Tri-State Trek 270 miles of pain for very good reason.

The drive to Boston.

We hit some maddening traffic coming in.
Hartford, they don't just pave the road, they close the road down to one lane then hold all the cars back till the pavement cools.

The moon was taken from one of those unreal realistic paintings where the lines of gold and white cross in front of it as if it were painted by horizontal brushstrokes.

Meanwhile, the kids bickered in the car. And why do I want to drive them to Florida? At this point, I really don't even want to be in Florida with them or anyplace else if you know what I mean.

Day 1 completed. Woo hoo!!!!

Rough start. 3 1/4 hrs sleep.
Protein shake for bfast. Confusion at check-in, Got out of the gate DEAD FREAKIN' LAST!! Seriously. They were packing up the port-a-pottys. Missed first turn by 2 miles. Back tracked. And caught a couple dozen people.

With the lack of sleep, F-ed up start and only running on a 3-carb protein shake, I bonked(again) from 20-40 miles. And it was HOT out!!! Really hot.

Oh yea, my month old Garmin. Lost it. So I can't really prove that I rode 100 miles today.(but then I can also lie about how well I did) That sucks. (My family found it in the car and delivered it tonight on their way home from day in Boston-Yea!!!) Miles of real crappy roads in Mass. Jersey, you don't have much to complain about. Sweet rollers through Connecticut. More Ct. tomorrow. Then UGH the Berkshires! I've been hearing such miserable things about the last day of the ride that it would scare me to death except that I've resolved to just get in there and do my best. Tomorrow, they say, is the best and easiest day of the tour.

One of my MTB pals suggested that pickle juice is good and that I should drink it. Well, the half sour deli dills tasted fantastic, but they refused to stay down. They churned in my stomach and made me feel quite ill for nearly 20 miles until I hit the next rest stop. Finally and greatfully, they made a fast exit at the base of a tree at the next rest stop.

Ya know, on long hard rides, I've found I can only eat tuna salad with no bread, no fruit xcept melon and my homemade goo, but the pickles sounded so good!

It was so hot it zapped all my energy for most of the day until lunch. Then, I poured ice water down my back and over my shoulders and chest. It hurt SO good. Got my power back and was ready to rip up the course, but the guy that stuck with me through my bonk(a self-appointed guardian) bonked big time and I just couldn't leave him to die on the side of the road. I was hoping he'd give it up at the rest stop, but he kept pushing and finished as I pulled him for 50 some miles.

Definitely not my best time on a century, not my worst either, but since I didn't spend it all today. I'll put that Garmin to use tomorrow.

Day 2 Nothing easy about it.

Yes there were a bunch of nice downhill runs early on, and I forgot to set the Garmin until I was about ten miles into the course. Rest stop 1. I needed more water and Dear God!, I don't care what else they are a bit disorganized about because they had special water bottles Filled with butt balm at every rest stop. AMEN!!! It was their most requested item :-)

When I had the chance to go online, I had looked at my road bike club's posts for the day and saw that rides were being cancelled in anticipation of extreme heat. HA!!! whimps(underbreath) I'm off to a 100 mile day and the trip to the coffeeshop is just too uncomfortable for these guys? Let me tell you about uncomfortable....

Rest stop two. I've gone the last ten miles in excruciating pain as my middle and second toes feel like they are being crushed in vise grips while they are curled under and cramping. It sends a shock through my toe around the metatarsal joint and halfway up my calf. It's so bad I can't enjoy the downhills at all. The only reason I climb is so I can blast down. People that ride with me know this well. In fact, my LBS owner who I ride with on our Saturday shop rides calls me "Downhill Demon" :-) So with these screaming feet, I hobble into the stop in agony, explain to the medic what is happening and tell her I need to support my metatarsal arch to alleviate the pressure. She looks at me and says "We don't do that kind of stuff. You need to take some advil and stop riding for the day." WTF? I signed up for 270 miles of pain and she thinks I'm quitting at mile 140 over less than a broken leg? Ha!! So I crammed a wad of gauze under the sockliner of each shoe to alleviate the pressure. It helped a while and I got off the bike and massaged the foot a couple times when it got really bad.

Wow some wicked big hills in the middle of the day. I crest one to a group of cheering supporters and ask for water, It's supposed to be around 97 degrees and I'm out of water. She fill my water bottle and offers Gatorade too. At first, I hesitate, then think "What the hell! If I can't afford a few drops of sugar after all this riding!!!

Next stop, lunch. Stick with what works... tuna salad and cantaloupe a couple chips for the salt. Back on the road. I start feeling a tad sick. It's 98 degrees. We're on pavement. I'm sweating buckets. I'm running a tad faster than a toad and it feels like I swallowed one. Then, Bwaap!! I lost it over my shoulder at 16 mph. Cool! Wow, that helped a bunch. Gatorade... Why did I drink the Gatorade? That happened a few more times, almost every 5 miles for 20+ miles. A few more stops for the feet. A lovely cruise along the bay, then WHAM!! we land in downtown New Haven. At first it seems great, then out of the blue an old beatup Jeep with a 30 something chick inside tries to take me out and run me into the curb. Congrats New Haven, 200 miles of competent drivers and the first total maniacal idiot I meet is in your city. Aren't you proud?

for the geeks: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/6308751