Monday, August 30, 2004
Giving 110%
One of the dopiest and most frequently used cliches in the sports world is the phrase, "The guy gives 110%".
As the blogospher's resident mathematician, Ben could tell you, it is impossible to give more than your maximum which is, by definition, 100%.
Or so I thought until yesterday when my century bike ride turned out to be 110 miles rather than 100.
Yesterday's ride was brutal. The temperature reached 88 degrees and the humidity was oppressive. Starting at 7:30 a.m., I was able to get through the first 54 miles in 3 3/4 hours, a pretty decent pace. I stopped only once to buy some water since I had missed the first rest stop.
At that point I felt pretty strong and thought I could make it another 46 miles comfortably. Of course, perhaps I didn't consider that at 11 a.m. the temperature was climbing and the sun was in full exposure.
Still, at the 75 mile mark, I thought I could struggle on another 25 miles. When I got to the last rest stop, I had already gone 92 miles. I had very little energy left (I had not eaten enough during the ride), I was completely baked and my butt was killing me. I took comfort from the fact that there were only 8 miles left.
Then I saw the sign. It said "18 miles to the Finish". Oh boy.
I didn't know what to do. I seriously thought of dropping out and waiting for the SAG van to pick me up and take me to the finish. Instead, I spent about 10 minutes eating a banana, some watermelon and chocolate, and refilling my Camelback and water bottle and shpritzing water on my face.
Making matters worse, the final 18 miles were substantially uphill. I went out with another rider and we struggled along. I went into my second crank gear where I stayed much of the rest of the ride. There were three ridiculous climbs where I had to go into the granny gear and could barely keep going forward. On one of the climbs, I lost the chain when switching to the granny gear. I had to dismount and put the chain back on. The problem was, I was on such a steep incline, I couldn't get started again. I walked my bike up the hill a few yards till I reached a driveway. I started downhill in the driveway and got the momentum to start uphill again.
Finally, I reached the last section, a 3.7 mile rolling road. I told myself that this was less than 2/3 of a lap of Central Park and I could easily do it. With difficulty, I did. 8 hours and 18 minutes (including all the rest stops) and 110 miles altogether.
I can't describe how tired and hot I felt. I stuck my head under a sink and poured on the cold water. I ran the air conditioning in my car for ten minutes while I hooked up my bike and changed into dry clothes. I drove home hoping that my legs would not cramp up. (They didn't). I ate dinner, went to shul and went to sleep at 9:15.
Remarkably, when I woke up this morning, I felt fine. My knees are solid and nothing is sore other than my 'seat'. I will take today and perhaps tomorrow off and get back on the bike in a couple of days.
I'm very psyched because I can't imagine anything on my Israel Bike Tour being as difficult as yesterday where I gave 110%.
As the blogospher's resident mathematician, Ben could tell you, it is impossible to give more than your maximum which is, by definition, 100%.
Or so I thought until yesterday when my century bike ride turned out to be 110 miles rather than 100.
Yesterday's ride was brutal. The temperature reached 88 degrees and the humidity was oppressive. Starting at 7:30 a.m., I was able to get through the first 54 miles in 3 3/4 hours, a pretty decent pace. I stopped only once to buy some water since I had missed the first rest stop.
At that point I felt pretty strong and thought I could make it another 46 miles comfortably. Of course, perhaps I didn't consider that at 11 a.m. the temperature was climbing and the sun was in full exposure.
Still, at the 75 mile mark, I thought I could struggle on another 25 miles. When I got to the last rest stop, I had already gone 92 miles. I had very little energy left (I had not eaten enough during the ride), I was completely baked and my butt was killing me. I took comfort from the fact that there were only 8 miles left.
Then I saw the sign. It said "18 miles to the Finish". Oh boy.
I didn't know what to do. I seriously thought of dropping out and waiting for the SAG van to pick me up and take me to the finish. Instead, I spent about 10 minutes eating a banana, some watermelon and chocolate, and refilling my Camelback and water bottle and shpritzing water on my face.
Making matters worse, the final 18 miles were substantially uphill. I went out with another rider and we struggled along. I went into my second crank gear where I stayed much of the rest of the ride. There were three ridiculous climbs where I had to go into the granny gear and could barely keep going forward. On one of the climbs, I lost the chain when switching to the granny gear. I had to dismount and put the chain back on. The problem was, I was on such a steep incline, I couldn't get started again. I walked my bike up the hill a few yards till I reached a driveway. I started downhill in the driveway and got the momentum to start uphill again.
Finally, I reached the last section, a 3.7 mile rolling road. I told myself that this was less than 2/3 of a lap of Central Park and I could easily do it. With difficulty, I did. 8 hours and 18 minutes (including all the rest stops) and 110 miles altogether.
I can't describe how tired and hot I felt. I stuck my head under a sink and poured on the cold water. I ran the air conditioning in my car for ten minutes while I hooked up my bike and changed into dry clothes. I drove home hoping that my legs would not cramp up. (They didn't). I ate dinner, went to shul and went to sleep at 9:15.
Remarkably, when I woke up this morning, I felt fine. My knees are solid and nothing is sore other than my 'seat'. I will take today and perhaps tomorrow off and get back on the bike in a couple of days.
I'm very psyched because I can't imagine anything on my Israel Bike Tour being as difficult as yesterday where I gave 110%.
