My First Century Ride

Tour de Corn 2008

June 27, 2008
by CyclChef

I was a little apprehensive about trying a 100-mile bicycle ride.  Actually, I had no intention of attempting one until one of my buddies in my morning ride decided “we” were all going to sign up for one.  After a few weeks of constant prodding and bereavement “we” all succumbed to the idea.  The Tour de Corn, a century bicycle ride (100miles) in East Prairie, Missouri was 6 weeks away. We had some training to do since we normally ride 17-20 miles 4-5 days a week, with a couple of weekend rides of 25 to 30 miles every month.  Also this year we got a late start on spring riding due to the cool, rainy spring in the Midsouth.  I stress we had some training to do.

Over the next month we started riding at least 6 days a week, and upped the weekend rides to 45-55 miles.  We felt we were in pretty good shape for “middle aged guys”, 39, 40, 43, and the exception 28.

We were all looking forward to the weekend since our spouses and several other guys from our hometown and their spouses were going up as well.  Not all were going to ride the century, there were other distances as well, 12, 30, and 62.5 miles.

On Friday, June 27th we all made a convoy up to Sikeston where we were lodging, East Prairie doesn’t exactly have a lot of lodging choices, after all there were 700 cyclists registered to ride in Tour de Corn 2008.   Upon arrival we checked in unload bikes and gear and head out for a hearty meal and some cold beer.  We looked for a local bar and grill but didn’t find any so we dined at an Applebee’s, pretty good food and the beer was cold.  We did have our own local entertainment with us Carmack; he occasionally rode with us and worked with one of our group.  You never know what’s going to come out of his mouth, or what he might be wearing, that’s what makes him entertaining.  After stuffing ourselves and laughing till our sides hurt, we all turned in for the evening.

Ride Day - 5:00 AM the alarm goes off, I was already awake in anticipation.  I was going to complete my first century.  The weather was not exactly looking like what you’d want for a 100-mile bike ride - there were thunderstorms to the west and south on the radar and it was coming a light rain.  We all gathered in the lobby and headed out in search of breakfast.  We scouted for a good local restaurant to eat breakfast at the night before.  If there was one it eluded us and we ended up at the Micky D’s on the interstate.  I apologize to the lady who was working the counter and all the other people dining there that morning. Why? Because, Brent wore in his bib shorts and tight fitting jersey, which did not match, this didn’t bother him (this is what makes him Brent).  However, I think a few people had to face away to eat.  And then there was the incident of Carmack deciding to show us his new riding shorts. Which is fine, but they didn’t stick out under his cargo shorts and while waiting to pick up his food at the counter, he just unbuttons and drops trow at the counter.  I thought the lady at the counter’s eyes were going to pop out of her head until she say he had on shorts under them.  Again I apologize to the staff at McDonalds.

East Prairie 6:15 AM - We arrived and unloaded gear there were people everywhere. The town square is covered with tents and campers.  This was quite a mass of people to add to quaint little town since the population is normally 1500.  The Tour de Corn is held in conjunction with the Corn Festival which started the previous evening.  There were bikes everywhere and by this time the rain had ceased and the streets were drying a little, but the wind was starting to blow.  This is what we were afraid of.  We all gather for a preride photo and made our way to the various starting areas.  This was quite a site to see, in my previous rides, which were 1, there were only about a 100 at the starting line.  There were almost 700 riders and we were at the front.  After the national anthem was sung and we prayed for a safe ride, we were off.

The ride out of town was uneventful no one bumped into anyone, but the heavy rains the previous evening made some of the marking on the pavement fade and caused an oops for many of the century riders who made a wrong turn only 2.5 miles into the ride, I was one of them.  It was kind of interesting seeing bicyclist going both directions so early in the ride.  We tried to keep others from making the same mistake.

We finally settled in and set our pace.  About 6 miles in, I noticed that Kevin our rider, who never lacks stamina and is usually out front, is lagging behind and breathing hard.  I slow up to letting him catch up. I ask what’s up?  He says, “my heart rate”.  I ask if he is ok and he says its just hard to push forward.  We turned into the wind up ahead and it was really difficult, finally we come up the first rest stop.  Upon laying his bike down, Kevin happened to spin the front wheel, it didn’t even spin a half turn, his brake pad was rubbing the wheel, he quickly adjusted the calipers and we were all relieved.

The rest stops were excellent on this ride; there was fresh fruit, peanut butter sandwiches, and homemade cooking of all varieties, and lots of down home folks helping keep the platters full.  Some rest stops even had corn on the cob – it’s only fitting it is the Tour de Corn, and it has lots of carbs.

We continue, on stopping at most every rest stop, which were situated every 12-15 miles, until we get to the “point of no return”. This is where the 100-mile ride turns off from the 62.5 route.  Kevin says to us as we’re turning left, “looks like we just made a decision.”  There was not a shortcut once we made that turn.  For the next 1 hour we actually had a little sunshine, it was still pleasant only about 78 – we couldn’t have asked for a better temp.  At about 45 miles we got into the hill section – nothing any different than Crowley’s Ridge, where we live.  This was some pretty country, rolling hills, cattle farms, and a view of the Mississippi delta off to the right every now and then.  We ride into Benton on Hwy 60 right downtown; it almost gave you the impression that Andy and Aunt Bea lived there. People were out walking up and down the sidewalks conducting their Saturday morning business.  We continued out of town on Hwy E and once again ventured into the corn.  I commented, “On the left you will see corn and up ahead on the right you will see some more corn”, the guys said that got old before the day was out.

