Two Centuries in One Day - 7/11/99
How do you know when you are really ready
to do a double century? I
knew for sure the morning of my ride. I had set the alarm for
4:45 am
but woke up at 4:28 raring to go! Got up, shaved and took a shower.
Where did the idea come from? The very thought first struck back
in
1976 when Dave Klein and I were biking across country. One 24
hour
period in North Dakota we did 168 miles. Two hundred didn't seem
too
far away then... who would have guessed it would take me 23 years
to get
around to attempting it?
5:30 am 0.0 miles 0.0 average 0 ft climbed
Starting from Morris which was socked in with fog and in the chilly
40s
after a breakfast of two bowls of Cheerios, 2 pieces of 4H birthday
cake
(vanilla frosting on chocolate cake), a cup of earl grey tea,
some water
and three fig newtons. I did a short loop of 3.4 miles along the
valley
floor to warm up a bit before crossing the ridge to New Berlin.
6:15 am 10.8 miles 15.1 avg 660 ft
At the intersection of Otsego County 13 and 18. Saw the sun on
top of
the hill and my raincoat was too warm up there but not warm enough
down
in the valley fog. Fogs is lifting a bit.
6:41 am 18.0 mi 15.9 avg 740 ft
South New Berlin - still very cool out - I am sweating a bit -
fog is
still lifting
8:00 am 37.7 mi 16.2 avg 1370 ft
Morris. It was fun bookin' along NYS 51. The fog is still lifting
and
sweat is pouring from the sleeves of my raincoat. My cycling clothes
are soaked and slippery. I will stop in the house, eat some more
and
change into some dry cycling clothes . Both the water bottles
are
empty. I ate a bowl of Rice Krispies, drank some OJ and another
cup of
hot tea. The dry clothes feel great. I even swapped for a dry
pair of
cycling gloves.
9:16 am 47.0 mi 15.6 avg 1770 ft
Garrattsville. I spent ½ hour at my break in Morris. When
I left the
fog had gone from the valley floor but weather wise things were
tough.
Now I have to fight a flag snapping strength zapping wind from
the nort h
and north west. Thank goodness I will turn east from Ilion and
have at
least a quartering tailwind. I sat at the monument at the intersection
of County 16 and NYS 51 and ate an apple while writing.
9:50 am 51.4 mi 15.2 avg 2060 ft
West Burlington. Great day! Dry air and sharp edges on the shadows.
The kind of day when you can see the cables on the towers at the
Beavertail Light on Jamestown Island from Scarborough Beach on
Narrag ansett Bay in Rhode Island. Still plenty of wind, but a
great day
nonetheless. I filled an empty water bottle at the store at the
intersection of NYS 51 and NYS 80 and ate a few fig newtons from
the
pound package that I was carrying. Notable ‘road kill' find.
In the
grass on the shoulder just beyond the intersection of the road
to
Crystal Lake and NYS 51 I found a nice green stuff sack in good
shape.
I had to evict a group of earwigs before putting it in my packs
bu t it
was definitely worth stopping for, nearly new and undamaged.
11:05 am 66.6 mi 15.0 avg 2620 ft
West Winfield - at the Red Barrel at the intersection of NYS 51
and US
20. Whew! Headwinds and hills - time to set a second and sip a
Lipton's Raspberry Iced Tea and eat a few pretzels. Finding that
stuff
sack earlier was neat. Usually I am the one losing a stuff sack
to raccoons or
poor packing on the part of the cyclists on my trips, but today
I up one
stuff sack. I had to fill a water bottle that I emptied since
West
Burlington. I should mention that I stopped in Burlington Green
to apply
sun screen. The wind might help me going east for
two miles or so on US 20 but when I turn north with NYS 51 again
it will
be there fighting me and slowing me down.
11:50 am 72.6 mi 15.0 avg 2820 ft 980
ft altitude
Cedarville. This is a little village at the top of the Ilion gorge.
Now I have a nice run down hill all the way to the Barge Canal.
The
gorge has steep enough sides that the winds should not be able
to slow
me down too much. I have started to include the altitude readings
even
though I didn't adjust the altimeter before leaving Morris just
to let
folks know the relative elevations of the various locations.
12:10 pm 79.6 mi 15.4 avg 2820 ft altitude
210
Ilion. At the city limit sign. There is still a bit mo re downhill
to
reach the canal but the gorge is over. Coming down the gorge was
great
very little traffic.
