Saturday, June 28, 2008

200k Permanent Ride Report - Part 1 - Photos

I've finally gotten a little bit of sleep, but I still feel a bit hazy. I'm not going to jump to conclusions about the Randonneuring Lifestyle just yet. If you backed me into a corner right now and made me comment on it, I'd probably say "What was I thinking?! How do Rando's get any kind of a kick out of this suffering?!" - All natural reactions when you consider my current physical conditions:

  • Sunburned to hell
  • Knees aching
  • Feet cramping
  • Left hand still partially numb six hours after riding
  • Butt still sore
  • Nips are raw from shirt buffeting
  • Arms, legs, abs, neck and back are stiff
  • Still tired. Very Tired.
I do, however, have the clarity of mind to make a few suggestions to myself if I choose to embark on another ride that's a century or longer:
  • SLEEP MOAR, Newbtard. For real.
  • Wear. Sunscreen.
  • Multiple hand positions: good idea. Flat bars are not your friend.
  • Chafing sucks. Pick up some chamois butt'r and/or something for the nips.
Oh, and for the record, no one should ever mutter phrases out loud such as the following while on a distance ride (we were both guilty):
  • The wind is calm
  • We're making pretty good time
  • It's nice that there's not much traffic out here
  • etc...
Interesting things seen:
  • A squished armadillo 5 miles south of Pleasanton, KS
  • A 2-cent increase in fuel prices at Casey's between our two visits (only a few hours apart)
  • The La Cygne, KS Coal-fired power plant
  • An old man who thought c'Dude and I were just about the strangest humanoids in existance
  • A trailer hauling crushed cars that lost TWO trailer tires at the same time
Without further delay, here's a Photo dump. Check out the whole album for more. I uploaded some 60 photos or so of today's adventures. There's no way I'm posting them all here.


3:30 AM at the first control checkpoint.


Awesome, hazy, foggy sunrise


La Cygne Power plant


Foggy, twisty descent


3.91 per gallon at Casey's


... a few hours later on the return trip...


Old steel bridge


The Dude


Riding on the shoulder of US-69 for a few miles.



Check out the rear driver's side wheels on this trailer.


Parked at the Pleasanton Control checkpoint


Steep grades are fun! When descending...


See?


Blue Skies.


137.0 miles.



Random Tunage:
Paul Van Dyk - Out There And Back
Flobots - Handlebars (I'm not one for much rap or R&B but the lyrics are geeky and catchy)

6 comments:

James Oiler said...

Oh, Man,
that is a bunch of miles.
Your comments about the sunburn reminded me of a ride I once took round trip from Fort Lauderdale FL to West Palm Beach (117 round).
The shirt I was wearing was too short in the back and didn't stay tucked in. I had this horizontal stripe of massive blisters right at the belt line. Jeese, that was awful.
I'm glad you had a great ride.
Sincerely,
James Oiler

Doug said...

Noah, Way to go!! That's something to be proud of. Not to many people can say they've ridden 137 miles in one day. The pain is something that will fade. Although I still have a partially numb finger on my left hand from the AH135. Almost 5 months and the feeling hasn't yet come back completely.

And thanks for the comment on my blog!

Noah said...

Anytime. I'm an avid reader (you're in my RSS feed and blogroll to the right). Always enjoy it even though I stay quiet in the comments most of the time.

Don't quit writing or my next distance ride will be to MN to poke you with a stick! :P

Anonymous said...

Way to go! This puts into perspective my small 30 mile trip this weekend.

Apertome said...

Great job! That sounds like fun ... painful, but fun. Since I'm out of commission for the time being I really enjoyed reading your account of this long ride. I've thought about Randonneuring but my mileage has been down this year and I have no immediate plans to try it. But I am jealous, and impressed.

Anonymous said...

This morning when my legs were fatigued because I rode 43 miles yesterday, I just reminded my self how they would feel if I had ridden 200K.

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