CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, VIRGINIA
In 2019 this ride was Ride Home Roads, a local ride sponsored by Ben King. In 2020 the Covid monster took it so it was virtual. I won something for a post about riding my home roads but did not collect a prize.
The ride did not exist in 2021 or 2022 but came back this year. And it was also billed as Ben King’s retirement ride. Ben was retiring from being a pro cyclist, most recently with Human Powered Health.
But when it came out this year, it had a new name. It was now benefiting Olivia’s Light. Ben and Jenna started Olivia’s Light to raise awareness of rare genetic disorder and to assist parents who find themselves in a similar situation. Olivia, this ride is for you.
Olivia King was Ben and Jenna King’s second child, their first daughter. Jenna had a normal pregnancy but there was a problem when she was born. This blog cannot properly describe Olivia’s short life and you are encouraged to read Olivia’s Story.
I had parked at a lumber yard about 1/4 mile away. I rode to registration. I picked up my bib number and a swag bag (nice bag) and took it back to the car and attached my number.
I rode back to the start and waited for the mass start at 9:15 am. Before “wheels down” (the start of the ride) Ben was presented with a signed jersey for his 2015 UCI Championships. Teammates, Brent Bookwalter, and two other teammates had signed the jersey. Probably two of these three, Tyler Farrar, Alex Howes, Taylor Phinney, but I couldn’t hear the names.
My plan today was to ride the Metric distance (100 km or 62.1 miles). But there would be 4-5 miles shaved off because yesterday the department of public works in Caroline Co. (or maybe VDOT) put down fresh chip and seal on one of the roads. No one wanted to ride on fresh tar. No one.
Ben and his friends, including Jeremiah Bishop and USA Women’s Road Race Champion, Emma Langley, were at the front and eventually would want to hammer it. Maybe not by there standards but certainly by mine. But first there was a police escort for two miles in a neutral rollout (no racing).
I didn’t want to try and stay with the big group. My goal was to finish safely. I am leaving for Europe tomorrow and I didn’t want to take fresh road rash or a broken collarbone. Or a broken bike. And besides, there was no way I could ride at 23-24 mph at that distance even sitting in the group.
I decided that I wanted to be near the rear of the 100 km group. There was also a 70 km group. In a race this would be the grupetto or autobus. We would all ride and finish together and make the time cut for the day (even though this ride did not have a time cut).
Even in the neutral rollout there were riders anxious to pass me and others trying to get to the front. And if your goal was to ride with the front group you would miss that being with me in the back.
Eventually I could see a split up ahead. And then two. And I was perfectly positioned. I was behind two riders, a man and a woman, perhaps husband and wife, and he was doing all the pulling. If he ever moved over and let her go to the front I would have followed and did my turn in the wind. But he never moved and after a couple joined us we probably had 5-6 riders in our small grupetto.
Eventually on a small climb they pulled over to check a mechanical, I think. I kept going and joined up with some others. We all pulled into Rest 1 which was probably at 20 miles.
I did not stay long, grabbed one strawberry pop tart (not one package but one) and took off down the road. I should have waited and jumped in with a group but I would ride the next 20 miles solo. No one passed me (where were the groups?) and I passed one rider.
At the second rest I timed it to leave when 8-10 others did. Actually I had to chase to catch them and then joined in. Whereas the second portion was a solo ride, the third portion was in a group. It probably wasn’t the grupetto, in fact I was way ahead of the stragglers, but was something in between Ben’s group and the last riders.
The only thing frustrating for this rider is with one exception, I’ve never been on a group ride where people really know how to ride a pace line. This was more of the same. We may have had 10 riders and at no time were we rotating pulls. One or two people stayed at the front and the rest followed. We simply rode in a line all wheel suckers. I shouldn’t feel bad that I rarely contributed. Learn to ride a pace line.
I didn’t feel like I went deep at any point in the ride. That part was good. At the end I averaged 18.0 mph which may be my high for 2023. It was a very good ride.
Lunch was too-heavy burritos. An auction followed. Four items were auctioned off – a signed USA team jersey, a private bike ride with Ben (and lunch), a private fishing trip at Smith Mountain Lake with Ben and his dad, and Ben’s 2015 MTB.
My estimate was it brought in $600, $600, $2500, and $3300. In addition Alliance presented Olivia’s Light with a $10,000 check. The second part of the auction was the solicitation of donations. It started with $1000 and one or two people raised their hands. Then $500. I was able to put my hand up for $100. In all the event raised $40,000.
Ben and Jenna are two wonderful people. I had met Ben before but this was the first time meeting Jenna. Very pregnant I asked her how scars she was and she said not at all because she knows God is in control. Wonderful people.
It will soon be 40 years since we lost Lindsay. The pain is always there at her birthday and death anniversary. It is there because we loved and we love. Ben and Jenna loved and it will always be there for them as well.
But for a day they could celebrate the difference in people’s lives because of Olivia. Sometimes the smallest among us make the biggest impact.
EPILOGUE – Ben and Jenna had a healthy baby in October.
