SOME STUFF THAT WILL REALLY BUM YOU OUT

I was recently reading an article in Outside magazine about a guy named Kevin Fedarko and more importantly about his new book called Off The Wall: Death in Yosemite. This is his second such book ... the first being about various deaths in the Grand Canyon. Sounds a little creepy I know, but it is actually meant to be a book to help people avoid such mishaps in the future and in many instances is kind of funny when you take the personal part out of it. Here are a few excerpts from both books. I hope they don't mess you up too bad.

Grand Canyon

Lane McDaniels, 42
June 12, 1928
River Mile 4, Navajo Bridge, Marble Canyon
McDaniels, a construction worker, lost his footing on a scaffold while helping build what qualified, at the time, as the world's highest steel bridge and fell 470 feet into the Colorado River. No safety net had been set up, due to concerns that hot rivets might ignite it. Observers reported that McDaniels's body appeared to "burst and flatten out" on impact.

Trish Astolfo, 37
January 5, 1993
The Abyss, South Rim
Astolfo, reportedly inspired by repeated viewings of Thelma & Louis, tried to driver her Chevy Suburban into the Grand Canyon, but the vehicle high-centered before it cleared the rim. She then opened the door, walked to the edge and leaped off - only to land on a rocky ledge 20 feet below. Injured but still alive, she crawled to a nearby precipice, dropped over its edge and fell 150 feet to her death.

YOSEMITE

William L. Gooch, 22
May 19, 1976
Ledge Trail to Glacier Point
Hiking solo, Gooch scrambled down the Ledge Trail, which was officially closed and posted with a sign reading DANGER! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FOLLOW THIS ABANDONED TRAIL. Shortly after heading out, he detoured off-trail to fill his water bottle and slipped. Witnesses saw him sliding down a wet slab and heard him mutter, "Oh shit!" as he fatally plunged 600 feet.

Jan Davis, 58
October 22, 1999
El Capitan
Davis, a professional stunt woman jumped off El Cap to protest the National Park Service's ban on BASE jumping in the park. Davis failed to deploy her chute in time and crashed into Yosemite Valley in front of 150 onlookers.

Joseph E. Crowe, 25
December 29, 2002
Zodiac route, El Capitan
Crowe was attempting to do a solo winter climb of an 1,800 foot route on El Capitan. During a snowstorm he tried to rappel down, but his rope came up short. He froze to death, just 25 feet from the bottom.

Okay everyone. Hope that didn't bum you out too much. Next post will be extra happy to even things out.

MS 150 Part Deux

Getting up at 4:00 in the morning is not fun. I don't care if you went to bed at 4:00 the previous afternoon. It's still not fun. If man was intended to get up at 4:00 then God would have made the sun rise at 4:00. Last time I checked it was still pretty freakin' dark at 4:00. I'm just sayin'.

So I got up really early, caught the shuttle bus back to Texas Motor Speedway and prepared for what I figured to be a very grueling day on the road. We watched the weather ... a lot ... the night before and it all said scattered showers with severe weather likely after 12:00. I was not looking forward to another day of riding in the rain. Especially on weary legs and a sore butt.

The thing about riding this far is you have to always make sure you have fuel in your body. You must make sure you're keeping a proper eating schedule which always begins with a good breakfast. I'm not a breakfast person. Never have been. I just don't have the stomach for it in the mornings. But I knew I had to get something on my stomach so I ate half a power bar and drank a bottle of water. Just fyi ... water is not the best thing to put on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. I never felt like I would throw up but I definitely didn't feel great as we started the ride.

