I survived all five mountain passes and felt quite strong until the last 9 miles of the final climb. I was bonking and got a bit delirious and supposedly I was dishing out I love you's to people and saying things like, "I'm going to cry."; that's not like me at all. Total time out was 10 hours, riding time was 8.5 hours. We experienced two flats in our group and several bonks but mission accomplished. In a way, it felt very similar to an ironman. In the week leading up to the ride, I felt an excitement that to be honest, I have not had in any race in the past several years. This excitement stemmed from the fact that I really felt Scottie's presence. Read this
blog entry for the story behind Scott. The night before the ride, I couldn't sleep and I was checking the clock every 20 minutes. I had the same nerves and excitement as I had at my first ironman and my first couple of triathlons. I was charged and it was such a great feeling to start the day that way.
The Lathams had custom made jerseys for the ride and it was cool to see the entire family plan a suffer-fest together. Robert, a young 71 year-old in the group, scaled 4 mountain passes, simply amazing! For John, Russ, and myself, it was a great way to spend time with each other and to be with Scottie again. Russ put it best when he said that the Death Ride personified Scott. In 2007, Scott had just moved back to the U.S. after a 2 year stint working/living in India. He had only five weeks to go from zero riding the past two years to being able to ride 129 miles with over 15,000' of climbing. I had passed Scottie after the the 4th climb and he looked terrible. I wasn't feeling great either and as I passed the car on the way out to the fifth and final pass, I recalled that we had cold gatorade waiting for us. I stopped for the gatorade and that was it for me. I chose to take a nap instead of doing the final pass. Scott, totally bonked, just rolled on through. I think he took 2 hours to climb that final pass but damn it, he did it. That ride was the last suffer-fest Scott and I did together. I remember telling Russ when we were at the top of the last pass that I can now check off the Death Ride on my to do list. But like an ironman, you forget the suffering the the days after and in its place is the desire for more. I want more of the Death Ride.
I survived all five mountain passes and felt quite strong until the last 9 miles of the final climb. I was bonking and got a bit delirious and supposedly I was dishing out I love you's to people and saying things like, "I'm going to cry."; that's not like me at all. Total time out was 10 hours, riding time was 8.5 hours. We experienced two flats in our group and several bonks but mission accomplished. In a way, it felt very similar to an ironman. In the week leading up to the ride, I felt an excitement that to be honest, I have not had in any race in the past several years. This excitement stemmed from the fact that I really felt Scottie's presence. Read this blog entry for the story behind Scott. The night before the ride, I couldn't sleep and I was checking the clock every 20 minutes. I had the same nerves and excitement as I had at my first ironman and my first couple of triathlons. I was charged and it was such a great feeling to start the day that way.
The Lathams had custom made jerseys for the ride and it was cool to see the entire family plan a suffer-fest together. Robert, a young 71 year-old in the group, scaled 4 mountain passes, simply amazing! For John, Russ, and myself, it was a great way to spend time with each other and to be with Scottie again. Russ put it best when he said that the Death Ride personified Scott. In 2007, Scott had just moved back to the U.S. after a 2 year stint working/living in India. He had only five weeks to go from zero riding the past two years to being able to ride 129 miles with over 15,000' of climbing. I had passed Scottie after the the 4th climb and he looked terrible. I wasn't feeling great either and as I passed the car on the way out to the fifth and final pass, I recalled that we had cold gatorade waiting for us. I stopped for the gatorade and that was it for me. I chose to take a nap instead of doing the final pass. Scott, totally bonked, just rolled on through. I think he took 2 hours to climb that final pass but damn it, he did it. That ride was the last suffer-fest Scott and I did together. I remember telling Russ when we were at the top of the last pass that I can now check off the Death Ride on my to do list. But like an ironman, you forget the suffering the the days after and in its place is the desire for more. I want more of the Death Ride.
4 comments:
Kiet, you are so inspirational. I wish I could be like you.
71 - AWESOME!
Those jerseys rock.
And I think Scott would have loved it all.
So glad you had a great time!!!
Hey, Kiet. Congrats on the Death Ride finish. Sounds like a great way to remember Scott.
Very cool.
Erik
This is rad! Makes me want to do it. Sounds like you made Scott proud!
Good on ya
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