The week before this 400K, I opted out of riding the double century. That was brought on by a combination of not feeling motivated and the fact that I already had an ACP 300K completed. I had some bad news from colleagues at work and that just made me feel sad enough that I decided not to push myself to ride 324K in the ACP 300K time limit. I much prefer these double centuries be run as RUSA rather than ACP so you get the full credit and the full time limit.
The following week, I decided I would ride the 400K. I wasn't sure how this would go, but I figured I had better ride else I would not have any chance to ride the 1000K later this month. On Tuesday, I went out to the garage and found my front tire was flatter than usual. I pumped up the tire and found a puncture in the middle of the tread. I used a trick from my fellow rando Greg Smith and used my power drill to bore a large hole at the spot of the puncture and then I plugged it with a dynaplug. I then added some sealant to the tire and ensure the tire was holding air.
Saturday morning, I got up at 4am and headed to pick my friend Jeff. We drove out to Wayne's house in west Austin where the brevet was slated to start from. Other riders had already arrived. Some were planning to ride the 200K and the 300K. The bulk of the riders were riding the 400K though.
We rolled out at 6am and the faster riders quickly pulled away. I found myself toward the back with the usual problem of trying to breathe. I pulled out my asthma inhaler and used it near the start so that I would hopefully be able to clear my lungs. Sadly, that was not enough. I had to pull it out again about 30 minutes later and then pedal slowly until my breathing came under control. I arrived to the first control in Lytton Springs and found Nick and Ian there. They graciously waited for me to finish at the control. I ate half my breakfast taco and drank half my Coke trying to get back on the road. We then departed the control to head south with a nice tailwind towards Seguin.
The riding to Seguin was aided by a northeast wind. I still had problems breathing and it wasn't until we reached Seguin that I finally found myself breathing more normally. We visited the Stripes and we got fixed up for the windy stretch towards Gonzalez. Ian took a few minutes to adjust his chain while we were at the control. We also said hello and goodbye to Scott Taylor who had reached the turnaround for his 300K. He was the only 300K rider. I didn't envy his return as the wind was still coming strong out of the northeast.
Gonzalez is roughly due east of Seguin and the wind was continuing to blow ENE. I bought some chips and a chocolate milk and ate PBJ that I had brought with me on the bike. We departed Seguin and found the wind challenging as expected. Ian, Nick, and I took turns pulling the group. About 9 miles outside of Gonzalez, we bumped into the fast group coming back the other way. This meant they were roughly 2 hours ahead of us on the road. We waved hello and kept going. As we reached the turn at TX-97, we were directly into the wind. The control is a few miles further up the road and uphill so we had to struggle along to get to the Shell station.
In Gonzalez, we took a long stop until everyone was ready to roll. We left around 5:30 pm with about 1 hour of daylight left. Thankfully, we now had a partial tail wind and a diminishing wind at that to aid our return. As the sun set, we put on reflective gear. As we got closer to Seguin, the temperature started to drop and it got considerably colder into the night and morning of the next day. We opted to use the newly renovated QT for our control on the return. This store is across the busy highway from the Stripes we used outbound. Choosing QT meant we could be safer entering the control. I ordered a made-to-order pizza from the kiosk but found I was having trouble forcing the food down. I drank a Mountain Dew. I think maybe I should have gotten chocolate milk instead. Liquids were easier to consume than solid food. On the way to Lockhart, we stopped briefly in Fentress where I took 3 Pre-race tablets to try and wake myself up. I was yawning and having trouble focusing.
After we left Seguin, we set our goal on the services in Lockhart. There is a Whataburger there that we like to stop at. We also knew that the stores in Lytton Springs would be closed by the time we reached the official control. The temps continued to fall into the mid 30s and it got colder. I had brought 4 pairs of gloves with me and I used all 4 sets during the ride. Even with the wool liners and heavy gloves, my hands were very cold. We arrived shivering in Lockhart to find that Whataburger had closed 20 minutes before our arrival. Fortunately, there was a DQ across the street that was still open. As we were the only dining room customers, we sat inside and ate/drank our food. I ordered a shake (good) and fries (not so good). I tried to eat fries, but they just didn't want to go down. So, I sipped my shake which my body did accept. As we went outside, Ian threw up and we spent a few more minutes so he could get himself ready to ride. The Pre-race didn't help all that much, but Ian supplied me with 2 more caffeine tablets and that seemed to do the trick. I was alert and strong for the remainder of the night and morning.
We reached Lytton Springs and confirmed the stores were closed. I had thought maybe we could get Ian some fizzy water to help with his stomach, but we had to ride on towards the next 24 hour store in south Austin. As we got to Turnersville Rd, I found myself frequently pulling away from Ian and Nick. I stopped a couple of times to let them catch up, but I could see that keeping the group together was going to be a challenge. I also had in the back of my mind about Jeff just waiting for me back at the last control. At the 24 hour Chevron, Ian badly needed the restroom but it was out of order. We sent him up the road with TP and waited about 5 minutes and then Nick and I departed as well. It was still getting colder and I worried about the big descents we would face along Barton Springs Rd and on 2244.
I made the tough decision to separate from Ian and Nick shortly before the end of the ride. I told Ian I needed to keep moving and that I could not continue to stop and regroup. Also, there was the matter of keeping Jeff waiting for me to finish. I pushed on towards the finish cringing on the downhills and doing my best to keep from losing control of the bike. I finished in 24 hours 15 minutes. Ian rolled in about 5 to 10 minutes after me and Nick came in about 30 minutes (just guessing). I was shivering as I loaded up my bike. Jeff had been hanging out in Amy's car while he waited patiently for me to finish. It was good to chat as we drove back to his place with the sun coming up. Each of us shared stories about our rides. I dropped Jeff off and headed home to a hot shower and a warm bed. I slept hard for about 3 hours, woke up to have coffee and some lunch and then went back to sleep for a long nap in the afternoon. I made sure to schedule massage with therapist Britton for first thing on Monday before the end of the day.
Every ride comes with challenges. Even when you think that the wind may be your friend, you won't anticipate that temperature or bike, or nutrition issues may arise. Suffice it to say that I was glad to finish. As usual, at the end, I questioned whether or not I should want to ride the 1000K in 2 weeks. Confidence is lowest at the end when you are a physical wreck. I have 2 weeks to decide about that. Time will tell. Confidence grows as you look backwards at the last ride and realize you got it done. In addition to my own finish, I am particularly glad that both Ian and Nick finished as well. In particular, Ian battled the upset stomach and still made it to the end. Bravo!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UEpaKQ4F15uz39fn8
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