It was a cold and snowy Saturday on February 21st.
We headed out to Middlefield to ride in the Road Apply Roubaix. All of us
planned on doing the 40 miler, but as the old saying goes…Man plans and God
laughs. The roads were sketchy to say the least. Chris was on his sscx, and
Randy on his gravel bike; while I was on my sscx with studded tires. I tired to
get video to capture the intensity of the ride, but the video did not come out
the way I had hoped.
With limited traction, even with studded tires, the day did
not go as planned. It was a fight to get up some of the smaller hills. Stand
and pedal, loose traction. So sit and spin was the technique for the day…in
more ways than one. Just to muscle through is what we did.
Chris left Randy and I early. He knew that if he wanted to
finish the 40 he’d have to take off and go. So he did. For me the worst time
was out on Route 87 and the down hill. With the road conditions, and drivers;
it made for a very sketchy time. My choices were to either brake the whole way
with hopes of not hitting something stupid or braking too hard and falling into
a ditch or worst…traffic; or just let it ride. So…I feathered the rear brake
and just let it go. I can honestly say I have never been so freaked out on a
bike. I made it on a wing and a prayer.
Randy and I assessed our situation and agreed to at least get off of 87 and go
from there.
Once we got on more of the back roads, we were doing ok; but
we weren’t getting any kind of speed. It would have taken us all day to do 40
miles, and it just wasn’t worth it. So we peeled off at the 12 mile mark and
opted for hot coco, beer and pizza as the better option.
A few hours later Chris came rolling in. He was one of only
five that completed the whole 40 miler…on a SINGLESPEED!!! He said it was one
of the most brutal rides that he has ever done.
All things considering…it was a great ride, and we’re going
to be back in the spring to ride the course without all the snow. ;) Thanks to
everyone that made it happen. Next year…I’ll bring my fat bike…
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