Crazy Idea?

If you have been keeping up with my blog postings, you know that we recently had a wonderful trip to Vermont where we did lots of mountain biking. As soon as I got home, I went ahead and signed up for the Shenandoah Mountain 100. I had been planning to do the race but had yet to spend the $200 to sign up. I had some great rides in Vermont and decided that now was the time and went ahead and laid down the cash and signed up.

The weekend following our Vermont trip we had plans for a Quackenbos weekend at VA Beach. All of Melissa's family would be there and the trip would include some time on the beach. I like going to the beach a lot but in this case, I was worried about missing out on a weekend of training. I can do short rides during the week but the weekend is when I get most of my mileage in. On our way home from Philly, I had a crazy idea. I thought maybe I could bike from our house to the beach. Could that be possible? I had Friday off but we were not planning to head down to the beach until Saturday morning after Melissa's swim. If I rode my bike down on Friday, she would then follow on Saturday with the car for the Sunday trip home. Melissa thought it was too far and said as much. I wondered though.

When I got to work Monday, I got caught up on a few things and got some tasks running before doing a little research on the trip. I started where all good research projects start-Google. Google Maps has a new Beta service that will actually plot a bicycle route for you. Presumably this route would be on roads hospitable to bikes. When I first googled the route, I came up with a distance that was too far. But then I realized I had not done it correctly. When I Googled the route from my house to Melissa's parent's house, I came up with 126 miles. I have ridden 100 miles on my mountain bike in one day in the past and I did 150 miles over two days one time. But 126 miles would be the farthest I have ever gone in 1 day. Could I do it?

After thinking about it for a day or two, I decided I was going to try. I had to buy some extra gear including a waterproof map holder thingy that attaches to the bike, some lights, and a few extra tubes. It took me a couple of days to get everything sorted out with the directions, etc. And I was even up until 1AM Thursday night putting everything together. Please note, this is not recommended before a big ride. It is best to get plenty of rest.

On Friday morning, I got a later start then initially planned because I was up so late the night before. I started the morning with my pitcher of fruit smoothie, another banana and a granola bar. I loaded up my pack which was stuffed to the hilt and actually quite heavy. I had emergency gear, bike lock, food, water, extra Gatorade, Blackberry, bathing suit (Melissa was going to meet us at the beach on Saturday), lights, duct tape, wallet, extra tubes, patch kit, tools, extra batteries for lights and Blackberry, and probably a few other things.

I headed out with my load on my back and started to make my way towards downtown Richmond. I felt sluggish and seemed to be laboring more than usual. Turns out my back tire was low. I stopped once and pumped it up some but as I rode it slowly lost some air. When I got to Brown's Island, I stopped again and this time changed the tube. It actually did not take too long. Now I was ready. I continued on my route and crossed the James River and zig zagged my way through town. There were lots of turns on my route and that slowed me down quite a bit as I had to find my way through town.

Without going into too much detail, I made it through Richmond and then through Hopewell and made my way down to route 460. My plan was to take a break when I hit 460 and get more water and rest a bit as the trip down 460 would be long, hot and there would be lots of traffic. I have driven 460 a few times and I had recalled that there were places to stop along the way. However, when I got to 460, there was nothing. Just road, some farms, some industrial areas and lots of trucks. I had also run out of water although I did have a bottle of Gatorade that I was nursing. As I made my way down the road, the 18 wheelers were zooming by. I had to concentrate on staying just to the right of the white line so I was in the small shoulder. But sometimes there was debris or road kill that I had to dodge. One thing that really started to bother me besides the heat and sun was my rear end. It was really starting to hurt after the many hours on the bike.

At one point, I saw a sign that said "VA Beach-85 miles." That was a bit demoralizing as I realized that I still had a very long way to go. It was going to take me a lot longer than the 12 hours that I thought. As I made my way down 460 I was wondering where I would be able to stop and refuel and rest. I had a few Hammer Nutrition Bars while riding but I really needed more water. I saw a sign that for the Virginia Diner in 12 miles. Well I guess that was something but it was farther than I really wanted to go before getting more water. Oh well. I just kept pedaling.

Finally I saw a sign for McDonalds in 1 mile. Hurray! I stopped at the McDonalds, locked up my bike and went in and bought a bottle of water. I sat there and drank my water and got on my Blackberry to send a few emails. I had made it to Waverly, Virginia so I sent that update out to Melissa and a few other friends and family. I must say I was getting some strange looks from other patrons in the McDonalds. They probably did not see too many people with spandex bike pants, bike jersey, etc. Plus, I really reeked. I could smell myself so I know that others probably could too. After cooling off for about 30 minutes in the AC, I went to the nearby gas station and bought more water. They did not have the Gatorade that I liked but at least my Camel Bak was now full of nice cold water. After getting the water, I went and found a shady spot and ate my PB&J, an orange, a Hammer Gel, and a Luna Bar. I noticed there was a 7-Eleven a few blocks down. After I was done eating, I went down to the 7-Eleven and got my Gatorade, checked my route and then I was off again.

After a little while on the road, I came to another 7-Eleven and ran into a trail fairy. My friend Rachel works in the area and she knew I was making my way down 460. I stopped and sat in her car to cool off some more and she went into the store and bought me some chips. I sat with her and talked for a while with her AC blasting in my face. That really helped and I felt pretty energized. So off I went on down the road.

However, after another 20 minutes or so, I started to get a bad headache and started to feel pretty weak. I knew that the heat was getting to me. I also recognized the early signs of heat exhaustion and decided I probably should give up my quest. I came to a gas station in Ivor, Virginia and called it quits there. I was a little more than half way there. I called Melissa and gave her the address of where I was and she was able to punch the address into the navigation system and come get me. While I was waiting for her to get there, I sent some emails, drank some Gatorade, sat, stood, paced a little and watched people come and go into the gas station/truck stop. I got some funny looks for sure. One person asked me if I was taking a break and I told her that I was done and had called in the Calvary. In fact, I was cooked.

Melissa arrived and I changed into some dry clothes. I ate some chips and drank some cold water that she had brought to me. It was a nice enough drive home and on the way to our house we happened to pass right by our favorite Thai place so we called in some carry out and picked it up and took it home. When we got home, I devoured my food, took a shower and went to bed. My adventure had been cut short but I did get about 70 miles of riding in which was good training for the SM100. Also I got some good heat training in.

I did end up with some sunburned legs but overall I recovered pretty quickly. Thai food and chocolate milk can do wonders. The next morning, we got up at 6AM, loaded up the car with our weekend stuff and headed to the pool. I did not swim but I did time Melissa after she warmed up so I was good for something. And then we drove to the beach and had a great weekend with the Quackenbos family. It was great to see everyone and see how the children have grown.

When I got home, I looked at the proposed Google route some more and realized that the proposed route would have taken me on some very busy roads. I have researched the route some more and it looks like there is a way to get to the beach by bike that is safer than the Google route but it would require even more mileage in order to stay off the major highways. Looking back, it is probably good I stopped because the route would have been too dangerous.