600 Kilometer Brevet - June 13 & 14 2009

How many people can say they spent 38 hours with a lawyer and a judge, and had a great time? As it turned out these were two of three riders I spent so much time with over the weekend.

Saturday and Sunday was the first of two 600 kilometer (375 mile) brevet rides. As the brevet administrator I have been running support and SAG for the 600K for the last five years. This would be my first attempt at a 600K event since 2003.

As any good cyclist, I watch and obsessed about the weather forecast all week. The chicken shakers on television as well as on-line were calling for scattered rain on Saturday and thunderstorms on Sunday. Thankfully, the chicken shakers missed the mark. We had plenty of clouds and light winds all weekend.

The good news this year is that my weight is the lowest it has been in nearly ten years. Back in 2003, my last full brevet series, I weighed in at 182 pounds. This year I weigh in at 169 pounds as of this ride.

The bad news is six years ago I trained all winter long and had stronger legs and faster speeds. This year I am riding well but have done no speed work. As a result I am slower.

Now before I go any further I have to put out a huge thank you to George Jarad one of our local brevet riders. George volunteered to drive the drop bags down to Vienna, our over night stop, and drive the bags back north Sunday. George graciously volunteered this year allowing me an opportunity to once again enjoy the pain, suffering and accomplishment of riding a 600 kilometer brevet. George, I really appreciated your time and dedication to this crazy sport.

1:50 AM - Saturday
Officially, I loath alarm clocks that go off before the sun comes up, especially when the sun would not come up for nearly four more hours. I’m a morning person, but morning was not 1:50 AM.

I pull on cycling shorts, jersey, socks and shoes and am out the door fifteen minutes later driving towards Edwardsville IL some 45 miles away.

3:00 AM – Saturday
I arrive in Edwardsville, drop off the final sign in sheet at the police department and drive to the parking lot one block away.

Riders began appearing and registered for the ride, deposited their drop bags by my van and got themselves ready. I was a little disappointed that only five more riders came out for the 600 kilometer adventure. Perhaps the weather forecast of thunderstorms changed their minds.

4:04 AM – Saturday
In the end, or at the start, I had a total of six riders start the 600K event. Riders were Charlie Witsman from Pana IL, George Hiscox up from Tennesse, Ralph Rognstad from Springfield MO, Dennis Smith, Scott Thompson, and me, all from the St. Louis area.

5:30 AM – Saturday
My riding partner, Ralph and I pulled into the gas station at Pocahontas for a quick bathroom break and refilled bottles. Scott, and Dennis were also pretty much with us as well.

The sun was beginning to dawn as we rolled back down the road. Even though it was in the mid-60s, I was chilled and was happy I was wearing arm warmers.

Scott and Dennis had a slightly different pace, which was ahead of Ralph and me, but we would see each other down the road as we all tried to find our own pace.

7:25 AM – Saturday
Ralph and I pull into the Breese checkpoint, mile 52 along with Scott and Dennis. The two other riders, George and Charlie were already 30 minutes ahead of us. We would never see them during the ride, but would inquire as to how far ahead of us they were when we stopped at checkpoints.

Dennis was the first to pull back onto the road saying that we would catch him before the next checkpoint in Okawville. Ralph, Scott and I pulled out together and continued down the road.

As we rolled through the town of Damiansville, around mile 63, I prayed that I would not get another flat tire. I have had two flats along this stretch of road this year. I made it with no problems.

9:20 AM – Saturday
Ralph and I pull into Okawville, mile 78. Dennis and Scott were just ahead of us by a minute or two. I grab a pre-made turkey and cheese sandwich and refill bottles, the four of us are back on the road in less than 20 minutes.

The four of us ride east through New Minden, Hoyleton and continued east toward Irvington. Along here I was leading Ralph and Dennis doing 16 to 16.5 mph. Dennis pulls around and asked if I wanted him to lead for awhile. Dennis pulled around and picked up the pace to around 18 mph. Ralph began to drop back. I hung on for awhile. Eventually Dennis rotated back and the pace went back down to 16 mph or so.

