Another ride under our belt

Well, per my previous post, I was a bit worried about not having enough recovery time from our first century ride in Clarkville, TN 9/3.  We were already signed up for the Multiple Sclerosis society's Rock N Roll 150 the following weekend.  We did this ride last year and "survived" it much like we did this year's century ride.  Last year we had only ridden about 20-30 miles max on the tandem and did not have it "dialed in" which was a big factor.  I had a racing saddle (Fizik Arione) mounted for me which was a big mistake as I'm not that flexible....so my butt was screaming by the end of day one with only 74 miles done.  My wife's knee had been giving her trouble and he seat was set about 1-2 inches too high compounding the issue (she later had the knee scoped and is doing much better with it).

This year with that ride and Clarksville under our belts, I was able to tweak the seating around and get the fit just about right.  We finished the first day of 74 miles with beautiful weather and a decent rolling average speed.  Unfortunately the group was smaller by almost 150 from last year, I presume from economic and time restraints (each rider is responsible for raising $300 to participate).  Needless to say, after the previous week's ride and dehydration/cramping experience, I was pouring the Gatorade down until it was coming out of my eyeballs!  We took advantage of every rest stop, although I feel we could have passed some of them up this time around (maybe next year).  The following day looked as good or better weather wise (getting into the mid to upper 80's by the end of the ride).  I would consider myself an "advanced novice" rider at this stage of the game with a few group rides and many 10-30 milers done.  I say this because more advanced group riders are quite comfortable with drafting (riding wheel to wheel to save some energy).  I have drafted only a few times on my road bike but have never had the opportunity on the tandem.....until day two of the MS150.  We were riding several miles of nice flat averaging 16-20 mph with moderate effort.  A large group of riders from Hernando, MS came up on us and allowed us to join their peloton (group of riders).  They were a gracious and fun group of riders who communicated very well with each other.  For any non cyclist readers riding in a group gives you an several advantages (drafting, multiple sets of eyes looking for trouble, someone to talk with, someone to help you if you have a malfunction/flat, you get there or get lost together) and some disadvantages (if the lead rider misses a hazard or wipes out, the domino effect can be good only when seen on YouTube, motorist tend to get aggrivated by being held up by a group or riders, some riders are more aggresive than you may be and end up way inside of your personal space).  That said, this group was great!  The lead rider slid in front of me and I almost felt the tandem bike lurch forward from the loss of wind resistance.  I found myself backing off from pedaling so hard/fast and stil able to maintain 18-20 mph with much less effort.  I had to explain this effect to my wife at the next rest stop as she kept feeling me slow the pedaling pace again her push.  Unfortunately, their rest stop was shorter than ours and they rode on.  At about mile 30 we got to "The Wall" a roughly 1/2 mile fairly steep climb (the toughest of the ride).  Approximately 40-50% of the riders end up walking part of the way.  Last year we were able to pedal the whole way (toward the top at a whopping 4mph).  This year we topped the Wall at 6mph...yee haa!!!  I will try to add below a photo of us at the top of The Wall with the hill behind us and another cropped shot showing some perspective and some of the "walkers" coming up the hill.  It was a great experience overall and any pain or fatigue we experienced along the way, certainly pales compared to the struggles those with MS deal with everyday.  We were honored to be able to participate again this year and hope to for years to come.