Bike Virginia - Sir Duke

The wildcard rider on this trip was James, the classicly featured cowboy hatted ex-RA from Tuscarora known as the Duke. Could this father of 6, who runs several of his own businesses, be up to the task? His training regimen had been secretive. Indeed, we weren't sure if he had yet purchased a road worthy bike!

The Dream we knew to be in tip top form (see my former post), and Ed the Head aka Mercxx the triathlete celebrity from DC was equally a known quantity. With over 3000 bike miles logged this year, yours truly, a newbie to the triathlete circuit, was raring to go. But what about Sir Duke?

If it's one thing we knew about the Duke, it was that he is a dogged competitor and natural at whatever sport he attempts. As for example when challenged to lawn darts at the Piedome, he performed under pressure when he nearly solo handedly put the screws to Sparky to eke out a "V". (In this case, the "V" stands for both victory and for a vendetta immediately put out by Sparky who is currently tuning up for his ultimate revenge match later next week at the Piedome.)

But biking is a sport that requires above all else, experience. You need to put in the miles to get to know your bike, to shift at the right times and in the right gears, to build up your aerobic capacity to complete the century, and to build up and fine tune those leg muscles whether climbing or sprinting.

The first ride was a metric century (100K). The crew, with fresh legs put Duke to the test. We settled into a rather moderate pace and looked back...Duke was hanging on. We ran up the hills without slowing a bit and looked back and Duke was hanging on. We completed the first leg to the rest area and Duke was with us. Indeed, he was with us the whole way!

How is it possible? Do not the laws of physics apply equally to all men? Apparently not, as Duke showed us throughout this Bike Virginia that it can be done. Duke had many years of staying fit, and incredible athletic prowess. This combined with a sharp mind that quickly picked up on the necessary riding skills and techniques allowed him to stay with the pack for most of the tour despite the paltry number of miles on the bike prior to the event.




There were some minor setbacks, but none that were not expected. Duke was new to bike shoes and did not have his cletes properly adjusted, making it difficult for him to get out of them (we all went through this). He did take a minor spill as a result of getting stuck in the pedal that resulted in a skinned knee.




And there were some surprises. Duke had never changed a flat tire before, so when his tire flatted on the dreaded Battleground, not far from where the British surrendered, he relied on instincts and some minor instructions and changed the flat in what seemed like record time for a beginner. In fact, he enjoyed the experience so much that when Dean picked up every shard of glass and such and flatted three tires, and when my tire was ripped apart by the Battleground turf, the Duke was there to lend a ready and needed hand. Thank you Sir Duke.

Bike Virginia - The Dream

One of the joys of riding in an event such as Bike Virginia is the chance to ride along roads for seemingly endless miles without stopping for a stop light or for traffic. Most roads we encountered were major backroads that had no stop signs for many, many miles. And, at major intersections, they had Police stopping traffic to wave you on. This meant we could open up and hammer with only the wind in front of us.

When I use the word hammer, the man that comes to mind is Dean "The Dream". Dean was part of our foursome and is a former Elite class runner who, up until knee surgery while in his 40s, was running at a 5:30/mile pace at local 10K and 5 mile races. To someone like myself who has yet to break a 9:00/mile pace, this is a seeming impossibility!

Now, you take the Dream and you put him in a gym for a few years, have him take spin classes and do multi hour elliptical workouts and then set him loose on Bike Virginia and what do you think you get? An explosion that is impressive to watch. Even at the end of a 100 mile day at pretty impressive speeds, Dean was still ready to hammer and I bet he had another 100 miles in him for that day.

While I know some folks in my bike club that would give their left nut to have Dean's skills, Dean is humble to the core about his talent (and hard work). No fancy bike shirts sporting Italian racing vendors. No tatoos. No carbon bike with aero bars. No shirts that say "Stop Whinning and Keep Climbing" (yes, we did see such shirts on our tour).

For Dean it's a Garciapara Tshirt, racing shoes and an off the rack low end racer for a bike that he keeps in mothballs in Virgina to be ridden twice maybe three times a year. During BVA, the Dream was at times moving so fast people didn't have enough time to read that name on the back of his shirt. Oh yeah, there was this one fellow who managed to get a glimpse of it and so he says to Dean "Funny, you don't look Spanish." And that conversation confirmed that intelligent tests are not a prerequisite to riding Bike Virginia.

One particular ride, we spot a pace line with members in matching shirts. The logo across the back reads -- "The Lard Butts". In a classic case of understatement (or is it irony), they proceed to whiz by us. Dean mentions that he remembered seeing them on a former BVA ride and that they were a pretty fast group despite their name. Next time around, we caught up with them and they pulled us for a good 20 miles without one stop, averaging between 22-24 MPH. It was an amazing pull, and although I have been on faster pulls, never for that long a distance. Dean turns around to look at me, beaming, he states, "You know I love this". Did I mention that the Dreams other nickname is the Flash?