From: pamela@keps.kodak.com (Pamela Blalock)
Subject: Re: RIDE: CRW Double Century to the Cape (REAL LONG)
Organization: Kodak Electronic Printing Systems
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 18:33:41 GMT

CRW Double Century

The alarm went off at 2:20 AM again. Why, oh why do we keep doing
this?  Oh yeah, it's fun. No really, except for getting up in the
middle of the night it really is fun.

This past Saturday morning, our ride started in West Roxbury,
Massachusetts and took us out onto the Cape and back for a flat to
rolling and quite scenic double century.

As usual we had made plenty of last minute changes to the tandem, 
and hadn't gotten to bed as early as we should have, so we were
working on three hours of sleep, but it's a formula that seems
to work for us. Not that I recommend it to anyone else though!

The moon was very bright when we left, and the rain that had been
forecast was nowhere to be seen. Maybe, just maybe we could ride in
dry weather. But that was really too much to hope for as we passed
through several downpours driving to the start. I changed my mind a
dozen times about what to wear. Should I start in tights or shorts and
rain pants. The roads were wet and I was sure that we would get soaked
along the way. The thermometer on my deck showed 70F at 2:30AM. This
was probably our warmest night all year. But I figured the rain would
cool things AND people off. Finally I decided to start in tights, and
carry shorts, rain pants, rain jacket, and lightweight jacket. This
would guarantee that everyone else riding out in shorts and no jackets
would have a pleasant ride! The rains never returned, despite the
little rain dance we performed 150 miles into the ride, but more on
that later.

I finally got to meet Rich Whalen, after conversing via email
occassionally. Rich recognized the bike from the many descriptions
I have given here, and came up to introduce himself. (I think I 
changed clothes, twice after he did.) I guess our reputation for 
last minute changes is really setting in since he asked what we 
had new on the bike.

Folks who heard of our tire troubles in Quebec, immediately pointed
out the new spare tire taped onto the rack. We had brand new RED
pedals to match the red bike. Actually, I bought them for the
tandem-on-order, but since they matched, and since the old pedals were
6 years old and the bearings were shot, I put the new ones on. We also
had new chainrings all around. We are obviously putting too many miles
on the bike, judging by the box of worn-out parts that have come off
of it. The wheels were the pair Burley sent as replacements and had 
never been used. (We're still waiting for the Mavic rim to replace the
one who's eyelet came loose last time.) All these parts performed 
flawlessly. The question of the day was what would break next!!

We saw Steve Robbins, with yet another unsuspecting stoker on the back
of his Ibis tandem. Jim Merrick, who has ridden Paris-Brest-Paris,
decided after a 30 mile trial ride on Friday to try stoking a double
century on Saturday. I looked around for the Spenco seat pad, but
didn't see one! Remember, I have an Allsop on our tandem!  We saw all
the other familiar faces, and lots of new ones. There were several
people attempting their first double, and while this is a good route,
it promised to be a hot day. There were around 30 riders. I say around
because there was some confusion at sign in and some riders appeared
at the first checkpoint that they had not expected, like Rich.

John Tobin, who organized the ride, and did a FANTASTIC job, called
everyone together to get started. The route was arrowed the entire
way, and a cue sheet and map were also provided. Riders could have
drop bags at three points along the route at miles 60, 130, and 165,
where checkpoints were set up. Riders were to check in at these
controls, so John could keep track of folks. He would be roving around
the course and would bring in any riders still out after 9PM.

We rolled out shortly after 4, riding out of Boston, with next to no
traffic, at a blistering pace. Folks around here really don't believe
in warming up. We hung around the front for the first hour chatting
with other riders. Three of the riders had just completed Pedal for
Power across the US; one on a tandem with his blind uncle. We talked
about brakes and downhills, a typical tandem to tandem conversation.

