Take Stock in Children century - 2008

A recap of this year's Take Stock in Children ride contributed by our very own Rob Robins:

For what was originally conceived as another fun day on the bike, as the date for the 2008 Take Stock in Children Century approached, the outlook was starting to get a bit grim. The forecast called for steady twenty to twenty-five mph winds out of the WSW with gusts in excess of 40 mph. Moreover, hi-temps were expected only to reach 60 degrees (that's cold by my standards!) before beginning a rapid decline. The night before the ride my phone rang and delivered unexpected news: last minute cancellations by two riders. The loss of strong teammates from what was expected to be an already small field, coupled with the forecast of unyielding winds, meant this would be no easy century and certainly not a fast one.

But that is the thing about cycling: Just when you think it is going to be more of a drag than a good time, the sport has a way of reminding you that the fun is in the challenge and the reward is succeeding at the challenge through camaraderie and teamwork. This year's Take Stock in Children Century would deliver the goods, dishing out a huge helping of satisfaction to the riders who took part.

I arrived at the Martin Luther King Center in Ocala and met up with fellow cyclists from Cycle Logic and Gainesville in general. Mike Robinson (aka, "Dr. Pain)", Anthony Musallo, Paul Messal, Ron Palsgrove, John Duggan, Doug and Leslie Folkerth, and Jan Pfaff were among the many friendly faces. As anticipated there were very few riders signed up to do the 100 mile route and other than my teammates I recognized no one from the Florida Cycling race circuit. And by my definition, it was cold, so on went the jacket, on went the gloves.

Given the go ahead by the event promoter we began the standard, somewhat languorous departure of early morning century riders everywhere, tooling along at low effort, feeling the legs. No more than a mile into our journey did Paul Messal alert us to the fact that Anthony Musallo was nowhere to be found and in all likelihood was still in the can, back at the start. Paul made the call for us to group together and wait for Anthony so that we could pace him up to the main field and we obliged.

Some three or four minutes later and Anthony could be seen charging along from the direction we all had come. With Anthony in rotation, lighter than he had begun the day, we began a steady, hard effort to catch the lead group. Given the wind and the fact that many of us had just rolled out of bed a short while before, the spirited pace of the chase was something of a shock to the system. Arriving at the front of the ride a short while later, we were fewer in number but warmed up and raring to go. Perhaps not surprisingly, in that we were still agitated from the chase, we formed an accidental breakaway of 5 or 6 riders at a point less than 10 miles into the century, leaving behind the main field of 15 or 20. Fully cognizant of the fact that to continue to ride hard would mean a long day of steady work with no help other than from ourselves, we charged on: Anthony Musallo, Ron Palsgrove, Mike Robinson, yours truly, and a Citrus Cycling rider. (Later we would be joined by another rider who had originally set out to do 50 but caught on with us and attempted the 100).

And for the large part, that is how the day would go: A five to six man echelon, fighting the wind, dodging the dead fall from the trees -- both already on the ground and en route to terra firma from above -- and occasionally riding two abreast to chit-chat, but all the while working hard to get back to home base. The gusts of winds were as fierce as anticipated and on a number of occasions were strong enough to blow the whole echelon several feet in any given direction. Good bike handling practice for sure!

We stopped just once, at the 45 mile mark at Boulware Springs and enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a SAG stop that has surely spoiled me for all other SAG stops to come. The Take Stock folks provided sandwiches from Crispers and a variety of cold drinks, even some gels for the rest of the ride. Here I had been conditioned by all previous centuries to expect peanut butter and maybe some fig newtons, yet there was turkey on rye and potato chips in abundance! Another luxury that the Take Stock Century afforded us was a police escort that stopped traffic at every intersection so that our little group of 5 or 6 riders could pass through unimpeded. Now that is pulling out all the stops! (I am certain we got some puzzled if not indignant looks from the motorists who were made to wait).

We averaged a modest 20.3 mph for the day, benefited from a tailwind near the end (A century first for me! It is always a headwind at the end of centuries, never a tailwind!) and arrived at the MLK center well ahead of the rest of the field and pretty well wiped out, but with a feeling of having accomplished a goal and of having had a great time in the process.