41.5 miles, "One Helluva Ride"

Susan and I joined the  Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society a little while ago.  We have both been biking more, and it is something fun we enjoy doing together.  It could turn out to be a fun way to meet other cyclists, and the club discount does not hurt either.

The AABTS sponsors an annual ride that starts in Chelsea MI, and some of the routes take you through Hell, MI.  Thus the "One Helluva Ride" monniker.  We decided to go for it, and signed up for a 39 mile route, from Chelsea to Portage Lake and back to Chelsea via Grass Lake. 

Susan is an experienced tourer, veteran of two LA to San Francisco AIDS charity rides and a little while ago did a long biking trip in New Zealand.  Me, not so much.  The farthest I've been in one cycling trip as an adult was the 17.5 miles I did last week, trying to get ready.  Well, it was a beautiful day for a ride.

The ride was actually 41.5 miles by my odometer.  Mostly uphill it seemed, both ways.  I made it.  I crashed twice, once a true accident, and once stupidity: remaining clipped into my pedals too long upon stopping: see Kevin's blog post "Gravity 1, Kevin 0" for more details on how that feels.

The first crash was about 14.5 miles in, just a mile or so short of the "lunch stop".  The road had a bit of edge to it there and I got on the wrong side, overcorrected, and wound up flying into the middle of the road on my left side.  My shoulder and elbow took the worst of the blow, and I have some bumps and pain to show for it.  It truns out I might have damaged my foot too, it is nasty sore as well.

We made it to the break stop, and I wanted to keep going.  We finished the ride, and it was one of the hardes physical exertions I've done in quite some time.  It would seem that I have a propensity for thigh cramps that crop up at inopportune times.  Once I had to dismount in the middle of a hill to alleviate the pain.  I was pretty well hydrated, and I thought I had had enough electrolytes, but the small white salt crystals that were precipitating on my skin spoke otherwise.  I now have pain in areas of my body that I did not know existed.

You know what though?  I feel great.  I worked hard, finished what I set out to do, and challenged myself.  It was fun, and interesting to see all the riders in their various cycling jersey plumery.  Very colorful.  Lots of matching people.  Me, not so much.  Black riding shorts, and a grey Adidas t-shirt worked for me.  It did turn out that Susan and I almost matched though.  Her grey t-shirt was a University of Michigan one.  Maybe next year we'll do cute and wear completely matching togs.