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400k - Saturday 06/02/2007Westfield, MA - My 2nd, successful attempt at 400k.
This is my chance to redeem myself. After my failed attempt at 400, I am more determined than ever. Our 1:00am start does not allow me to get any sleep, as usual, and when I get to the start, I realize that I'm the only woman in the group. I was hoping to be able to ride through the night with others but now I'm not so sure, this looks like a group of strong riders... It takes me only 3 miles to start lagging behind the group. I'm up for a very lonely ride. 
I get to the first checkpoint and although nobody's there, a small group of volunteers welcomes me with breakfast goodies. I quickly gobble down a nutritious breakfast and off I go. There is a small portion of this road that is familiar to me, it goes by the Jiminy Peak ski resort, up and down Brodie mountain before crossing into New York State. It's on this stretch of the road that it starts raining really heavy. I will spend the rest of the day putting on and taking off my rain gear...
The ride to the mid-point in Saratoga Springs goes through a mountain village aptly named Alps, it sure felt like climbing the Alps to get there! I'm about 50 km from the half-way mark when I notice the first riders coming back and cheering me on. That is mind-boggling to me but by no means discouraging. I've had some trouble with my shifters in this portion of the ride, the half-way checkpoint is a bike store where I ask for help and I get tended to immediately given my race against time. A bike mechanic tunes my shifters while I refill, eat and use their facilites. On the way back it begins to pour, the rain comes down so strong it hampers my visibility but I cannot afford to waste time, so after putting on all the rain gear I have, I press on to the checkpoint at the bottom of Brodie mountain. a local cyclist sits at my table as I'm eating a sandwic and strikes up a conversation that keeps me hooked for about an hour! That gives me time to gather my strengths to climb Brodie mountain, after which is just a matter of pushing up a few more hills before getting back to Westfield. I'm one hour away from the end when in the distance I see a bike light approaching in the opposite direction. I soon realize that Petr is biking towards me to keep me company during the last stretch. It's foggy, damp, and dark, I'm grateful for his company. A van comes up to us from behind, slows down and ask us if we need any bagels. It's the brevet organizer's volunteers out on reconnaisance mission. I assure them that we are fine and with just a final push we are in at midnight sharp. I get my well-deserved last stamp and I am officially the first woman in from this brevet (which sounds a lot nicer than the last rider in). All in all, this was a great success, a brevet that I fully enjoyed from start to finish!
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