of the last 20, which was great for switching turns pulling, but I lost him returning to the last 7 miles of hills. Again with the racing down and fighting up with the last bits of energy in my body.

I rolled in approaching 4 PM. The finish line held a group of volunteers and riders cheering those coming in, participatory medals were passed out, and I dismounted and walked up the hill to my ride home.

Body and brain were done.

Here’s a few more cameraphone pictures of my deterioration during the day.

So, Day 1 of the 2006 Gateway MS-150 is over. Well, they have festivities and food and such, that continues much later but I was done riding at about 2:30. If you’re thinking “that’s all it takes for 100 miles?!,” consider we finished earlier than usual, but we were also much faster this year. My bike computer tells me I averaged 18.8 mph for the 98.something miles (I’ll make up the 2.whatever tomorrow), which is the fastest average I’ve logged all year, so that’s pretty exciting.

We hit the hotel for showers, then Olive Garden for handfuls of carby breadsticks and pasta. Back at the hotel, Serenity was on for some entertainment while preparing gear for tomorrow, and now (7:15 PM) it’s about bed time, which I’m procrastinating a bit while I can. Just for you.

Today the weather was kind, which helped my performance. It stayed between the low 60s and high 70s and was overcast all day, which is perfect for me — the heat burns me out quickly. The humidity was high which made breathing harder, but that cleared a little after some drizzling that lasted a little after passing 65 miles, and I popped some pseudophendrine pseudoephedrine to combat the general allergens (lots of cut grass, farm-land, nature…). Around the last quarter of today’s 100, my legs started burning pretty badly from the aggressive riding. The Gatorade we’re constantly downing wasn’t enough to keep the lactic acid from building up, so I upped my intake of bananas; the potassium helps. After a rest stop for some fuel, rest, and leg massaging (sadly had to do it myself), a few miles of high rpm spinning (85-95) seemed to clear the pain.

I took some ibuprofen at the end to head off any additional pain, and I think I’d like to try and get to sleep before that wears off. I’m pretty beat, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. The 75 and 100 route share paths until about mile 50, so I might wuss out at that point and just do the 75 if my legs are empty. Cursed legs of meat.

About 3,500 people apparently came out this year. I don’t have any fundraising totals for everyone yet, but thanks to many generous donations, I’m bringing in $940 for the cause. Thank you all!

Here are a few pictures taken from the camera-phone today.

This morning Kelly and I got out of bed for an early drive to Trailnet‘s bike ride and strawberry festival in St. Jacob, IL, with the promise of fresh strawberries and strawberry shortcake the side of your head. They certainly delivered, but not after we punished ourselves on the bikes first.

Lessons learned:
• 50 miles is longer than I remember
• I need to pack more food with me so I don’t bonk at a measly 30 miles, and water isn’t enough – I have to go back to drinking Propel while riding
• Strawberry shortcake makes the pain worth it (it tastes better that way)