TN 400k brevet - actual ride report

Don't you hate it when you forget to save a draft??

A 400k, while doable for any cyclist that's in decent form with some experience in riding some centuries, is still what I consider to be 'big boy distance'.  Any time I'm going to be in the saddle for 200+ miles I need to be prepared for more than just a flat or needing an extra gel.


There was a good showing of about 14 people for this ride, which included the shorter 200 and 300k distance options.  I think there were 2 additional riders that chose to do only the 200k distance.  Typically there would be more, but Kentucky was holding their 400k on that same day. Today's ride was a simple out and back route on the Natchez Trace, which makes it nearly impossible to get lost, but mind numbing in the eternal 'sameness' that is the visual stimulation on the Trace. I like to say that I would rather yank out my fingernails with pliers than to spend all day riding the Natchez Trace.  Still though, I willingly signed up for this ride even though the Kentucky folks had their 400k going on the same day. And since I'm on a spending lockdown right now, I chose not to invest in the fuel to drive to KY and back.

Weather.  Hmph. Hard for it to not be a factor on a 250 mile bike ride. There was rain before the start, and some light showers for the first 40 or 50 miles.  I finally remembered to bring a camera and actually USE it on the ride.  Here is a poor shot of the pre-ride wetness.  Exciting, right?  Ready to ride? It's dark, about as warm as it will be all day (right about 50 degrees), and we'll have a headwind the whole way home, but don't worry - it'll be great!

Some of the usual cast of characters were here for this ride.  Bob Hess, was riding fixed gear and sticking to the 200k route.  Dave Penegar, making it clear he had no interest in riding 'hard' for 18-20 hours. Jeff Bauer, working to reclaim his form which was stolen by a busy work schedule.  Noticeably absent was George Hiscox, which really bummed me out.  I needed some of the comedic relief guaranteed to be offered by the simple presence of George.

The ride started with Jeff Sammons' usual, 'okay, go on' - which it seemed we all were just too excited to get out to the Trace.  /sarcasm

For clothing, I opted for a simple short sleeve baselayer, arm warmers, vest, knee warmers and thought that maybe I would need a lightweight wind jacket later at night.  I was all geared up, with the Shimano dynohub and Pedalpower+ charging unit to give the Garmin unit a shot of juice later in the day. I like my gizmos to be able to work, and typically my GPS unit will last just to the end of a 400k, but ya never know if something may come up, delaying me on the road.

I spent the first 10-15 miles chatting with Jeff Bauer but due to the nature of sticking to our own comfortable pace, found myself bridging up to Bob Hess whom was spinning away nicely on his fixie. Bob and I chatted for the next 15 or 20 miles, but soon the wind was at my back, and with a nice downhill I was off the front riding solo into the drizzle and dreariness.

After this point, there isn't really too much of interest to report.  I realized there was nobody in front of me, and I was fine with that. I felt pretty good on the bike and figured I would get caught on the return trip by some riders that were working together in the headwind, which while wasn't the most vicious, was enough to kinda piss me off, especially when fatigue becomes a factor. I hoped, however that I would be able to finish the ride solo, at the front of the pack since I had never done that before.  I have been with the first pack of riders to finish a brevet, but never solo.

Let me get this straight:  A brevet is NOT a race.  What I'm talking about is a simple game I play in my own head to make things interesting and stay motivated.  Had folks like Bauer and others thought for a second it was a 'race' of any sort - I would have been ground up and spit out the back of the pack like usual.

I did snap a couple of pics while passing over the Tennessee River:

My first experience with the Tennessee River came with this crazy attempt at a 600k with very little in the way of 'form' for riding the way I did. I still have a bone to pick with the Trace, and maybe that's one of the things that lends to this foul taste in my mouth when folks mention riding on it?

