The limit?

Did an English century today (beware — crappy map). I was able to execute my strategy as if I had planned it: find a group of riders doing the 100 miles, grab on to a wheel and let them pull me along. At about 20 miles the ride split: 50- and 75-mile riders left, 100-mile (it actually clocked in at +/-95) riders right. A group of five quickly caught a group of eight. The octet rode together for 10-15 miles. Just about the perfect size. Seven people could draft and the guy pulling on the front only had to go three to six minutes. Higher speed and energy conservation at the same time — a hard deal to beat. The group started to break up at the first rest stop. One guy rode on; two others stayed behind. Between the first and third rest stops (we skipped the second) a guy dropped off but we caught the guy who rode on. He kept going at the third rest stop, never to be seen again. Still, on flat or rolling terrain, the group of four stuck together thanks in large part to the generosity of the two strongest riders. At the fourth stop, rider No. 4 said he would probably drop off. I was bushed but managed to stay in contact with with the front two for about five more miles. Once we hit downtown Fuquay-Varina, though, there was no use maintaining the charade. the front two pulled away for the last time though they remained in sight for several more miles. The hardest part for the group was on downhill-uphill sections, which tend to pull groups apart and make them hard to put back together.

I crawled back to the parking lot of the Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park. I point out with some pride that I was not last and it wasn't even close. Based on my experience of Aug. 4, today and several other 80-plus-mile rides, 90 miles may be around my limit. Several of those rides have been solo efforts. I suspect that the group rides have just started too fast over the first 50 miles or so for me to have anything left at the end. Some of you may know that I have fantasies of riding across the United States. If my assessment is accurate, it will have a significant effect on how long the ride would take.

One more thing: this was the Jimmy V Ride for Research. It is the Cadillac of charity rides I've been on with four well stocked rest stops and sag support the entire way. Think what you want about Jim Valvano as a basketball coach and human being, but the foundation has raised buttloads of money for cancer research from, well, schmos like me. And as I said, they put on a hell of a ride.