"Going South"
A 200 Mile Bike Ride
A 200 Mile Bike Ride
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We met near Fleet Landing at Guido's Bar in Palau. An hour before sunrise, at 5:15 AM, the six riders and two support vehicles began 'going south' toward Olbia. Those first 30 miles went very quietly. The weather, aside from widely scattered darkness, was quite cool and all riders were wearing tights and wind breakers. In addition to watching the road in front of our headlights carefully, we all concentrated on warming up slowly and resisting the urge to sprint and do all of the other foolish (pronounced FUN) things that the Vagabondos usually do on club rides. OOPS! Did I mention that this was a club ride? The aforementioned six riders are members of the USS Simon Lake's bicycle club called the Vagabondos. This ride was planned as the be all and end all ride to finish out the season. I was freshly reported to the ship, having just transferred from Charleston, South Carolina.
At Olbia we stopped to remove lights from our bicycles, do a final quick mechanical check, and eat the first of many Power Bars of the day. Commemorative photographs were taken and we got back on the road toward Siniscola. The scenery along the coast, now that we could see it in the daylight, was spectacular! At one point we took a short unscheduled break to allow a huge flock of sheep to cross the road. There was another moment of confusion at Siniscola while we got directions from the local Caribinairi how to get onto the Superstrade. From here we stayed on this same road for all but the last few miles of the ride.
Up to now we'd been lucky. We had been riding with a slight tail wind and the relatively mild rolling hills that are characteristic of the coast of this entire island. As we rode out of Siniscola we entered a wide valley that wandered inland across the heart of Sardinia. The valley steadily narrowed and began to gain elevation. There were never any really killer hills, only endless grades that wound around and up to infinity. Much to our cumulative relief the hills didn't actually go to infinity, they ended at Nuoro (elev. 553m or 2920ft). What a beautiful city! The city is built on the crest of a mountain with a fabulous view of the surrounding hills. By this time two of our number had succumbed to the temptation of the sag van. I admit that I seriously considered the relative intelligence of someone who would willingly ride a bicycle up a mountain like I was without seeking an alternative. Suffice it to say that the effort was worth it! We rode through a tunnel that cut through the very top of the ridge and for the next hour we sailed like the wind down the other side toward Oristano. The guy driving the van said that we had been maintaining 30 to 35 MPH for much of this decent!!
At some point before Oristano we took a long break to regroup, eat lunch and to take an urgently needed stretch. I was genuinely astonished at how well I was doing. With less than a month of training since arriving in Sardinia, I was keeping up with the front riders for the entire time.... SO FAR. Particularly on the long climb into Nuoro, I had been expecting to "run out of gas" at any time. I'd expected to have a serious cramp or to become unbearably saddle sore (that came later), but nothing debilitating was happening so I just kept turning the pedals and enjoying the scenery. I'll just take a moment to fill in some details here. The two support vehicles were running back and forth along the route to keep track of everyone, and to provide "on the fly" food, water and encouragement as needed. We had brought along complete first aid, bicycle tools and spare parts. All riders were encouraged to ride in the sag vehicle if they felt the need and were allowed to resume riding at any time as well. In this manner everyone was able to participate to the extent that they were capable and still get to "do" the whole ride.
By the time we had eaten lunch the sun finally came out and we all stripped off our jackets. None of us ever got warm enough to take off our long tights. At Oristano we turned almost ninety degrees from the south westerly course that we'd ridden since Siniscola. This last 70 mile straight shot toward Cagliari was to be by far the toughest. It was getting into late afternoon and the three of us left riding were feeling some urgency to get there while we were still ambulatory. We had turned into a steady headwind and were taking short turns leading the paceline. The three of us knew that we would only make it by working together against the wind. The country side had settled into a pattern of very low rolling hills and nearly arrow-straight road. The guys in the support vans, which up to this point had been an almost constant shadow, sensed that we were gritting our teeth and setting in for the final drive to the goal. They would drive 15 or 20 miles ahead of us and offer assistance as we rode past. About this time the surprising discovery was made (by all three of us) that the consumption of too many Power Bars causes incredible gas. Fortunately this gave us frequent excuse to lift off our saddle for a moment. We were all complaining bitterly of saddle soreness and I was suffering miserably from a sharp soreness in my neck and shoulders. Still, my legs felt strong and we just continued to push steadily ahead and watch our odometers creep toward the goal. With about 40 miles left to go we took a last stop for water, mega-doses of Ibuprofen, and to rig our lights for the impending sunset. Almost as soon as we left from the last stop one of the remaining three dropped off the back. We noticed, but assumed that the sag van would pick him up and pressed on. The last bit of the ride wasn't exactly what I'd call enjoyable. I had enough juice left to keep going, but the miles and the hills had taken their toll and I struggled mightily to keep pace on even the slightest grade. The closer we got to Cagliari the worse traffic got. In the dark we had to use all the focus we had left in order to dodge pot holes, stay aware of traffic, and to avoid hitting each other. We finally arrived at the Hotel Agip in Cagliari at 7:30 PM. About 15 minutes after we got there the guy who had dropped off the back came straggling in. He had done that last 40 miles alone! I was impressed and told him so. A champaign bottle was uncorked, photos were taken, and we decided to call it a day..... a 14 HOUR, 200 MILE DAY!!!! We checked into the hotel, showered, and went to dinner in the hotel's restaurant. Our orders were taken and, to the great amusement of both staff and patrons, the waiter had to wake most of us up in order to eat our dinner. A very memorable ride indeed.