By: Melissa Hall
"The most difficult thing is the
decision to act, the rest is mere
tenacity. The fears are paper tigers.
You can do anything you decide to do."
Amelia Earhart
It was one of those days when it was hard to force myself to go out and play. It would have been easy to talk myself out of it with the wind prediction and the cold. I weary of the cold. All week the temperature prediction kept coming down and the wind prediction kept going up. Plus, the winter has not been conducive to activity. Weather along with cataract surgery impeded fitness and made me soft despite hiking when permitted. This was not just any century. It was a 107 mile century with somewhere between four to five thousand feet of climb. Lastly, I would need to start to the ride in the dark. Like any human, I use excuse after excuse to justify laziness, but experience has taught me that while there is always the weird exception to the rule, I am almost always happy that I forced myself out the door and rode. Today would turn out to be no exception.
I arrive and am the first in the parking lot, but it is not long before others join me. Thomas Nance, John Dippold, Fritz Kopatz, Larry Preble, Mike Kamenish, Bob Grable, and Dominic Wassserzug are there as well as the ride captain and course designer, Jon Wineland. Shivering, we sign in, and then make our final decisions as to what to wear. There is only supposed to be about a 10 degree temperature change throughout the day which makes it easier, but I still opt to carry a light backpack for possible shedding. Larry heads off into the wind for a pre-ride check for clothing accuracy. The others, like me, seem to be adding and shedding before making a final decision.
Soon we are off. Shortly after our start, the sun comes out which makes a huge difference, both mentally and physically. And with the first hill, we all warm up. The group quickly splits into two groups with Larry Preble, Thomas Nance, Fritz Kopatz, Mike Kamenish, and John Dippold pulling ahead. Thomas rides quite a bit with the Ridenfaden club throughout the winter and is always strong, thus his Mad Dog Name of Thomas the Train. And I know Fritz does Zwift. When I first met Fritz, for some reason I thought he would be a slower rider. Instead, as people talk about later in this ride, he is one of the strongest riders in the club. I'm not sure how John trains or how he rides. I can't remember if this is the rider who came to Medora late or not. Mike later reveals he also has been Zwifting and Larry reveals he has just re-started outside rides after being off due to personal tragedy. Regardless, they are all three quite strong.
Most of the climbs in this ride, the major climbs anyway, are in the first part of the ride. The Garmin shows three climbs,, the Wahoo shows eleven. The climbs that Garmin shows, are all before the first store stop. Shortly after one climb, Bob Grable comments on our "blistering" pace of a bit over 11 mph. I just giggle having expected this. You can't put the bike away when it turns cold and not train inside and expect to have fall legs. And we do pick the pace up so that we end with over a 12 mph average. I am not sure what the average turns out to be as I struggle with my new Wahoo and lose my mileage and data half way through but someone said it had risen. Regardless, my goal is to finish and hopefully finish without it becoming a death march where I begin to hate cycling and myself for coming. I have no illusions of finishing with speed. Indeed, I have my daughter on call in case I am unable to finish.
The last climb before the first store stop is voluntary. It is a descent down to the bridge and then back up the way you came. I toy with the idea of not doing it, but someone mentions the bathrooms at the park there and so I descend making straight for the facilities. Despite the hours sign on the door, the door is locked and the park office is closed. I turn around to go to the store telling the others and momentarily blaming it on Trump forgetting that it is a State park and not a National park. Jon reminds me of this fact and I laugh at my quickness in accessing blame. My laughter dies during the climb but remains in my head because we humans are so weird, myself included. Indeed, at one point during the ride someone, I think Bob, is talking about someone (not a rider) being strange and it strikes me as hilarious as I point out to him that most people are not out here riding 107 miles with a headwind for the first half in cold weather and that many might find this activity strange.
