We now arrive to day 3 in the adventure of a 1000K brevet. Again, the planned ride start was 6:30 AM. Jeff mentioned the alarm needed to be set for 5:00 AM instead of 5:15 to avoid the day 2 delay he experienced. So that was the plan. Jeff was insistent I drink a bottle of Ensure Plus before falling asleep so I did. I didn't use the Advair.
At 4:58 AM, I woke up and sat quietly in the dark waiting for the alarm to go off. Jeff was still sound asleep and I didn't want to wake him prematurely. The alarm went off and we got ourselves ready to ride day 3. I was stiff and sore from 2 days of riding, but I hoped my legs would improve once we got warmed up. The start of the route would be flat with a few rollers so we would have plenty of time to find our legs for the hills beyond Winnsboro. The question on everyone's mind was if Alan had made it in the night before. Dan gave us an update that Alan had gotten in and was planning to leave an hour behind the rest of us.
The first services on Day 3 come in Lone Oak as you make the first climb of the day up US-69. The shoulder here is a bit cluttered with debris and so we formed a single file line to help avoid any issues with flat tires. At the store, I drank chocolate milk. We stayed long enough for everyone to get a bite and then we pushed on towards Yantis.
En route to Yantis, Jeff had an issue with a slowly deflating tire. He pulled off and somehow signals got crossed about who was waiting, who was taking a bathroom break, and who was helping Jeff with the flat. Everyone, but Jeff, arrived in Yantis. I went inside to buy a sausage biscuit and chocolate milk. As I ate, Jeff arrived in poor spirits because he had been left to deal with the flat tire without help. At the control, he got out a new tire and tube and fixed the problem. All of us felt bad about the confusion, but we were back together again and ready to roll to Winnsboro.
The route to Winnsboro is pretty flat with a couple of hills on the approach into Winnsboro. The pace remained friendly and the group hung together as we rolled into town.
We were all surprised to find the DQ we had used in 2019 was closed. The adjacent C-store was open so we stopped here to fill bottles and eat for the hilly ride into Mount (Un)Pleasant. Mount Pleasant is home to a chicken processing plant and in 2019, our stomachs churned as we rolled past the plant. The good news was that the 1000K did not require this and we were very happy to avoid this smelly plant. As we rolled towards Mt Pleasant, talk was started about milk shakes from McD's on the return. As with day 2, the groups were broken apart a bit by the hills. I had trouble shifting from my small ring to big ring and dropped my chain a couple of times. We finally reached the Kountry Korner C-store. The official control was a turn around 8 miles further up the road. Amy ordered pizza for our return. I should mention Pam was with us again on Day 3 and she was on a different brevet route that required a trip into Mt. Pleasant to a different control. John, Dan, and Amy left first. The rest of us followed a few minutes later and we waited at the turnaround to regroup.
Back at Kountry Korner, pizza was ready in about 5 minutes. Gary took a look at my derailleur to see if it could be adjusted, but he said the mounting bolt was frozen and the adjustment screw was already at the limit. He said he thought I needed a different derailleur with more offset or that they needed to adjust the shims on the chain ring. I'll take it to Peddler eventually and see what they recommend. We enjoyed pizza and then we got on our bikes and got ready to roll. I vowed to not use the small ring again to avoid the chain dropping issue.
As we rolled back to Winnsboro, we bumped into another rider who we mistook for Alan. About 5 minutes later, we did find Alan rolling towards Mt Pleasant and we all stopped to cheer him and give him information about the store and the turn around. We resumed riding with the happy knowledge that all the riders were still in the game. In Winnsboro, Dan, John, and Charlie made for McD's. The rest of us went to the C-store again. It was here we saw the forecast for the afternoon and evening had changed from rain to storms. John delivered me a milk shake from McD's (woo hoo!) and that was all I needed to keep me happy. We all changed our clothing in preparation for rain. I put my saddle cover on and put my sun sleeves. and sun knees away to avoid them getting soaking wet. I put my rain cap in the bag for when the rain started and made sure my jacket was easy to reach.
