Bike Around the Bay
This weekend was the first Bike Around the Bay bicycle ride, benefiting the Galveston Bay Foundation. My friend was the coordinator for the ride at Lyondell, who sponsored the event. Overall, I'd say it was a great success. There is a phenomenal amount of organization that is needed to pull off an event like this, and just about everything went off without a hitch. I can't thank the organizers, and especially Judy, enough.
The entire ride was around 145 miles, broken apart into two days of roughly equal distance each, and going from near Baytown to Galveston and back. Being so near the coast, the wind was a factor most of the time, but with the turns of the course, it was about an even shot if you'd get it from the front or the back. There was one stretch near Texas City along the beach where the wind was behind us and I heard someone yell something at me I'd never thought I'd hear: "It's a ride, not a race!" I was cruising at about 27mph and shot past a pace line. I smiled and shrugged, because it's fun to break the speed limit for cars on your bike (that stretch was capped at 20mph).
At any rate, we saw some great scenery. The first day was mostly flats (with one fairly steep exception going over the Intracoastal Wateray), although biking the entire way down the Boliver Peninsula got a bit old near the end. The ride through Galveston proper was relaxing, and I was glad to get to the Moody Gardens hotel at the end. I'd originally planned on camping, but my out-of-shape butt was glad to soak in the tub and grab a nap before the evening's festivities.
The next day was fun. We climbed the Galveston Causeway, the Kemah Bridge, the Fred Hartman bridge, and one other smaller overpass while coming into town. Oh, and I had my first real massage ever, which kicked ass. Oh yes, I will get more now. :)
I learned a couple of lessons:
- A few beers the night before aren't bad. More than that, and you will be dehydrated. It kicked in around mile 35 with some occasional calf cramps, and then progressed to full on quad seizures through mile 65, at which point my legs must have said, "what's the point? This guy isn't listening."
- There is no substitute for riding long distances as part of your training. The longest ride I've done in the last six weeks prior to this event was about 40 miles. That isn't enough.
- Riding a fixed gear bike has definitely made me much faster and stronger, and the core workouts and Krav Maga have also helped with stability and strength. That being said, rule number 2 needs to be followed. The last 25 miles of the first day were torture for me because of poor hydration and training strategies. Bad Chris.
- Mexican food and/or pizza are awesome after these events, but I should probably investigate sushi as an healthier alternative. :)
All in all, I'm happy. I was between 2mph - 6mph over last April's paces in the MS150, and this is without any real distance rides for training.
As always, anyone who wants to hook up for a ride sometime - let me know!! There are plenty of organized ones coming up, and there are always group rides to be had.
Look for pictures on my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/superflyc/sets/ - I'll have one for the ride up later today.
Cheers,
Chris
