Chris’ Journey

It’s now been exactly a week since I pulled into the church parking lot and rode through the 1500 mile banner. That moment and the 16 days of riding that lead up to that moment now seem like a dream to me. It is as if I was taken from reality during my vacation and abruptly thrown back into it last Monday. I guess thats how vacation always is, but for me it seems like I was in a whole different world during vacation. I was away from home, away from people I knew (for the most part), in a new place every day, and doing something that I did not find normal for me or very relaxing for me. While it is impossible to explain how it seems like it was a dream, I am sure that many of you understand what I mean.

That being said, I do still remember the trip very vividly. Watching the videos and looking at the pictures I can remember almost every single individual moment that was captured in some sort of media. Everything from being chased by dogs to meeting different people, to suffering up the steep and long climbs. The only thing I struggle to remember is the one day that was 130 miles, pouring rain, very cold, and windy. All I remember was that during the last 5 or so miles I was only thinking about the car and the town line. Then once I got into the car all I remember is that there was peanut butter EVERYWHERE. My pants, my hands, my arms, my shoulders, the seat, my mouth, Andrew’s hair. It was crazy. I thought I was just eating peanut butter, but I some how managed to do something with the peanut butter that caused it to go everywhere. Aside from my blurred understanding of that night everything else is very vivid.

Part of me still fails to understand exactly how I was able to do it. My longest ride ever before the trip was about 2 weeks before I started with a bunch of guys from my cycling team. I did about 85 miles. The day after that I did about 70 miles, and the day after that I did about 55. How exactly I expected/planned on riding over 100 miles for about 6 straight days I have no idea, but I had full confidence that I could do it. Looking back on it now, however, I have NO idea why I had that confidence. I guess because I had spent all those days of 3-4 hours on a trainer with my bike on it in the basement going twice as hard as I would be going on the 100+ mile days my legs were able to adjust easily to the long easy days.

What I do understand is why I was able to finish. I had some of the most amazing people around me helping me every day. My cousin Andrew was a huge part of why I was able to make it through the first week of crazy long days and awful weather. Having someone there with me for almost every mile hept my legs moving. I honestly don’t think I could’ve managed to ride through that first week the way I did without him with me. In those 8 days he went from a recreational cyclist to one of the best “wheels to follow” (someone to draft off and help you get a little extra rest while riding) that I have ever seen. While he struggled when he came back to ride the last two days with me because of the hills, he was a huge reason why I was able to get to those last few days.

He was why I was able to keep riding and finish every day. But people like my Aunt Judy and Aunt Debbie were why I was able to stay hydrated, stay fueled, stay on track, and they reminded me that I wasn’t finishing this for myself. After riding all day I would take a nice hot shower and get in my bed for the rest of the night. They got me dinner and brought it right to me, they unpacked the car, they made everything in my life easier. All of my aunts and uncles were amazingly supportive throughout the trip and I was fortunate enough to see a lot of them at one point or another. They are awesome.

And of course Aislinn. Without Aislinn who knows where I would be right now. While there were a few small mistakes made between the two of us throughout the trip. There would have been a lot of small mistakes and a few huge mistakes if it wasn’t for Aislinn. She made sure that all the directions were correct and accurate, all the roads were safe to ride on, all my water bottles were filled every time I met up with her on the road, all my clothes were dry and ready to me worn the next day (or that same day), all the hotels and places to stay were organized and confirmed, all the meetings with Amyloidosis patients along the way were scheduled and confirmed, all the bags and clothes and things we needed were there, the list goes on and on. I basically worried about getting myself dressed in the morning and riding my bike while she did everything else. She is unbelievable.

Here are some random stats? facts? observations?

Total Miles: 1509

Average MPH: 15.7 MPH

Total time on the bike: 96 hours 7 minutes

Average Cadence (RPM)= 85.2 rpm

Total number of revolutions: 491, 263 revolutions

Longest day: 130 miles, Day 7

Worst Day: Day 7

Hardest day Mentally: Day 7

Most rain: Day 7

Most wind: Day 6

Most snow: Day 15

Most climbing: Day 11

Hardest day physically: Day 11

Best day: Day 5

Best weather: Days 1,2,3,5

Best Pull (Turn up front blocking the other from the wind): Day 16, Brad and Jake

Best “Throw Down”: Day 16

Best moments: Meeting Judy Collins, Judy Lessard, and Jay Helwig

Worst Moment: When my body shut down with 5 miles to go on day 7.

Worst wrong turn: Day 2 and Day 16

Strongest Headwind: 30 mph

Nicest people: Georgia and South Carolina.

Meanest dogs: Georgia and South Carolina.

Number of times I wanted to quit: Undefined

Weight Lost: 7 pounds

First ride since the trip: Yesterday

Miles in the week since the trip: 23.1

Average MPH since the trip: 20.6 mph

Total time on the bike since the trip: 1 hour 7 minutes

I will come up with more random things to say on my next post which will be Tuesday. I will also give an update on the amount of money that has been raised. As many of you know it was well above my original goal. Thank you all for reading. There will be another one up on Tuesday so check it on Tuesday again.

Stephen

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 29th, 2009 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.