2013 Wilson 100

The Southern Bicycle League Wilson 100 century celebrated its 40th anniversary on Sunday, September 8th in Senoia, Georgia.   The weather for the ride was perfect.  The morning started out with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-60's.  The high for the day would reach very close to 90-degrees with a few clouds.  I had ridden the Wilson the two previous years in 2011 and 2012.  Both years I started with the lead group of riders which rolled out as a mass start at 8:00am.  Unfortunately, both in 2011 and 2012 my performance was not up to snuff.  see 2012 Wilson 100 and 2011 Wilson 100.  I got dropped at mile 50 in 2011 when I had to take a needed water stop.  I hadn't prepared appropriately.  Two water bottles weren't enough.  In 2012 I lasted all the way to mile 85 when I went off road briefly and wasn't able to catch up to the pack.

To prepare for the 2013 ride Susan made me a green salad and spicy chicken breast for dinner on Saturday night.  I ate it and said "I have a big ride tomorrow, I'm supposed to eat pasta".  So, Susan made me a second supper of spaghetti.

For 2013, the Wilson 100 would follow a new century course.  It was at mile 50 in Concord, Georgia where a slight directional snafu stopped the peloton and then split the lead group in two.  Half the group went right to Molena and the other half went straight to Zebulon.  Unfortunately for me I decided to go right but only after the group had already left Concord.  I spent the next 50 miles riding solo and passing the discarded elements of that group.

During previous rides I was forced to stop for water.  The Beck team had a SAG wagon following their team.  I didn't have that luxury.  I carried 2 ice filled water bottles in my cages and 2 bottles in my jersey.  I wasn't forced to stop until the rest stop in Hollonville at mile 85 after my water was all gone. I filled one bottle with delicious lemonade from "Joyce the Rest Stop Queen" and took off again passing some of the same riders I had just gone by.

I have to say that I wasn't totally unhappy riding alone.  I had hoped that for once I'd finish with the lead group in some awesomely unattainable time for me as a solo rider but the stress of riding in such close quarters is too great for me.  I rode my 2010 Quintana Roo CD0.1 tri-bike and if there's one thing that I could say that's negative about the bike is its braking.  The rear brake seems wholly ineffective which is much of the reason why I stayed well to the back of the peloton providing plenty of room between me and the riders in front.  I brought my Giro Selector aero helmet but decided at the last minute to use my better vented regular road bike helmet instead.  It was a good decision because I saw plenty of tri-bikes but no riders in aero helmets.

My Southern Crescent Cycling brothers and sisters

Lino and Marcelo

John and Martha

Just before the mass start at 8:00am

The peloton got stopped by a cow crossing

The rest stop in Hollonville at mile 85 on the century course

The parents of Tony Seranno and Joyce the rest stop "Queen" 

Delicious Food

After my ride I felt great and decided to back track in search of some of my fellow club members.   Apparently this was one case where I rode the correct route, as marked, and everyone else got lost.   The scene in Concord was almost comical as one rider professed that he checked the Internet and the route went straight.  I had collected a map at registration but it was back in Senoia in my pants pocket.

2013 SBL Wilson 100 t-shirt artwork dedicated to Scott Wilson

I ended the day with 115 miles although the last 15 miles were just a leisurely ride in the park out and back on the course.  I could have run or done something else after the ride.  I felt great!  I think it was the pasta.

Thanks for reading.

Naked Lady Ride

Wednesday brought another long ride out of Peachtree City with the two fellow Ironman Florida 2013 entrants I rode with last week, Chad and Jared, and two new guys, John and Tommy.  Chad, John, and Tommy were wearing their Beck Janitorial team kit.  Jared had a kit that matched his bike colors.  I wore my Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project team kit.  Chad and I wore our CBSAP kit during Ironman Florida 2011.

Before the ride I applied some Chamois Butt'r.  More butt'r than I'd ever used before.  I was glad I did. Later, for a short run, I put some butt'r where my Garmin heart-rate monitor strap rubs on my "massive" chest.  I was glad I did that too.  The run was shorter for me than for Chad and Jared.  I was out of gas after the first mile and rode the golf cart with the women and children for about two miles before recovering enough for the final half mile sprint to the finish.

Back to the bike.  This would be a good time to include a disclaimer.  Here it goes.  At no time did I take the lead or pull during the seventy-six mile ride.  I was probably in the front a total of two miles and while there I was being pushed by the four beasts behind me.  I'm glad I got that out of the way.

Chad, Jared, John and I took off and headed north out of Peachtree City to meet up with Tommy.  With Tommy on board and John, for the most part, in the lead we crisscrossed through Fayette, S. Fulton, and Coweta counties.   The cities of Tyrone, Fairburn, and Chattahoochee Hills all came and went.  We stopped for a minute at Le Jardin, an abandoned high-end subdivision obviously started before the real estate bubble burst.  I took take a few pictures of the "Naked Lady" statute located behind the swanky iron gates and stone walls of the entrance.

(l-r) John, Jared, Tommy and Chad like the Naked Lady

I like her too

I came prepared for the ride with three water bottles, a Clif bar, GU Shot Bloks, and a banana.  After our stop at the statue I ran into an orange barrel barrier bending my rear derailleur hanger, lost my Camelbac water bottle on a gravel road, and lost my backup bottle of water.  Fortunately, we stopped to refuel at a gas station twenty or so miles before the end of the ride.  And fortunately for me, I didn't go down on the asphalt when I hit the barrel.  I recovered from the impact but had to stop briefly to clean my drawers (if you know what I mean).  My bike was rideable albeit noisy as the rear derailleur chattered as I pedaled.  One might ask how does one ride into a four foot tall, two foot wide orange and black barrel.  However, the more appropriate question would be how does one avoid one when it's obviously bent of destruction.  The answer to that my friends I don't know.

My rear derailleur

Chad's wife and kids followed us on the run and gave me a ride when I needed it which was soon after we started.

(l-r) Audra, Tamara, and Carter

Thanks for reading.