The start time was pushed back about 20 minutes because of an overturned 18 wheeler that all the police officers had to respond to. So after waiting at the start line for almost 45 minutes the cops finally made it back to lead the ride back out on the roads around TMS. 14.2 miles to the first rest stop. We were headed northwest so we had the 15 mph wind at our backs for the morning. It would be that way for the first 30 miles and then it was all over so I knew I needed to enjoy it while it lasted and not waste a lot of energy before the afternoon. Stopped at the first rest stop and I ate an entire bagel. Doesn't sound like much ... except for the fact that I hate bagels. But this one wasn't toasted or tough so it was more like blueberry bread. And that I find to be delicious. Thanks to a little food I was starting to feel much better as we headed on towards the lunch stop in Decatur. We arrived around 9:30 (remember the start time was pushed back over 20 minutes) at the lunch stop. That's right. Lunch at 9:30. Can't get it at McDonald's but you sure can get it that early on the MS 150. My friends Elizabeth and Aimee had already made plans to call it a day at the lunch stop and take the shuttle back to the end. So I was on my own for the remaining 45 miles of the course. I was feeling tired at this point. Partially from getting up so early and partially from all the miles I had already gone. And I knew the rest of the ride would be the toughest part. I had been told the last 45 miles was filled with lots of climbs. Perfect for when your legs already feel like rubber. I took off and headed south straight into the wind. I knew from this point on I just had to be methodical and get it finished. I would stop at all the rest stops, but I knew I shouldn't stay long. Partially because of losing the motivation to keep riding and partially because every time I stopped later in the day my muscles all started to tighten and it usually took several miles to stretch out again. The next stop was 10 miles. The sun was finally coming out (we had seen no rain so far) so it was getting hot. It was another 8 miles to the next stop. As I got ready to leave that stop I heard someone call my name. I turned to find Elizabeth and Aimee. They were having to ride rest stop to rest stop in order to get back so they just decided to get out and ride the rest. It was nice to have the company and encouragement again. The next 15 miles were really tough. Lots of climbs. Lots of wind. After the ride people asked me if there was ever a point where I thought I wouldn't finish. The answer was always "no". There was however a point where I thought I might not be able to finish the entire ride due to mechanical difficulties. I could tell that my bike was not performing at its peak. I was just trying to get it through a few more miles though. I threw a chain at the top of a long climb and got it jammed between the small chain ring and the frame. I tried to free it but couldn't. I got some help from a ride marshall who was not very optomistic about freeing the chain out on the road without tools. After several minutes though he was able to free it and I was okay to ride on towards the finish.

After the final rest stop we had 11 miles until the end. We rode through neighborhoods, across 820 and finally into the old neighborhoods of Fort Worth. And then finally I saw a familiar building in the distance. It was Billy Bob's. We were almost to the stockyards. We turned north and made our way along the last couple of miles on Main St. in Fort Worth. And just when you think the hard part is over, you see the huge hill you must climb up to the courthouse in downtown Fort Worth. It's long. Very long. Once at the top you make several turns and then finally one last right turn back onto Main St. and then you see it. The finish line. People are lining the streets cheering the riders on. I look for my family and friends on the left side of the street. I finally spot them just as they spot me. It was such a great feeling to hear their cheers and see them all there. Almost forgot I'd been on a bike for over 150 miles. And then finally ... it's over.

The next 30 minutes were kind of a blur. After spending so much peaceful time on my bike, I now had a ton of people around. Lots of picture taking. Lots of hugs. Jaime just had to touch my butt in the biker shorts. More picture taking. It was great. All of it.

We all finished off the day with a huge meal on the patio at Joe T. Garcia's down in the stockyards. We had great food. Great drinks. Shared lots of stories between friends and family. It was all wonderful.

I'm still only a little over a week removed, but I still feel like this is one of the best things I've done in my life. I love that it's for a great cause. It's a cause that is close to my heart and close to the hearts of those around me. But it was also a tough personal challenge to finish this ride. I sometimes forget the value in pushing yourself beyond where you've been before and the things you've done before. It felt so great to be a part of this event and you can definitely expect me there next year. I'll probably even drag a few friends along ... as some have already expressed interest.

So thanks to everyone who took part, whether it was financially, coming out to support me in person, or both. I really appreciate it.

