Road Ride Report Sunrise to Sunset; Tour de Palm Springs

So a coworker convinced/suckered me into doing the Tour de Palm Springs century with him last Saturday.. My first century.

Beware: exceptionally long post.

We had been doing increasingly long road rides in the months prior, the furthest we'd done was 70 miles, Azusa to Seal Beach and back along the San Gabriel River Trail, two weeks before the Tour. That ride had a meager 1300ft of climbing/loss on it. Still, after that ride, I felt confident I could do the century without too much trouble. I stopped being on the fence and signed up.

My training the last month had been fairly relaxed due to various factors, so I decided to ride to/from work (~11 miles each way) Mon-Thurs the week before, to just get some extra miles on the bike. I did so on Monday, but was exceptionally tired when I got home. I went to bed, and woke the next morning realizing why I was so tired.. I had picked up a head cold, was ridiculously stuffed up and felt absolutely terrible for the next two or three days. I began seriously doubting if I'd be able to ride it, or even if I should attempt it. So I loaded up on the vitamins, rested as much as I could for the week, canceling my plans of riding to/from work. Thursday rolled around and I was beginning to feel better, the fatigue was gone, but the stuffiness was still lingering. I had to make my choice, as I was scheduled to be at work until 10pm Friday and needed someone to cover part of my shift if I was going to ride. I said what the hell and decided to try it, in the back of my mind thinking I could just cut my ride short if I needed to.

Friday comes along and in thinking over the logistics of it, I figured my best bet would be to drive out early morning to beat traffic (Pasadena to Palm Springs anytime on a Friday evening would suck). This meant I needed to get to bed EARLY so I could wake up at 2:30am and get out there with plenty of time. I headed off to bed at 5pm, and was quickly asleep. Then I was not asleep, and it was only 8:30pm! Ack! I tried to return to sleep, but my mind was restless, anxiously dwelling on all the details of the ride. I continue the fighting my brain on attempts to sleep for many hours, eventually fading off sometime after 1am. My alarm immediately goes off, its 2:30am, time to get up! Boo, I had just fallen asleep! I was of course totally groggy and out of it by this point and the urge to stay in bed was very great. Somehow I managed to overcome it, got a quick shower, some breakfast, grabbed the bike and gear and was out the door.

As you might expect, the drive was uneventful, and took a mere hour and a half, even with a stop for gas. I rolled into town about 5am. Circle through town and find the start of the race, then back up the street to where my friend Jeremy was staying, and texted him to see if he was awake yet. He was, by mere seconds, his alarm had just gone off. So I park my truck at his hotel, and work on some last minute bike prep while he gets ready, then head off down the street to the start a bit after 6am. Riders are beginning to gather in mass by then, as the ride starts at 7am.

I felt pretty good, and after getting some good stretching in and circling around the parking lot for a bit to warm up, we were ready:


After considerable pre-ride talking, playing the national anthem, the band starts playing and they begin releasing riders in small groups. Since the street was still open to traffic, they were only releasing a couple hundred at a time, so it was a significant wait before we got started, as there were a few riders ahead of us:


At 7:18am I hit the road, and started the GPS. There were thousands of riders and signals kept us grouped up, so going was fairly slow for a bit as we got out of the city. A very slight incline along the first bit, but nothing you really notice. A few turns and a few miles later, we started climbing. I felt decent and the congestion had let up a bit, and I was glad I had decided to ride. The climbing continued for a good while, and got steeper at times. Jeremy and his friend Declan who was riding with us had already pulled ahead, as anyone who has ridden with me knows, I am not fast on the climbs. But there was a constant stream of riders passing me, and being passed, so it was far from riding alone, for now. After 1:40 and about 15miles I hit the first SAG stop, and regrouped with Jeremy and Declan.

We refueled and were off, downhill for several miles. It was good to get some speed. Not long after the start of the down, the entire pack ahead of us stops, there was an ambulance and a cop car and some other vehicles in the opposite lane. After a minute they let us by and as we ride by I see them loading a cyclist into the ambulance. I'm not sure what happened, but I hope he was OK. Several more miles downhill, some tight drafting, 30mph barely pedaling. FUN! Then back to the grind, more climbing, with short downhills in between. Somewhere around another hour of riding and about 10 miles we roll into SAG number 2. Some quick food and drinks, sunscreen, then we were off again:


This was the last time I saw Jeremy and Declan for some time, as the traffic signals ceased being there for me to catch up. They kept pushing hard and I just couldn't hold their pace anymore, so I dialed it back a bit and just went my own speed.

