2011 MS 150 Pedal to the Point Recap (Day 2)

Day 2 of Pedal to the point is like taking part of a different ride.  The route is basically the same, but it is a completely different vibe.  More of a survival of the fittest as you are either exhausted or hungover.  Many are probably both.  Last year I was hungover and recovering from food poisoning.  Thankfully, I awoke Sunday morning feeling fairly fresh and surprisingly not hungover.  If you missed my day one's recap.  Here's a one one sentence cliff note.  I got zero sleep the day before, road 75 miles in 3:25, road another 5 to the hotel, drank summer shandy at bw3, drank wine at pool, drank beer at the after party, did waaaay to many shots of Jager at after party, and went to bed clutching a taco bell burrito.

You can see why I was a little surprised to be feeling so well Sunday morning.  My biggest concern of the day was weather.  The forecast was not good and scattered showers would be in the area through out the day.  Thankfully, it was not raining when I made my way back to the start.

The event holds a large pancake breakfast and they pay a guy to come in who throws them at you.  You just call out how many you want and the pancakes come flying your way and its up to you to catch them on your plate.  We were running late (no surprises here) and the line was not very long.

We made our way to the start and the plan was not to ride hard.  I was going to work for some friends who road the 100 the day before.  Sunday is all about helping each other out as you will see much more pacing on the way home.  You will easily see lines of 10 to 20 riders on the 2nd day.  It was cloudy and I checked the radar before leaving.  I could see a line of showers in the distance.  After the first few minutes, a group of 10 riders formed and I took pointed and whipped up the pace to around 20.  Attempting to keep us ahead of the storm.  Luckily, one other rider was feeling well enough to do some work and I would take quick spells at the back.  I wasn't resting, but being more of a cheer leader.   I was doing my best Jen Voigt impersonation.  Trying to keep the pace and mood up to keep us ahead of the storm.  We did a great job until just before the half way lunch and got smacked with our first rain storm.

The next part of the ride was fairly dry as rumors started to swirl about the weather at the finish.  As I approached Middleburg.  I could see the dark clouds in the distance and it began to rain.  The more I road, the harder it rained.  At this point, I had dropped my friends and kept pushing wanting for this to be over.  It continued to rain and its intensity increased with each mile.  In town, the road was flooding and I moved to the middle of the road in an attempt to find the shallow part of the water.  This is when I learned that Zipps cut through water just as easily as wind.  I made it back in just under four hours and was surprised to see the cameraman there taking photos in the rain.  I think this photo perfectly captures what it was like riding into town.

Overall this was a great weekend trip and for a good cause too as it raises a lot of money for MS research.  A special thank you goes to my parents, Johna, Melanie, Sean, Pantz, Chris, Christina, and Andy.  Your support was greatly appreciated.

BEAL