So, Day 1 of the 2006 Gateway MS-150 is over. Well, they have festivities and food and such, that continues much later but I was done riding at about 2:30. If you’re thinking “that’s all it takes for 100 miles?!,” consider we finished earlier than usual, but we were also much faster this year. My bike computer tells me I averaged 18.8 mph for the 98.something miles (I’ll make up the 2.whatever tomorrow), which is the fastest average I’ve logged all year, so that’s pretty exciting.
We hit the hotel for showers, then Olive Garden for handfuls of carby breadsticks and pasta. Back at the hotel, Serenity was on for some entertainment while preparing gear for tomorrow, and now (7:15 PM) it’s about bed time, which I’m procrastinating a bit while I can. Just for you.
Today the weather was kind, which helped my performance. It stayed between the low 60s and high 70s and was overcast all day, which is perfect for me — the heat burns me out quickly. The humidity was high which made breathing harder, but that cleared a little after some drizzling that lasted a little after passing 65 miles, and I popped some pseudophendrine pseudoephedrine to combat the general allergens (lots of cut grass, farm-land, nature…). Around the last quarter of today’s 100, my legs started burning pretty badly from the aggressive riding. The Gatorade we’re constantly downing wasn’t enough to keep the lactic acid from building up, so I upped my intake of bananas; the potassium helps. After a rest stop for some fuel, rest, and leg massaging (sadly had to do it myself), a few miles of high rpm spinning (85-95) seemed to clear the pain.
I took some ibuprofen at the end to head off any additional pain, and I think I’d like to try and get to sleep before that wears off. I’m pretty beat, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. The 75 and 100 route share paths until about mile 50, so I might wuss out at that point and just do the 75 if my legs are empty. Cursed legs of meat.
About 3,500 people apparently came out this year. I don’t have any fundraising totals for everyone yet, but thanks to many generous donations, I’m bringing in $940 for the cause. Thank you all!
Here are a few pictures taken from the camera-phone today.