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Archives for April 2010

The MS 150 — What a Terrific Weekend!

04.18.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 16 Comments

The weather gods must have been smiling. Despite ominous forecasts for heavy rain, the wetness was only temporary, and I now have a full two-day BP MS 150 under my belt.

I woke up in Houston early Saturday morning, feeling the effects of too little sleep. I always get wound up in anticipation of a big event, and this was no exception. But my riding partner Bob joined me for breakfast, then in organizing our gear, getting our luggage dropped off at the luggage truck, and collecting our bikes.

The morning dawned overcast and gloomy, but about 13,000 riders were on hand for the largest fundraising event in the United States. Teams started according to the amount of money their members raised. My team, Team St. David’s (a large health care concern in  Austin), started fourth.

Team St. David's lines up for the MS 150 start.

About a mile into the ride, the skies opened up and it started raining. But the rain wasn’t hard, and there was no wind to speak of to make it difficult to contend with. Within a half hour, the rain stopped. The skies stayed overcast, but it looked like we would stay dry.

The first day of the ride goes from Houston to La Grange, Texas, and covers 100 miles. Considering how far they had to travel, the bikers moved along at a good clip, with the occasional paceline speeding things up, provided you could hang on if you jumped on the back. With so many in the event, the roads are never clear of cyclists.

About 30 miles west of Houston.

A piece of cardboard helped a bit - but only for a little while.The morning’s rain did make things challenging at the rest stops. Porta potties were lined up in a grassy area away from the food and drink tents. But the rain turned the fields to mud, making it challenging for cyclists to keep their shoes in semi-usable shape. This one was particularly bad right after the morning rain, but throughout the weekend, rest stop crowds had to contend with mud that clogged cleats and made it difficult to get clipped back into the pedals.

With so many riders, rest stops are always crowded on the MS 150. The Saturday lunch stop in Bellville was especially so. Cyclists surrounded an old octagonal school building on the county fairgrounds, as well as the fairgrounds themselves, to take a break and eat sandwiches, fruit cups and other food.

The no longer used octagonal school house at the lunch stop.

As the day wore on, there seemed to be more and more crashes along the way. Some were serious. In two cases, we saw ambulance crews place injured cyclists on back boards. Mostly, they were riders who suffered road rash after hitting the asphalt. And within one mile of the finish line in La Grange, two crashes injured cyclists — including one of the back board cases.

It was good to finally reach La Grange. We covered 101.5 miles at an average speed of 16 mph. I felt good, but the picture Bob took soon after we crossed the finish line shows that the day took its toll.

I look pretty fried.

When 13,000 people converge on one spot, problems can arise. After a long, warm, sweaty day, riders wanted to get clean. Shower trucks were a popular spot. So popular that the lines were unbearably long. I waited almost an hour and a half to finally get under the spray.

Just part of the long lines for the shower trucks.

Most teams and their riders stay in large tents at the county fairgrounds. This is one of the reasons for joining a team. They provide the tent, the evening meal (barbecue), cots, and massages.

A look at our tent in early evening, before cots were moved to the center area.

But there were concerns at our tent. The forecast called for heavy rain overnight, which could easily result in flooding. We nixed a proposal to move to another tent in a less flood-prone area, and bet that we wouldn’t face any real problems. Instead, we put all the cots together at the center of the tent — got really cozy with our teammates — and at 10 p.m., lights went out.

It wasn’t quiet, though. Not only did several of the guys snore loudly and continuously, but whenever you changed position on the tightly-stretched cots, they emitted a sound like the popping of bubble wrap. Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop vied with the snoring to make the night a restless one for me.

The rain came, but fell far short of the deluge that had been predicted. Of greater concern was a cloudburst that hit around 6 a.m., while we were in the breakfast pavillion. However, by the time the ride was to start at 7 a.m., that rain had stopped too.

Thousands of cyclists lined up at 7 a.m. for the start of Day 2.

Bob and I were in line at 6:45. We finally got out on the road at 8:15. Another long wait at the MS 150. But except for some dangerously rough chip seal on the Highway 71 shoulder for the first several miles, the Sunday ride went off without a hitch. We rolled across the finish line in downtown Austin at about 3 p.m. Our Day 2 stats: 66 miles at 14.7 mph.

Bob Gilbert and Ray Niekamp (Bike Noob) at the finish. (Bob is wearing the team's 2010 jersey - I have the 2008 version.)

