I finished the ms150, although not the way I had originally intended. The first day was 75 miles. Not too bad. We set off at about 6am, it was relatively pleasant outside. There was a rest stop for water, energy bars, fruit and bathrooms about every 8-13 miles (basically in every small town we went though). These were amazing. Some even had cooked food like egg sandwiches, etc I stocked up at pretty much every one, got water and a snack. John Holland and I drank some generic pedialite before the trfip or hydration (this is awesome stuff, it’ll pretty much cure a hangover). About 10am it started getting hot and humid. I learned some good things about cycling that day.
1. Always wear a jersey. I wore a team T-shirt and it didn’t breathe….at all. once it was sweaty, it was pretty much like a wet towel on my back.
2. Always wear good padded bike shorts. I bought some nice ones right before the trip. They singlehandedly saved my taint.
3. clipless petals. necessity. I had no clips or clipless shoes, just normal petals. I came back and bought some clip petals, which leads me to my next point.
4. At LEAST use road bike tires. My trek 7300 is pretty light but the tires are hybrid tires. Road bike tires roll longer and are lighter. I’m trying to scrapte up enough money to get either a trek 1200 or (more likely) a trek 1000 for longer rides. I’ve also been looking at several Bianchi models.
We finished the first day about 1pm, ate, drank some more pedialite and went to bed. My right knee was a little sore when I woke up at 4:30am on Sunday and I had the start of a cold. I had been fighting it off the previous week and I thought I’d beat it but the exertion must have lowered my immune system enough for it to come back. I took some zycam and pedialite and we set out for day 2. Suprisingly, other than some soreness in my right knee my legs were fine.
Day 2 was MUCH more of a mild day. We got about 10 miles in and I though “I have to work tomorrow” and opted for the 35 mile route. My cousin jeff, his dad Vic, John Holland and my uncle Scott all opted for the 75 mile route. I really with I would have done it but I fear that if I had I would not have been able to work on Monday.
I was somewhat disapointed with myself so I pushed as hard as I could for the rest of the 35 miles and finished (after a 15 minute stop at the last rest area for some phone calls) at about 9:30 at which point I went to my car and went to sleep for a while. The rest of the 35 mile crew came in at about 1 with the 75 milers not too far after.
I’m going to be more prepared next year (wherever it is) and am planning a 65 mile ride in August as well as some rides to Clinton from Savoy before the season ends. More detailed account can be found at here