Arriving into Irvington, the one hundred mile mark, we stopped for water. As 100 miles is something of a milestone, I checked my bicycle computer and we had covered the distance in six hours 4 minutes of actual riding time, averaging over 16.2 mph. In addition to the above time we had less than one hour of off bike time at checkpoints. I was very happy with these results. I also knew that the pace would be dropping soon as the hills were ahead of us.

The little shop in town had a very inquisitive staff and wanted to know all about what we were doing and wished us well on our journey. After reapplying sun screen we rolled out. Dennis pulled out a minute or so ahead of the rest of us, each finding their own rhythm.

At Dix, mile 111, where Interstate 57 runs through town we stop again for water at a local gas station as there won’t be any services for awhile. Dennis runs into an old cycling friend here and they spend a little time chatting. Ralph and I pull out and continue east.

Up to this point in the ride, the terrain had been pretty flat to lightly rolling. However from here to Vienna, and over to Murphysboro we would see a lot stronger rollers and hills.

2:43 PM – Saturday
The four of us pull into Wilke’s Café, our checkpoint in the town of Belle Rive, mile 140. Donnie Wilke is the owner of the café and has always been such a generous person when we come in, making sure our needs are taken care of, and that we all have full bottles with lots of ice before we head out. I will be very happy to see him again in two weeks when I drive support for the next 600K event and get to eat my fill from his buffet. For $7.00 you just can’t beat it.

The nicest thing about the St. Louis Brevet Series, in my opinion, is the spacing of towns along the way. Rarely do you need to ride more than 30 miles to get to a quickie mart. Most of the time I can ride with two bottles, one for water and the other for drink mix. By the time I am empty or near empty I am at the next town. Occasionally I will use a third bottle when it is windy or extra hot and will be longer than expected getting to the next town. I carried a third bottle on my bike and did find myself using it as the day wore on, and the temperature and humidity rose.

After a brief stop in Thompsonville, mile 166, refilling bottles again, and applying sunscreen for the umpteenth time we continued south.

On this section our group of four broke up a little bit. Ralph goes off the back a bit while Dennis and Scott take turns passing me on the hills. I would be out front for a while; then one of these guys would pass me and go up the road. I would slowly close the gap, usually on a downhill or short flat, only to have the other rider pass me and take the lead. I felt like a pro cyclist being attacked by other riders trying to tire me out. I know that wasn’t the case, just each rider taking the hills as their strength allowed.

7:30 PM - Saturday
We pulled into a gas station in Creal Springs, mile 190, the last place to get water before our overnight stop in Vienna. Ralph caught up to us allowing the four of us to ride the trail together. The six miles between Creal Springs and New Burnside is very hilly and what I call 4-40 hills. You climb them at 4 mph and descend them at 40 mph.

8:10 PM – Saturday
We regroup one last time at the trailhead in New Burnside, don our reflective gear and turn our lights on as we begin riding the Tunnel Hill trail. The trail, which I had ridden once before during the daylight and on fresh legs wasn’t too bad. It is perhaps a two percent grade uphill for the first half of the trail. You pass through a long tunnel, and then have a two percent grade downhill to Vienna.

The challenges were the limestone surface which was soft made our tires slide side to side. We also had fog making visibility difficult in spots. When we reached the tunnel it was very foggy around and inside the tunnel making it hard to judge where the sides of the trail and tunnel walls were. We all made it through and reached the end without any accidents.

9:47 PM – Saturday
We reached the Limited Inn in Vienna, mile 211 our overnight stop. Our drop bags were in the lobby waiting for us. Ralph’s wife had checked in hours before and was waiting for his arrival. The rest of us checked in and went to our rooms after discussing when we would meet to head back.

