Katie Bikes 100 Miles: October 2011

Hello again!

I want to provide a detailed report of Saturday’s ride to my generous donors and dedicated readers. It’s the least I can do, and I apologize for the delay. I was a little tired yesterday – surprising, I know! I think I actually burned off at least 8 pounds of weight during the ride. I tried to eat it all back, but did not succeed … yet!

Ok. My alarm rang at 4:35AM and I log rolled out of bed to double check that it was, in fact, 4:35AM and it was Saturday, October 2nd. Check! It was finally time to ride 100 miles for Kids! I jumped in my car around 5AM and headed South to Foxborough. Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera both made an appearance on my radio station to calm any morning nerves. When I arrived around 5:50, the sun was still not up! I might have been the fourth or fifth rider to arrive. I left my stuff in the car and headed to the ‘check – in’ area. The staff was well prepared – they handed me by bib #1100 and I was on my way.

Now, the magic happens – I make friends. The success of my ride rests on my ability to secure a riding partner. How would I navigate all those funny directional arrows all by myself? When my legs started talking to me, I was certain that I would need someone to yell back at them with me, right? I especially needed someone to guide me back onto my bike after the rest stops. I also was very sure I needed a partner to hold my pace back (ha! Did you see that? I made you think that I’m fast…) Other concerns were mentioned by my various coaches, I need a friend to “draft behind.” Drafting was the absolute last place I wanted to ride on a rainy century ride. My white sleeves and my eye contacts were spotted anytime I had to sit on my tires of my partner. But at the start of my century, I did not realize this so I wanted a riding partner to “draft” behind. And most importantly, I needed someone to talk to for 100 miles of biking! So it is much less about my confidence and more about understanding the reality of the situation.

I had no plan for this goal. Honestly, I usually develop quick acquaintances very easily, but if you see the above paragraph – this was to be more than an acquaintance. Oh well, I barely remember how it happened, but my anxiety level jumped a couple notches during the time (again because of the above mentioned reasons) and the time seemed to be ticking away very quickly. The 100 mile riders were all gearing up and their intensity scared me. How could I be riding 100 mile today? I didn’t have a fancy green jacket that matched everyone else in my car? I didn’t look as serious as any of the other riders. Anyway, I finally spotted someone with a tire pump and made my request for friendship/ to borrow the bike pump. He (Justin) quickly came to the rescue.

This is where the story becomes fuzzy - any/all of the possible things happened…

 Did I ask to ride with him?
 Intimated by the riders next to my car
 Make sure not to lock keys, helmet, shoes in my car
 Enters Justin’s team member – Jamal
 Did he offer to ride with me?
 Ready to go?

The three musketeers (Katie, Justin and Jamal) rode off to find the starting line! First big success of the day – I had secured a couple riding partners! And find it,
we did! By a matter of urgency and stupidity, we found the starting line before anyone else. We are in the papers all over Foxborough county because of it. “Ooops!” is more like it. We did not have the speed, desire or skill to be at the front of the crowd. However, we did have some great picture opportunities AND I got to enjoy my favorite part of any and every sporting event – the singing of our national anthem!

The Rodman Ride for Kids is by far my favorite event to date. Little cherries were sprinkled all over this event.

The national anthem was sung by Melinda and Joey.

-Two young kids benefiting from the ride. It’s a great song and a very nice touch to have some young kids sing it too.

With that, the field was off and riding at 7:05AM. The course was well marked with arrows providing directions at each and every turn. They even provided additional arrows to offer reinforcement if the road continued for a couple miles, which was very nice and comforting. At about mile 2.5, we started to feel some rain drops! It was not a surprise – but I was not prepared. Why prepare for something you don’t want to happen? It was a driving rain with big heavy drops. But it turns out… I did not melt! In fact, I felt like the most hardcore fundraiser ever! And looking back now, it was helpful to have rain – it was a good distraction for the first 20 miles. I always struggle with the first 20 miles of any ride because I am still finding my rhythm and more importantly, still getting comfortable on the bike. With the rain, I quickly became focused.

During the beginning miles, I share the story and key phrase for the ride with Justin and Jamal. They love it and we continuously YELL – SHUT UP LEGS. Thanks roommate Tim and Jens Voigt!

We had stops at mile 21, 48, 66, 86 and 100! I rode the ride from point to point. It was too much to wrap my head around 79 miles to go… I knew I was out for 100 miles, but my mental health liked moving from point to point. Not that it was all that mentally challenging because the scenery, my riding partners and the volunteers were UNBELIEVEBALE!

The volunteers were perfectly placed around the course with COWBELLS.

My Cowbell Trophy!

Each time, Justin, Jamal and I came riding around a corner – the volunteers would cheer in delight. I would offer a fist pump, high five, and cheers of Thanks in return. Whenever we crossed a main intersection, a police detail would stop all cars so we could ride through without stopping. I would then wave at all the cars – was this viewed as obnoxious? I, very much, hope not! Although, I felt like a pure celebrity and professional, it was more of a “Thank you and look you’re stopping for real reason!”

