Special Report: GOBA 2022 Day 4 Wapakoneta, to New Bremen and Back Part 2 of 2
Tuesday, June 21, 2022, Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure
Part 2 of 2. When we last left you I was drafting a group of fast cyclists from Missouri. Scott from the Dayton Cycling Club was on my tail doing a lot better than I was.
We had followed this group thinking they were going to lead up to the lunch stop which we soon found out was not going to happen but we continued. We had been on this group traveling around 18 to 20 miles an hour mostly with a headwind. My legs were in high-intensity aerobic and anaerobic mode. My glucose and its stored form as glycogen stores in my muscles were getting depleted. This is when a condition cyclists call “bonking” is most likely but it can happen at less than high intensity as well. Symptoms include but are not limited to extreme fatigue, hunger, confusion, anxiety, and emotional irritability. Also may experience tremors, sweating, feeling light-headed, and dizziness. In the business of health care, we refer to it as Hypoglycemia, low blood sugar. It is usually temporary and subsides with rest and ingestion of carbohydrates. As a diabetic, I’m familiar with the causes and consequences and I have with me a high glucose source of candy just in case.
This spring I have not had enough training at a high-intensity level to justify doing what I was doing. I have done some sprinting but in very short intervals, not enough to make any significant difference.
My dietary habit was completely turned on its head since the start of GOBA. Gone from the cities and towns are the all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants. I would load up on veggies and fruits till my stomach distorted into a typical dad-bod beer belly. Even the lack of a good cup of coffee was detrimental. Dinners consisted of carnival food; brats, and beer. Pulled pork and chicken, an occasional small scoop of potato salad, and a serving spoon of beans. Salads were in the expensive restaurants out on the periphery of town. My daily fiber intake of 30 to 40 a day dropped to 5 to 10gms. The only reason my blood glucose didn’t skyrocket was that the portions were small. Hoping it would improve later this week in Troy.
With all that my crazy competitive brain took control of my body and was speeding along the route burning precious glucose and the stored glycogen. After 9 miles, 8 of which were in high intensity I was on the verge of total collapse. With a mile to go, I can see the next rest stop, the Villa Nova carry out in St Mary’s. That was it, I sent an urgent cease and desist order to my brain to disengage our pursuit. Since my brain wasn’t getting its full complement of vital glucose it complied.
Today I went way beyond pushing the envelope. I can’t say if it was ego or the competitive drive that pushed me. All I know is it felt good, damn good. The endorphins I released will stay with me for a short while and ease some of the pain but the fog of exhaustion will remain a lot longer. We still have some 19 miles to ride yet before I get back to my tent which sat in the hot sun all day.
St Mary Villa Nova Carry Out stop.
Parked the bike along the wall in the shade as other bikers were leaving. I made my way into the air-conditioned store and found a large bottle of G2 and an apple pie encrusted with glazed sugar. With the bottle in my hand and the apple pie under my arm, I reached for and poured a large cup of coffee throwing in ice from the pop dispenser. The line at the counter went quickly and I sat at the counter near the window. I saw Sue from Silver Wheels nearly fall off her bike as she hobbled into the store. She sat at the booth behind me and said her calf has been sore for a couple of days and was at its worst now. Someone had given her kinetic tape to apply to the back of her calf. Insisted she will finish the ride today.
Riding with Jan.
I was still in a state of exhausted fog when Jan arrived in the store. I met Jan Sunday and we had a pleasant conversation on our bikes. She worked at University Hospital as a dietician. I retired from UH in 2013 and she knew some of the people I worked with. I have a dietician from Metrohealth I was working with since my heart attack in 2019 but Jan was different. She had answers to my questions and mentioned a program at UH I should look into for my diabetic care. I had inquired with my Metrohealth Nurse Practitioner, rehab nurses, and my cardiologist about information that would be of benefit to a diabetic with a wounded heart. All I got was the same song and dance I would give my cardiac patients 20 years ago; Eat well, get some exercise, and stop smoking. There is got to be more.
Glynwood water stop.
I don’t remember what we talked about but the time flew by. She was staying in the motel a couple of miles from the campground and I had my sauna tent for the night. We did agree to meet at the Armstrong Air and Space Museum later after we cleaned up and changed.