I was at a low point upon arrival, I was tired, and my mind had been attacking me for the last several hours. My mind was coming up with many ways to quit. I could break a spoke, a chain or slit the tire making it unrideable. I could sabotage anything on the bike so I didn’t have to wake up at 2:00 in the morning and ride another 165 miles. In my mind I wanted to do anything to not ride, and not have to say I quit.

After calling my wife letting her know I was safe I took a shower and ate a can of Campbell’s Chunky Chicken Noodle soup (cold) drank a chocolate Ensure along with more water. The lights were out by 10:30 PM. Sleep came, but was fitful.

2:00 AM – Sunday
That dang alarm went off. It was time to get up and prepare for day two. After staggering to the bathroom, my brain went through my body to see what condition it was in. Darn it all, nothing but tired and sore, no valid reason to not ride. Maybe it would be storming and unsafe to ride.

I drank another Ensure and filled bottles with ice, water, and drink mix. I rolled my bike down to the lobby and out the front door to check the weather. A clear night, I could see stars, and the temperature was in the low to mid 60’s. No storms, no reason not to ride. I guess I was going to ride.

Scott and Dennis rolled down the hall and we all had a quick breakfast in the lobby. Ralph came down into the lobby dressed in jeans and a shirt, no cycling clothes, no bicycle. He said his butt was too sore to sit on a saddle. He might start a little later and perhaps catch up with us. Ralph’s wife and car were there. I had a strong feeling he was heading back to bed.

2:45 AM – Sunday
Scott, Dennis and I turned on our lights and begin slowly allowing our tired and sore muscles a chance to loosen up as we took the first several miles heading west. The three of us agreed to stay together for safety at least until the sun came up.

I have mixed feelings about night riding. It provides a completely different experience from daylight riding. The temperatures are lower, which in the summer is very nice. You can see the stars, also nice. There is significantly less traffic, a real bonus. You can see and hear cars easier at night because of their lights. And most of the time there are fewer dogs.

The down side is I also have a fear, perhaps a phobia about night riding, alone, in the dark, with strange sounds, animals you can’t see, coyotes howling, dogs barking, bats flying around. And then there are the drunk, tired and inattentive drivers on the road as well. So is it a phobia or a healthy fear?

All that being said; we did get attacked; yes attacked, by a very large dog around 3:30 in the morning. Dennis was out front and from the right side a big dog came chasing, barking a very unfriendly bark and almost had Dennis’ right leg before turning back into the field alongside the road. Scott and I made it past as the dog circled around. The incident did scare the begeebees out of us.

7:00 AM – Sunday
We were finally done with the Shawnee National Forest, the big rolling hills and Alto Pass, a nice mile long climb. Unfortunately that also means the 40-45 mile an hour down hills are also done. I am not a good climber, but I don’t mind the downhills. Scott and Dennis waited for me several times at the top of a few climbs so we could stay together.

The three of us pull into Murphysboro at 7:00 AM, refilled bottles, used the bathroom and shared some fresh popcorn. We managed to pull out again holding onto a small 20 minute time buffer. Not much, but now that the hills were over we should be able to increase that.

We continued to roll north along State Route 127 towards Pinckneyville. The road at this time of morning had little traffic and had a decent shoulder to use when there was traffic. Aside from a few small rollers, the road was pretty flat and we made good progress north.

9:00 AM – Sunday
As the Pinckneyville checkpoint, mile 283 was a rider’s choice, Scott said he wanted McDonalds for breakfast so we pulled in and had our brevet cards signed, and ordered breakfast. I wanted eggs, but didn’t want biscuits, hash browns or pancakes. I decided on the Breakfast Burritos, which is just eggs, cheese and a few pieces of peppers wrapped in a tortilla, along with a large orange juice.

Dennis was have contact point issues, which is a nice way of saying he was not comfortable sitting on his saddle. His posterior was very sore and raw and was looking for other seating options, positions, standing a lot etc. There was a grocery a block away and I suggested two ham steaks, one on each cheek to take the abuse. Dennis said he didn’t want to have bloody ham in his shorts. I joked what was the difference between bloody ham and his blood butt. None of us could come up with any “side-of-the-road” ideas so he was left with changing positions on the bike for the next 90 miles.