OK - so, temps never really warmed, even though the rain stopped.  I saw my shadow only once the whole day.  After the turnaround, I was able to gauge the gaps I had on the rest of the riders, and offered words of encouragement to each as I passed them.  Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, and there was one large group sticking together, most likely to the end.  I felt bad for some of the folks that would be out on the course well over 20-24 hours.  I knew the temps were going to drop more than expected since it never warmed to the upper 50's as promised. At the last control (checkpoint) I bought a pair of jersey gloves in preparation of it getting even chillier. I had set out some gloves, but in my pre-ride haste, decided I wouldn't need any gloves on this day. (wrong)  As I prepared to roll out of the control, Jeff Bauer and his riding partner pulled in, and he was concerned with the falling temps as well. I pay close attention to what Jeff has to say, as he's a highly accomplished and respected randonneur.

"The Perpetual Fifty" is what I called the last 50 miles of this ride.  Hilly enough to tax the legs after 200 miles, a bit of headwind... a tad chilly..  It was easy to get just a bit ticked off from fatigue and the desire to just get this ride 'in the can' and get a warm shower and some sleep. The only meaningful event was an armadillo darting in front of me, as much as an armadillo can 'dart'.  A quick hop and I was up and over the obstacle.

Critter count:

LOTS of dead armadillos
1 live armadillo
1 'cat' of some sort - and not the domestic type
4 deer
3 dogs that appeared to have been dumped on the Trace
2 possum

Haiku's written:

None.  I wasn't in a haiku mood on that day.

Mechanical issues:

Not a one. 

Stat folks - here ya go:

Natchez Trace 400k - PREP

Pre-ride prep is done.  Just need to get things loaded and make the trip over to Brentwood for the start of this ride.  One of the great things about living in TN, rather than Indiana, like I was last year is that I don't have to drive a minimum of two and a half hours to join a brevet in either Kentucky or 5 hours to Tennessee!

This will be my second ride with any meaningful time using my new Shimano dynohub and Supernova E3 Pro light.  I'll give some feedback on that combo in the post-ride report. I did a couple of minor adjustments to the Brooks saddle as well, by moving it slightly forward and a very, very slight height adjustment.  I don't think the height will be a big change, as I swap seatposts between the 'racing' seat/seatpost and the brevet post/seat, so the height changes regularly.

While the Natchez Trace isn't my most favorite road to ride, it will be good time to just chill intellectually and emotionally, after the recent upheavals with work and such.  I do look forward to the mind-numbing monotony of the Trace in that regard.  Hey - maybe I'll download War And Peace and listen to that on the ipod?

........... now to get the ride on!

Movin' on UP! The dueling 300's

Hell, the 400k is this weekend, so I had better get something posted before I forget all the details of the TN and KY 300k's ridden recently.  Since I've not yet taken any pictures during the rides this year, it's not as easy to keep track of all of the events, but both of these 300's had some pretty memorable events that I'll not soon forget.


The TN 300k:

I've ridden this route before - actually last year (2011).  It was after that ride last year that I concluded that my heart just wasn't into pursuing another full brevet series (200, 300, 400 and 600k rides), let alone another 1,200.  I was totally shattered after finishing that ride last year.

Coming into this ride, I had already survived the AL 200, improved on my TN 200k time from the last time I did that route, and had a good ride on the KY 200, even though the wind was an issue for Steve Rice and I. I felt like I had pretty good legs, and mentally was feeling pretty tough.  I think that Alabama ride was what helped in the confidence boost. 

I was bummed to hear Steve Phillips report that his day was over, even before leaving the parking lot!  He had a pedal that was busted.  I suggested that it would then be a good opportunity to do one-leg drills for the day, but he didn't see it that way.  I was looking forward to riding with him.  Dave Penegar was there, and let me know pretty quick that he was going much easier than we did the TN 200 a few weeks prior. First time randonneur Bob Butsch was there.  He's the fiancee of fellow Indy transplant and teammate, Chrysa Malosh.  We swapped a number of emails prior to this ride.  He is a really strong rider and actually finished just ahead of me.  No - a brevet is NOT a race, but I do like to try to improve on my previous times.  One of these days I'll learn to not put that pressure on myself.  Jeff Bauer was in attendance as well, which was nice.  His business has taken big chunks of riding time away, so his form is well below what this 'legend' is capable of.

OH - how can I forget George.  George Hiscox is always good for a laugh, and this time was no exception.

