Mark's Cycling & Hiking Blog
  • Home
  • Mark's Cycling Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Boulder Canyon Posts
  • Cycling Event Meet-Ups
  • Home
  • Mark's Cycling Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Boulder Canyon Posts
  • Cycling Event Meet-Ups

Corvair's South Carolina Ride Report

1/16/2012

2 Comments

 
Amanda sent the below, an entertaining account of her participation in a 200k ride out of Florence, SC.  Enjoy.

Been a long time since I wrote a ride report, and this was the first time I've ridden in South Carolina, so here goes!

This was quite the adventure. Everyone knows that leaving Ohio in January to go somewhere warm is always going to be an adventure, but leaving Ohio in the middle of a snowstorm was only the beginning. We had a lot of things thrown at us on this trip, the snowstorm being one of them. I had heard that the snow, about 1-2 inches, was supposed to arrive after Midnight. Good, I thought, we will be about two to three hours South at that point, away from any snow. Boy was I wrong. It started snowing at 8pm, with light dusting and pretty high winds. Frans picked me up and we headed over to the bike shop to meet Mike S, Dustin, Jamie, Doug, Bob, Bill and those new to doing brevets to caravan down to South Carolina. Everyone was shivering, and we bid farewell to Ric after he repaired a flat tire on my front wheel. More on that flat later..

So we take off in the snow, which is quickly accumulating as Ohio snow does, and stop at the gas station for a quick fill up. Cars are quickly becoming victims of the slick roads. We witness two fender benders as we leave, but we are all okay. The drive on route 33 and through West Virginia/Virginia was quite cumbersome. Frans was great at handling the car in the snow, and checked brakes, to find that they worked great. We had to be careful as some of the roads would be salted, but other parts would not be, so driving did not really improve until around midnight. I believe I chose to take a nap then, as I'd had quite a long work week.

We arrived in Florence at around 8am and checked into the hotel just fine. Turns out they had rooms available, as January is not the busy tourist season that Florida is. We all agree that a nap is in order, and decide to crash until we wake up. This happened to be around noon, as my friend Marc decided to call me and wake me up. Not 5 minutes later, Dustin called and asked if we'd like to go to lunch, then drive part of the route. We decided on a place called Moes, which is like Chipotle but with more options and free toppings. Free chips and salsa with your order too. It was way too much food, but really good. We also stopped to get a card for Ric, who  lost his best friend and dog Bailey this weekend. If you know him, please take some time to stop by his page and offer condolences, as we all know a pet such as the great Bailey will surely  be missed.

We then headed off to drive the route, most of all because we wanted to see what the hills were like. The organizer had said it was 2200 feet of climbing, so we wanted to see just how flat it was, plus we had a little time to kill. We head out and make it to the first control, most of which is flat. The hills after are not too bad, just rollers. After deciding that the hills shouldn't be too bad, we decide to head back to the hotel for showers. By this time it is around 4:30pm. We later discover those hills to be quite challenging...

Calls are made and our group meets up with those scheduled to arrive Friday afternoon/evening. We decide to meet at the Southern Hops microbrewery, a place with really good bar food, but not so fantastic service. Not only did they bring out our food at different intervals, but were lacking on bringing us checks as well. The pulled pork pizza I shared with Frans was quite good. We shared a small, while Roy, aka "Pizza", decided to put away all but one piece of a 16 inch pie. The amazing part was that day of ride, he really kicked our butts. He told us later that he had been on his trainer every day for an hour or two and had lost 7 pounds, but I think he just wanted to eat pizza after watching his diet....ha ha. Roy went over the logistics and answered questions about permanent riding from the newbies. The ride organizer also joined us to go over the route.

Well, 5:30am came pretty early for me and others who chose to drink to being able to join in on this adventure. I was pretty tired the whole day, not sure if this was from the half of beer I had or just lack of sleep, although I slept pretty good. It is only 30 degrees and we head over to the start with all of our biking clothing we can possibly manage as we are pretty much all freezing our butts off. The newbies were a little nervous, but the ride leader, Tom, calmed them down.I was really happy I had remembered toe warmers and even lent a pair to John later in the ride.

Off we all go, down a pretty flat road, grateful for the little rise that took us out of the first control to warm us up. Immediately I notice something is up with my front tire as it is making a thunmp-thump-thump sound as it goes around the rim. I don't notice anything really unsual, but I know this is probably a bulge in the tire. I stop at the first stop sign and sure enough, there is a bulge. Scott deflates the tire and plays with it, stating that sometimes tubes get mushed up in there. He then pumps up the tire and voila! Instantly fixed. My computer has also decided to start working, but I had to add about 5 miles to each stop we arrived at.

The ride itself was pretty routine after that, the more seasoned riders waiting on the slower group to catch up at the controls, making sure everyone is okay. We are all really cold and it is fun riding with different people. I ended up spending most of the day with Scott Connelly, a local who had done the ride about 7 times and knew the route very well, as well as where all the dogs were. I didn't really need my cue sheet thanks to him, and I also had someone to pace me on the hills as I still have Kayla's bike. I also rode with Roy, Ross, Doug, Dustin, Frans, Jamie and later on Tom, the organizer rode with us on his fixie. He also rode with us on the way out as well. We get to the third control and oh my goooosh the hills are killing us. I think to myself, wow, this has to be more than 2200 feet. Well, hmm, it was actually almost double that according to Garmins by the end of the ride. Total ascent: 4200 whopping feet. If you've ever ridden a 200K in January and you're from Ohio, you know this is challenging. The majority of us, unlike Roy, had been on trainers maybe once or twice a week and eaten badly during the holidays (myself included!)

We decide to tough it out, but learn that others have turned in the towel and ridden 72 miles. Dustin's legs cramped up and he decided to call it a day as well. Dave toughed it out and completed his first permanent. Also I should note that while Jamie was concerned that there would be someone to ride with, she was bound and determined to finish and rode by herself after the last control, insisting that she wanted to finish. She came very close, probably only 10 miles to go, but had headlight issues. She was convinced by Doug to have the ride organizer pick her up, so she would not be lost and riding hills alone in the dark. So I have to say, everyone finished with a good effort and while Jamie will most likely do another 200k, some have had opposite thoughts. I have to say that the climbing really challenged me, but I loved the route, the scenery was amazing and I had a great time talking to Scott C. He told me some little known facts about South Carolina, such that it produces more peaches than Georgia!

So that about wraps it up, another 200K under the belt. I am starting to make new randonneuring goals for this year, one including getting another R-12 medal in October. I plan to ride with Scott Ebbing, also known as captain Rando, next month out of Loveland on one of Toshi's permanents. More about brevet riding can be found at www.rusa.org and about the Ohio schedule at www.ohiorand.org. 

2 Comments
Dear Caboose
1/17/2012 12:12:43 pm

meh

Reply
Dear whoever
1/18/2012 01:22:16 am

really?

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Mark is a long-time cyclist, hiker, golfer and plays some table tennis...ok, it's ping pong.

    Categories

    All
    April
    California Riding
    Grand Canyon Backpacking
    March
    The Characters

    Archives

    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.