I've posted all the pics I have of the ride so if you want to see them go here:

www.flickr.com/photos/craigmcclain

MS 150 PART 1

Well folks, I made it. Apparently there was an 80 year old man who crossed the finish line before me ... but I don't care. I freakin' made it. It was one of the most rewarding things I've done in a long time and was well worth the time, money and effort that went into training, not to mention the wind, rain and hills we all suffered through during the course of the weekend. I don't know that I've ever pushed my body that far for that period of time and although it really hurts, it is at the same time a really great feeling.

So how about a little recap? I'll tell you about day 1 and then follow up with another post about day 2 with a few pictures.

I don't like it when my alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m. but that's what happened on Saturday morning. The ride started from Frisco at 7:00 a.m. so I got up and around, made some last minute packing arrangements, had a bowl of Wheaties (seriously) and then got my bike and gear packed up on/in the car and hit the road. I was riding with two friends that have done this ride several times before so I wasn't nervous about anything that would happen once the ride started, but I was meeting them there and would have to find my way through all the logistics of the morning on my own and that was cause for a little nervousness. It was definitely a cool sight to see all the cars with bikes begin to converge as we got closer to the starting area. I love seeing that many people that are all about being active and in shape. It's definitely a good thing. Again, this is the first time I've done the MS 150, but I can't imagine it being more organized. I pulled up, got ready, walked a few hundred feet to drop off my bag and I was off to the start line. I rolled right up with the rest of the Cheesy Riders (I rode on the Frito-Lay team) about 6:30 with adrenaline pumping for what lay ahead. After the singing of the national anthem and a fly over we were off. Headed north up Dallas Parkway where after several miles I found out they are building a Rudy's BBQ in Frisco. I was pretty pumped. Something I found to be a bad idea was to continually gauge my remaining mileage. For instance, I looked down at my trip odometer to see I had ridden 8 miles. I thought to myself, "only 142 more to go." Not a good though my friends. Not a good thought. So I put that practice to rest in a hurry.

I made my first stop at 18.1 miles into the ride for a little snack and bathroom break. There are rest stops about every 10 miles on the course for riders to refill water bottles, get a snack, use the bathroom, get first aid, etc. Each of which was very well organized and a very welcome site. Especially the last few. I met up with my friends Elizabeth and Aimee at this point as the crowd started to thin finally. We continued north to the town of Pilot Point and then headed off to the west on FM455 across the dam at Lake Ray Roberts. It was a beautiful portion of the ride, even though the fog was moving in and it had started to drizzle a bit of rain on us. And speaking of rain, I was very disappointed in the forecast from local weather personalities. Last I heard it was supposed to be sunny and dry and somehow that quickly turned into not sunny and not dry. We ate lunch in a church parking lot about 10 miles to the west of Sanger where I had my first encounter with my favorite MS Society worker. And then after lunch the conditions along with the route turned south in a hurry. The rain continued as we turned into a strong head wind. Not fun. The misery of the rain however did not compare with the danger involved in riding in those conditions. I passed a total of 3 bike wrecks that day, the last of which ended with a girl being taken away in an ambulance and leaving a very large area of blood on the road. As we all walked our bikes past the site it really made us realize the dangers of the conditions.

We pressed on through the final 28 miles after lunch to finally end up at Texas Motor Speedway. It, along with it's smooth flat roads leading to the finish was a welcome site. The two Shiner Bocks I had to celebrate were probably not a great idea, but they were well deserved. My two riding partners are training for a half Iron Man triatholon in a few months so for some crazy reason they thought they would run two miles just for the hell of it after our ride. Crazy. Anyways, after a little BBQ at the Frito Lay tent, we headed to the hotel shuttles and called it a day.

And it really was a great day. I had put in more miles than any other single day of riding. I felt great (relatively speaking of course) and was just taking it all in. Everything was new to me and no matter how many times I do this ride in the future, this was my first one so I wanted to make sure it was a great one.

(this concludes part 1)