12:18 pm 81.3 mi 15.4 avg 2820 ft altitude
110
Erie Barge Canal and the end of NYS 51. Ate a banana and filled
a water
bottle. Took a few photos of the canal. Tried to include myself
in
one.
Now on to Fort Plain via 5S east. This road has been marked as
a
‘bicycle route' - what they do to make it so, beyond putting
up the
signs is a mystery to me. The downhill run into the gorge helped
me to
boost my average speed on the way to Ilion.
2:10 pm 104.5 mi 15.4 avg 4020 ft altitude
100
Fort Plain. Fort Plain surprises - 3 big hills on a route that
I
expected to be
nearly as level as the canal! Yikes!! Makes me even more late
than I
had hoped. Time for a quart of Dr. Pepper over ice with two mushroom
slices of pizza at the Nice N Easy on NYS 80. 5S from Ilion had
some
nice red brick houses and some working farms, light traffic, decent
pavement, and nice corn fields. I passed the first adult cyclist
of the
day, a woman pedaling along on a mountain bike holding her helmet
dangling from the left side of her handlebars, not too
safely I might add. If you have to bring it along you might as
well
wear it. I will have to go easy leaving Fort Plain, but the Pizza
was
good for something from a convenience store rather th an a pizzeria.
I also stopped to remove the long sleeved t-shirt that I had on
beneath my yellow cycling jersey as I climbed the first ‘Fort
Plain
surpise' hill. It was finally getting too warm to have two shirts
on.
I also stopped at the entrance to the Fort Plain museum and read
the
NYS Historical markers. One mentioned that General Clinton, whose
name
is on the "General Clinton Canoe Regatta" that does
the 70 miles of the
Susquehanna from Cooperstown to Bainbridge brought his men through
here
in 1778(?) on the way to destroy Indian villages and rid the area
of
Chief Joseph Brant of the Mohawks. Another marker just a few feet
away
records that in 1780(?) Brant led a raid on Fort Plain and burned
at
least 30(?) houses. In other words Clinton's work was not immediately
effective.
I took my camera out and tried to get a photo of myself with the
Fort
Plain markers in the background.
3:35 pm 113.8 mi 15.0 mph 4450 climb 410 altitude
Starkville is pretty stark. It has more churches than Hollowville,
but
don't worry about bringing your purse - no stores to take your
money
here. My Achilles tendons are a bit stiff and sore after the long
lunch
break back in Fort Plain. The long downhills like the one into
Fort
Plain are in some ways tough. I have to remember to pedal some
and not
just hold a certain position on the bike.
I feel certain now that I can make the whole 200 miles, even if
I
have to do Sidney to Morris in the dark. Keeping me moving are
the
songs that I play over and over again in my head. Some that I
remember
from earlier today are, "Popeye, The Sailor Man" before
reaching Morris,
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" coming out of Garrattsville,
a Donovan
tune whose name I can't recall but includes the words, "First
there is a
mountain, then there is no mountain, then there isn't;" helped
me up the
hill that I called the Fort Plain surprise. Another song I have
been
singing was that one about a guy trying to "get in touch
with my Marie
in Memphis Tennessee."
My back is a little sore and I don't have any pain medication
along
- I might buy something when I reach US 20. I have clip on sunglasses
clipped on. I saw my first other ‘real' cyclist of the day.
He was
headed toward Ft. Plain - but I didn't catch a look at him until
he was
by me. I had my head down writing in this journal. By the way
this
journal is the pages left over in the 5 x 8 inch spiral bound
notebook
that was used for the 1988 4H Camp Shankitunk Novice Bike Trip
- why
ever throw anything out, eh?
For people wondering about fluid management I'll enter the fact
that
I took a leak roadside in the last segment and once in the section
before that too.
4:08 117.0 mi 14.7 avg 4890 ft 900 altitude
Van Hornesville - writing standing in the shade of a tree on the
lawn of
the very nice Owen D. Young Central School. Route 80 out of Fort
Plain
is a pretty ride, but I have to fight the still very strong wind
that
blew me here along NYS 5S. Route 80 heads out of town going almost
due
west into the wind and uphill along a pretty stream. I have to
really
creep up the hills slowly to avoid severe oxygen debt - there
might be
something around here that I am allergic to or something - but
my lungs
got really clogged up there for a while and at one point I almost
hyperventilated. Have to get moving as soon as I write this -
time is
flying and I am not!!! :(
4:56 pm 122.1 mi. 14.6 mph 5110 ft climbed
1030 altitude
Springfield - at the junction of NYS 80 and US 20. Now the road
ahead
is mostly downhill or flat all the way to Sidney!! Hooray!!!
