MS-150 Bike to the Bay

I have now completed my sixth MS150 Bike to the Bay.  This ride is really fun, and keeps me motivated for the new year.  The logistics were a bit complicated this year, but it was still a lot of fun.
We picked up our registration packets on Thursday evening at the Saturn dealer in Newark,DE.  Not sure where they are gong to move to next year, since Saturn won't be around, but I'm sure someone will pick up the sponsorship.  After picking up the registration packets, we had to run down to the bike shop to pick up my buddies bike.  She had been having gear problems and dropped it off a couple days earlier.  When we got there, the store was closed.  Ooops.  Luckily it was Thursday, not Friday.  On Friday, I took off of work a couple hours ealry to grab her bike and check into buying some booties.  Got the bike, but decided to forego the booties since they were $40 and I didn't feel like spending that kind of money.  The weather forecast for Saturday was scattered thunderstorms all day, temp between 65-72.  I figured we were going to get real wet.   We dropped off our overnight gear at Susan's brothers house, since his wife who has MS, and we ride for, was driving down to Rehoboth to meet us.at the the finish line.  Had a good mac n' cheese dinner on Friday night.  Checked my riding gear, bike rack, and went to bed early.
Got up early on Saturday morning (4:15am), grabbed my oatmud breakfast, loaded the bikes to the back of the car, and got on the road at 5;15am.  I stopped by to pick up Susan at 5:30a, and she was raring to go (she was on her second cup of coffee).  We drove down to Dover, DE in under an hour (absolutely no traffic, except other bikers).
We got a great parking spot near the main campus building and fairly close to the starting line.  This was great because I like to be near the facilities prior to a race, and didn't want to get our bikes set until after team photos and nearer to the starting time.  I am extremely impatient, so I don't like to stand around all ready to go, and then have to wait for the rest of the pack.  So after we got the the photos done, we got the bikes set. Strapped on our helmets, put on our clips and headed to the start line. 
At 8am, they start the ride in packs of 50.  and they had a total of about 2000 riders this year.  Once our group gathered, we started out in the third pack.  By the way, the weather was 54 degrees and the skies were clear.  So much for rain.  I headed out at a good pace and after a while settled in at good pace with Susan and her two nieces.  We maintained a 16-17 mph to the first rest stop, which was about 20 miles from the start.  The rest of the family pack had one flat at the one mile mark, and another flat on the same bike at mile and a half.    We hydrated ourselves at the rest stop, and got on our bikes after about ten minutes.  The first part of the ride is fairly flat, although it sometimes seems like you are constantly going uphill.    The next stop was "lunch".  Turkey and cheese on a massive roll.  It was not even eleven, so I took a few quick bites an felt satisfied.   Ready to roll.  The rest stops after lunch our run by small towns that take great pride and putting out great spreads.    The next twenty miles of the ride are more rolling hills.  There were a lot of bugs out this year, and I think I swallowed a few.  The gnats were really bad, and at one point we were covered in dead bugs.  We skipped the first stop, since we were feeling good.  We stopped at the Ellendale rest stop, they have ice cold water and G2.  They also have chicken pineapple kabobs, lots of fruit, and baked goods.  We decided that next year, we'll skip the regular lunch stop, and just stop at Ellendale.  The last stop that we make prior to finishing the ride is called "Uncle Teds".  They have scrapple sandwiches, baked goods, and ice water.  The ladies working the table get upset if you don't baggies full of cookies to share with people at the finish line. We stayed there about ten minutes, and Susan and I decided to get under way.  The other people in the group felt like gorging themselves, and stopping at the Margurita rest stop at Plantations (ahhh, to be 21 again).  One thing about this ride is it  is always windy.  We had headwinds between 15-20mph for long stretches.  Since I do a lot of the pulling it can take a lot out of you.  But, Saturday I felt great, and my legs were responding well.  We hit our only patch of rain on Saturday (about twenty minutes worth), but it was enough to bother putting on our rain gear, and at this point we were just getting anxious to finish.  We rode through the rain, and the sun came back.  We rolled across the finish line (they celebrate at 75 and 150 miles) to the cheers of all the supporters.  It was nice to be done the first day of riding.  We headed over to the corporate tent, where the massager gave me a nice leg rubdown, worked my neck for awhile.  We had pizza and cold beverages while we were waiting for everyone else to pile across the finish.
After the rest of the family members crossed the finish line, we headed over to the home in Rehoboth we were staying at overnight (about 8 miles).  A friend of Susan's has been out of the house since last November and it's still on the market, empty, but great for us.  We had seven peoople staying at the house.  We had a great fish takeout dinner, and the rest of the group did some drinking.
We arose early the next morning and were on the road at 7am.  We only had four of us doing the return trip, and we wanted push ourselves, since Susan's niece had a Peace Corp interview at JMU early evening.  Well, Sunday's weather was not as great as they predicted.  It was misty and foggy.  I was so foggy, you could only see about 20 feet ahead of you.  We needed to stop at each stop sign and listen for traffic.  Our clothes were soaked and we were cold.  The first stop at Uncle Ted's I actually ate half of a scrapple sandwich.  I knew it might come back and bite me, but it really tasted good.  I took care of bike tires, and watched the others chug down their coffee.  I had a bunch of cold water.  We were there really early, so they had to really hustle to help us out.  We really appreciated their efforts.
We chugged ahead to the next rest stop, and the fog was not getting any better.  When we got to Ellendale, same situation, they were just setting up so got us some fruit packs, coffee and water and we headed out again.  The amazing thing about this ride is no matter which direction you go you always have headwinds.  Luckily with the fog, the winds were only 10-15mph.   We were pushing hard, maintaining a 17-18mph pace, on very tired legs   Two of the bikes were riding on deflated tires, but they didn't want to stop until we reached the rest stop.  At the rest stop, which is normally lunch, but who wants lunch at 9:30am, we were looking for the bike repair guys, and they weren't  there when we arrived.  After using the facilities, Spinners (a portable bike repair shop) was setting up and they asked us if we needed air.  We took them up on it.  Acutally one of the bikes needed a new tire so they fixed that for us.  Everyone else got air in their tires.  The woman from Spinners asked if I needed anything, and I joked that I could use some warmth.  She pulled out a portable propane heater, and I was in heaven.  The biggest problem was this stop is we spent about 30-minutes prior to starting again.  When we started out, I thought the next stop was 8 miles (it was really 14), and it is the hilliest part of the ride.  I took the lead for the first four miles, and powered up the hills (my speciality),   The sun was actually cutting through the fog, but the wind was also coming on strong.  It was between 20-30mph and right in our faces.  At the four mile mark, I bonked, and really had trouble staying with my group.  I told them to keep going and I would catch up, but I was really laboring.  Susan and Jeff kept leading at pretty aggressive pace, and for the first time I didn't think I could keep with the group.  I dropped back about 200 yards from them, and worked until I got my energy back.  This was definitely the toughest leg of the ride for me.  Wet and cold, wind, and no energy. At the rest stop, I got reengerized with water ice and tylenol.  We had two more water stops on the ride, before we crossed the finish line at Dover.  My legs are tired today, and feel like takinga long nap, but otherwise feel great.
This is a great ride, and a great way for me at least to remind myself every year, of what can be accomplished if I want it bad enough.  Oct 6th is my surgiversary, so this is my way of celebrating.   Now back to training for the marathon in November.  Thanks for putting up with the long dialog.
Rob