2008 Music City Double Century - Jeff Bauer

2008 Music City Double Ride Report
April 19, 2008
By Jeff Bauer

Yesterday I rode our Music City Double Century. I rode it geared for a couple reasons(*): 1) I wanted to give my fixed legs a break; 2) I thought if I rode it geared I wouldn't have an excuse not to keep up with some of the faster riders. A number of people were originally signed up to break the 11h08 record, but the wind, rain and cool temps may have dissuaded them. This included John Schlitter, the uber bent racer who finished first at Heart of the South earlier this month.

I was fortunate to ride with Bryce Walsh and Paul Carpenter from Chicago, along with local Tennessean George Hiscox who refuses to ride his age (60+). Paul is somewhat famous in Chicago for commuting daily -- 30 miles each way, in all weather -- he has been out on the road in 20 below zero! Paul's been interviewed in local media, and is a regular part of the motor commuters routine. Miles count: my first impression of Paul as a stocky rider was quickly dispelled when I saw him motoring along with no apparent effort well into the second 100 miles. He's a British ex-pat, with a typical insouciance in the weather or road conditions. Paul will ride in Ride Across the West this year, the first 1000 miles of RAAM.

Bryce Walsh was a RAAM soloist in 2006, finishing a respectable 5th in the race. He's also the crew chief this year for Scott McIntosh, so I'll see both he and Paul again in June. Bryce has reserved the Chicago velodrome in August in an attempt to break the 24-hour UMCA record, currently: 532 miles. He'll have to average almost 23 mph!

With the four of us, our 202 mile ride was fairly smooth until the rain started. Then we lost the momentum to draft at a fast pace, though we still enjoyed each other's company. Lots of dogs, and Bryce even got bit once (two puncture wounds). We decided not to waste time by calling animal control, though it irritates me that some owner is allowing his dog to endanger cyclists.

We made one market stop, about 110 miles into the ride, to replenish fluids and get something quick to eat. I mostly relied on Perpetuem and Hammer Gel, with a quick pint of chocolate milk at the store. About 9 hours into the ride, one of our group started to fade. Rather than leave him behind, we ratcheted down our pace, but were still the first riders to finish. Our total time was 12h10 (ridetime: 11h42). I was happy with my effort, which shaved off about an hour from my 2006 ride. The ever-effervescent Dave Harris was waiting for us at the finish with our premium recovery drinks.

11609' climbing, 17.2 mph avg, power 174 watts avg.

Next weekend I'll ride the GA 400K fixed, and then start to moderate on distance rides. I've offered to SAG our TN 600K, since it's so close to RAAM. I obviously won't be riding the GA 600K for the same reason.

Jeff Bauer
Days to RAAM: 49

(*) Actually another reason I rode it geared is that I wanted some PowerTap numbers to look at on an extended ride.