We ventured on riding on the edge of the hills to the Commerce rest stop.  This one was interesting it was in a little town that the road just ran into the river, at least on June 28 it did because the ferry was closed and the river was out of its banks many streets were closed.  The rest stop was in the city park, which was bordered on one side by a Methodist church which looked to be well over a 100 years old, a 3 story Victorian home complete with a crows nest on top to look out over the river, a long abandoned 2 story school house, still in good repair, and the ever encroaching river to the east.  I couldn’t help but think of Mark Twain transporting back to the days of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.  We spent a little extra time here as it was a little way over the halfway point.  We felt pretty good about ourselves at this point.  It had been nice riding in the hills out of the wind.  That was all about to be over.

We mounted our bikes and rode back out of the Commerce rest stop and turned south right into the wind on Hwy N.  As hard as we were pedaling you’d think we were sprinting, that’s how hard the wind was blowing  We started taking turns out front to bread the wind so the others could draft behind.  This worked well until the wind started quartering us.  We forced onward our pace was still decent; we were just looking for the next rest stop.  I still had to on with “On today’s bicycle tour we will be looking at corn, just ahead on the right and left you’ll notice some.” Hey it broke up the monotony of this leg since there wasn’t much civilization for the next 20 miles and just one rest stop at Lusk. A neat place though. It was an early 20th century farmhouse and barn with the Mississippi River levee in the background.  It was a charming place, well maintained and still inhabited by the descendents or the family that constructed the house.  After eating a few homemade cookies and drinking some Gatorade we filled our water bottles and saddled up.

Just out of Lusk we turned onto NN.  The next 14 miles didn’t seem too bad because every half mile we made a 90 degree turn; this made the wind bearable, except for the last 4 miles into Charleston.  Highway 220, this pavement was so rough it could have been a gravel road.  Dustin got tired of the rough pavement and got a sudden burst of energy and took off.  Neither Kevin nor I had the “want” to catch him.  We finally caught up to him when the pavement got smoother and as we pulled into the tree-lined streets of Charleston.  This was definitely an oasis from the previous 14 miles, this town reminded of an era gone by.  There were large homes setting back off the street with huge trees lining the parkway between the sidewalk and street, hardly any sunlight got between the branches covering the street.  The Charleston rest stop was at the city museum.  The home which housed the museum was built in 1899, and still looked original.  The ladies overseeing the rest stop were a true southern delight and a lot of fun.  Our wives caught up to us here, they took some photos and drove around the picturesque town for a while.  We got back on our bikes and road out of town; the trip out was just as nice as the trip in.  Charleston was a really neat and clean town, at least the parts we saw were.  Once out of Charleston the wind regained its velocity, man was it tough, as we were heading south on Highway UU, the wind was quartering us for this leg but about 6 miles out of Charleston we saw a intersection up ahead and we had a feeling we were going to have to turn right, and that was correct.   We turned straight into the wind and wow what a wind it was about 15-20 out of the W-SW, and if that wasn’t bad enough there was a recently harvested wheat field up ahead that was really making it hot, luckily the smoke was rising and didn’t cause too much of a problem. If you stopped pedaling you stopped rolling, that’s how bad the wind was.  This went on for 5 miles, until we intersected with Highway 105 and went south, luckily our spouses showed up with cold water.  They asked, “What took so long?”  I think we might have given them a few choice words if we hadn’t been so winded.  

We were now in the home stretch, only twenty something miles to go.   By this time I was pretty confident that I could make it, especially when we make a left onto Highway 75 and have the wind at our back for a while.  We pass up the rest stop at Anniston and keep on heading in.  At this point, it’s about 1:40pm.  There were some high clouds starting to roll in from the southwest, and they were kicking up the wind.  As we made our way out of Anniston heading south the wind was tough but not head on. But I was dreading the turned back West on Highway 80 to get back into East Prairie.  Good thing the last 4 miles back into East Prairie weren’t in the beginning or I would have taken a shorter route.  The wind was 18-20 sustained with 24 mile an hour gust.  I had to pedal hard just to keep moving, not to mention if you stopped pedaling you stopped moving.  The last 4 miles were the toughest of the whole ride. “They really kicked my ass”.    I was definitely happy to make it into town where the buildings and trees gave some windbreak.  I think the last 4 miles really made me truly look forward to the finish line and a cold beer.  We waited around for some other friends (one of which rode a mountain bike the whole 100 miles instead of a road bike) to finish before heading back to the hotel in Sikeston.  

This was a great experience and a major milestone for me.  I am not afraid of going on longer rides and plan to search out more century bike rides in the coming months, maybe some that have a more challenging route.  I am not a racer by any means, but I was satisfied with my time on this route, not to mention all the fun memories I’ll have.

I would definitely recommend that anyone wanting to attempt their first century bicycle ride, try this one.  The 2008 Tour de Corn was a well organized ride, the rest stops were manned by the most hospitable people, and the cookies were home baked.  I will definitely try to fit this into my schedule next year.

Hopefully the people in McDonalds at Sikeston have gotten the images of Brent and Carmack out of their heads.

Tags: biking, Bike ride, cycling, bicycling