I rode the MS150 today. Originally I wasn’t going to, but my brother was very gung ho and I finally decided that if I was ever going to ride 100 miles I would need a reason to do it.
We started at 8 am. Even then it was warm. It was around 95 degree farenheit when we finished. We (Team COSL with David, Leslie and myself included) had a chance to ride with guys from JUB. It was a lot of fun. It was also easier thanks to Dan from JUB and Mahmoud from the Math department at USU pulling almost the entire way. They are amazing riders.
We did pretty well, passed a lot of people and averaged around 20mph. There were faster groups no doubt but for my first century it was a great group to hang with.
About 10 miles after lunch with only about 20 miles to go we ran into a bit of disaster. Joe from JUB hit Dan’s tire (acutally his derailler we think). You can’t believe how fast that will throw a rider to the ground. It looked like something straight from the Tour De France. Mahmoud was right behind Joe and went over his bike before crashing. Dave was next then me. He swerved just in time and I followed him. It is Dave I have to thank for a quick response. We could have all ended up in a big pile.
Mahmoud came out of the mess ok. He went over the bars and busted his bike computer and the tops of his shifters. Joe was Ok as well, but when he came up most of the skin from his left shoulder was gone, he had some serious gashes on his legs, and his elbow looked like hamburger.
His helmut was busted.
If anyone needs a motivation for wearing a helmut they should see his. It probably saved him from a concussion and who knows what else. Afterwards he said he didn’t even feel his head hit. Bike helmuts are that good so wear one.
His bike didn’t do so well. The top tube on his fairly new carbon Trek was busted in half. Both shifters were totally destroyed. His real derailer didn’t look so good and his handle bars were about 90 degrees from where they should be. Ouch!!
That experience made me think that I should perhaps consider the bike by Carl Strong. Titanium can be fixed.
I rode todays century because I wanted to ride but…
After Joe crashed a lady stopped to help us. She said her husband was riding today and that her mom has MS. Her mom has been pretty depressed about that lately, but today’s event touched her and made her feel like there were a lot of people that care (about 3000 riders in fact). I think this event raises about 1.3 million dollars. That is impressive for one day. My wife’s best friend’s mom died from MS a few years back. It is a terrible disease and I am glad that something like this can help.
When we reached the end of the tour Joe was there. He looked fine which is good. I am still trying to get a hold of my brother. He called me from the finish so I know he made it there. With a few more miles he will be a great rider.
My legs cramped up the last 12 miles and are continuing to cramp. I need to found stronger sources of potassium.
Today was fun. A hundred miles doesn’t seem so far anymore.