I thought I would share with you a typical day.
We generally get up 45 minutes before you load your luggage on the Sag Van. This means we are generally getting up between 4:45 and 5:15. The actual time depends on the length of the ride for the day. If it is 90-120 miles we are trying to get on the road by 6am. This will prove harder as we enter EST - so this will make the end of the day harder.
Once we load our luggage we try to get a quick breakfast in. This is pretty easy to do at the hotels we stay at - as the selection is pretty limited. There are eggs and cereal and waffles you make yourself. Sometimes there is yogurt and very infrequently fruit. I focus on eggs and yogurt. Try to limit my coffee to none or at most one cup (don't want to make the other riders wait trying to find a toilet once we start the ride).
The rides average 79 miles but it seems most are in the 90-100 mile range. My odometer only records time when my front wheel is moving. So if it takes me 7 hours to ride - it means I am probably on my bike for 8-9 hours (when you factor in sag stops, getting lost, stopping for water etc). I try not to eat too much at the Sag stops and generally do not stop for lunch - for fear that once I stop; I won't get going again.
The days with the heat and the headwinds are killers. My roommate and I do the best to form a two person paceline and rotate every two miles to the front to block the wind (with the backrider getting a rest). But most times the wind is hitting you sideways so you can't take full advantage of the paceline. Not to mention pacelines are boring - as you have to focus 100% on the rear wheel of the person in front - so you do not ride up and hit the other rider.
The reason one starts on the West Coast is that the theory is that the prevailing winds will be at your back. Has not been the case this year - only a couple of days has the wind been at our backs. Mostly in our face.
The first couple of weeks there were lots of photo opps. But once we hit the "cornfield states", there has not been a lot of interesting things to shoot.
In any case, this means we are arriving at the hotel around 3pm. Seems like lots of time. But when you have to get your laundry done and clean your bike for the next day - the time flies by. Add and hour for laundry every 4th day and an hour every other day for cleaning your bike. Add 20 minutes to lay out your clothes for the following day.
Cleaning your bike is mandatory. You pick up a lot of dirt and sand onto your chain, cassette and derailleurs. If you don't remove this stuff - it acts like sandpaper and destroys your bike components. As I mentioned in a previous posting I have already replaced a chain - just wore out.
Most of the hotels are Best Westerns, Quality Inns or Holiday Inns. Most have been good; but a lot of have either no washer/driers, only one of each or the machines are broken. When you have 40 riders with really dirty, smelling clothes - this is a problem. When there is a laundry that is working - there is a mad dash to get there first. After that we post a sign up sheet. With the washer only taken 30 minutes and the drier taking an hour. The backup for the one drier is pretty long.
The other day one of the riders went to a laundry mat and put his clothes in the washer. Went out to get something and came back - only to find his bike clothes were stolen. Took 3 of his shirts and 2 of his riding shorts. He has been scrambling since to buy new stuff as he was left with only one shirt and shorts.
At around 5pm we have a Rap meeting where the next day's ride is discussed. Directions are handed out and some of the trickier directions are explained. Today for example we had a left followed by a quick right (which of course I missed. this took me a mile to figure the mistake out and head back to the route).
Dinner starts at either 5 or 6 pm. ABB (America by Bike) is now being called ABB (America by Buffet). Never knew there were so many "all you can eat" buffets. The good ones have plenty of salad and healthy alternatives. The crappy ones (and there are a lot of these) are just horrible. ABB has had it share of crappy ones. Sometimes the dinners are exceptional - but sadly not enough good ones to make up for the bad ones.
In any case, you finish dinner at about 7 or 8 pm.
After dinner, you head off the bed as you are exhausted and know that 4:45 am will come quickly. I have not watched TV (we did watch a chick flick on a day off - put me and my roommate to sleep before the movie ended). On occasion I will grab a beer - but not if the next day is a century ride (100 miles). I need every bit of energy to get through these days.
There have not been any scales to weigh ourselves - but it looks like everybody has dropped 10-20 lbs. Not sure where I fall on the weight loss factor, but suffice to say, I only have one more hole left on my belt buckle. Having burned 86,000 calories - I have to have lost something.
But this is what we signed up for - hard daily rides required to get across the US in 50 days.
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