Filled a water bottle, bought and drank a Lipton's Raspberr y
Iced Tea
and ate small bag of peanuts. Meant to buy some ibuprofen, bought
something...didn't realize till I got home that it was Tylenol
- took
some anyway - ready to roll!
5:17 pm 128.0 mi. 14.6 mph 5200 ft 990
altitude
Intersection of Brody Mountain Rd and NYS 80. I was looking to
check the
stats at 128 miles since on 6/30 this year I did a 128 mile ride
in one
day. That day I climbed 5240 ft and today I climbed 5200 ft after
the
same distance.... with no intention of making this ride similar.
5:33 pm 132.9 mi 14.7 mph 5310 ft 980
altitude
Cooperstown. On Main St. - Look at that, I was able to bump the
average
speed up to 14.7 mph after losing a tenth here and there ever
since
coming down the Gorge into Ilion. Lots of traffic and along NYS
80 lots
of shade - so much that I took off the sunglasses to see better.
The
song in my head now is, "Goodnight Irene."
5:57 pm 137.1 mi 14.7 mph 5410 ft 990
alt
Hartwick Seminary. McDonald's - a burger break - the sun is still
pretty warm - making me sweat a bit. Hopefully traffic will lighten
up. At the other end of Otsego Lake traffic there was opera traffic.
Had a double quarter pounder w/o cheese, large fries, and a 32
oz Coke -
filled an empty water bottle with Coke and took a leak. Some muscles
in my hand and my back want to cramp. I say, "NO!" to
the cramping.
7:17 pm 149.9 mi 14.7 mph 5690 ft 850
alt
Colliersville at the Post Office. Went through a bad patch. Dinner
seemed to bloat me up - too much carbonation?? I am feeling better
now
- stopped here to put the long sleeved t-shirt back on beneath
the
cycling jersey. I will put the tail light on soon since it is
very dark
in the lengthening shadows.
7:51 pm 155.0 mi 14.7 mph 5820 ft 830
altitude
Oneonta. Main and Maple - sweating with the two shirts - but I
would be
too cold with just one. Calling Carol to say that I am going on
to
Sidney.
8:35 pm 163.8 mi 14.7 mph 6000 ft 780
altitude
Otego - Wilber Bank - saw Jocie and Bumper out walking with their
boys.
Did Jocie buy a van? I saw a different vehicle in her backyard.
8:53 pm 167.9 mi 14.7 mph 6090 ft 750
alt
Wells Bridge. The street lights have come on. I have put my flashing
red tail light on.
9:17 pm 173.2 mi 14.6 mph 6270 ft 700
alt
Unadilla. Filled a water bottle and pumped up the rear tire that
was
getting soft. There is some traffic but not too much. People are
seeing the red flasher and giving me a wide berth. Without a headlight
I can't see every pebble in the road... between the dark and the
hills
(yes there are some between Well's Bridge and Unadilla) and the
fatigue
I have dropped my speed a bit.
9:45 pm 176.9 mi 14.6 mph 6370 ft 670
alt
Sidney (Riverside) Full dark now. Some stars. Much traffic right
here. Ate another fig newton
10:07 pm 179.8 mi. 14.5 mph 6370 ft 700
alt
Rockdale - outside the Rockdale Hotel - seems like my sweat may
be
messing up the odometer...shouldn't it be further from Riverside
to
Rockdale?
11:02 pm 188.3 mi 14.3 mph 6640 ft 760
alt
Gilbertsville Post Office
12:00 Midnight 20 0.3 mi 14.2 mph 7040
ft 840 alt
Morris. Had to do 5 1.1 mile laps of the village to get the OD
right to
200.3
Ended singing Ry Cooder's "Billy the Kid" to myself.
Still a lot of
soda in that water bottle. The other bottle is empty. Still a
whole
row of fig newtons left of the pack - time to shower and sleep
- too
tired to even eat.