2011 MS 150 Pedal to the Point Recap (Day 1)

This past weekend I participated in my 3rd MS Pedal to the Point.  It is Ohio's largest ride with over 2,800 riders and is a favorite amongst local cyclists.  The ride begins in Middelburg Heights and ends in Sandusky Ohio.  You have an option of riding one day and busing back or spending the evening in Sandusky, riding back the next day.  The total trip is a little over 150 miles and there is an additional 25 mile option for the century enthusiasts.  This ride is a charity event for Multiple Sclerosis.

Each year it feels like you are going non-stop till you get back home on Sunday.  My weekend began with packet pickup in Middleburg Heights.  Then I was off to home to get in a recovery ride and finish packing. Then it was time to carb load with friends.  This is where things began to go a little awry.  I was feeling pretty tired and went to bed around 9:30.  This began a toss and turn session that lasted for hours.  I could not sleep.  I was growing increasingly frustrated, which only made things worse.  Around 1, I decide to get up and watch tv.  Thinking I would fall asleep, but I ended up watching tv till four and decided to just go get some coffee.  So, I was about to ride 75-100 miles with zero sleep.  Not good.  I made my way to the start for a meet up at 6:30.  This was the first I ran into feeling tweeps Matt and Heather Oravec.  His recap is here Matt  My friends I had planned on riding with had promised they would be on time.  Well, they were late and had now expected to be their 15 minutes after the start.  Well, after waiting an hour.  I decided to call them again.  Yep, they started with out me and were 6 miles on the route already.  So, I was miffed already about having to start last and now I was going to be riding alone.  So, I said F-it and decided to hammer.  I left the start roughly 55 minutes after the start and took about 5 minutes to warm up before taking off.  I was doing really well, hanging in the range of 20-25 mph and flying by the riders on the route.  I was in serious pac man mode as I gobbled up one after another.  I made it to the lunch stop in 1:36 minutes.

I wasn't at lunch long as I grabbed a sandwhich and refilled the bottles before heading back out.  The hammerfest continued as I began to tire a bit.  Unfortunately, I could not find anyone to work with.  So, I kept soloing on.  The rest of the route got a little harder as I began to cramp slightly and picked up a strong headwind.  I just tried to keep going as hard as I could as I was on pace for a great ride and didn't want it to slip away.  Thankfully, I made it to the outskirts of Sandusky and picked up a tailwind that carried me into town with a completed time of 75 miles in 3 hours 25 minutes.  As you can see in the photo.  I lost a bit of salt.

What's the best part of this ride?  Well, besides the flat route....its the festivities afterwards.  I had made it up so quickly that lunch wasn't ready yet.  Lol.  So I grabbed my back pack and road another 5 miles to my hotel.  It was pretty funny as a little kid at the finish line asked his dad what I was doing.  The dad said.  I guess he hasn't ridden enough yet today.  Lol.  Fortunately, I sweet talked the hotel lady into letting me check in early.  Honestly, it was probably because they didn't want me to stink up the lobby.

Now, was the time to celebrate as I took a quick shower and began a hunt for a Summer Shandy.  If you are spending the evening.  You have the option of watching a movies, going to cedar point, a water park,  listening to a band, or going to a bar.  Guess what I chose?  Lol.  I spent my afternoon relaxing at the bar, taking a nap, and having wine with friends by the pool.  My favorite part of the weekend is spending time with fellow cyclists and meeting new people. While at the pool we met a rider who was doing his 23rd Pedal to the Point!  We then headed to Big O's for the post ride party.  When we got back to the high school, we got to see the last rider finish.  I was cool to cheer them in.  Not to brag, but I had started about an hour late, road to route, biked to the hotel, had lunch, drank at a bar, took a nap, drank by the pool, and took a ride back to the finish before the last rider finished.  Wow, that's speed.

Pool wine

Tasty treat!

I have fans everywhere!

ugh!!

Big O's was a blast and I had a great time visiting with friends over beers and wings.  It was also great to have a beer with Team Oravec...Matt and Heather.  I also got to catch the Browns game and ended being their way later than anticipated.  By the way....WHATEVER I SAY NEXT YEAR.  DO NOT LET ME DO SHOTS OF JAGIR                                                 AND EAT TACO BELL BEFORE BED!!!

My cab ride home. 

Stay tuned for all of day 2's action!