Team Vitamin Shoppe - MS 170 BIKE RIDE 5/19/07 AND 5/20/07

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MS 170 BIKE RIDE 5/19/07 AND 5/20/07

Written by Administrator
Friday, 01 June 2007
The weather report was unclear for the two day ride. I hope and pray we don’t get rain. The worst thing in the world would be to ride 170 miles in the rain. It looks like the rain will hold off until later in the day. Hopefully I will be done and resting by the time the rain comes in. We begin the hour long drive to Monmouth University. As we drive I am hoping I did not forget anything. Do I have enough gels? Did I bring enough bars and powder for the 170 mile ride. I think I got everything. Even though I have done some long events in the past I am not sure I have rode this long for two straight days. I keep telling myself that this is just a training ride and take it easy….right! We get to the start and it is pretty exciting. We are told Team Vitamin Shoppe will be in the front of the pack. Tom Tollworthy is being interviewed by the Today Show at the start of the ride. Then the Harley’s start their engines and that means we have to go. I am thinking in my head, “don’t fall” because the Today Show is filming all the riders take off. We are off for the long two day ride. I tell my friend Bill that we can’t stop a lot. He agrees and we ride on. There is a group of about 6 of us that break off from everyone. We are moving along at a pretty good pace…..about 20-22mph. I think to myself that it is going to be challenging keeping this up all day. The group stays together for about 45miles. At that point a few broke off and I was with one guy. Thank God he knew his way because the course got pretty confusing about this point. We got a little lost and added a few more miles to the route. When you are riding 170 what’s a few miles! Finally after asking a mailman for directions we are back on track. Before the lunch stop at around 54 miles we meet back up with the original guys we started with. We hit the lunch stop (which is the only stop I took for the day). We ate and then got back on the bike to finish the day. Will it ever end? The second half of the ride on the first day went good. We were getting close to the end and were discussing doing the extra 15 miles at the end of the course. It is called the power loop. I really didn’t want to do it but I was telling Bill we should do it. He kept saying we wouldn’t do it. The time came to go into the school or go straight and do the extra 15 miles. I am thinking in my head ……is he going to keep going or turn in (my friend Bill). He keeps going. At this time we really didn’t know how long the power loop was. Later we found out it added 15 extra miles to the day. If we knew then, what we know now, I am sure we would have turned in to the end. The extra 15 miles hurt! Finally we get back to the high school! We get there a little after 2pm…not bad time. It is time for a massage and shower! It was exciting to see Team Vitamin Shoppe finish the course on the first day. It is such a huge accomplishment to ride that far. Day 2 Why did I decide to do this? I would much rather go run a few hours, then to get back on my bike! That is coming from a crazy triathlete, because that is what we do. We don’t ride two days in a row. But here I am ready to ride another 85 miles. Day 2 was much more scenic and slower. We rode at a slower pace and actually stopped at a few rest stops. Luckily we did not get lost on the second day. The last 10 miles there was a brutal head wind that slowed our pace down significantly. I kept thinking will this ever end! Finally we could see the end as we made our last turn. It was great feeling to finish the ride and get off the bike! I had a great time doing the ride and will be sure to do it again next year. I saw parts of Southern New Jersey that I would have never been able to see in a car.
Last Updated ( Friday, 01 June 2007 )

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