At mile 39, I was in a desperate state. My Dunkin Donuts coffee and numerous gulps of water were ready to leave… According to my calculations, the next stop was only 5 miles away. My calculations were following along with my distant recollections of a mention of a mile 44 stop. At mile 41, I took off and left Justin and Jamal in the dust. I started to crank up hills and pushed the pace. I figured I would arrive at the stop first and then have more time for resting, eating and visiting with Eleni Kalafatis! Turns out, the mile marker was correctly positioning at mile 48. Justin caught up to me and proceeded to laugh at my eagerness to arrive at the next stop. It was the most glorious site to see a group of volunteers at the top of the mile 48 hill.

Yes, that is correct. You read that. Eleni Kalafatis volunteered at mile 48.

Eleni and I celebrating the first half.

Eleni and I attended UMass together a couple years ago – and it was nice to see a familiar face on my journey! We took a couple pictures. I met her colleagues from the Key Program. We laughed and briefly reminisced about UMass! And then, Justin reminded me that we need to move along for the second part of our journey!

This next section was tough. We rode through some very beautiful areas - through a a lake in Lakeville! The rode divided an entire lake - it was the most beautiful sight, but I only took a picture of the proof that Rochester exists...

Rochester Massachusetts really exists!

And that’s actually all I remember from it. The next stop at mile 66, I remember following the lead of Justin and Jamal and dropping my bike and falling to the ground to enjoy some needed stretching. I took a spider ring for the road and we were off and moving again before the green team could even see us.

Spider ring – It was October 1st – the Halloween decorations were in full Gloom and Doom! It was, as if, everyone knew we were coming out for ride along their streets. The decorations were highly entertaining!

The green team. These individuals caused my anxiety level to increase at the beginning of the day because of their matching outfits and aggressive biking strategy language. After mile 48, I proposed to my group that we beat the green team. I felt confident with this proposal mostly because we’d already had a 10 minute lead on them, so it was not much of a competition. I’ve also heard in numerous settings, that it is important to set achievable goals. I felt it was imperative to set a race goal against a team that had absolutely no idea they were racing us. It would be a win win situation! Disclaimer, I’m sure they were very delightful people. I have an irrational fear of people that match and it happens with every new sport that I take up

Mile 72 approaches and passes. I am now riding farther than I ever have in my entire life and everyone within 5 miles of me knows this. This stretch of the ride is also pretty tough. Justin and I ride along at a very decent pace – staying between 16 – 20mph and coast around 21-24mph. Jamal decides to take it easy because his legs are yelling at him.

For the stretch in between stop 66 and 86, Justin and I are amazed with our abilities. We actually voice our disbelief about how are legs feel really great. I am also shocked, but attribute my stamina to the GOOs inside my water.

Over the course of the entire ride, I consumed:
 12 Goos in 6 bottles of water
 2 Peanut Butter Jellies
 2 bananas
 .5 cliff bar
 3 twizzlers with salt

We were cranking up (18 mph) and down and mostly up slight hills for the last couple miles. At one point, Justin pointed out that we could slow down because we were actually drafting for an entire pack behind us! Hmm maybe 18mph is not “cranking”, but it was for me after 80 miles of biking.

With the final stop at mile 88, the other riders offered insight for the miles to come. One said, “it’s all up hill from here”. Yes, I had the same exact reaction that you did as you read that…. No Thank You – I’m not listening – you’re a Debbie Downer! Who cares if it’s true, I don’t need to be told the bad news! Justin and I jumped on our bikes and beat everyone out of the water stop. When those hills approached, Justin turned to me and said, “Nope, those don’t look like hills to me – keep pedaling and Legs Shut Up!”

Did I mention the sun came out?! It did – it surely did, and I sang in my head – The sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet your …” and moved along with a big smile on my face. Each tick of my odometer to the next mile mark, I would let out a big announcement of the new number. As we turned into a rotary around mile 97.6, I powered up a little by standing up off my seat. This was added additional pressure on of my weak knee, but the ride was almost over! I spotted Mike Wasserman in this rotary and cheered in delight to see another familiar face. Mike is the Associate Director of Bottom Line and an eager volunteer. If I know him, he’ll be riding next year too! He announced and cheered – “You’re almost there! Go Go Go!”. It was very true, we were very close.

Can you believe it – the rest of the way was up hill? Justin and I moved back and forth each taking the lead after different points. It was not a race – from my perspective, it was more of a great desire to finish! We finally were pulled down the entrance path to the parking lot for the finish line. We zoomed over the line and high fived everyone that would bother with us!

101! I made it!

I cannot say it enough, the Rodman team put on a great event and we raised a total of 3 million 738,790.84 so far! I know the wording is not correct with that statement, but I like emphasizing the million part. I had an absolute blast. Thank you to all my friends, family, colleagues, the Paint Bar, Kelly’s and Sacco’s for your generous donations. Thank you for recognizing the importance of giving.