After a nice break we headed out the door and headed west along State Route 154. This section of road has a lot of traffic and not much of a shoulder on which to ride. Thankfully the cars, pick-ups, campers, trucks hauling boats, and big rigs all gave us plenty of room.

What was not so nice along this stretch of road was the amount of road kill. While we saw road kill everywhere, this stretch had many deer, skunks, possums, raccoons, birds and turtles. Frankly it stank. Even if you didn’t see the road kill, you could smell the decay all around. Nasty, nasty, nasty.

As we made the turn north at Eden, George Jarad passed us as he was driving the bags back north, and checking on the riders. He pulled over, took some pictures, and provides the three of us with ice cold water. George, you are wonderful. We chatted for a few minutes, and George confirmed that Ralph had indeed abandoned at Vienna and was packing up the car to drive home.

The temperature was not unbearable by any means, in fact it was in the low to mid 80’s but the humidity, the light headwind and of course the miles were taking their toll. We stopped again just six miles north in Coulterville, mile 305 to share a bag of ice and more water.

1:14 PM – Sunday
We continued rolling north until we reached Okawville for a second time at mile 326. After a short break for water, ice and air conditioning, we still had banked an hour and a half as a time buffer. With just 50 more miles to go all was looking good and we should finish well within the 40 hour time limit.

Dennis asked an interesting question several times. “What would it take to quit now?” Before starting day two it would not have taken much to jump into a car and drive home. Now that I was up the road and getting closer and closer to finishing, it would take a lot to make me quit. All it took to succeed was just getting back on the bike and pedaling and moving up the road. I didn’t have any legitimate reason to not finish, and that felt very good.

All the roads from here back to the finish we ride on every brevet. These roads are almost like an old friend greeting us, letting us know that the end was in sight.

Through this section our group started splitting up, each having a different pace. I was off the back, Dennis was up the road a half mile or so, and Scott in between. We reached New Baden, mile 340 a few minutes apart. It was a little sad for me to loose the group, but at this point we all knew we would finish, and due to differing energy levels, we would finish alone.

Scott had pulled over in St. Jacob to refill bottles, and I saw Dennis up the road a little bit. With just 20 miles left I decided to skip another stop and just keep rolling, I knew Scott would catch me before long. Sure enough, as I made the left turn on Fruit Road, Scott was with me again. I tried to pick my pace up and match Scott, to no avail. He had more left in his legs than I. He pulled away on one of the small rollers along this section.

6:04 PM – Sunday
I pulled alongside the Edwardsville Police station a minutes behind Scott, who was a few minutes behind Dennis. We filled out our brevet cards, signed the final check-in sheet and sat talking about the ride and how enjoyable and rewarding it was.

The three of us, along with the other riders who finished a full brevet series (200K, 300K, 400K and 600K) had become Super Randonneurs, some for the first time, others for several times. For me this is my second full series. My only other Super Randonneur series was back in 2003. It has been six long years without this accomplishment. I now had it in the history books.

RUSA has created a new cycling jersey for rider who achieve the status of Super Randonneur. The jersey will come out in December of this year, and I for one will order one.

The final numbers for the ride are as follows: 375 miles (official distance) in 38 hours, 4 minutes. This is inclusive of all off bike time for eating, drinking, sleeping, resting and eating and drinking even more.

Issues: I am so glad I ride a recumbent. I have no problems with sore wrists, sore and raw tush, or sore back and neck. On the other hand, my right thumb and index finger are a little tingly and the ball of the left foot is bit sore. I think the foot issues are because my shoes are at least five years old and have over ten thousand miles and them. The hand issues I believe is because I was gripping the handlebars too tight on the limestone trail as the bike slid around on the loose surface. My legs too are sore and tired. The hardest part of riding long distance, at least for me is not the conquering the long miles, it is conquering the eight inches between my ears.