Right Side Tour

So tons has been going on but it seems appropriate to dedicate a post to the ride I did over the weekend, The Right Side "New Road" Tour.  Every now and then I take a lot of pleasure in doing some of the local bike tours such as Sunday in June, Sweet Corn Ride, Stomp and now this one.  There really are not too many tours locally so it is nice to have this newer option.  The ride was in its third year now.  People had the option to register for 10, 25, 50 OR 100 miles and could just pay the registration fee or pay the registration fee and also set up a donation page for a cause of your choice including-

“Dougs Wild Riders”, Parkinson’s

“Bright Side of the Road”, ALS

“Susan G. Komen”, Breast Cancer

“Flashes of Hope", Childhood cancer

Now a couple years ago, I had the opportunity to help co-direct Cleveland Touring Club's Sunday in June Ride.  Let me tell you that I walked away from that with a new found respect for event and race organizers.  It really is such a huge undertaking and requires so much time & planning and there are forever tons of little details to think about. So when just a few people working together pull it off, I think it is good to give credit where credit is due and these folks deserve a nice round of applause!

When I looked at my schedule for the week I had a 90/3 brick on tap and I knew that this tour was going on so it seemed like a perfect way to get in the mileage.  I had spoke with one of my riding friends early on in the week and he had agreed to head there early and head out for the 100 with me!  Company makes everything better!  That and the fact that certain people make good riding partners in terms of comparable ability and riding style so I thought that I would be in good shape.

The day before I had met my friend, CV and the SW group for a 62 mile bike ride out to Spencer.  That day was my first day with the new seat, the Terry Damselfly that I had ordered from Trakkers sponsor, All3Sports.  My old seat, the Terry Butterfly, was just plain totally wore out and not go into the gory details but suffice it to say, I have been quite miserable in  the girly area.  I really used to like this seat so I decided to stick with the brand but go with a more stretched out version thinking it was more conducive to riding aero.  Jury is still out.  After Saturday's ride, my seat bones felt very bruised (it is Tuesday now and they still hurt).  

So Sunday morning just after 6:40, BL and I headed out to start the 100 mile bike tour from the Polo Fields and the minute I sit down on the seat, I sigh and know this is going to be a long day as it hurts from the get go!  HTFU!  

It was cool early, while it was still humid and we pedaled up Chagrin River Road.  There was a bunch of climbing early on over by Holden Arboretum as we weaved our way towards Chardon area and into Burton.  We climbed the hill into Burton and hit the aid station at about mile 35 to see NT working the aid station with his cutie pie, Diamond (his golden).  We were not feeling too rushed and were the first riders to come through.  I had not ate breakfast so I had half a cookie, a mini nutritition bar and an awesome apple.  I hit the bathroom and we headed out north of Burton for another 20 mile loop (out Burton Windsor to Clay to 608 to Chardon Windsor to Claridon Troy) and then back up the hills again into Burton.  This time we were not alone at the aid station.  Lots of the 50 milers were there and it was nice to see some familiar faces!  Many thanks to Nick and Jacob for your efforts in volunteering and all you did to make this event great!

I was feeling pretty good, just a sore lower back and sore butt as we headed out on the final stretch.  The roads were all marked well and these roads are all very nice and ones I have rode many times before (which makes it nice as I knew where I was going and what to expect for the most part!).  We were riding at a moderate pace for the most part that day and we had a nice tail wind for most of the second half which was nice.  The day was a nice mix of us both taking some pulls (while truth be told I think he pulled more than me!) and just riding next to each other to chat some.  As we headed back the final stretch there were a couple good climbs (which I usually ride the opposite direction on Music Road on the Tuesday night Tavern Ride) and I actually barely minded them as any chance to be out of my saddle, which was fine by me!  

We were getting near the finish as we rode down 87 and we saw that the course was supposed to take us up Caves to Dines to County Line and back to 87.  We decided to skip that part and just continue on down 87 which probably cut off 3-4 miles but I was sort of indifferent on it as my bruised bones ached and I just wanted to get in my 90/3 and the rest was just bonus anyways.

We pulled into the parking lot with 93 miles and changed into our running shoes and headed out onto the bridal path.  It was now very hot and I was happy when we were in shady areas.  We were averaging just under 8 min mile pace passing walkers and horses.  As a side note, we had 2 pairs of horse back riders on the way out coming at us.  On the way back when coming up from behind, we were thanked as we had warned coming up on your left as we eased off a bit as not to startle the horses.  The horseback rider was very appreciative and said we were first people all day to do that.  Just always a good thing to do and hard to believe everyone does not think to do it.

Upon our return, I was now pouring with sweat but feeling good about getting in another big weekend and feeling pretty good!  Now it was time for the good part, food & drink!  Brio was a sponsor and they had brought in this friggin awesome tasting pasta and there was hotdogs and more!  I think my food was gone in like 2 seconds as I chugged water.  The guy who was singing and playing guitar was super awesome and it was just such a nice atmosphere!  I really enjoyed the day and would highly recommend this ride to other people.  They also had a lot of people that had came out for the yoga session that they had put on out there too!  Mad props to Carina and Jill, the boys at MRC and everyone else involved and thanks for the great day!