I joined 12 other riders and took off from Italy at 7:30 this morning and rode the Jailhouse 216k route. It reached 82 degrees this afternoon, a very warm December day, but I hesitate to call it a beautiful day, because the wind gusts of over 30 mph made it a brutal ride.

This route heads southwest out of Italy (directly into today’s wind), and goes to Valley Mills, then takes the same route back. I fell off the back of the faster group fairly quickly and ended up joining Daniel Schaaf for most of the ride out to Valley Mills. It took us five and a half hours to reach the half way point. I had a 13.0 mph average at that point. That gives a good idea just how tough the wind was.

I rode with Vickie Tyer much of the ride back to the next control at mile 102. I started fading at around mile 90 and watched Vickie disappear into the distance ahead of me. This was the first time I’ve ridden with Vickie since she got her recumbent. Riding that stretch with her, I realized something I hadn’t noticed before. She doesn’t hammer the hills, but doesn’t let up on the downhills either. She rides with a more consistent effort than anyone else I’ve ever ridden with. That probably goes a long way in explaining how she does so well on really long rides.

By the time I reached the control at mile 102, I was completely wiped out. I think the big effort against the wind had caught up with me. So much of this route is now boulder seal road that my toes were killing me, and I spent too much time thinking about that and stopped drinking my maltodextrin drink. As I sat at that control, I honestly didn’t think I could finish the ride, but after ingesting sugar, maltodextrin, and salt, followed by some slower riding, I started feeling better before the end of the ride. I followed Stephen, Sharon, Steve, and Debbie, who were on two tandems, the rest of the way in.

My shoulder felt better on this ride, but I’ve done too few long distance rides this year, and fading at the end of this one was another reminder of that. But I needed the miles to have any chance of making my mileage goal this year, and managed to finish the ride, so I’m calling it a good day. As always, I enjoyed the company along the way. I ended up with 135 miles even.

The Jailhouse 216k route.