Ride Report: 2013 Tour de Cure Michigan

It only took me a week to find the upside of riding for 12.5 hours, on a soggy trail, in the rain, uphill on the Great Allegheny Passage. Doing so makes riding 100 miles on perfectly lovely paved roads, in perfectly dry and reasonably cool weather, seem downright easy. That was my day on Saturday 6/15 at the Brighton, MI Tour de Cure Ride.

I rolled out with a lead group of about 20 and we would mostly stay together through most of the first 50 miles, with a little leapfrogging due to folks choosing to stop, or not, at the various rest stops. The TdC folks do a great job supporting this ride, and there are stops every 15 miles or so. I hit stops 2, 4, 6, and 7, and cruised through the others on the route which loops through parts of two MI state recreation areas: Pinckney & Waterloo.

The stats: I finished the ride in 5 hours, 40 minutes including all the stops. Rolling time was about 5:20 or so. I rode with my HRM and generally tried to go no higher than my zone 3 threshold of about 167 BPM until the last 21 miles when I gave myself permission to go as hard as I wanted to on the climbs back up from Hell to Brighton. I've done this course enough to know that this is the time when all the weekend warriors not used to going long would be loaded up with lactate and struggling home. I had been there in years past, because it is so easy to overcook the first 40 since it is mostly downhill.

All day, I rode well within myself in a Leipheimer-like effort. Then, after the last fuel & water stop at mile 79 in Hell's Handbasket where I got a fellow rider to snap a quick photo, I took off up the climb like a bat out of Hell.

I passed most of the folks I'd been riding with all day and soloed home for the most part. I offered my wheel a few times but everybody was waving me on. I felt like my energy-saving plan worked well. I had done a 5:20 century and enjoyed every turn of the pedals. Even what I like to call the "tough 20" between miles 60-80 that tends to be the most mentally taxing part of a 100 mile exploit seemed to fly by. I wasn't racing, and I could have likely gone a little faster (I'm sure I could do a sub-5 century alone now and, if I had a group to work with in an organized way, could likely do a lot better than that). But it was a great day on the bike all in all. And I was back in Brighton by lunchtime.

Most importantly, though, this ride is all about raising funds for the American Diabetes Association. I beat the drum on social media, and my wonderful, generous, and dedicated friends, family, and colleagues respond every year! This year, we once again produced a top-ten effort in terms of individual fundraising campaigns for the Michigan TdC. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I continue to be inspired and energized by all of your support. Thanks to you all! We'll see you next year for this event, for sure.

And...stay tuned, because the June of Centuries continues with one more amazing ride coming up: the Allegrina 100!