Post Mortem on the Montauk Century

I was kind of nervous and excited about riding the tandem with Rick. From what I recollect, he said we were going to ride the 65-mile route, the shortest of the three distances offered (100 miles starting in Babylon, and 145 miles starting at Penn Station). I say recollect, because later on he told me that he signed us up for the century. I could have still opted for the 65 mile ride, but I thought, what the heck, let me see how far I could push it before I break. So, at 7am, we were off to ride from Babylon to Montauk. I will admit that this ride should have been easy. It was very, very flat. I couldn't even call anything we went up a real hill.

The ride started off well. I was feeling okay. Maybe a little sleepy because I only had 3 hours of sleep total. But I had adrenaline to kill the sleepy feeling. When we reached our first stop, Corey Beach, roughly 25 miles into the ride, I didn't feel too bad. My legs were a little tired, but I shook it off at the rest area. What I couldn't shake off was the queasy feeling in my stomach. I didn't want to tell Rick that I wasn't feeling well, so I just stopped drinking and eating so much. While that helped to fend off the stomach issues, it resulted in massive dehydration. By the time I made it to rest area number two, which was about another 25 miles, I was feeling faint. My legs felt like logs and I had to lie down in the grass because I thought I was going to pass out. Still, I didn't want to stop. I didn't want to be a sissy and not finish the ride. So, after some deep breaths, I got back on the bike with Rick. By mile 55, both of my legs were cramping from my knees to my hips. I had to get off the bike several times. Rick kept telling me to drink more water and to stretch my quads each time we took a break and to rub them while I was riding. I wanted to yell at him, but I had no energy. Besides, he was right to tell me that I had to ride through the pain. I wasn't going to get into a SAG wagon. No way. Eventually, the cramps subsided, but I was still feeling dizzy. What should have been a beautiful scenic ride through the Hamptons, became a struggle with me closing my eyes and counting each turn of the pedal. A couple of times, I found myself drifting off, but then I'd catch myself and scream in my head, WAKE UP, you are more than half way there. When we got to the third rest area, roughly 70 miles, that's when I knew I was done. I was more the done, I was toast. I still had stomach issues. My head was spinning. And, my butt was in a lot of pain. Talking to a friend today made me realize that I will never feel comfortable on a bicycle saddle. Why? Because about 6 years ago, I broke my tailbone falling down a set of stairs while holding my baby girl. It's great that my maternal instincts kicked in and I held onto the baby. But, it wasn't good for my butt, which used hard cold ceramic tiles to break my fall. I guess my tailbone never healed properly because I can feel it protrude a bit to the right. Now I suppose I know why I favor my left side when I ride.

After biking 70 miles, I caved in and got on the SAG wagon. I was really tempted to ride the final 30 miles, but I thought, don't be stupid, you're already in a lot of pain. What happens if you do irreparable damage to yourself? Plus, we had some logistical issues with how to pick up the kids, so onto the wagon we went. When I look back with 20/20 hindsight, I think, I should have just finished off the final 30 miles. I was actually more worried about picking up the kids than I was about how much I was going to hurt myself. But, due to some seriously bad luck, we experienced a logistical nightmare getting our bike back from the organizers, that in the end, we didn't pick up the kids from Manhattan at 8pm as scheduled. We picked them up closer to midnight. That's a whole other story. I suppose I'm proud to have finished 70 miles for my first real ride of the year...but I would have been more proud had I actually completed the century. Oh well, there's always next time.