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TOSRV 2005 |
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This is a TOSRV 2005 trip report for a group of 5 riders - Bob C, Mark C, Mike D, G.R., and Ed - on our first TOSRV.
First, there are apparently several rides called TOSRV. Somebody should grab hold of this and see to it.
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These things have come up in our newbie research about TOSRV--
I plotted the course for an elevation profile, marking the rest stops: TOSRV : Friday May 6, 2005We'd arranged for rooms at the Hyatt. Directions were excellent, the drive from Pittsburgh was about 4.5 hours. There was a certain amount of logistical gridlock involved- stop at the hotel, unload bags, unload bikes, move the car, check in, move the bikes upstairs- but the hotel staff was helpful and it went smoothly.Registration was well-run. We'd all requested baggage tickets and sleeping space in Portsmouth HS, but we'd found another place to stay and the TOSRV folks quickly gave us baggage checks for the "independent" baggage process. There was a trade show in the lobby, several vendors selling clothing, last minute accessories, tubes etc. It was the best collection of bike stuff I've seen. I bought a few 2004 t-shirts for my kids and also some SBSP socks. After we'd moved all our stuff and registered it was getting late, and there weren't a lot of dinner options around. Mike asked the concierge and got a recommendation for a brew-house a few blocks away. The maitre-d' said there's be an hour wait, but as we walked by a fairly empty outdoor dining area the waiter said he'd seat us immediately, so we seized the chance and had a good carbo meal- pasta, bread, beer. TOSRV : Satuday May 7, 2005Woke up to cold (47F), wet (light sprinkles), and dark at about 0530. I hate cold, wet, and dark. Decided to wear shorts, short-sleeve jersey, jacket, polypro glove liners, and a rain cover on my helmet.
Once we'd offloaded the baggage, we were ready to go except: No breakfast! No gatorade! Einstein's Bagels was closed! So we posed for the obligatory group photo, we ran into some other Beaver County riders (John and Matt), and we got underway. Next time we'll have gatorades and bagels stashed in our rooms the night before. The Start : Weather, BreakfastWe started in light sprinkles which matured into rain, cold rain, and I hate being cold and wet. Navigation was pretty easy - you just watched the thousand people in front of you, and there were good markings painted on the street. After a few blocks we passed an Einstein's Bagels which was open, and we considered stopping but thought we'd get some riding done and stop at the next place that appeared - big mistake, no more food / stores for a very long time.In the car on the way out we'd been discussing Carmichael's new book on bicycling nutrition, and yet on Saturday morning we started out without breakfast. Sometimes events overcome plans. Mark talked with a rider who's freewheel had locked up, said a local had offered some special oil that freed it immediately but to his chagrin he couldn't remember the name of the stuff, it was something like Karo. Bob (who's got a farm) knew the name immediately: Kroil, a well-known penetrating oil. It rained for the first 30 miles. Mike, GR, and Bob rode ahead, Mark brought up the vanguard with me. It was miserable. Our shoes, socks, and feet were soaked. Approaching the first rest stop in Circleville, the rain started diminishing; we saw a convenience store and bought Gatorade and some doughnuts, and we saw a Laundromat across the street.
Departing the laundromat we saw the Circleville rest stop, and we entered to see if the others were there waiting on us. Bob's wheel had come apart on him, and he'd been to a local bike shop and got another wheel for the bike, and he was really impressed at the LBS's efforts. We are indebted to two excellent local bike experts:
So, the time that we spent with the dryers hadn't slowed down the group. We met a few more Beaver County riders - Debbie and Mary. Debbie was suffering from the cold and scrounged a polartec vest. There was one rider in the first aid truck that the local VFD came out for, she was wrapped in blankets and I thought it might be hypothermia. The rest stop had bagels, pastry, breakfast bars, hot chocolate, coffee, and we were very glad to have it. Departed the Circleville rest stop (at the 30 mile point) with a fairly simple run to the Chillicothe rest stop (50 mile point). The rain had stopped, the sun was coming out and it was great. There was a respectable headwind.
Halfway at Chillicothe We pulled into the halfway rest stop as a group, it was like a big fair- big food tent, a drinks tent, a band on the stage. There were several bike shop trucks with expert mechanics tending to the many needs, and I asked one to look at my front derailleur because I was getting a lot of chain noises, and he fixed it right up. Departing Chillicothe was a bit of a puzzle. The park was big and heavily treed, so you couldn't see where people were exiting, and we did a little reconnoitering before we found the path. Chillicothe (50 miles) to Waverly (75 miles) is the hilly section, nothing onerous but we were a bit slower. No rain, still pretty windy.
On a sad note, in Waverly at 1pm Saturday, a 55-year-old cyclist from Valcott, N.Y., collapsed behind the Dairy Queen on Ohio 104, and was declared dead on arrival at the local hospital. Read a poignant report here. After Waverly the course leveled out as advertised, still a few small risers but nothing major. We'd been warned about the train track crossing at Rushtown, and it was well marked, there was carpet across the track, they did a very good gob of managing it. But the manuevering for the carpet and a perpendicular angle required your attention, and if you were fast and in a crowded pack I could see it going wrong.
