DC Randonneurs does the Urbana 200 every year, but somehow I'd never ridden it before. And I also missed this year's first brevet, the Tappahannock 200, because I broke my bike the night before. (Okay, I actually wimped out because of the forecast 30 mph winds. I really did break my bike the night before, but I have other bikes and would have ridden one if the forecast had been less dire.) I did ride the Dart last weekend (with the excellent Team Sins of the Fleche: George, Joel, Lowell, Mike), so I had one 200 km ride in my legs this year, just not at brevet pace.
The start was at 7, so I set the alarm for 5. Ate a bowl of cereal and a banana. Got to the Urbana park-and-ride without drama around 6:30, then rode over to the Waffle House to sign in. I followed another cyclist over there, and we took the scenic route, so I started the day with a bonus half-mile. I was preregistered and the sign-in volunteers did a good job, so it only took a couple of minutes to get my brevet card. We got a huge crowd for such a hilly ride — over 60 people, including a bunch of first-timers. I don't know if that's a sign of general growth in randonneuring, or just because it's a Paris-Brest-Paris year. It was well below freezing, 23F at Frederick Airport according to the National Weather Service. I was wearing shorts, a short-sleeved wool jersey, polypropylene long underwear tops and bottoms, thermal tights, my warmest winter jersey, a balaclava, two pairs of socks (cotton and wool), and my Lake winter bike boots. And I was still chilly, though not chilly enough to put on my rain jacket. (Figured I'd warm up once we got going.  Most of me warmed up, but not my toes, which were cold even through two pairs of socks and my boots. Guess I should bring toe covers next time, or wear two pairs of heavy wool socks.)
We left right at 7. I took the lead for about 3 seconds because the start is the only time I ever get to lead a brevet, and then dropped back in the pack. I stayed in the front group until I dropped my chain to the inside on the very first climb that required the small ring. I had installed a new front derailleur on Thursday night (because the old one was broken), but didn't get the limit screws set right. Putting the chain back on cost me about a minute, which meant the big fast group was long gone. Oh well, wasting energy chasing them is a bad idea anyway. I eventually fell into a small group with Joel, Maile, Alec, and a few other people whose names I don't know.
The first control was at a 7-11 in Union Bridge. I bought some 79 cent peanut butter cookies, ate a couple, and took off after Chuck and Crista on their tandem. There was too much downhill for me to stay near them, so I ended up riding by myself for a while.
We reached the longest climb of the day, MD77 through Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont. I got really hot going up the hill, and ended up stopping twice to lose some clothing. (And ate a Clif Bar while I was stopped.) I made the mistake of not putting my balaclava back on at the top, and just about froze my face off going down the other side. It gave me a headache, like the kind you get when you eat ice cream too fast. This was a recurring theme for the day: too hot going uphill, too cold going downhill. I was actually pretty proud of my descending on this brevet — I'm still a wimp and tend to brake too early and too hard if there's a sharp turn, stop sign, etc. at the bottom of the hill. But on the long screaming descent down the back side of Catoctin I pretty much went full speed.
We snuck just over the line into Pennsylvania and had a control at Earl's Market in State Line. I wasn't very hungry so I just bought some Powerade (they didn't have Gatorade — I guess Coca-Cola's market pressure is strong) and some Doritos, and finished the cookies I bought earlier, plus a Blackberry Jet Gu packet. (I figured the caffeine might help with my headache.) That was the halfway-point of the ride, so I took off back for Maryland.
Only 14 miles later, we had another control at a KOA Camp Store in Williamsport. I got some Gatorade there, and took off after Paul. Passed him, but then dropped my chain again and he passed me back, and we met at the information control at mile 95. We found a general's birthday on a plaque, wrote it on our cards, and took off for the Battleview Market just a couple more miles up the road. I still wasn't super-hungry so I just bought some macaroni salad (pretty good) and more Gatorade. I didn't like the distribution of controls on this ride — too many of them were clustered together — but sometimes that's necessary to make it impossible to shortcut the course.
After the last control we got to ride through Antietam Battlefield, which is always nice. (It's mostly flat, pretty, and not chock-full of tourists who can't drive like Gettysburg.) I rode with Paul and Maile and Alec for a while, but then I jammed my chain between my biggest cog and my rear wheel (luckily not too hard, and luckily not doing any actual damage) and got dropped by everyone while I fixed it. Then it was time for a couple more big climbs, Gapland (the easy way) and then Mar-Lu Ridge (also the easy way). Our Dart team did both of them (the hard way) last weekend, so it was nice to see the other side. I descended Gapland pretty well, but I knew there was a traffic light at the bottom of Mar-Lu and wasn't too confident in my front brake (my front wheel needs truing), so I crawled down at 20 mph and had to wait for the red light, and never saw the big group of riders that had been just ahead of me going up Mar-Lu again.
After the climbing was done, it was just some simple rollers back into Urbana. I was fine almost until the end, but I mixed up the two roundabouts on the cue sheet, couldn't find 355, went back to look for it, and ended up doing a couple of bonus miles. Also, during this extra riding a guy in a truck decided to pass me then immediately turn right. Luckily he used his signal, so I was able to panic-brake and avoid the right hook. Drivers: do not pass a bicycle then immediately turn right. If you're turning, just stay behind the bike at 15 mph for a few seconds then turn behind it, and nobody gets squished . Thanks.
I finally found Ledo's Pizza, and ate four tiny squares of pizza (total amount of pizza equal to about one real slice) and three yummy brownies. Not nearly as much food as on the Dart, but I'm down about 20 pounds so far this year and trying to drop another 20 so I can climb faster (and also probably not die of a heart attack in my 70s, etc.), and doing my best not to pig out after rides. (During rides is different — if you need the calories you need the calories. After the ride you *want* the calories but you no longer *need* them, unless you're already skinny and want to avoid losing weight, or you have another ride tomorrow and need your glycogen replenished for it.)
My finish time was just over 10 hours. If I hadn't got lost at the end I would have been just under 10 hours. If I had properly adjusted my front derailleur to avoid all the chain issues, I might have made it in 9:30. Anyway, the moral of the story is to try not to work on your bike the night before a brevet, or even two nights before a brevet. (I did ride the bike to work the day before the brevet, but my commute isn't hilly enough to really need my small ring, so I only shifted into it a couple of times, not really enough of a test.)
While 10 hours is pretty slow, this course was quite hilly, and it's still only March, and it was cold which always slows me down, so I'm okay with it. No flat tires, no dehydration or bonking, just the chain issues and the one near-right-hook marring an otherwise great day. Thanks to all the volunteers who make these brevets happen. Seriously, $5 for an all-day ride with pizza and brownies at the end? I don't think you'll find a better bargain than that anywhere.
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