Today was day one of the 2011 Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG). The route is from Atlanta to Savannah and will cover about 350 miles. I have wanted to ride BRAG for years and decided last fall this would be the year. In addition, we are using this event as a fundraiser for MICHAEL’S ULtIMATE MISSION (MUM), the foundation we created to honor Michael’s passion for mission trips. The support for this endeavor has been much more than we expected with hundreds of people donating to the cause and another thirteen riding BRAG as part of Team MUM. So I bought a bike, fancy shoes, funky riding shorts, etc. and have put in some miles since September. However, none of the riding prepared me for the 57 miles we rode today.
Woke up this morning excited. The event was finally here and it was time to get going. The excitement lasted about 27 miles. We started this morning at 6:30 a few miles north of downtown Buckhead at Oglethorpe University. The route took us straight down Peachtree. And don’t ask me if was Street, Road, Parkway, Trail or whatever, I have no idea and it is very confusing to those that don’t live in Atlanta. At 14th Street in Midtown, our friends Michael and Sandy Nyenhuis were there to wave and take a picture of us at 7 am. It was great to see them though I did catch a little flack for having a cheering section. We also passed a block from The Varsity but I figured a chili cheese dog and onion rings wasn’t a good idea so I’m thankful it wasn’t open as the temptation may have been too great.
We made our way through downtown Atlanta before turning east and passing under Interstate 75 a little north of Turner Field. It’s safe to say I had never been there before and frankly picked up the pace somewhat. The first rest stop, Decatur High School, was at the 16.5-mile mark, still excited, feeling good. Took off on East Ponce de Leon for a while then parallel to East Ponce and then back on East Ponce to the next rest stop at Stone Mountain Elementary School. This segment was a tad over 10 miles and had me thinking “this isn’t so bad” but now I realize why the organizers had a stop before we entered Stone Mountain Park.
We were only in the park for 2 miles but that was the beginning of the pain. On top of that, I missed the world-famous Stone Mountain carving, as I was mesmerized with the hill that would not end in front of me. After exiting the park there was a slight decline but that was short lived. The next 13 miles were rolling hill after rolling hill. I think there were about 15 climbs of various lengths and grades but I KNOW there was one that was about a ¾ of a mile climb of 250-300 feet. Three miles later, we rolled into the next rest stop at a convenience store. At this point I was feeling gassed. And not very excited. One of our Team MUM riders, Bob Fuller, tried to get me to drink a chocolate milk but I figured the last 14 miles would be a piece of cake compared to the last 14 miles. I was wrong.
I don’t know how many climbs there were on the last segment. They were not quite as steep but they were longer. At first I would anticipate a nice decline around each curve, but after about eight curves where all you saw was another hill, I soon decided that the law of physics that says what goes up must come down doesn’t apply to the hills between Stone Mountain and Oxford. I pedaled unto the Emory campus at Oxford at a few minutes one side or another of 11:30 and Lisa was there to take a picture as I rolled by. I’m sure my face was more a picture of relief that I had finished as opposed to a face of excitement that Michael and Sandy snapped 4 ½ hours earlier.
So the good news: I finished, my rear-end doesn’t hurt (thanks to my new saddle, cyclist lingo for a seat), I didn’t wreck and I’m now fed and showered so felling pretty good. The bad news: the ride tomorrow is longer.