Waco Wild West Century

Days like this you begin to wonder just what you see in this sport! Yet, at he end of the day you look back at the hardships as well as the tests of strengtth, determination, and emotional fortitude and realize that you have done something that many others will either look at you with everything ranging from awe to bewilderment, though never with indifference. Today I rode my first century of the season! Not a small task in any measure but this century was compounded by the matter of only hving been back on the bike since July 22nd after a two year absence. A daunting task.We drove down Friday after work and arrived in Waco to register at the Hampton Inn about 7:20 and headed next to the Waco Wild West registration before meeting with friends (Mike, Bill, Nancy, Kathy, Donna, and a couple of others) for dinner at Ninfa's. Not what I would have preffered for a pre-ride evening meal, but hey, I ride so that I CAN eat, right? Anyway, after good conversation and good company paired with mediocre food, Eva and I went back to the hotel for the nights rest.The alarm came early at 5:15 as we fumbled around for our things and prepared for the day. It always helps to get in a great breakfast before a long ride as the dinner fuels the morning, but the breakfast fuels the afternoon, so we headed across the parking lot to the Cracker Barrel for a good home-style offering of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and of course coffee. I know a lot of riders will tell you that you have to carefully measure your vitamins, powders, pre-race drinks and the like for optimum performance, but I am a believer in the goodness of mother nature and all that she can provide. There is a running joke these days that man is living longer, but new studies are showing that the bodies of Americans decompose slower than those of the Europeans because of all the preservatives and synthetic materials that we ingest. I don't know if that is true, but I sure felt healthier after two months over there than I ever do here......even off of the bike.Anyway, we later lined up with our "grouppo" on the starting line with the rest of the hundred milers. However, as it turned out only Mike and I were doing the 100 mile route. I kinda talked him in to heading out with me for the company with the caveat that Eva would meet us along the route if he needed a ride in since he had not planned on riding that many miles and wanted to get back home for a dinner group. So after trading the front for the first 20 miles, I took the lions share on the front the rest of the way for draggin' him out there. So, I grit my teeth and settled into a rythym that would allow him to follow along and try not to burn myself up too early in the ride and against a 15-18 mph head and cross wind for the first 60 miles or so. Ever turn into the wind elicited a groan from all the riders within earshot of us. Knowing that I was not alone with this attitude only increased my determination and I began to remember that it was going to be a long, long day. However, with each passing mile and each rest stop to regain strength and raise the metal spirits, I began to feel stronger as the ride progressed. This ride I had convinced myself early that eating more than I normally do and drinking every chance I got was the key to my success and the longer the ride wore on the more I knew that the proof was in the Cliff Bar. When Mike climbed in to the car at the 68 mile rest stop, I was ready to get back on the bike for more punishment.A little before this though, while still riding into the wind, we headed down the long fast decent into Mother Neff State Park and I heard "this doesn't look good" from my shadow behind as he was thinking "physics tells us that what goes down must come back up" and he knew that we would be heading toward a long climb back out of the park. I also can't tell you the relief we felt upon cresting that hill and cranking the speed up to a comfortable 25 mph as we crused on toward that next stop where Eva and the car waited.Once Mike was in the car I thanked him for the company and got back on the bike and picked back up where we had left off and cruised on at 24-25 mph trying to catch a couple of friends that had passed us when I was checking a message from Eva saying that she was there waiting for us, after a brief moment where she didn't know how to get there, she found her way.Anyway, I finally caught up to Blazzing Saddles after cresting a hill a few miles before the Skittles rest stop. However, we lost each other after that and I headed for home. After another brief stint into the wind and two flat tires, I cruised in to the company of a rider named Tom from Ft. Worth (Ft. Worth Bicycling Assoc.)who picked up his pace to join me across the finish line hot, tired and thankful that the Coca-Cola truck was still at the finish line for an ice-cold refreshment and I did give it a smile.I am most proud of the effort that I put forth in finishing a difficult century with a large portion of it into the wind and having ridden almost entirely without drafting another. The time spent riding with Mike kept me from going all out early with legs that have had less than optimal training conditions and amounts (only 724 miles this season). I even got some surprised looks as I sped past thouse who had burned out early and had trouble keeping up the pace near the end. And, I was impressed and proud of my self for completing the ride. I had an overall average of 15.5 mph which only leaves me room for improvement for next years group of centuries that I plan to prepare for. Hopefully I will be in much better shape and 10-15 pounds lighter as well. We'll see. I hope others got to go and ride this ride, though the support was not as stellar as many of us would like (see White Rock Rabbit's Post), overall it was a good ride with good scenery and usually good roads. The people were very friendly and helpful at every stop, just not as well stocked as other rides. And the finish line was near non-existant. The should realize that the riders who come in late might need the assistance, cheering, and post rides sustinance just like those who finish early or only ride the shorter routes. I feel bad for all of those who finished after me as I know there were a few. However, I enjoyed the weekend and hope everybody else that got to ride around Waco did too.