We started talking with Cathy Ellis, about how much fun she was having
not training for RAAM this year. (Cathy won the women's division last
year.) Steve had just talked with Amy Regan, who will be leaving
Tuesday for the RAAM starting line, and who was so relieved that the
training was over. I hoped Cathy would talk about how much RAAM had
hurt, so Steve would stop making those *I wanna do RAAM* noises, but
she just talked about how much fun it was :)

We continued on for a few more miles, until we came upon John Harrigan
on the side of the road with a flat and a bad tube. Fortunately, the
roving vehicle had also come upon him and provided him with a good
tube. We offered John some company, which he happily accepted. While 
he fixed his flat, we changed clothes, and put some of our rain gear 
in the sag vehicle. While I feared that this action might cause rain, 
I decided it was hot enough that rain would be welcome. John also 
dumped the water in his Camelbak for fresh. He had pulled it from the
shelf after a year of neglect, rinsed it out and added water. It didn't
taste too good, so he decided to try again. This may have contributed
to problems later in the day. 

Just as we started to roll out, we were caught by Peter, who was
thrilled to have a tandem to pull him into the first control. We had
planned to do another double on Sunday and had asked John before the
ride if he would like to join us then. At the time, his plans had been
to do this ride really fast and he didn't think he would be up to
doing another, even with a pokey tandem. After a while, it became 
obvious that we were slowing John down, we tried to encourage him 
to continue on. He hesitated for a while, but after we caught Cathy,
he decided to resume his chase for the front.

We took a quick break at Friendly's just before the Bourne Bridge,
where we refilled water and Ultra Energy, and munched on some homemade
banana nut bread. Cathy rolled out to try to get across the bridge,
but encouraged us to follow soon, so we could ride together for a
while. 

Osman apparently didn't consider a double century enough of a
challenge, so he added to the challenge by riding a fixed gear for 200
miles. Of course it did only weight 15 lbs, and I almost tossed it
when I picked it up because it was so light. Osman is one of the
thinest cyclists I've ever met, and after our last ride with him, we
requested he add panniers to his bike, so we could benefit from his
draft, but no such luck this time. He did pay the price though as he
stayed with us on all the rolling hills throughout the cape, including
the downs, where he maintained cadences in excess of 150. He hit 34
mph, a personal best. (For those who don't know, a fixed gear has no
freewheel, so you cannot coast - downhills are torture!)

When we were ready to cross the bridge, traffic was heavy enough that
we had to use the sidewalk. The sidewalk is on the left side of the
bridge, and while there is a big fence between you and the water,
there is also a big dropoff between you and the road. This is the
scariest part of the ride, but Steve handled the bike with the
petrified stoker just fine.

We ended up with a small group of 4, Cathy, Osman, Steve and myself.
We had a great tailwind heading out, but knew that meant a good
headwind for the return leg. The trip out included 30 miles on 6A,
which wasn't bad early in the morning. The route back was more
roundabout and eventually ended up on a service road paralleling 6.
The traffic was very light, but we paid for it with hills. We made
a brief stop at a Fire Station for bathrooms and water, and then 
headed back toward the bridge for the return trip.

When we got back to Friendly's, we found John looking pretty rough and
having a tough time with the heat. I again offered John our wonderful
company (and draft) for the return trip. Neither Steve nor I realized
how sick John really was, and he didn't tell us. After a bathroom stop
and a break in the shade of the trees, we rolled out toward the final
checkpoint at Bridgewater. The cue sheet indicated that the next 15
miles would be hilly, and then quite a bit of flatness would follow
leading us through the cranberry bogs. It also indicated the only 
store was about 15 miles out. 

Our little group left with Osman and John in tow. Osman was still
looking fresh as could be and I just want to point out that drafting a
tandem on a fixed gear is NO EASY TASK. Climbing the first hill, we
heard noises from John that indicated he wasn't carrying cookies
anymore!  He swore he felt better and wanted to keep going. Since he
was still hammering along at 20 mph, we kept moving.

We stopped at the store 15 miles out for soft drinks and ice for our
Camelbaks. While there, Marion and a guy on a Lemond, who's name I
never caught rolled in and decided to join our group. We had been
having a little trouble with smooth shifting and decided to try to
adjust things to make it better. I managed to make it worse, so we
finally gave up and headed out. Just before we left a small group with
5-6 riders passed. But we were on flat stuff now, and a group pulled
by a tandem would have no trouble reeling them in. We really picked up
the pace into the next checkpoint. Marion was doing her first double
and had ridden a great deal of it alone, and looked incredibly fresh
and strong. She seemed to appreciate the draft and the company, even
if she didn't need it.

