Riding in an oven

0600 hours and the temperature was 70°. Guaranteed to be a hot day. After riding the 2 miles to the Tour de Cure festival area and checking in at registration we waited for the remainder of the Sikorsky Cycling teammates to arrive. At 7:30am we began to roll on our way. The team stayed together for until the first rest stop, at which point some of us began to increase the pace. At about mile 30 I heard a nice pwang! The second spoke in less than a week had just broke, but it wasn't about to stop me today. After rest stop 2 we hit the flattest section of the ride that would last for approximately 30 miles, and we pressed the pace fairly good. The feeling of being in an oven was really really beginning to become a bit much, but I continued to take in fluid. I'd been drinking a lot, at mile 60 I'd probably drank more than I'd even drank on any particular ride. After a rest at the stop at mile 63 we continued on. A few miles later a began to drop the two club members that were still left to ride the full 100 miles. I didn't feel like I was pushing very hard, but they were falling back so I just pressed on. Then at about mile 75 the pavement oven I'd been baking on all day finally took it's toll. I'm not really sure what the temperature was during the day, but I'm going to wager a guess that with the ambient heat from the pavement it was around 100°. As we say, I sort of hit the wall. About two miles later I came upon a lengthy hill and one guy that was slowly struggling up it. I could feel my heart rate was much higher than it really should be and breathing was more difficult than usual; time to take a break. I pulled off in the shade as I noticed to guys walking their bikes just a little ways up the road. Sitting down for a while, I took in some water and rested while my teammates caught up. For the last 25 miles two of us just took it very slow and easy, resting often. We probably took more breaks in the last 20 miles than we had in the first 80, but it was also the hottest part of the day. Finally we rolled into the finishing festival and grabbed some much needed [real] food. I was completely smoked, and felt like an overcooked chicken, but managed to complete my end of the bargain.

A LARGE thank you to those who donated to this great cause. Your donations will go towards fighting a disease that affects millions of Americans. There a few pictures for you to view by clicking here. You'll probably be able to figure out which were taken near the start and which near the end but there are some captions to help. Cheers!

-Scott