Almazno 100 & Royal 162.

The Almanzo weekend has come and gone. Unlike most weekends however, I think this one may be etched into the memories a bit more strongly for those that participated in the Almanzo or Royal. Unfortunately the weather forecast was correct and we battled cold temps, wind, and rain for the entirety of the race.

Friday the Anderson's, Brian, and I rolled out of the STC around 3:30...Rochester bound. Once there we found the bar/restaurant that was the sign in spot. The number of cars in the parking lot with bikes on top was pretty impressive. The number of people inside was overwhelming. We pretty much got in and out as fast as we could.
Dinner was the next goal. In order to appease Mr. Anderson's high class palate we skipped the traditional Subway for some Indian cuisine. While very tasty I was nervous about the next mornings affairs. Turns out there were no issues! Kyia however battled heart burn from 3 am on, yuck.

Saturday morning I was up and at 'em around 5 am, getting ready for the Royal 7 am start. Mr. Anderson and Brian were doing the Almanzo with a 9 am start. In efforts to let them sleep a bit more I ate, changed, and did the things one normally does in the bathroom. However, my efforts were thwarted and everyone was up and about by 6.
Looking outside the weather sucked. Overcast, breezy, wet, and rain...damn. I was still optimistic about the day and pretty excited to get rolling.
There were just under 100 riders signed up for the Royal 162. Not sure how many toed the line but it was less than that.
In typical gravel riding there was little fan fair, just a brief announcement and we were off. Less than a mile away we were on gravel. Instantly the hope for good, clean gravel was shot. It was going to be a MUDDY day.

This photo was taken by Kyia, about 20 miles into the the Almanzo 1oo.

It pretty much sums up the day!

The pace was solid but not nose bleed stuff. There was some shuffling of position, etc. but really the first 5-10 miles were pretty casual. The pace amped up a bit and some hills and wind started to split the field. Not sure where I let the lead group go, but they seemed to pull away from me pretty quickly. Joe Meiser, the eventual winner, had stopped to shed some morning weight came whizzing by me. I think he told me to get on his wheel. I attempted for about 5 feet and knew I could not match his strength. He was gone. Not wanting to duplicate my results in TransIowa I told myself I would ride my own race, blah, blah, blah.

My back was fine till about mile 10, then the pain started. I stopped around mile 40 for some pills. Not sure if it was the pills or pain else where but around mile 80 the pain was average. The rain, cold temps, and wind were starting to take their toll on me and many other riders. Initially the core temp was fine but the hands were reduced to clubs. Shifting gears, eating, and changing the cue cards were all very difficult. Later on the core temp started to drop and thoughts of calling Kyia for a ride came into my head. A huge thanks goes out to Charlie Farrow. His always jovial nature, good attitude, encouragement, and strength pushed me to continue on. If not for the presence of Charlie I do not think I would continued on.

Another thank you goes to the impromptu aid station in the middle of nowhere for the Royal 162 riders. They has Coke, beer, warm wine, and warm pizza. Pizza has never tasted so good or hit the spot so well. We stopped maybe a minute as stopping almost guaranteed shivering and possible hypothermia. Yep, people were dropping in both races with critical conditions.

Eventually we got back onto the Almanzo course and started to pick off riders at the back end of that race. It was nice to see other riders out in these conditions. I'm not the only crazy one! As the miles ticked down I knew I would finish. I kind of just got into my own little world and rode. I really wanted to put my iPod in but knew the effort would be too great considering the status of my hands. Even getting a gel into my mouth took a lot of effort and time.

Flipping to the last cue card I got the best surprise of the day...only a 155 miles, not 162. While 7 miles may not seem like much, it seemed like a ton to me at this point. I was stoked!

Crossing the finish line was anti climatic. There were still some people out cheering but it was now 7 pm. Chris Skogen, race director, was there to shake my hand at the finish.

The Anderson's and Brian were also there. Thanks for waiting guys! Last year I rode the Almanzo with and average of something like 18.5 mph. This year I averaged 13.2 mph. So it was 7000+ feet of climbing, 155 miles, and ended up 6th. I was pretty happy with that but more excited I was able to finish.

Brian getting ready to clean up with some Fresh Start.

Jim after getting second place behind the tandem power of the Eppen's.

So yeah, long post. I'm sure I left out some details I had wanted to insert etc. But I think you get the gist of the weekend.

So next is the Dirty Benjamin in June. It seems like that should be a long time off yet but really it's about a month away!

I do still need to really clean my bike but who knows when I'll tackle that.

Photos robbed from Kyia.

Later.