MS 150

Last month, T and I rode in the MS 150 along with J, J, and B - my normal riding partners.

Saturday was hot and fairly miserable - about 95 degrees, sunny, not a great day for riding.  But I did my century!  Thankfully there are lots of volunteers who staff the rest stations, provide lots of food, water, root beer shots, ice packs, and other goodies.  I needed every one.

The century route

Fairly early in the day, maybe 20 miles in, we were riding through Amish country, and saw the most adorable thing!  We had passed a couple of horses and buggies coming the other way down the road, so were paying special attention to what was around.  We rode up behind a little flatbed trailer being pulled by a little brown pony trotting down the highway.  At the reins were two little boys, neither of them probably a day over seven, and behind each of them on the trailer was a vintage galvanized steel milk jug.  So picturesque!

101.21 miles, when all was said and done.

Unfortunately, B took a spill on Saturday and headed home Saturday night.  It turns out that she fractured a couple of ribs, so probably a good thing she didn't try to ride on Sunday.  She sure toughed it out on Saturday to finish the ride though!

The second day of the ride had a somewhat delayed start due to some early morning thunderstorms that rolled through Columbia -- and when I say "thunderstorms," I mean "torrential flooding downpours."  They held up the start of the race until about 9 a.m. unless you were one of the very first people out of the road - which T and I weren't, because some car trouble meant we had to ride our bikes the six miles from our hotel to the starting line.

So, all in all, rough going early on Sunday.  Since we started so late - and had to drive back to St. Louis that afternoon/evening, we opted for the 40-mile route over the 75.  And there was good news too: the rain really cooled things off.  Aside from having to watch out for the slick roads and water splashing up off other people's tires, it was an entirely more enjoyable day to ride because of the cooler weather.  By the end of the day, we had done about 50 miles - making it a true MS 150 for me!

Unfortunately, as I was busy riding my bike all weekend, I don't have much in the way of pictures.  Maybe I'll be more diligent about it next year!