Meet at Armstrong Air and Space Museum.
I had her phone number and I texted her a message. A half-hour goes by and I didn’t get a reply. I was deciding if I should take my bike or take the shuttle which there was only one school bus running and will take some time to make its rounds. She may have had other plans and I did want to see the museum so I got on the bus as it just arrived at the campground. The bus was crowded and I sat next to a middle-aged woman doing the bike tour. She is from central Pennsylvania but had lived in Brunswick a few years ago. Has children but are spread out over the country. She got off at an early stop to go to a Mexican restaurant. The bus continued down a busy Bellefontaine St. It was at the Walmart stop when I got a reply from Jan. She is at the Air Museum now. Her texted message said her phone went dead. I texted back it was my next stop. The bus pulled into the museum driveway and dropped off a group of us GOBA tourists at the front door of the museum. Earlier while we waited for the bus several people were told by the GOBA staff the museum was free by showing your GOBA band. The museum never got the memo and charged us. At least they had a senior rate.
It didn’t bother me. As you do these GOBA tours misinformation is part of the mystique. So I came prepared. I walked the halls and absorbed the information on Armstrong’s life in the military and his work on the early Apollo missions. Many artifacts from the 1960s which I remember as a child. I can still remember the awe and thrill of the first moon landing and watching it on our little TV set in the dining room.
A few words about the moon landing deniers: If anyone came up to me to tell me the entire moon landing was faked I would reply with the same answer Buzz Aldrin gave a similar person, my fist in their face. That kind of ignorance defies all logic. The simple truth is back in the 1960’s we did not possess any method or technology that could produce a fake landing. End of story!
Walked the entire museum and there was no sign of Jan. As I walked to the exit near the entrance I caught glimpse of a white hat with a black stripe someone was holding in her hand walking into the museum. I’ve seen that hat before.
Without calling her I made myself obvious to find when she would turn around. And each time she would turn the opposite way of where I thought she would turn. I believe the fog of exhaustion hit her as hard as it hit me. Finally, I stood where she had to see me. Yea! She found Waldo!
We walked the museum and marveled at the exhibits. As we left the exhibit we ran into one of Jan's friends she is staying with at the motel, Visobe. They were meeting a few other friends and decided on the Mexican restaurant, the El Azteca across the street. I asked if I could tag along and they agreed.
Dinner with Girls from Silver Wheels Cycling.
Jan had ridden her bike and worked her way across the busy traffic. I used my google maps to point me in the right direction. I had showered and changed and felt much better than at the end of the ride. I got to the front breezeway before the others arrived and sat down on a chair in the air-conditioned waiting area. I noticed Jan was trying to find a place for her bike in various places around the parking lot to lock it up. I asked the manager if it was alright to put it in the waiting area as it was rather spacious and wouldn’t hinder customer traffic, she agreed, I went out to look for her and she was way in the back of the building when I motioned to her to bring her bike inside. We all found our way and got a good table. Vicki, June, Visobe, Jan, and me. And they all belong to the Silver Wheels Cycling Club. Go figure! Sue will tell you the story of how I ended up in the Silver Wheels group picture that got published at the 2018 GOBA.
You may not have noticed but this was going to be a business trip for me. My commodity? Mickey, my sailing cat, and me. Well, more specifically, the Sailing Saga of the Sea Marie. Our solo sailing adventure around the Great Loop. An invitation to visit my website and join us as we relive the journey of a lifetime.
After dinner we parted company, Jan and Visobe went to their motel, and Vicki and June, and I were to take the bus back to the campground. It was a long wait but the company was engaging making the time go by fast.
June had a problem to solve. She is staying at the motel by the restaurant we just left and her bike is at the campground 2 miles away. How does she get her bag and bike together at 7 am in the morning at the fairground to start our ride to Troy? She worked out several scenarios involving cabs, riding the bus, and biking, and no one found out what she actually did. The mystery remains unsolved.
I returned to my tent oven and started to pack away items I didn’t need for the night. The water station was nearby and I filled my water bottles, all 4 for the ride tomorrow.
Tomorrow: mandatory ride to Troy City Park.