June 14, 2009

The Long, Long Ride

Posted in Uncategorized at 7:30 am by kbartlez

I can say with certainty that Ken and I managed to finish our century ride. That it was easy, was moderately difficult, or went without snags is something I cannot say. First of all, as you can see below, the time. Yes. 10.5 hours. We left San Diego Station around 10:20 and didn’t arrive in Anaheim until well passed 9 pm. While there were pockets of traffic and a lot of signals, most of the delay could be attributable to me. For starters, I cycle a lot slower than Ken. I’m heavier, not in as great a shape, was carrying a bunch of stuff, and so forth. All lame excuses, actually.

No. What really killed us for time was what was killing me. About a third into the ride, I started getting pretty severe leg cramps. First in the left then the right. First in the quads then in the calves. When they flared up, I had to stop and rest, then try to stretch out my legs. Ken had these electrolyte pills that I had previously poo-pooed, but since that was one of the biggest thing (and possible dehydration) causing the cramps, we had to give it a try. It mostly worked. It took about 30 minutes to kick in, but by gosh, it totally worked. Sort of.

Things got considerably worse in Dana Point. We were already quite late by then, but had managed to establish a good pace. Until we had to climb this rather massive hill. I made it about halfway up but had to get off the bike and actually push the bike, walking. Even Ken, just about 15 feet shy of the top, had to do the same. Once cleared, we didn’t have to go very far before both my legs completely seized up with cramps. I gingerly laid my borrowed bike down on the lawn and pretty much proceeded to writhe in agony. It was quite possibly the worst cramps I’ve had in my life. It was however soon topped about 30 minutes later. But rewind 30 minutes. So there I am on a lawn somewhere past Dana Point along PCH. I couldn’t stand up, and was in so much pain that I couldn’t even bend my knee to stretch it out.

Meanwhile, Ken had biked a little ahead and, not seeing me behind him anymore, feared the worst. I managed to get my left leg back and my right was a little tight still but I figured I’d kept Ken waiting long enough. I think I was laying down for close to 20 minutes. I didn’t get far. Not too long after, my right leg seized up with what I can only describe as the most searing pain I’ve ever had. I was on a fast moving (cars) portion of PCH, but couldn’t so much as move. I had to ditch on a hillside of succulents. I could see Ken waving at me from the park at the bottom of the hill. All I was able to do was mime a silent scream. After some time, again, sitting on the side of the road, I still couldn’t pedal, but walking was no longer impossible. I shuffled over to where Ken was. I took another pill and tried to stretch out. It was getting well into dusk by now and we were still a very long ways away from our goal.

After yet another rest, we decided to shove off. Thankfully, that was the last bout of cramps I had. We still had another mishap though. In Oceanside, Ken was pinched off a lane by a car and fell down, scraping himself up. By the time we got to the base of our usual ride at the Santa Ana River, it was already 8:30pm and completely dark. Somehow I had picked up a second wind and managed to do 15-18 mph the 11 miles to Angels Stadium, where Ken’s wife Sujen had been awaiting our return since 8. Also, somewhere near Carlsbad, Ken had a flat tire that we had to repair. Also, on the way home, there was a massive accident on the 91, affecting the 710 and I was rerouted to the streets of Compton. It took over an hour to get home (it usually takes about 30 minutes). Needless to say, both my legs cramped up so bad getting out of the car, I had to waddle to my house. Finally, I can’t feel my left pinkie.

But I can say that we did indeed finish all 107 miles and that taking the Amtrak to San Diego was really nice.

Even with my extra 3500mA battery pack I was sure running GPS for 11 hours would kill my phone. It was red battery bar, but it actually finished. Much like my legs.

Ken uses MotionX-GPS on the iPhone 3G and is sharing with you the following track:

Name: San Diego-Anaheim
Date: Jun 13, 2009 10:17 am
Distance: 107 miles
Elapsed Time: 10:29:54
Avg Speed: 10.2 mph
Max Speed: 59.3 mph
Avg Pace: 05′ 52″ per mile
Min Altitude: 0 ft
Max Altitude: 356 ft
Start Time: 2009-06-13T17:17:53Z
Start Location:
Latitude: 32.717146º N
Longitude: 117.168567º W
End Time: 2009-06-14T03:47:47Z
End Location:
Latitude: 33.803366º N
Longitude: 117.882801º W

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