After a summer of rather lackadaisical training, I finally got in my century ride for the season.  I like to work in one big ride per year, and this year it was the MS-150.  Saturday morning I met up with a few buddies out at the Garmin plant in Olathe, and we joined a few thousand other riders heading towards Lawrence, KS.  Munkirs and I had done the 100 mile MS-150 ride before, but last time we went the opposite direction to Sedalia.  It was my friend Don’s first try at a 100 mile ride.  Overall, I’d say it was a positive day.  All three of us finished, so it’s a win in my book.  The weather, as far as the temperature went, was nothing less than perfect.  On the downside, we fought a brutal wind the majority of the way. Holy smokes, I’m not sure I’ve ever ridden in a wind like that.  It had to be a good 20 mph all the time, with gusts that would nearly put you in the ditch.  And, as luck would have it, it was always in our faces or across us, except for a stretch near  the end when we actually got to ride with it for a bit.  I guess we were in it for the challenge, and it certainly added to that.

For the most part, I’ll give the ride a passing grade.  The wind stunk, and I made the unfortunate discovery that Kansas is the biggest proponent of chip-and-seal road surfacing in the nation.  (I think my arms are still vibrating from that nasty crap.)  But, we had Donette and Teagan at a few spots along the route cheering us on, and I had a good time in Lawrence when we finally got there.  We got checked into a hotel and cleaned up, then met up with Don and his wife for a celebration pizza dinner.  I’d have liked to stay out a bit longer, but I was struggling to keep my eyes open so we headed back to the hotel to watch TV.  I think I was asleep by like 7:30.

Sunday morning, I got up early and headed down for day two of the event.  Don and Munkirs had made the (probably wise) decision to get back to KC by way of motorized transportation, so I was on my own for this ride.  That seemed to be a popular choice;  I’d say there were no more than a few hundred riders heading out.  It was a brisk start to the day too, a crisp 34 degrees.  It warmed up pretty quick though, and I popped in my headphones for a nice little ride.  It was so nice out that I gave a (very) brief thought to riding the whole 72 mile route, but luckily common sense kicked in and I opted for the 38 mile ride.  I’d had some nasty leg cramps during the night and I didn’t want those coming back, plus I was experiencing some discomfort in my… errrr… well… “contact points.”  Six hours on a bike seat will do that I guess.  Fine weekend of riding, I tentatively plan on doing it again next year.  I like the Sedalia route about ten times better, but unfortunately I don’t get a vote in the matter.