As is normal for me, I’ve done a lot of post ride
analysis of my DNF. To briefly recap, I rode strongly the first day
(223 miles with more than 10K feet of vertical). I DNF’d after 137
miles and lots of climbing on the second day with
back pains so severe I could barely stand to push the pedals.
I was in Sunnyside, WA. I arrived at the control
at 16:20 and had until 09:10 the next day to ride the 97 miles to the
next control so I was under absolutely no time pressure. I stopped at
the control, got my brevet card signed and then
lay down and stretched my back for a while. I walked over to an
adjacent Burger King and got something to eat then stretched some more.
I then went around the side of the building and lay down and stretched
even more and perhaps even dozed off for 20 minutes
or so. Got up and stretched some more.
I set off at about 18:00 and tried to keep riding.
I made it about 1.5-2 miles and just couldn’t stand it anymore. I
turned around, went back to the Burger King and called the ride
coordinator to tell them I was done. DNF.
I then called my wife to come and get me. We got a
hotel room in Sunnyside, had dinner and went to bed. Started the drive
home the next day tail firmly planted between my legs.
I honestly thought at the time that I’d done everything I could do to keep going.
However.
There was a hotel right next to the Burger King. What if:
-
I’d gotten a room in the hotel.
-
Gone in and taken a long, hot bath to relax my back.
-
Slept for 3-4 hours.
-
And then set out for the next control.
Chances are it wouldn’t have made a damned bit of difference.
BUT
The worst thing that would have happened is I would have ended up at a hotel in Sunnyside which is where I ended up anyway.
AND
it JUST MIGHT have worked. The combination of a
hot bath, some stretching and laying on a bed for a few hours MIGHT have
allowed me to continue.
At this point, I’ll never know and as I said in my
Cascade ride report I did everything I could think of at the time to
continue and I’m at peace with my decision to DNF.
The point of this already lengthy post is this: it
absolutely never even occurred to me to try the hotel/bath/sleep
option. Never crossed my mind, not once. I thought I’d tried
everything I could do to keep going but there was this other
option that I never even considered.
So, lesson learned: if you’re thinking about
quitting and aren’t under time pressure make sure you’re open minded
about things you might try.
Food for thought
