VERO BEACH, FLORIDA
Saint Marys, Georgia to Vero Beach, Florida
I was offered (or selected) the chance to ride a century (100 miles) today, along with my teammates, Jimmy Kondisko, Chris Zahlis, and Meg Shipman. It appeared to me, and my teammates, that we were selected as the strongest riders and most likely to be able to complete a century ride. But logistically, it was doomed from the start.
We left the hotel and had a two-hour drive. From day to day, we never knew who we would be riding with or where we would start or finish, so to ask us to ride a mystery 100 miles was a bit of a stretch.1 Especially so when we learned it would take a two-hour drive to get there. More importantly, how about telling us the day before so that we can fuel and sleep properly?
This would be the start of a very special day because I was carrying Tepig. Chey Hillsgrove carried Pikachu across the country on his cancer ride to Portland last year to give to Jake the Hero. Instead, Jake’s big brother, Alex Grecco, got Pikachu. Jake’s mother, Stacey Gravina, sent Tepig to arrive, and he would be carried to Key West and presented to Jake’s younger brother, Josh Grecco. Mileage would not be important as long as Tepig made it.
We arrived at Ormond-On-The-Beach and pushed off into a stiff southerly wind. It would be strong in our face the entire day. The high buildings of Daytona Beach offered some respite from the wind, but once out of the protection of the buildings, we were being whipped around.
We had a six-hour limit because we needed to be off the course in time for another shuttle ride in a car, this time to our destination, Vero Beach. It wouldn’t happen. The first 18 miles we went through at a 16.5 mph clip, which was pretty astonishing given the massive headwinds.
Even at 16.5 mph we were below the 16.7 average we would need. Without stops. But then we began to falter.
Meg, of slight build, was getting shredded in the wind. We encouraged her to ride third wheel while we took turns up front in the wind. Jimmy was of slight build, too, so I always looked to latch onto Chris’ wheel because Jimmy didn’t offer me much to draft behind.
At New Smyrna Beach, we tried to follow the beach route, 1A, and stopped at a 7-Eleven. I started talking to a young couple, which led to a discussion that you can’t get there from here. We turned around.
Directions were generally awful on this trip. There was little planning ahead of time. The routes were not communicated to the team ahead of time, so no one could load those on their bike computers. And they consisted of wrong turns. And we found one mainly because our route had not been communicated to us.
Back on route, we followed U.S. Route 1, a most dangerous road with small shoulders and 60 mph traffic. Unlike two days earlier, we had no one behind us “blocking” for us. It was open season on cyclists for the cars that blew by, as one intentionally flew by within 12 inches or so.
Our support driver, Liz Kaplan, had left us to drive back to Jacksonville to pick up the CEO, who was at the Mayo Clinic. We had no support (other than the 7-Eleven). So there were four of us to ride with no support and to bring in the CEO mid-ride so he could go for a bike ride. It was a clown show.
Ultimately, the CEO was able to join us at Mile 53. But he had to wait for him. I knew our time to finish the century was doomed.
We had a strong team. But we weren’t properly notified ahead of time, needed to leave before the dedication circle to have enough time, needed proper directions and support that would stay with us. But it was typical of the way the ride director handled this trip.
As we approached Titusville, I saw a high bridge and told the group we would cross the bridge and finish there. You would think that our support or the CEO would be time-aware and know how far to go, yet I had to make the call for them. Someone had to be the adult on the ride. We had a fixed finish time, which we would not meet, and the waterside park offered stunning vistas. And it looked like a fun bridge to cross, so we went across it and got some neat photos.
We put our bikes on the truck and hurried down to Vero Beach to Bent Pine Golf Club, where we were guests for the evening. Dinner was hosted by one of our riders’ parents at the golf club. Of course, it wasn’t just dinner. It was a fundraiser. Of course it was. We were instructed to sit among members of the club, and maybe they could get $10,000 out of these folks.
I don’t know if they did.
- Actually, I knew that I would never be riding with the leader of the group, Brian. He wanted to be the alpha male in the group, and he couldn’t do that if we were in the same group. ↩︎
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