Velo Distractions

20080301_KY200K

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On March 1st, 2008 I rode a RUSA/ACP 200K Brevet out of Shelbyville, KY. Considering the nasty winter that just transpired in OH, this was a welcome ride! Read on for the complete ride report.

For me, this is the first brevet of 2008, and I was not disappointed! Kudos go to Steve Rice, the KY RBA who did an excellent job with this ride. Listed below is my experience, however be forewarned, this is the first time I have ridden with this fine group of people, more then likely I have screwed up someone’s name, I am notorious for that. My apologies if it is yours…

The usual things came up at the start. I forgot to pack a credit card to purchase supplies with. Dick Krakowski (I think he is also known as Grasshopper), forgot his cycling shoes and ended up doing the ride in his sneakers. Toshiuki Nemoto forgot to replace the double chain ring on his bike with the triple. And finally, a number of us got a 3 minute time penalty at the start, courtesy of Union Pacific.

Brevet sunrises are an experience that is best viewed while riding, but difficult to describe.

The ride was an out and back route from Shelbyville to Harrodsburg KY comprised of many scenic views along the KY river, rolling hills, and about 8000 feet of climbing. We where blessed with some freshly paved roads, the majority of which had no traffic. Also, considering it was March 1st, the weather gods where with us.

From Shellbyvile to the first control proved uneventful, a series of rolling hills, and occasional patch of ice on the road provide no major challenges. Most of the time was spent finding people to ride with and getting to know some of the other riders. For a short time, I had the opportunity to ride with Kevin Warren who runs the KY Permanents website. Upon arrival at the first control I got a chance to regroup with many of the riders.

Some even figured it would be a good time to get a stretch, (or where they doing something else?)

This ride turned out to be a testament to how far out of shape I had really gotten over the winter. Pushing hard for the first section of the ride to Lawrenceburg, I found both legs where starting to cramp up bad. Trying not to be rude, I would attempt to squeeze out the word “CRAMPS” to everyone who passed and asked me if they could lend any help. After a lot of walking around, stretching, and drinking a whole bottle of Gatorade, I managed to get back on the bike and take off again. Shortly there after, with legs still a mess, I hit Oregon Road. In a very short amount of time, the day had definitely went on a tangent from from leisure ride it was early in the morning! Here is an elevation profile of the outbound route from Shelbyville, can you guess where Oregon road is?

It was around this time that Peter Brunn, Mark Schopper, and Lige Hensly all caught up with me. I didn’t know it then but I would end up riding the remainder of the ride with them. Having someone else to ride with made the miles go by quicker and the day a little shorter. We weren’t fast, but kept a slow steady pace and pretty much socialized the whole way. Looking back, riding a slower then my normal pace was exactly what I needed to be doing, it helped keep my cramping at bay. I still experienced occasional pain to the turn around point at Shelbyville, but was still able to manage it.

While in Shelbyville, I began contemplating my options for completing the ride. I knew if I did not do something about the cramps it would be unlikely that I would make it to the end. Another rider suggested that I buy some TUMS and chew on them throughout the ride. I thought about it for minute and realized that TUMS had sodium, calcium, and a little potasium, these things where concentrated electrolytes that would make you belch! Figuring that I had nothing to loose, I grabbed a couple of rolls from the Redi Mart and started in on them. After about 4 tablets, a sticky bun, and some Gatorade I was off again, cramp free.

The TUMS worked well for quite a bit of the ride, I went through a whole pack between the second and third controls. Peter gave me a tube electrolyte tablets called Nuun, he swore by them for fighting cramps, he was right, the stuff was pretty good.

The remainder of the ride from the third control in Lawrenceburg to the fourth in Shelbyville was pretty much uneventful. Near the end, darkness started setting and the air became considerably colder. If this was the 300K I would have stop somewhere in this segment of the route and put on a couple of layers. Since we where so close to the end, I decided to just tough it out and not waste in any more time. It was during this time I finally made up my mind about using a Dinotte Lighting system. Two of the guys where using them and they both seemed to give off a HUGE amount of light for their size. I know that most Randonneurs swear by using the SON hub based lighting systems, if you don’t have the extra cash for one this setup, a Dinotte will work very well in the interim.

Peter, Mark, Lige, Ken and the LBS it was a pleasure riding with you, look forward to doing it again some day.