On Reflecting a Failure

A few more personal notes about the ride I did last weekend, when I almost made it to Rochester and then made it as far as Hamilton on the return.

Just West of Hamilton I phoned Lesley, I thought I actually had a lot further to go just to reach Hamilton, turns out I was only a kilometer or two outside of town, but anyway I felt really depressed. I had to get to and then through Hamilton, then go up to Burlington, across Oakville and Mississauga and then along the lake shore in Toronto all the way to Woodbine. The thought of all that distance was just too much.

When I told Lesley I was in pain she didn't tell me her plans, she simply said she was going to leave to pick me up in 30 minutes. The knowledge that the insanity of fighting the headwind was almost over gave me a second wind, or maybe a third wind (the second being when I crossed the border) or perhaps a fourth wind (when I felt strong in Niagara-on-the-Lake) or a fifth wind (you get the idea). I started hammering and was actually starting to book some real distance, I called Lesley again and she was adamant that she was going to pick me up. So I gave her a location to meet me and continued towards that place. (Ironically I told her to pick me up at the 600m parking lot on the Hamilton beach bike trail. I say ironic because when I inline skated this was where all the skaters would meet every Sunday morning to train. Well it was Sunday evening and I was meeting my wife in the same place, because something I started as a method of cross training for skating...)

Well Lesley arrived at the parking lot just after a phone call from my manager at work. He knew what I was up to, I had told him. And when I told him I had come up short and was pretty pissed about it, he pretty much ordered me to try again, my manager has his moments. Anyway Lesley arrived not long after I did and bless my wonderful wife, she brought not only my recovery drink, as I had asked. She had spent that half hour at home, prior to leaving to pick me up, cooking up a small meal, and boxing it up along with a fork! I remember exactly what Lesley made for me, a sausage, some salad and a large piece of bread. It was divine, the meal we ate out when I got home, I vaguely recall was sushi - I also recall eating too much at the restaurant but who cares! Lesley's thoughtfulness was, well frankly beyond words.

I should make some other parting thoughts, before I forget, of a more technical nature.

1. There is a washroom at Niagara-on-the-Lake with a sink that is right off the bike trail. I must remember to stop there next time both directions to refill my bottles. Besides being an awful lot cheaper than bottled water, or sillier than paying $0.25 to fill the bottles at some highway stop - yes I paid a quarter to get a fill up on Route 18 in New York. - A sink means that I can add supplements to my water and wash the outside of the bottle without making a sticky mess on the side of the road. (The washroom is just South of EW Line Road - North of 1st Line, just East of the Niagara Parkway.)
2. I need to consume more fuel. I am downing an average of about a bottle every 2 1/2 hours. Due in part to rising temperatures I need to be drinking a bottle roughly every 90 minutes, and I think each bottle ought to have three scoops of Perpetuem and probably 5 scoops of Electrolytes.
3. Number 2. (above) means by the time I reach the washroom I mentioned in 1. I will have finished three bottles of water with supplements. I need three premixed bags of supplements, but I also need a way to move the supplements from the bag to the bottle without spilling it all over the place. Anyone got a portable funnel? Seriously even inside Tim Hortons when riding to Lake Simcoe with Aaron Arndt I managed to spill Endurox all over the place just trying to refuel. I need to think this out carefully.
4. I must remember to bring the battery for my bike headlight. 200km takes me about 7 or 8 hours, so it stands to reason the sun will set before I complete 320km.
5. I ought to buy a battery life extender for my iPod. I know I'm not supposed to listen to music when I ride, but dammit, you try riding alone, into the wind, for 13 hours! Cursing at idiotic drivers gets pretty repetitive.
6. I must not ride to Rochester with the expectation that I will be eating Sticky Lips when I arrive. I should expect that some 24 hour restaurant is the best I can hope for.
7. I must not ride to Toronto with the expectation that I will be eating at Lion on the Beach, fortunately there are lots of Chinese places open until 3 or 4 in the morning.
8. Roughly speaking this will be my route: Lake shore road to Hamilton Beach trail (better condition, easier to follow than adjacent side roads) to North Service Road (avoid Hamilton, appalling drivers who insult, swear and make cat-calls to cyclists), follow North Service to St. Catharines, avoid construction disaster that is the "garden city" by following Lakeshore to Niagara-on-the-Lake to Mary Street, take Mary to King, King to John (thus avoiding the Cluster Fuck at Niagara-on-the-Lake) John to the Niagara Parkway. Cross at Rainbow and then take 18 all the way. Return should be little more than reverse my route out. I hope to have this on Bikely in a couple days.

Anyway I am going to read up on MLS - no I'm not buying a home. I suspect Multi Layer Switching may save me a huge effort in the days to come at the office, and saving effort is something that has new value to me.