05.11.2010 | 2:00 pm
I did it! 6:49:33, Faster then I thought.
Had alot of support from my friends on FB and had one friend stop by.
The last 25 miles were the longest. By then my tail bone was really sore, and still is. But my legs feel good.
This is my first Century ride, there maybe more in my future, just not on the trainer.
I made my own finisher medal, cause I’m all about the bling.
Wore my “Cancer sucks” pink socks in honor of Susan and all of my Patients struggling with cancer.
I’m an oncology nurse in Seattle and it was my pleasure to take part in this fundraiser. Won’t ever do it again.
– Betsy W.
Comments (9)
05.11.2010 | 1:30 pm
I’m the champion of the singlespeed division of the Centennial Park 50 miles of nowhere for those recovering from recent cycling related head injuries. See, a week before the race I came off on the harbour bridge and looked like this:
Then like this:
Then I looked like this:
In the process, I also managed to twist my (steel) forks rendering my bike unrideable. This naturally put my race victory in doubt. Thanks to the quick ordering of a local shop, though, I got a new fork on and was ready to go.
I wasn’t keen to push the body too hard before all the swelling had gone down, so I aimed at 50 miles. This ended up being 21 laps of the 3.8km course around Centennial Park in Sydney.
Completed in 3.5 hours. Not bad for an injured bloke on a cheap steel singlespeed who had completely forgotten about the race and done no training. Did I qualify that enough?
– David B, Sydney
Comments (12)
05.11.2010 | 1:01 pm
A Note from Fatty: Some stories are told most eloquently by using no words at all.
– Cary C.
PS: Want something with more words? Check out Michael Sykes’ race report: The Third Annual 157.5 MIles of Nowhere.
Comments (2)
05.11.2010 | 12:29 pm
Yesterday, a couple of us rowers got on the bikes & trainers to do the 100 Miles of Nowhere. We set up camp on the balcony of Lake Washington Rowing Club with a view of Lake Union, the ship canal, some of the best people watching in the city, and most importantly – shade.
It was 70 and perfectly sunny, rare for early May in Seattle. We set up the laptop to play through the Bourne trilogy, but the sun was actually so bright that we couldn’t see the movie.
Plan B: music. We had a handful of visitors throughout the day, but they all seemed to be more interested in the view than bringing us snacks. Lot of good they were.
I felt really good through about mile 55, then there was a steady decline in energy and speed until about mile 87, when I got my second wind and finished (fairly) strong. Joe claimed it was his “rest day” and that he was going to “heart rate limit” himself, which just resulted in me finishing 13 miles and 40 minutes ahead of him.
But at the end there were plenty of brats & beer to go around, and cancer still got the finger.
– Jeny P, Seattle
PS from Fatty: Want another story? Check out CyclingProject365’s excellent writeup!
Comments (1)
05.11.2010 | 12:01 pm
100 Miles of Nowwhere. I’ve been looking forward to this since late March. Sometimes winning is everything and this time I’d given myself every chance within my category (the dodgy knees holding a Guernsey Passport division). Reasonably rested, carbo loaded and ready to go I slept soundly the night before the off knowing I’d be difficult to beat. As long as I beat 5 hours I’d be the winner.
After all, these 100 miles were to be raced over my (literally) home turf. No one could possibly beat me. Could they?
Whats more, I had a special bike too.
A Cervelo S1 aero frame (borrowed for a week from my LBS) with deep section Mavic wheels. An absolute must for any turbo based endurance event. Try it. You will never look back.
Pre race supplies
A Shaky Start
Amazingly, and rather embarrassingly due to late decision on behalf of my bowels who with only a few mins to go before the off decided to demand a movement, I missed my start time at the gate by 6 mins.
Mortified and with jeers and cat calls from the crowd (Mrs T) ringing in my ears I finally set off at 11.06 am. Given my lack of common time keeping I decided upon a simple strategy.
To keep pedalling for the next 5 hours.
Simple and yet immensely effective. Turn those circles so to speak & never, ever, turn in squares..
The Race Proper
So thats how it went. Minute by minute and hour by hour the drill remained simple.
Pedal. Drink every 10 mins and eat every half hour.
For 5 hours.
Simple.
Actually thats not quite the full extent of the truth. It wasn’t that simple at all. These 5 hours were rather long. In fact, they were very, very long…… A man can watch only soooo much Snooker on TV before feeling quite vengeful to almost anyone.
The End
And so it came to pass. With 160kms on the clock and nearly “home” I noticed my pace was slightly off the target. It dawned on me I’d probably fail. That I wouldn’t break the 5 hour mark.
As you can imagine with 160kms in the legs it took some effort to summon the strength needed for a sprint but sprint I did.
But to no avail. I finished in 5 hours and 5 secs.
I had failed. I had lost and in my mind I’d lost big…….
Next year…. I’ll do it next year……
The mess afterwards. Drink bottle, food wrappers and sweat towels everywhere.
The proof. 5 Secs from victory
– Stuart T.
Comments (3)
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