For the most part, this is a 'flat' route, with the exception of the big climb up the plateau to Sewanee. On paper, it doesn't look so bad, but this climb seems to really take it out of me.  The ride down was nondescript, and had the riders in the lead group sticking together pretty well down to the George Dickell distillery.   It was on this climb that Jeff decided to back down the effort, and Bob dropped me to go on ahead with the other, skinny guys that can go uphill better than me. When I finished the climb up to Sewanee, I decided to not have a sit-down lunch and just get my brevet card signed and move on.  I could hear thunder, and knew weather could be an issue (it was later on), so decided to move on out.  I passed George as he was on his way out, looking to finish solo.

I felt much better than I did at the turnaround last year, and was looking forward to seeing if I could finish ahead of the weather. 

With about 100k left in the ride, Bob and another rider caught up to me.  They had a nice lunch up in Sewanee but really made good time on the way back.  I just couldn't keep up with them in the rolling terrain, so let them ride off ahead. 

When making my way by the Dickell distillery on the return trip, I saw a bike saddle laying in the road. My first thought was, "oh dear, someone has been hit by a car!"  I rode back and forth along the ditch, and when convinced that wasn't the case, set my sights on getting back to Nashville. After riding about 20 miles or so, I saw a rider up in the distance..  it looked like George (it was)..  it looked like he was standing and pedaling (he was).. Oh damn.  That was his saddle that was laying in the road!  What other rider would willingly ride 100k with NO saddle?  George Hiscox, that's who!  I couldn't wait to get up to him and needle him about it and hear the story.  For those that don't ride much, standing and pedaling isn't a big deal for a while.  But for 60 miles?  NO friggin' way would I do that. At one of the last controls I tried to convince him to at least buy a roll of paper towels to somehow rig up to give him some relive and sit - even if for a few moments here and there. No dice.  It's George, after all. The looks he got from the locals when trying to explain not only what we were doing, but why he didn't have a seat on his bike.

With about 40 to go, I could see storm clouds behind me.  Then lightning.  LOTS of lightning! I put the hammer down as much as I could at that point, but no luck.  With about 20 miles to go, it rained.. HARD. Great big fat rain. As I was nearing the Brentwood area, Wilson Pike was closed due to a vehicle smacking a utility pole.  I sought refuge under the awning of a church with two other riders.  After the rain passed, we rode in together.

For the data geeks, below is the Strava info.  Click and enjoy!






The KY 300k:

OK - to keep this post to a respectable length, I'll not belabor the details of this ride.  A couple of things to note, though.

Fellow randonneur Todd Willams and Alex Meade were out ahead of all of us (like usual), in the predawn light.  Todd was hit from behind by a vehicle going about 60mph - and he then took Alex out.  I'm grateful that my good friend Micah wasn't with them, as he may not be with US anymore.

The car:

 

OH - forgot to mention that this driver, after hitting Todd and leaving him laying for dead in the middle of the road.  TOOK OFF. About 15 minutes later he decided it would be a good idea to come back to the scene.

A bike wheel should be round, right?  Here is the rear wheel post-impact:

Todd is back on the bike, albeit with a broken back, and the lingering possibility of losing a kidney.  Alex stayed at the scene until the police officer on the scene took Todd back to the start. That put him about 45 minutes behind me and my riding partner on that day, Mark Rougeux - yeah, being the bona fide badass that he is, Alex, after nearly being killed in an accident got back on the bike and actually caught up with Mark and I about 30 miles after the halfway point. Insane!  Ultimately, I rode the rest of the ride with Alex, and we had great conversation about all things biking and non-biking.  I typically see Alex only for a few minutes before a ride starts and he and the really fast guys take off like a shot. It's amazing that he even could ride after that, but was really feeling sore by the end of the ride.

Thank god Micah wasn't with them.  Also am so grateful that Todd survived and will be okay.  The kicker?  The driver, after nearly killing a man, leaving the scene (but coming back... assuming it was him that was driving) - was cited for 'INATTENTION'.  That's just obscene.  Come on Kentucky - get it right!