The heat was bearing down with great intensity now, and riders kept
looking at the clouds, hoping they held rain that would cool things
down a bit. Our little rain chant had no affect and we continued on
under the beautiful sunshine.

We found popsiscles and watermelon, along with all the other usual
fare at the last control and took a longer break. John continued
saying that he was feeling better, so we headed out one more time.
About an hour later and only 20 miles from the end, we came to a
traffic light and John's answer to the question, "How're ya doin?",
was "Not too good." Then he collapsed. We all grabbed our water
bottles, making sure not to use the one's with Ultra Energy in them
and emptied them on John's head. Steve ran off to find a Coke, and
then I went in search of ice. Fortunately John picked a spot in front
of a BayBanks air-conditioned outpost, so we got him in there and
tried to get him in better shape. We called back to the start, to try
to get someone to come get John, and learned that the sag was real
busy with several riders in need of a ride from the bridge.

We gave them our location and checked with John, who was looking much
better. We finally decided to head on in and come back with our car if
no one had gone out for him by the time we got back.  The next twenty
miles seemed to take forever as we hit more and more traffic and
traffic lights, but we finally reached the end. A sag vehicle had gone
out for John, so we could change clothes and eat, while we waited for
the other sags to bring in our drop bags and John. 

I signed up for a massage, and pigged out on pasta salad, watermelon,
ice cream and chips (healthy stuff, ya know) and talked with other
riders as they came in. My turn for a massage came up, and I had 
just turned over to have the front of my legs done when John was
brought in, apparently sicker than ever.

After trying unsuccessfully to get fluids back into him, we finally
convinced him to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, he was in such bad
shape at this point, we needed an ambulance to get him there.  It took
two calls to John's HMO to convince them that we could not get him
there on our own and to get help over fast. I found this part to be
the most frustrating.

First a fire truck with paramedics arrived, and gave John oxygen and
tried to get him in better shape for transport. A short while later
the ambulance arrived to carry John to the hospital. Riders still
coming in were quite surprised by the presence of emergency vehicles, 
but were relieved to hear that John would be okay.

Unfortunately, John was not the only rider to end his day in an
ambulance. Another rider was hit by a car, while making a left turn.
She suffered a broken arm, broken ribs, and had her spleen removed.
She is recovering quickly though.

All the other riders came in by the 9PM cutoff and everyone seemed to
have had fun on the ride, despite the heat. We saw Rich again, who
really seemed to enjoy his first double and looked a lot better than I
did after my first.  The other tandem arrived, with a now fully
experienced stoker.  Jim's only comment was that he felt "beat up",
but he was smiling when he said it!

Lindy headed to the hospital right away.  Steve and I got directions
to the hospital and headed over about 1/2 hour later. It was quite a
comedy trying to find the place, since neither of us knew the area and
lots of buildings on Rt 1 look like hospitals, but we finally made it
and found John with an IV of saline solution dripping into his arm and
looking a thousand times better. 4 bags, with a little potassium added, 
later they sent John home.

Well, we didn't get a lot of sleep that night, so we decided to do a
little shorter ride on Sunday. After sleeping late, we rose and tried
to correct that blasted shifting problem and then headed up toward New
Hampshire for some long hills. After all that flat riding on Saturday,
the hills were actually a good chance to get our butts out of the
saddle. So we still haven't done an official 600K, but we feel pretty
good about our preparation for BMB anyway. It now less than a month
away, but we still have time to change lots more equipment!


LESSONS LEARNED

Remove new tubes from the box and see if they hold air.  Check the
glue in your patch kit periodically to see that it's not just a tube
of air.

Rinse water bottles and Camelbak bladders out with bleach between
uses.

If you throw up on your bike, stop riding.  If you are dehydrated, go
directly to the hospital for an IV of saline solution. Do not pass go.
Do not collect $200.

AND John Harrigan is the Master of the Understatement. If he says he's
not feeling well, get him to a hospital!
-- 
Pamela Blalock                                     pamela@keps.kodak.com
Kodak Electronic Printing Systems, Inc             7 down, 5 to go!
164 Lexington Road, Billerica, MA 01821-3984       
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles