I'm lying on the floor of a hotel in my sleeping bag trying to sleep at 1am, AFTER three hours of driving. But I can't. To nervous/excited/scared about the ride for tomorrow. I don't usually get so anxious about a bike ride but this was the Epiphany Ride. The Clif Bar Epiphany Ride. When my friend Jessica suggested that I do it, nonchalantly I agreed without really thinking about how hard it would be. "I'll do the 132 miler one!" I told her, not knowing what I really am putting myself into. Coming off from a bike tour I figured I would be in shape for something like this. I further convinced myself that I've ridden that type of milage before so I should have any problems. Even when she sent in the cue sheet I still wasn't really worried about it 8000 thousand feet of climbing in 132 miles? Like doing Mt. Diablo twice but with longer breaks. So why was I so nervous that it was keeping me from sleeping? My clothes. Not really liking getting sick I opted with the long sleeve wool jersey, but with the temperature playing at around 100 degrees that day I was nervous that I would get heat stroke before I finished. I figured since my buddy was helping out in the sag wagon I would just give her a short sleeve jersey and I would just switch it out mid-ride. First mistake. The ride started well with a pretty well good sized group doing the 132. Clearly I was the odd duck out with my mustached bared "old fashion" steel bike with my wool jersey and vans. Didn't deter me from trying to ride with the "medium" paced group who picked up the pace after descended Ink Grade road. The route was good mixture of everything. Nice rolling hills to dusty dirt roads with a handful of good sized potholed to keep you on your toes. All mixed in with some beautiful views. Right away at the start of the ride we get the first flats of the day due to pot holes, a handful of people decided to go ahead to spin and I went along with. Got to ride with Cindy from Alaska who's aunt works at Clif Bar. Talked to her about randonneuring and racing. When the rest of the group caught up I jumped on the train and surprised the group that I was sticking with them with non-clipped in shoes and fat tires. Never a good thing when some of the veterans of the ride tell me the "secret" to this ride was just surviving. I didn't really know what they meant because up until that point I was having a great time. As the heat rose I never did get my chance to switch out my jersey so I baked in a long sleeve wool jersey. Right at the start of the dirt road I dropped my water bottle that was it for me sticking with the group. I never really got my rhyme back as the main group passed at a break neck speed up the dirt road. When the 100 miler group passed me I tried to to latch on but clearly I wasn't recovered yet so I had to suffer alone. The hill right before the climb I didn't realized I had a flat until half way up the climb. At that point I was at a pretty dark place mentally where I didn't feel like I was having fun anymore. The first stop was a lifesaver. You don't ever appreciate the wonderful curing effects of almond M & M's until you suffer heat exhaustion. With food in my belly, tire fixed and the long sleeve wool jersey switched I was ready mentally to finish the rest of the ride. Got to ride with Nick from Emeryville who's wife works at Clif Bar and who just recently moved to the Bay Area a couple months ago. He complimented my Hillborne and said how he owned a Homer himself. If he know how rutty some of the road was he would have opted riding with the Homer instead. We got to talking and apparently Nick sold to Rivendell the organic biodegradable chain cleaner they used to sell. He stop selling it to them because frankly he stop making it. Due to him starting his family. The heat got worse and the hills got longer. Nick and I naturally separated and decided to suffer alone for the rest of the trip. (Weird how natural that can happen on long rides). 3/4th into the ride I was having cramping issues in my legs where I had to stop a handful of times just so I can massage my legs to keep going. 3 miles away from the end every type of pedaling motion made my legs cramp. So I did the most reasonable thing you should do you stand up and mash through the pain. Cycling is one of those weird sports where sometimes you don't get as much satisfaction in the ride until you finished it. I felt good about finishing the ride despite all the trouble i was having. It says a lot about a company who can put on such an amazing ride with so much support from it's employees. The ride itself is a testament of Clif Bar as a company, through incredible hard work and struggle you can accomplish anything one pedal at a time. Thanks to everyone at Clif Bar for being so amazing and supportive. >From the crew members to the other fellow riders I felt welcome and incredibly thankful for being apart of the ride. Glad I got to ride in my vans.
Pictures Proved that 100 degree heat sucks. http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCjH8k3 - Manny " Vans are cycling shoes too!" Acosta -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/VApFhFjw5gkJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