We rode across town to the bag pickup point, identified our luggage (which was all there, and dry) and negotiating with the local Jaycees to deliver the bags to the church we'd be staying in. As we were shuttling around between the various stops Bob had a flat. We found the church, they were very hospitable and gave us the run of their upstairs spaces for our quarters. With our bags and bikes secured, we had an all-you-can-eat pasta dinner which was wonderful. The people in town were TOSRV-friendly. There were some local people at the dinner, one lady heard we weren't staying at a hotel and invited the group of us to spend the night at her house, which was very nice of her. After dinner we showered, set up our sleeping arrangements, and got to bed. Lights out was around 2200, and we agreed to try to be on the road the next morning at 0630. Our average speed for the day was 15 mph, and our distance was 110 miles. Sunday May 8, 2005 : Mother's DayI went to sleep Saturday pleased with having ridden 110 miles, but I awoke Sunday with the realization that now we'd have to ride back. The morning was cold and quite foggy. There was an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast which we trooped into at 0530 and I think we may have been the first arrivals. The pancake maestro, operating under the name Chris Cakes, delighted in flipping your pancakes over to you, through the air, sometimes across surprising distances. We'd never seen it before so we were surprised, but a few veterans came in and were holding their plates out, ten feet away from the serving line, ready to catch their pancakes as he tossed them. It was very impressive. The good folks from the Jaycees came and picked up our bags at about 0600, and we were on the road on schedule, pedalling out of Portsmouth at 0640. The first mile or so was a bit of a test of will as we were all a bit stiff and the fog was quite chilly. The fog was dense and clammy, visibility was down to a quarter-mile at times, and we joined what seemed a long line of single-file riders riding out of town. It would have made for a good ghost story. The fog was so thick that I was wondering about the wisdom of being out there, but once we climbed out of the river bottom it improved significantly, and shortly after that the skies cleared. We stopped at the first convenience store out of Portsmouth for Gatorades, then continued on.
With Sunday's first 30 miles behind us, we set off for Chillicothe. We rode in a group. I was drafting off Bob, he's a strong consistent rider, but I got ahead of myself and wheel-tapped my front wheel against his rear wheel. No crashing or injury, which was lucky, but it was a fair warning. Then, for our last flat of the weekend, Mike had a flat just short of the rest stop. Lunch at Chillicothe was great. Where yesterday our lunchstop faced the uncertainty of what lay ahead, today's lunch stop enjoyed the the confidence of being half-way done and knowing what remained. The famed Keyboard/bike musician was there playing. GR learned that the first aid stop was dispensing sunscreen, and Mark and I availed ourselves of some SPF15 goop. We rejoined Matt, John, and Diane B. Departed the rest stop with a fast pace line, they were holding 21 mph and I managed to stay with them (until I dropped off); I understand they subsequently picked up the speed a bit. I was feeling a bit hot, then I stopped at a Boy Scout water stand for a drink and realized (DOH) that I was still wearing my helmet's rain cover; once I took that off and exposed the vents to the breeze I cooled off pretty well. The group rejoined at the last rest stop, Circleville. Mike had had a flat just before the stop. We kept our group of five together for this last segment. With ten miles to go and the Columbus skyline in sight, we stopped at Boy Scout station. There was a patch of gravel where I botched the dismount and did a horizontal track stand, lying down still attached to the bike. There was a really nice tandem sporting John Deere livery. Finally, the last ten miles. Since we had our heads down in the rain when we started on this segment, for me it seemed like I was seeing this section for the fist time. Once we got into the city, the navigation (signs and road markings) seemed a bit spotty; we loved the nav tools for the whole ride, but ended up asking for directions at the Finish. Went into the hotel, got our TOSRV Certificates. Got the cars, changed to street clothes, and an hour after we road into town we were driving out to go home. We'd started at 0640 and rode to the finish at 1550. Home at 9 pm. I was really pleased at the condition of my hands and seat compared to other high-distance days.
Lessons Learned
The TOSRV final report says there were 2,942 TOSRV riders; 54% completed the tour. | |||||||||||
We'd agreed to meet in the lobby at 0630, so most of us were up earlier tweaking our bikes, packing our overnight bag to go to Portsmouth, packing the rest in a bag to leave in the vehicle. There was (as expected) some backup in the elevator queue, hundreds (thousands?) of people with big bulky bikes trying to move through the elevators. But we all got downstairs, checked out, moved our "car" bags back to the cars, then we carried our "overnight" bags to a series of rented trucks and put our bags inside the trucks for transport to Portsmouth. Bob's bag was a bit heavy (containing a metal folding bed) and there was a concern about a weight restriction, but there was no problem.
We both dreaded a day in wet shoes, so we went over and found a handful of other riders who were using the dryers. We put our shoes and socks in a dryer, we leaned up against the machines to warm ourselves, and 4 quarters and 40 minutes later we had dry, warm feet. Stopping in the laundromat is possibly the smartest thing I've ever done on a bike ride.
Mary had a flat and Bob had a folding tire he lent her. Subsequently Bob got a flat, but he was able to use his spare tube and a C02 cannister to get back on the road. Approaching Chillicothe there's a prison complex in stark contrast to the multi-colored nuts on bicycles.
Approaching Waverly we stopped at a convenience store for some bottled Gatorade and a clean privy, then we rode to the rest stop. In general, the rest stops were very good about food, but if you want a predicatable drink you're on your own, and there's not a lot of convenience stores along the route. The Lake White rest stop is very pretty, sitting above the lake, you leave your bike below and walk up stairs for the rest stop.
Entering Portsmouth was a treat, the route goes by a flood wall with a series of murals on them, very nicely done. We arrived at the finish to find a large park crowded with people. Hot dogs, cokes, and beer was available, there was a band playing. The massage tent had probably 24 tables with a 15-minute leg massage going for $15. We got some hot dogs and cokes and then went out on search of our bags.
Approaching Lake White/Waverly, Mark and I made a Gatorade stop, where I saw a tandem using 
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