Leaving Winnsboro, it started to rain lightly just before the first turn back towards Yantis. As we made the turn, we stopped to put on our vests and other rain gear and to turn on lights. Dan and Pam went fast off the front to try and beat the rain. The rest of us formed 2 groups behind. I was with Amy, Jeff, and Charlie. John, Dana, and Gary were in the 3rd group. As we rolled, it started to rain harder. As we approached Yantis, Jeff asked if we needed to stop. None of us did so we pressed on. At some point, Dan and Pam passed us again. I guess they had stopped in Yantis. As they pushed ahead, Charlie joined them and we did not see them again until the end of the ride. We were riding pretty well, but the weather kept getting worse. After some time, I removed my glasses as they were too fogged up to be useful. this meant I had to give up my. rearview mirror too. The wind picked up and the rain started coming down in buckets. There was lightning and thunder. I spotted a barn off the side of the road and we all rushed our bikes under the shelter.
I was thoroughly soaked and shivering from the cold. As we watched the storm rage, we flagged down John, Dana, and Gary and they. joined us in the barn. We all decided to put on more clothes. Amy generously gave me her rain legs. I put these on over my sun knees. I took off my jacket and put the sun sleeves back on. This helped a lot with warmth. The next problem to hit, were the mosquitoes. There were thousands of them and we swatted constantly to keep them away from us. The rain finally slacked off and we were all happy to get back on our bikes. I took a plastic grocery sack from Dana and used it as extra protection for my head and ears under my helmet.
The luck of the Irish was with us as we pedaled towards Greenville. First, the roads, while wet, were clear of any issues. We found the rain was no longer falling and only had to dodge a few puddles as we benefitted from a tail wind. I originally thought some uphill would be good to get warm, but my legs and knees complained on the small inclines we encountered and I changed my mind to appreciating the flats and downhills. We reached Lone Oak and rode single file in the lane of US-69 at first. We then moved to the shoulder as it was smooth asphalt compared to the chip seal of the main lanes. My hands had started feeling the wear and tear of all the chip seal and I was finding myself frequently changing hand position. More good news is we took a different road into Greenville than we had used on the outbound in the morning. I tried putting my glasses back on, but they were still too fogged up to be useful. As I tried to put them back in my bag, I dropped my mirror on the ground and had to retrieve it.
The final miles went by pretty fast. The return roads were smooth and flat (relatively speaking) and we found ourselves back in town in short order. With the end in sight, I was willing to push a little harder and stay together with the group. We arrived back to the hotel and found Dan, Pam, and Charlie waiting there for us. Finish time 63 hours 14 minutes.
Gary and Dana were presented with medals for completion of the route. After a few minutes of chatting about the experiences of the night, we all headed back to the rooms to shower and sleep. A tentative plan was made to meet for breakfast in the lobby at 9:30 AM. The plan being to meet and then drive across the freeway to IHOP.
I slept soundly until around 7:15. I got up, quietly got dressed and went downstairs to get some coffee. A few minutes later, Gary joined me. Eventually, we had everyone downstairs -- including Alan who had finished the ride. We were all glad for Alan and congratulating each other on a job well done. Most everyone opted out of the breakfast plan, but Jeff, Amy, Dan, and Pam were still in. As we left the hotel, Pam got a flat on her car and so that meant it was just Jeff, Amy, and I at IHOP. Dan and Pam stayed to wait for AAA to come help. We had a short wait for a table.
We then ate a big breakfast. I was having a mild headache and I wasn't sure if it was hunger, dehydration, or something else. I ate and drank a lot, but the headache remained.
After breakfast, we waved goodbye to Amy and then Jeff and I went back to the hotel and packed up our room and loaded the van. It was at this point, Jeff realized I still had Amy's birthday gifts. So these made the trip to Greenville and then back to Austin for another time. The best laid plans oft go astray.
As I reflect on the outcome of this brevet, I am pleased to have finished. I rode well and felt mostly good about my performance. As I think back to 2019 on the much hotter 1200K, I feel that my fitness level then was better than 2021. I feel 2 years older this year and the thought of getting up on a rainy Tuesday to ride another 200K was not appealing. My previous best 1000K was 65 hours 10 minutes. So, despite all my concern, this was my fastest ever finish of a 1000K. Even so, all of us at breakfast agreed that we were glad it was 1000 and not 1200 this time. I was thankful to not have had any major problems with the bike. The dropped chain issue was minor. No flat tires or major mechanicals. My body held up pretty well and I looked forward to my massage appointment back in Austin on Tuesday evening. Britton worked me over at the massage and it hurt, but I knew it would feel better on Wednesday. I got home around 8:00 PM from the massage and was fast asleep by 8:45 PM.
All the photos I have for Day 3 and 4 are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y6zAJfHxcR3o3pCn6
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