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Mardi Gras 200k Ride Report

On Saturday Feb 13 I rode my first brevet!

I woke up at 3:30am. I could tell it was not a work day, because even with minimal sleep, I shot right out of bed.  I loaded up my bike in the back of Karen’s (my wife) Geo Metro and headed to Louisiana.  The brevet was set to start at 6:30, and I timed it to arrive at about 6.  I got there just on time and was actually the first to arrive.  I got my gear on and rode around a bit to warm up.  About 10 minutes later Roger from north Georgia showed up.  This guy has been riding a brevet per weekend for a long time now.  Shortly after Pat (the rba), Dennis, Steve, and Roger showed up and we were soon off.

The temp was in the low-mid 30’s most of the morning but I managed to stay very comfortable with the exception of my toes.  I had hoped that a combination of shoes with little ventilation and wool socks would keep my toes toasty, but this wasn’t the case.  It would be several hours before I could feel them again.  The ride was pretty easy even until the half-way point.  I was happy to be keeping up with the group on my longest ride yet.  We stopped at a po-boy shop in Folsom, LA for lunch.  Much to my delight they had a veggie po-boy which was really good.  Along with everyone else, I saved the second half of my sandwich for a stop about 30 miles from there.

The we started out on the second half and I was still feeling fine.  I was eating a gu pack every now and again as well as eating a couple FRS energy chews at controls.  In the city of Bush, about half-way between the start and mid-point (this was a there-and-back brevet btw) we stopped again to eat.  I ate the other half of my sandwich and also enjoyed a regular coke.  This was a welcomed treat after all the Powerade I had been drinking.  I was feeling a bit sluggish by this point and my quads were burning just a bit on climbs.  Maybe 20 or so minutes after leaving Bush I felt a lot better… until the pain started.  Apparently a large sandwich and coke was a bad idea as I developed a cramp in my side which didn’t go away for well over an hour.  There was nothing I could do about it, so I just did my best to ignore it.  It finally faded not long before the end of the trip, teaching me a lesson about how not to eat on a brevet.

At some point early in the ride, Roger decided he wanted to ride at a faster pace and was not to be seen again until he passed us on his way back to the finish.  I think he finished somewhere around the 10 hour mark.  The rest of us rode as a group and finished at 6:35PM for a total time of 12:05.  I felt surprisingly good afterwards considering this was a good 40 miles longer than my previous longest ride.

I had a great time and can’t wait for next month’s 300k.  I think it’s safe to say I’m hooked!