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BP MS 150 - CycleTour


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Houston to Austin, Texas
United States
National MS Society
Sunny
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = /13000
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Got up @ 4:45. Ate a bagel with peanut butter and a bottle of water
Bike
  • 00m
  • 185 miles
  • 0.00 mile/hr
Comments:

Day 1:
Got up early Saturday morning and drove to Rhoades Stadium, parked my Jeep and dropped our luggage off in the MS truck. We then rode our bikes about 4 miles house to Kim's house to start. All of the "Katy Cycle Gang" was there, about 25-30 of us in all. These are the people we did most of our training with, so we started with them instead of starting with our team.

We rolled out at 6:45. We were fast and strong. Bonnie and I rode with Scott, Edgar, Steve, Terry and Ron for most of the time. Edgar, Bonnie and I kinda got dropped by the others after 30 or so miles, but they were always in sight. The three of us skipped all rest stops untill we got to lunch at 8:10!! We had a 21.5 avg at this point. All of the others said they were going to SKIP LUNCH and go right to La Grange. Bonnie and I stayed to eat and didnt see them again. I didnt eat much for lunch, a sandwich an a small ice cream sandwich...I was not hydrating properly either, I tried, but was unable to pee at our lunch stop. I ignored this obviouse symptom. We left lunch before 9:00!! We continued our ride at a decent pace. I was having some issues with my shoes, I couldnt get clipped in on the left side, stupid Speedplay.....We stopped at one other rest stop on the way. I forced myself to pee, and drank one more water bottle (3 now for the whole day). We pulled into La Grange at 12:10!!!! We were the first from our team to get there!! The volunteers all stood up and clapped for us, took our picture and treated us like rock stars!!!

After we got settled in, drank one more water bottle, set up our tent and walked around for about 10 mins, I went for a run, yes a run. BTW, I ate a small bag of chips and a cookie before my run.

I ran about 3 miles at a normal pace. The sun was out, and it was hot. I ran down the road, and back up, yes, it was a hill. A BIG HILL! When I got back, I drank 4 bottles of gatoraid and 1 bottle of water. I had a wonderfull massage (about 30 min). She worked me good, kept saying, you have crunchy muscles, you worked too hard today.

The food was not ready yet, so we decided to go shower. As we stood in the sun in the shower line, someone said it was faster to get on a bus to the Jr high and shower, so we did. The line was shorter. Inside the shower room was like a sauna, really. We all got undressed and stood in a line for about 15 mins in a hot steam bath. As I was standing in line, I started to feel funny, could not identify what it was, but something was wrong. My stomache got upset fast, then I noticed that when I talked it echoed in my head...then all of a sudden I was sitting on the bench and someone was squting me with a hose. I had passed out in the shower line! I stayed in the line to shower, about 5 more mins passed befor I even got to the shower room, a large open room with 4 poles and 4 shower heads on each pole, no curtains. I felt it again. Everything started to get black around me, I could not hear any of the sounds in the room. I walked forward and put my hand in front of me to grab the shower pole, but missed, went head first into the pole and down to the ground, hard. I was dragged to the bench. I came to, felt very sick, found a toilet and barfed. It was so hot in there, I almost walked out naked. I put my shorts on, grabbed the rest of my stuff and walked out, found Bonnie, told her what happened and sat there for about 15 mins before we got back on the bus to go back to camp.

Dinner was ready when we got back. I drank lots of water and ate a huge brisket sandwhich, sausage link and potato salad, maybe not the best food after all this, but I was starved. I felt much better. I drank lots of ater, ate another half sandwich, then got in our tnt and went to sleep. We were out for the night by 8:00.

I think the problem was, I had only 1 bagle for breakfast and a small lunch. Not enough water. I know better than this, but I didnt listen to myself.


Day 2:
Bonnie and I woke at 4:30, packed the tent and our bags and took them to the truck. We attended the Catholic Mass at 5:30am, it is so nice to have Mass before we continue our journey.

After church, I started to not feel good again, so we went right to the breakfast building and got a BIG plate of pancakes. I ate most of them, but could not finish.

The line for the start was split in two, for the different routes. They have a park bypass for those not wanting such a challenging ride. Both line were almost a half mile long!! I needed to have my bike checked to figure our what was going on with my pedals, so we walked to the mechanic (near the front of the line). I had dirt all in the cleats, so they would not open, meaning-no clip in!! I spent about 30 mins cleaning and lubing the cleats, the line had not moved. We found Jim (Bigjim5) and Rob in the line and moved up some more.

