Can’t fix Stupid! (my 54 mile scary adventure)

So 2010 has started as a slow cycling year mostly due to the cold weather. This week we finally got a breakthrough with a nice warm weekend and the yearn for a big ride was set in motion.

I got the call Friday evening from my cyclist friend to join him and his family at the Silver Comet for a ride. So I got the bike ready and did a double take on my full face helmet with the magic shine headlight on top and thought- I don’t need that since it is only 2 p.m. and I would not be riding too long. My prior two rides on the Silver Comet took about 2 to 2 1/2 hours and that would  put me safely at the trail end before it got dark….. start some ominous music here ….

Got geared, loaded the SUV and started the 42 mile ride to the trail start. Again – I kept thinking, why would I drive to a place to ride a bike? Why not ride around my town? Well  the Silver Comet Trail is one of the best East Coast bike trails. Built on an abandoned railroad line, it is 61 miles to the Alabama line and then extends another 33 miles into Anniston, Alabama and it is one of my 2010 goals to ride from the Alabama line to the start of the trail (or about 7 Alabama miles + 61 Georgia miles for a total of 68 miles).

Arrived around 3 p.m. and started the ride. The first 4.2 miles I pedaled without the motor – since I forgot to move the battery select switch to the internal battery and it is quite hard to find and select it while riding (note to myself – learn how to do this while riding). First stop was the Floyd Rd trail head where I switched the motor to be ready for takeoff.  I continued to the usual turn around point where my friend was waiting for me.  It took me about an hour to get to our meeting place, the Hiram trail head (mile marker 14.7). I shot the breeze for about 30 minutes (mistake!!!!) and since the trail continuing west was reopened (it was closed September 22 due to the worst Atlanta area flooding in history – same day I got my bike) – I decided to continue north to Dallas – GA. This was my bonehead move of the day.

While riding – I decided I wanted to do a 5o mile ride. My Garmin edge 705 gps started to give me conflicting distance when comparing to the marked milestones on the trail. To avoid a conflict of not reaching 50 mile I decided to go beyond the 25 mile marker to make sure Garmin recorded at least 25 miles. That put me to mile marker  26.53 and subsequently explains my 54 mile ride. I will post the Garmin’s take on my ride later and also the pictures to prove my feat!

It was fast getting dark when my Optibike red light started blinking about 12 miles from the trailhead. I only blinked red for about three seconds. Oh Sh!!!  Within the first two miles on pure muscle power, my thighs started hurting. you know like Charlie horses when you started to push down the pedal. It became obvious – when I had to stop at a crossing and had to put my feet down when I got a jolt of pain and almost ate my bike for dinner – that I wouldn’t make it to my SUV before dark.

Spirit over mind over body – I’m glad at my small group bible study group meeting the night before we discussed how important is for your spirit to take over your mind and your body. It was my time to ask the almighty for a miracle to get me back safe to my car and for the next 10 miles I was chanting my religious mantra non stop. Oh Jesus let me get back to the car!  Hosanna! Hosanna! rapidly became my mantra.

It was right after dark when I finally got to the trail head and put the bike on the rack, While driving home I started to get chills and when I finally made it home I bundled myself in 2 jackets and 4 blankets and crawled into a fetal position in bed.

No advil, no aspirin, no massage.  I only got out of bed to get my bike safely into my garage, ate some dinner, weighted myself at 293.5 and went back to bed. This morning, with my thighs still hurting –  I weighted myself and my home scale showed a semi naked weight of  288.5 lbs (I had my socks on). Glad I’m able to lose some weight while sleeping!

Was it worth it?

Yes – I proved that with two battery packs I will be able to safely do 75 miles each day x 2 for my MS 150 mile ride on April 10-11. If you like to assist my fund raising efforts –  click here.

I also found out that at my current weight I can do about 40 miles with battery assist. Thus making it possible to ride from Anniston, AL to Cedartown, GA about 45 miles – take a break – find a place to recharge the battery and continue for the final 54 miles to the start of the trail – all in a day’s worth.

Will I continue to stupidify myself, you bet!

Check out how stupid my Garmin Edge 705 became… (lap 1 & 2 should be the same exact length)

p.s. 1,932 miles to go