It’ll take a couple of days for my butt to get back to normal, but other wise, it was a great ride for a great cause. I recommend you try an MS 150 ride sometime.

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Categories // Rides Tags // MS 150, Rides

MS 150 Weekend

04.15.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I leave for Houston to ride in the MS 150 Houston-to-Austin ride this weekend. (It’s actually 177 miles, but we won’t quibble with the MS Society’s brand.)

I did it last year, but the first day was rained out, so I only got to ride the 77-mile leg of the second day. This year, the weather forecast is dicey as well: 30 percent chance of rain Saturday, and 60 percent on Sunday. Oh, well.  I’m pretty much a fair weather rider. In fact, my last bad crash was in the rain. So the goal this year is to complete both days of the ride, and stay upright while doing it.

My friend Bob, who rides with me in our cycling club, will share transportation and a hotel room with me. At least two other members of the club are riding too, that I know about. And this year, lots of other folks I’ve met through social media — including this blog — are going to ride as well. If we can all get together for a massive meetup, that should be a lot of fun.

I thought I might be less stoked for the ride this year, because of my previous experience with it, but I’m not. In fact, I might be even more excited about it this year. Despite the rain, there is still a good prospect of getting in both days of the ride, so I’m looking forward to that. It’ll be a good test for my new riding position. And, as the largest fundraising bike ride there is, it’s one heck of an event.

I’ll be back in this spot as usual Sunday evening, with a full report of the ride.

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Categories // Rides Tags // MS 150

Social Media and Bicycling

04.13.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

This evening was the first Run Far Time Trial of the year in Austin. It’s run every other Tuesday from now through September. I didn’t ride it tonight, because I’m pointing toward this weekend’s MS 150, but I did head out there for my usual Tuesday evening Veloway ride.

I won’t go into details about the time trial itself, because I’ve written about it once or twice in the past. For me, being there held the prospect of putting some faces with the names of people I see all the time on social networking sites.

I like social media. Besides this blog, I use Twitter every day. I have two accounts — one is work-related and the other is dedicated to bicycling (my most recent Tweets appear in the right column here).  I’m also on Facebook. It doesn’t eat up as much of my time as you might think.

This afternoon, the Tweets started appearing about the time trial. My friend @weiland said he would be there, and @T_Starry replied that he would, too. Then @cyberjunkie21 said he’d join the group. I replied that I’d meet them there as well. We all posted what kind of jerseys we would wear.

I got to the Veloway, where riders check in for the time trial, a little early, and decided to take a lap. Most of the time trial riders had the same idea.

Rider takes a warmup lap on the Veloway before heading out on the time trial. The wildflowers are spectacular this spring. These are Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush.
Tim Starry, aka @T_Starry, aka Old Guy On Two Wheels.

When I got out to the parking lot, I saw @T_Starry right away. His coach from Austin Cycle Camp was explaining how to attach the timing chip. I first met Tim Starry through his blog, An Old Guy On Two Wheels, then met in person back in January at an MS150-Tour de Cure training ride. We follow each other on Twitter, and read and comment on each other’s blogs, but I hadn’t seen him since then.

While we were talking, an attractive woman pulled up on her bike and greeted Tim. She introduced herself as Patti Hill. I stuck out my hand and introduced myself with my real name. Her reply was polite, but lukewarm.

“I’m Bike Noob,” I said.

“Oh, Bike Noob! Hi!” @pattidhill answered with a smile.

Another rider stuck out his hand. “I’m cyberjunkie,” he said.

“Cyberjunkie! That’s terrific!” I exclaimed.

A man standing by laughed. “You guys are a lot more friendly when you use your phony names instead of your real names,” he said.

Maybe. It’s our common ground — a starting point. We joked about our Twitter pictures, talked about rides we’d been on recently. But it was time for them to head out on the time trial course. I resumed my easy laps of the Veloway.

When I finished, I found @T_Starry and @weiland back from their time trial runs. They exchanged stories about how it went. The southeast wind was tough tonight, and smacked riders in the face during a nice downhill when they’re supposed to be making good time. Tonight, it was a struggle.

They’re all great folks, and without social media, I doubt we’d have ever met, even if our paths crossed at various cycling events. Now that I’ve met their real selves, instead of merely their virtual selves, the connection is that much more meaningful.

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Categories // Blogging, Community, Odds 'n ends Tags // Blogging, social media, time trial, Twitter, Veloway

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