Ray, Ladd, and I all did the Ride Yellow event in Bay Minette. Ray and Ladd road in memory of Mom, and I rode in honor of Rick Collins. Ray signed up for the 62 mile ride, while Ladd and I signed up for the 35 miler. Ray went on ahead of us since we knew he would ride with one the faster groups that would start towards the front. Ladd and I stayed together for the first 15 miles. At one point he asked me what my heart rate was and I looked down and it was at 185 bpm which is very close to 100% for me. I hadn't excersised for exactly two weeks (since the Grandman) and I was really struggling. I told Ladd to go on. He waited for me at the rest stop at about mile 20. We refueled then got back on the road together, but I told him to just go on again. When I got back to the finish area Ladd was no where to be found. I was pretty sure he had decided to do the 62 mile loop after he left me. I was a little worried about him, because HE HAS ONLY HAD HIS BIKE FOR 3 WEEKS!! People train for months if not years before they do their first metric! You had to make your decision to ride the 62 mile loop at about mile 27 and just because you are feeling good at mile 27 has nothing to do with how he was going to feel at mile 40. I sat at the finish line and waited on Ray. He was probably in the top 10% of the fastest 62 mile finishers. I thought it would be AT LEAST an hour before we saw Ladd, so we went and put up gear and got some food at the after party. I looked up after about 30 minutes had passed and here comes Ladd. He was covered in salt and both hamstrings were cramping on him, but he did and he did it and he did it fast! Faster than a lot people who have been doing this for years.This ride was for a cause very personal to us and it was a great way for family to spend time together.
