Guys Weekend

Ride Stats:
distance - 151 miles (243 km)
average speed (mph) - 15.1
elevation climbed (ft) - 3800
temperature - 49 to 75
wind - favorable to unfavorable

UPDATE: (6/8/11)  I forgot to mention something else that happened along the way, which I thought was funny.  As Leon and I were riding by the Mexico Elementary School, the playground was full of kids.  I was listenting very carefully, curious to see if any of the kids even noticed us as we rode by.  Just then, I heard a loud voice of one little girl, that rang loudly above all the others...she said, "HEY WEIRDO!"  There it was, clear as day.  I was expecting something like, "wow, nice bike".  Instead, we received the innocent observation of one kindergartener...HEY WEIRDO!  Leon and I broke out laughing.  That little kid made my day!

Yep, that's not a typo (above), on the 'distance' statistic. 151 miles...in one day.  It sounds like a big number, but it boils down to a simple exercise of mind over matter.  If you just break the ride up into smaller chunks (maybe 20 miles, at a time), it's really not that bad.

This is a ride I've been doing for 4 years now.  The idea was hatched during a discussion with a friend of my late brother-in-law (Lee), Ricky Desens.  He talked about how he rode his bike from Webster to Henderson Harbor, to his cottage.  He mentioned the difficulties he had along the way, but he eventually made it.  That's about 110 miles.  My mind started reeling...I could ride my bike up to Cape Vincent, where my sister (Trixie) and brother-in-law (Mark) have their cottage.  We had been scheduling a "Guys Weekend" up there, once a year.  I thought it would be cool to ride my bike up, instead of driving.  I created a route on a map and it tallied up to roughly 150 miles, door-to-door.  This seemed like a good challenge, so I set the wheels in motion to make it happen.

I mentioned the idea to a good buddy of mine, Sean Dugan, and he said he would join me.  So, off we went, on that sunny, late September, Friday morning.  After a few rest stops and some psychological ploys (e.g. telling Sean that this was really the last hill), we eventually made it.  It was a great feeling, and so started a tradition.  I've ridden the last 3 years with my brother (Leon).  We've never attempted this so early in the riding season, so we weren't sure how we would hold up.

I got up at 4:15, still very dark outside.  Got everything ready to go, and left my house at 5:30.  It was just getting light out.  It was a chilly morning (49 F), but we lucked out with a sunny forecast and winds that were mostly favorable (at least heading east, for the first 60 miles).  Met up w/Leon a bit after 6:00, and off we went. 

Here's Leon's rig.  It's a Klein that was designed with some Paris-Roubaix shock absorption in the seat stay.  Leon had zero mechanical or physical issues.

This my road bike (Mandaric), which hasn't been ridden very much, now that I have my Surly.  This bike is lighter, but not as comfortable as my Surly.  I didn't get tired or sore, other than my...um, "crotchal region".  I'm used to my Brooks saddle, instead of the Koobi saddle on this bike.  Other than that, this baby performed flawlessly.

Epic rides like this always have something funny that happens along the way.  Stuff you can look back, later on, and laugh about.  Like the first year, we were just over 100 miles into the ride, when we stopped in front of a roadside pub.  Sean layed down in the grass, proclaimed that he was done and he wasn't going any further.  I ended up convincing him to get back on the bike and just ride a little farther.  We could always dial up the sag wagon (Kurt and Mark were in the area, just in case we ran into trouble).  Sean got back on, and ended up finishing the ride, even though there were 2 more "lay down in the grass" proclamations of "I'm done!".

Then there was last year, where Leon and I stopped for a snack/drink at the same roadside pub (as mentioned above).  Leon got something out of his saddle bag, but forgot to zip it up.  Off we went.  As we were approaching Leon's 100 mile mark for the day (which was 8 miles from the pub), I slowed down so I could bump-fist him.  As he pulled up next to me, I saw that his saddle bag was hanging down, wide open.  I told him about it, we stopped, and then panicked as he realized that a bag containing his wallet, phone, and passport had fallen out!  I told him we had to backtrack, all the way to the pub, if necessary, to see if we could find it.  I raced back, going against traffic, studying the side of the road, looking for the bag.  I found nothing, until I started to approach the roadside pub.  From 300 yards away, I could see a black bag in the middle of the dirt parking lot!  I pulled up and it was Leon's stuff.  Since we had left, there were a number of cars that pulled in/out of the lot, and people walking by this bag.  How it never got picked up or run over, was a miracle.  So, last year our total distance was 166 miles, since we added the 16 miles to retrieve the bag.

Rides like this are possible for anyone, as long as you avoid getting in the red zone (i.e., physical exertion to the point of a prolonged heart rate at levels where you can't carry on a conversation), and you mentally divide the ride up into numerous, smaller rides.  Take breaks.  Have your occasional mental breakdown.  Cry, if you have to (it's okay...no one's watching ;-).  Leon and I found that Hostess fruit pies (especially lemon!) are a godsend.  There's nothing like a lemon fruit pie and coke to boost your blood sugar level!  Hey, it's 151 miles...don't judge me!  Hostess account executives are trying to understand the sudden sales surge along the Seaway Trail, last Friday!

This ride was bittersweet, as we learned on the way up, that Mark and Trixie closed a deal to sell the cottage.  This would be our last Guys Weekend at their cottage.  We'll continue with the tradition, it'll just be at a rental somewhere close to the Cape.

My partners in crime; Kurt (aka Dirt-man), Leon (aka Fummer), and Mark (aka Markie).  This was taken just before we drove home yesterday.  We had lots of laughs at this cottage and many, many good memories.  Thank you, Mark and Trixie, for making this all possible!!!