Not too many miles after that, I made it to the point where the 100mile and 55mile rides split again. The shortcut. The wimp clause.. If I took it, I'd end up with a 65mile ride. I was already hurting by that point and breathing deep was starting to get difficult without coughing and choking due to the head cold. I stopped here for a few and pondered while I ate something. I said no, I'm going to keep going. Must do this, sick or not! I pushed on. The constant up and down was wearing me down, I started having to keep my heart rate down under 160 in order for my congestion to not starve me of air. Each time I crested a small hill, I'd welcome the down as a chance to relax for a minute, but hated it at the same time as I saw the next hill just ahead. These hills continued for some time, until finally, a hill that I could only see DOWN from. It was glorious. Miles and miles of downhill uninterrupted. I at times sat up and just let my arms hang limp at my sides. I think it ended up being about 15 miles downhill. It recharged me, and I hit the flatland into SAG number 3 fairly strong. Mile 51. Rolling in there I heard my cell phone going off in my trunk bag, pulled it out and it was Jeremy. They were still there and waiting. I refilled my water, ate some lunch and rested for a bit. I told Jeremy and Declan to not wait anymore for me, and they were off.

After lunch, off again, riding through the town of Coachella, and into Thermal. There were taco stands on every block, and despite having just eaten, I was still tempted to stop for tacos. I knew if I did though, that I'd never leave, so I kept riding. For a short bit I was with quite a few riders, but as we got further from the SAG, they all slowly started pulling ahead of me, and it was back to solitary riding. The occasional rider would catch me and pass every few minutes, which kept me moving at the fastest speed I could manage. By this point even holding 160bpm was beginning to be difficult, so I started keeping it low 150s. Many more miles passed, lots of turns. We were in the suburbs, riding by ranches and modern housing tracts. It was decent scenery and kept my mind off the miles. Eventually I pull out my map so I can keep track of where to turn, as riders in sight of me are becoming scarce. I see that I'm only a few miles from SAG4, and push a bit harder for it. I roll in, and am greeted by Jeremy and Declan again! The usual refuel, and have the chain oiled up by the mechanic, as it had began to squeak somewhere in the last 15 miles, and then we all three push off together.

Immediately we're pushed onto a climb. I think it was only 5% or something, but at mile 70-some, it hurt. A lot. Jeremy notices riders hauling ass back down one street over and realizes that its an up and back and is tempted to shortcut, but we push on. After the mile or whatever this climb was, we make a turn and are off down hill. Some serious speed later, we're at the bottom again and back to pedaling. At this point Declan takes off, and we don't see him again til the end. I started pacing off Jeremy for awhile, drafting very close to try to keep his speed, and managing fairly decently for 5 miles or so. Then we came to a slight climb, he pulled ahead and I didn't see him again. Back on my own. About 20 miles to go.

By this point I'm hurting, bad. My left elbow started aching. My left knee started aching. The seat was getting uncomfortable. It became merely a mental game of "just keep pedaling". The traffic lights didn't help, as soon as you'd get rolling, bam, another red light to stop you. My left leg wanted to cramp up every time I'd stop. By SAG5, the final one, mile 91, I just wanted to be done. Stopped quick to grab more water as I was low again, and was off.

Some people cheering at me as I pedaled out of the parking lot. More turns, more miles, more stop lights. Almost there. Keep going. Then at mile 98 or 99 somewhere, I come upon three riders. One of them, a lady on a hand cycle, and I'm guessing two of her friends/family following right behind her for support. Wow. Awesome. I tell her "well done" as I ride by, and she replies "you too!". Then the final turn, the home stretch! More cheering and clapping from random pedestrians as I ride by. Lights are good to me, no stops.

I roll into the finish, my GPS reads 103.1 miles, 9 hours, 57 minutes:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/24682429


It was an amazing ride. Thanks to Jeremy for getting me out there. Now to start thinking about next year.


-Mike

 

Congrats on pushing through and finishing! The weather was fantastic and I know I really enjoyed being out there for the ride.

Matt

 

Major kudo's to you. The first century is usually the hardest. The feeling of accomplishment makes it all worthwhile.

 

That was intense just reading about it.

Way to power through and finish!

 

Great job!!!

 

Century's DO get easier. Getting beyond the mental barrier of your first is a great feeling! Congrats!

 

That's a great first century. I did my first out there in 06 I think.

 

congrats Mike, keep it up...
I enjoyed your RR..

 

Wow, what an accomplishement!!! Haven't heard from you in ages!!!

 

congrats