I'm a CFC Survivor!

Well, it's official. I am a CFC Survivor. And I have the button to prove it. If you ride anywhere near my rear wheel now you'll see it. Although the Columbus Fall Challenge was cancelled at one point this summer, it came together very quickly and ended up being an awesome event! Here are my journal entries for the weekend:


Saturday, September 30
CFC Day 1 - After a very restless sleep in Lancaster, we had breakfast at McDonalds and drove to the school in Sugar Grove. Got signed in, mounted our trusty steeds and rolled out at 7:30am with Al, Dan, Mike, Anne and some other Wolverines. Weather was chilly, but nice.

As promised in the route description, the first few miles of today's ride were pretty much flat. At around the five mile mark we turned into a foresty looking area and the road just tipped straight up. When I first hit that hill I wondered how I could possibly keep going, but I did. By the time we hit the seven mile mark, we had climbed over 400 feet. At this point I was pretty much in shock and just hunkered down for a brutal day and tried to conserve as much energy as I could just in case there were other hills like this. Well, there were. Lots of them. And they got worse...

For the day there was 11,800 feet of climbing. Maximum grade percent for the day was 19.7. That's insane. And when it tips up that steep, it's not for a few feet... it's for awhile. There were times I was stair-stepping in my 36/27 gear for five or more minutes to get to a part that was a little less steep and I could sit. Then the road would tip up again and I'd be dancing on the pedals again. The main roads weren't too bad. Lots of BIG rolling hills and some steep climbs, but when we turned off onto the little rural roads I could tell it was about to get ugly. The scenery was amazing. I wish I had taken my camera, but I managed to take a couple photos on my phone.

Anyway, I finished at Betsy Mills in Marietta at 5pm. I was really happy to be done. Al's group had finished at about 3:15pm. I cannot understand that kind of riding. As I would tomorrow as well, I rode solo for 95%+ of today. Most of the day I did not even have eye contact with another rider. Fortunately the roads were marked really well. Loaded my pack on my back and rode with a couple of other guys the two miles over to the hotels.

We all walked over to a buffet steakhouse that night and I ate more food than I think I have ever eaten in my life. The first two or three platefuls didn't even start to make me feel full.

Later, in the hotel room, I had to really work on keeping my "mind right" for the next day. I couldn't believe I was going to do this again. Once in awhile I'd think about dealing with Malta Road Hill the next day and all the other crazy stuff that was in store and the Green Mile mindset would creep in, but I'd beat it down. Slept very well tonight.

Epic, Epic ride.

Out.


Sunday, September 30
Woke up at 5am and got ready. Walked over to Bob Evans and had some blueberry pancakes. Rode (with our backpacks on) to Besty Mills from the hotel. Loaded our packs in the truck and rolled out at 7:20am.

I had been warned about the first few miles out of Marietta, but I still wasn't ready for it. We rode a mile or so out of town and turned left. Pat creeped up next to me and smiled and said "you ready?" I just smiled back. The road turned straight up and we were off. This was very, very hard. For the next few miles we went up over 400 feet. The ride wasn't even five miles old yet!

I started to really compartmentalize the day. If I could just get to Stockport (the first food stop), I'd be ok. Once I got to Stockport, I knew that Malta Road Hill was coming up. We had about 33 miles for the second leg and Malta came right in the middle of it. Fortunately, the flattest section of CFC came right before getting into Malta. Rode along the river for about 10 miles. The fog was so thick that my glasses and entire bike were coated with water. Couldn't even see the river although it was right next to the road.

Before entering Malta, the sun finally started to burn off the fog and I decided to strip down. Lost the leg/arm warmers and my vest. Saw a lot of other riders doing the same thing in town. Once entering Malta, there's a left turn and the fun begins. The problem with Malta Road Hill is that it's STEEP (20%+ at the bottom) and its LOOOOOOOONG. Every time I thought I had this thing licked, it would turn and go up some more. The other problem with it is that there's NOWHERE to rest. No little reduction in grade. I noticed a couple people actually riding sideways, back and forth up the thing. I don't know how long I was on that hill, but it seemed like forever. It was the first couple hundred feet of Malta that gave us our maximum grade percent for the day... 27 percent!

The rest of stage two (AFTER Malta) was my favorite section of the weekend. The scenery was stunning, the roads were perfect and the hills were big rollers with some steep climbs thrown in. Got to Glouster for lunch and started thinking I may have this thing beat. Had 28 to Logan and then 16 to Sugar Grove. I had to work on not getting too far ahead of myself though.

Got to the last food stop in Logan about 3pm. Finally, I was confident I would finish. Got on the bike one last time and headed for Sugar Grove. Met up with a guy and rode with him some on this section (don't remember his name). We rode down "Brick Road". Reminded me of Paris-Roubaix. It was pretty long. There was a very flat section which followed an expressway and then we turned into the forementioned "foresty looking area". I knew this couldn't be good.

We proceeded to be met with what Al would later term a "Goat Path" and it got really ugly. This road had gravel all over it and was really, really steep. It was another one of those hills that you thought would end, but didn't. Took me awhile to finish that, but when I did, I knew I was done. Rode into Sugar Grove and couldn't believe my eyes. I was done. There was the school! Pulled in at 4:15pm and couldn't have been more happy. First thing I did was pull of my cycling shoes, helmet and gloves. Felt so good. Showered, got into the van and we were headed home. Stopped at Ruby Tuesdays for dinner and arrived home around 10pm.

Lessons learned:
1. Never thought 10mph could feel so fast (climbing)
2. Never thought 35mph could feel so slow (descending)
3. Twenty "plus" percent grades are "do-able"... barely
4. Never thought I could consider 15% grade a "chance to catch my breath"
5. Riding with a 20 pound backpack on your back is not as easy as it looks
6. All cyclists are liars
7. Fred Seebode (organizer of CFC 2007) is a madman (he and his crew did this "last minute" and did an amazing job!)
8. Ohio is not all flat!
9. Anything can be tackled if broken down into manageable pieces
10. I really don't know what it's supposed to do, but Chamois Butt'r WORKS (thanks Don!)

11. My bike (and my body) makes all sorts of strange noises on 20% grades

and finally...

12. When a hill has a road named after it, it's for a good reason!

Epic, Epic weekend. Great riding, climbing, descending, scenery, people, food.... Just epic. Can't wait for CFC 2008!

"It's what I do" - Al