I set out yesterday at just before 10am to do a 110 mile ride. Why? There is no day on my course from Kansan to Maryland that is more than 107 miles, so my thought process was that if I can do 110, then I can do 107 no problem. Kind of mental pump me up thing...
I used mapmyride.com to attempt to map my own course. The problem is that when you're going this type of distance, lack of familiarity with the roads you choose can leave you in a bad spot if you're not careful. Even though the site only shows 'bike friendly' roads, some roads are a lot more friendlier than others. And given that I don't even know the roads that are within a 10 mile radius of where I live, let alone a 55 mile radius, I'm not the best guy to map a long route. Instead, mapmyride makes public thousands of maps that others have created, so I decided to choose a course that a local biker had mapped out. This proved to be a big mistake on several levels, starting with the assumption that this unknown rider knew more than me.
First of all, I figured out how to download the app to my phone to give me directions. (I'm so high tech!). The app allows you to download a map and pegs you with GPS to show you where you are on the specific map. While it doesn't give you directions ahead, it shows you the course that you need to be on. To help myself read the map on my Iphone, I bought a neat little top tube bag (attaches to the top tube of the bicycle directly under my me) with a clear plastic top that in theory allows me to look down on the phone and see where I am going. Key words 'in theory'. What I didn't account for was that I would be sweating all over the bag and that I can't see that far anyhow. On top of that, the sun makes it hard to see so you have to pull over to a shady spot to figure it out. Lastly, running an app that never stops drains your phone fast. My phone also kept going to a dark screen every five minutes, which meant that I had to keep pulling the phone out, putting in my password and then getting back on the app. This was very much a pain in the backside, and these were just my technical issues!
The practical issues were that the mapper had indeed mapped 110 miles, but many of the roads and turns were less than a couple miles each. I would memorize a few turns from the course, but then would have to continually pull over to get the next list of turns every 10-15 minutes. Every bike rider knows that momentum, cadence, and rhythm are your friends. I quickly grew very frustrated trying to find a shady spot on someone's farm to read the screen through the sweat beads and not being able to use the touch screen because the screen was too wet with sweat from my hands to be functional. All the while, my battery is dying at an alarming pace.
Right about the 55 mile mark, not knowing where I was, I knew that I had to get my phone charged or risk not knowing how to get home or having a phone to call home. Obviously, I'm being a bit dramatic and could borrow a phone, but a guy walking around in spandex tights in deep Calvert County, MD (lots of farms) asking to use someone's cell phone wasn't on my top ten list of things to do that day. I did bring the print out of the directions as a backup, but that would have been a bigger nightmare... think about it paper, sweat, directions... it would be like 1990 all over again. Fortunately, I had a solar charger with me, a gift someone gave me when I left Tempus (thanks Olivia!), that came in very handy. It gave my phone a little juice to get out of the sticks and back to civilization. It would have fully charged my phone had I remembered to charge it with the solar panel the day prior.
(Solar Panel - You don't bring the panel with you. You just plug the panel into the white battery and let it sit in the sun for a bit and then you carry the white battery with you. When in need, just plug your phone directly into it and presto! a charge with no outlet needed. Good stuff.)
I arrived at a 7-11 somewhere in Calvert County (I think?), and after explaining my situation to the kind Indian store owner, she graciously unlocked a cabinet of high priced electronic accessories and broke out an Iphone charger. She even plugged my phone in for me. It was one of those moments when humanity redeems itself and people do something nice, just because... I don't think I was ever so relieved to see the charger lightning bolt on my phone. I haven't mentioned yet that I had been completely out of fuel and liquids for the last 15 miles or so, so I was very close to running out of steam. I was happy to give the 7-11 my business and bought an armload of waters, Gatorade and Power Bars. It was now almost 2:30. This meant that it took me 4.5 hours to do 55 miles... This was a horrible pace and very much off of my typical 17+ mph clip. All the stops and turns had a much greater negative impact than I had thought. What was worse is that I knew I couldn't do 55 miles in 3 hours in order to get home in time to get the kids at 6. I knew then that I would not be doing 110 miles that day as hoped and it was time to change the game plan.
With my phone about half charged, I looked at the maps next few turns and it showed that within about 6 miles, I would be on a road that I knew. For the locals, it was the Rt 2/4. If you know this road, then you know that it is high speed 55mph (cars going 65) and not especially safe for bikers, but it goes almost directly where I needed to go. It has a wide shoulder and is considered by the state to be a 'bike route'. It is not a ton of fun to have cars whipping by you at high speed, but I was happy to know where I was and not be reliant on technology.
I decided that I had to do at least 85 miles. This will be my daily average on the road. I biked to about the 75 mile mark and called JoAnn to ask her to get me after Rts 2 and 4 split. I knew that by the time she found me, I would be past or close to the 85+ mile marker. I decided to really push it to see how far I could go. By the time, she found me and I loaded up my bike, I had logged 90 miles. This was all done in about 7hrs and 45 mins... with the last 35 miles being done in about the last 2.5 hours! I was glad that I had the grit to make a big push at the end, but I should have finished the ride home, which would have taken me coincidentally to about 107 miles... There will be a next time.. stay tuned.
Thanks to all for you support.
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