After the start, I still could not get clipped in, so I stopped on the side of the road, told Bonnie to ride on and I would catch up. I also noticed my bike computer was not working. I spent another 15 mins cleaning cleats, adjusting computer senors, finally got clipped in, no computer. I hammered up the road to find Bonnie, was between 20-27 (one of the motorcycle support riders was riding beside me, so I asked) for over 20 mins to catch up. I found her, she had stopped to take a pic of me as I climbed a hill, nice. This spot was in a clearing, a guy in a kilt playing bagpipes has been there for the last few years, he was there again. hearing bagpipes in the middle of nowhere on top of a tough climb just makes ya smile!!

We didn't ride together as much today, the roads were packed with all 13000 riders. but we stayed in eye site of each other. We stopped at 1 rest stop before lunch, I made sure I ate a Cliffbar and drank two bottles of water, I skipped Gatorade completely.

Going down Suicide Hill, my computer came on long enough to read 47 mph, but then turned back off. When we got to the park, I told Bonnie I was going to ride through most of the park and wait for her at the last rest stop, she was OK with this so off I went. The park was fun, always is. Some very, very steep hills with names like "killer hill". At the rest stop, I decided to take my shoes off, so I could keep the cleats clean, I did this for the rest of the day, every time we sopped, glad I did. We got to lunch, saw a few people we knew, ate 1 1/2 Subway sandwiches, hydrated with 3 bottles of water, pee'd and left.

The rest of the day was just so crowded. Sometimes 4 or 5 abreast and less than 2 feet in front or behind. I was just moving along when I noticed Bonnie was not with me, at all. So I went to the next rest stop and waited on the side of the road for her. After 15 mins had passed and I still didn't see her, I left and hauled butt to the next rest stop (12 miles away, and the last one before the finish line in Austin). There were packs of 200 or so riders then a gap before another pack. I kept seeing someone in the next pack that I thought was her, but it never was, so I just kept picking off one group after another trying to find her. When I got to the next rest stop, she was waiting at the entrance for me. It had been so crowded, we missed each other at the rest stop before. There are just too many riders on this MS150. 13000 is crazy crowded. We ate some more, hydrated and left for the home stretch.

The last part, coming into Austin is always hard, lots of hills. The police seemed to stop us at most of the intersections, a few were at either the bottom of a hill or in the middle of it.

We rolled into Austin with smiles on our faces. We high fived under the "Finish" banner. Kissed at the end. After we loaded our bikes on the truck (took about 45 mins, bad planning on MS part), we found our bags, and stood in line for the showers. After about 10 mins standing in the hot sun, I started to feel bad again. A few girls were walking around handing out water, I grabbed 2 to drink and 2 to pour over my head. It worked. After our showers, we ate (dry Hooters chicken sandwich and chips). We gathered our bags, got on a bus and came home

All in all, it was a good weekend, it would have been nice NOT to pass out in the shower, but otherwise, a successfully MS150!!!



What would you do differently?:

Listen to my body. Eat, drink!!!!!!!
Post race



Last updated: 2006-04-24 12:00 AM
Biking
00:00:00 | 185 miles | 0.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/13000
Performance:
Wind:
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2006-04-24 11:54 PM

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Master
2288
2000100100252525
Katy, TX (West of Houston)
Subject: BP MS 150


2006-04-25 5:22 AM
in reply to: #405510

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Queen BTich
12411
500050002000100100100100
,
Subject: RE: BP MS 150

Ummmm....wow. Thats a lot of excitement.

At least you've learned your lesson about what not to do with your nutrition. Was it hotter than you expected and didn't realize it? At least you recovered and ate enough in the evening to finish on Sunday.

Great job!

2006-04-25 8:13 AM
in reply to: #405510

Subject: ...
This user's post has been ignored.
2006-04-25 6:21 PM
in reply to: #405510

Expert
1085
1000252525
New Orleans, LA
Subject: RE: BP MS 150

oh my joe!   don't you love how we all know better, but we go against what we know anyway

Glad your better now and Thanks to you and Bonnie for riding for such a great cause

2006-04-25 8:43 PM
in reply to: #405510

Veteran
114
100
Toronto
Subject: RE: BP MS 150
Thanks for the great RR. I am doing the MS150 next weekend in South Florida. Your report is aiding me in preparation.
2006-04-25 9:24 PM
in reply to: #405510

Master
2288
2000100100252525
Katy, TX (West of Houston)
Subject: RE: BP MS 150

Yea, always the drama....

Thanks for all the well wishes. I still say this was a good ride, just wish I had listened to myself, I know better than this.



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