We hit the first store stop. I playfully tease Mike about us now having a jump on Dave King who is not here today. (Mike, Dave, and I are the only three riders who have completed the tour every year since its inception in 2004). After a quick feed, I head out ahead of the others as I am starting to chill. No need spending energy on goosebumps. Bob goes with me. Soon the others, minus Dominic, show up. When asked, they said they could not find Dominic and Jon tells me Dominic said he was not really feeling up to par and might bail. The assumption is that he either left before all of us and we will eventually catch him or he went home. I feel a bit sorry for Jon as I know it is worrying to lose riders when you are captaining. Believe me, I know. I think I am the only LBC captain that once lost ALL the riders on her route. (While chasing a group that went off course and never catching them, the front group went off course. I thought I was chasing them, crossing flood waters while carrying my bike,, and ended up at the ride ending alone. I had just gotten in when I received a phone call from one of the riders asking where I was. I felt so badly about it but also saw the humor. Not sure about the riders.
Anyway, when we reach the first covered bridge, Busching Bridge, Larry and Mike are waiting for us. They say that Thomas, John, and Fritz have sprinted ahead. Larry said he had wanted to spend some time photographing the bridge. Mike and he will ride with us the rest of the day. I enjoy this as I rarely ride with either any more and Mike is cracking me up with the occasional off color joke as he used to do. The only time we will see Thomas, John, and Fritz again is at the lunch stop. They are getting ready to leave when we arrive. They sign in as finishing an hour ahead of the rest of us.
Before lunch we pass Otter Creek Covered Bridge and Westport Covered Bridge. I don't stop with the others and keep pedaling as I am really starting to feel worn out and beginning to worry about finishing. We never catch Dominic and Jon does not have his phone number. We talk about it over lunch. I had warned Jon prior to lunch that I intended to eat quickly and leave before the rest so as not to slow everyone down, however, it turns out everyone but Jon eats quickly and is ready to leave. Right before we finish, however, Dominic walks in. Somehow Jon missed seeing his bike when he left the store. Dominic then went a bit off course. Evidently a dog came out and caused him to miss a turn. (Lots of dogs on this route as is often the case in Indiana). Jon stays to eat with him. The rest of us take off.
I find that lunch has revived me and determine to stay with the others who assure me they want to ride with me and are okay with a slower pace. I find that while I was in the store, I lost the direction arrows on my Wahoo. This and only this keeps me from heading out and letting them catch me since they were all using the facilities and I am not. I end up having to end the ride and restart and reload the route, but I do get my arrows back, a huge relief. The others tease me for my dependence on the arrows. I don't apologize. Mentally, I go back in time to when we rode before GPS with just a cats eye and a written cue sheet, or in my case, occasionally with a pocket full of sidewalk chalk so I would know my return route. How hard I often pedaled to be sure that I was not left somewhere in the middle of nowhere not knowing where to go. But oh, how fun those days were.
When we reach the third store stop, Dominic and Jon come in before we have finished and we all leave together. Prior to this, an old woman stops her car in the parking lot, waving her finger at us and telling us to be careful. Okay, Mom. I am fine with this. As I told the others, it is a refreshing change from being yelled at for being on the road.
Soon after leaving, I realize that Jon and Dominic are not with us. Someone tells me that Dominic was starting to cramp. I have feared cramps the entire ride. They are still not the norm for me, but I do get them more than I used to and I know I am asking a lot of my muscles today. We have been riding long enough and are tired enough that chatting is beginning to fade and everyone is thinking of the finish. My knees are achy and I am so glad there are no long climbs before the end. I can't say I am unhappy to see the end, but I find I am glad that I rode. I don't feel like doing a jig, but I also feel better than I anticipated feeling. Despite my lack of training, I have felt worse following other rides. We sign in and shortly thereafter Jon and Dominic pull in. Dominic said he ate something and it seemed to take care of his cramps.
For this ride, as is often the case when conditions are too hot, too cold, too windy, just not ideal, the hardest part was getting out the door. Fear is, indeed, a paper tiger. Tonight I will rest with my fear of not being capable of finishing assuaged. Until the next hard century. But, oh, how happy I am that riding season is back. Another spring. I am blessed.
