Today was the 2021 Spooktacular Morbid Metric Century ride in Bakersfield. I trained and prepared for it and it paid off. I woke up around 4:10 AM. I followed my morning agenda list. My primary concern was to mitigate the GI pains that I have now and again. For breakfast I had a nice sized bowl of oatmeal with a bit of a sweetener. The body agreed with it. I had no bad reactions. I put my gear in the car before wearing my ride kit. I took my time. I had a slight appetite, so I munched about half of a Cliff Bar. When I was ready, I did a double check and then headed out. It was around 6 am-ish. So, it was still dark out. Driving in the night is a bit disorienting. I don’t normally drive at night, so I was a bit on the defensive driving attitude. Nevertheless, I made it to the parking lot with no mishaps. I had most of the routine memorized. I went to the check-in booth and got my rider’s pack. It turns out that they didn’t use pin-on bib numbers. They gave out small bib number stickers. I ended up putting it on the front of my helmet. I continued with my routine by getting the bike and gear ready. It was colder than I anticipated. I decided to wear my arm and knee warmers. I also wore my skull cap. I’m glad I made that decision. I kept the gear on for about 2 hours. I took a photo of my car (as was planned). After reviewing my pre-ride checklist, I shoved off at about 7:30 AM. It was cold. My hands felt the worse. Everything else was tolerable. For the first few miles, I was going through the “did I bring everything I need” thinking. It took about 2 minutes to realize that I did. But, I kept thinking about if I closed the passenger side doors. The road to the Edison Hwy went quick. I think it took about 38-ish minutes from the moment I started. The wind was mild and mostly from the Northeast. The legs were cooperating. I did my best to micro-manage the physical signs as the ride went on. I made it to the entrance of the “mountainous” region. I stopped once to check the photo that I took of the car. All doors were closed, so it was game on, no worrying about the “did I or didn’t I” way of thinking. I was feeling good, and I was able to keep a tempo that I felt able to go for miles and miles. No heroics. I was wondering how many riders I would see at this time. There were a few. I think I started later than most. I decided to stop before the climbs started. I removed my knee warmers and skull cap. The weather was warming up, so I was perfectly comfortable. I had a rough Idea how far the first rest stop was. I knew that I had to climb quite a bit. When the climbing legs settled in, the morale was feeling good. I think it was somewhere towards the last part of the first of many climbs that my left shin muscle started to become sore. I kept tabs on it. When I reached the rest stop, I tried to put on my face mask, but it wouldn’t stay put. Out of frustration, I decided to leave it off. The first thing I did was to take a bio. I had about one and a half fluids in my bottles. I decided to continue forward. I got back on the road and was thinking about the second rest stop. I assumed that it was where they normally have it. The morale was lifting because this was the best part of the ride. A bit more climbing and downhill into Caliente. When I reached Caliente, there was no rest stop. So, I did an assessment of my provisions. I had enough to make it to the turn-around point. I remembered that there was a rest stop there, so I didn’t panic. The left leg continued to be sore. I was changing my pedaling technique to mitigate it. After making it past the Caliente fork, I started to pay attention to the mileage. I knew that the ride was about 65 miles in distance. So, that meant the turn-around should be around 32.5 miles into the ride. I kept that in mind. When I reached 32 miles, I was expecting to see the turn-around in the near distance. When I reached 32.5 miles, there were no rest stops to be found. I was paying attention to the retuning riders, so I knew it couldn’t be much sooner. As I was nearing 33 miles, I saw the turn-around painted on the ground, but it was worn out. So, I knew it was from the previous year. I slowed down to about 5 miles an hour just doing a look-around. After gazing into the distance, I saw and individual standing on the side of the road about 3 or 4 hundred yards ahead. That was the turn-around, so I made my way there. I stopped to refill my water bottle and then got back on the road. I stopped about ¼ mile on the return. I decided to feed and mix a batch of Gatorade with the powder I brought with me. I did provisions check. I calculated that I would have enough to make it back to the next rest stop. The bio situation was on lock-down, so no issues there. I made my way back. There was a nice tailwind, so it went fast! Before I knew it, I was back to the Caliente post office (landmark). All the while, I was continuing to mitigate the ailing left leg. I had to climb my way out to get back to the last rest stop. Whatever I did on the way down, I had to do the same on the way up. The tailwind was mild but helpful. The climbing legs settled in; the feeling was familiar. The legs were responding well, all things considered. When I reached the last rest stop, I refilled my bottles one last time. No bio, no food, minimal contact. I rode to the top of the next descent. I pulled over to the side of the road and did the next feed. I mixed another batch of Gatorade and munched a second Cliff Bar. I was trying to stay sanitary. I used some satanizing lotion. I took my time, recomposed, and got back on the road. From here, it was mostly downhill. I knew exactly what I had to ride to get back. I kept the tempo steady and constantly changing pedaling technique. I was confident that I was going to make it back without a major body issue. My music helped so much! I was able to think about how many songs it would take to get to the next landmark. I kept the soreness in a corner of my mind where I wasn’t forced to think about. The last (short) climb out of the country-land was very gratifying. I had a tailwind to help me back. It was nice to see the numbers on the GPS rise. The miles went fast. I made it to the last right turn. The tailwind persisted to my liking. The bike was doing good, I was in slight pain, but I knew it was inevitable. It was mostly forgiving rolling terrain. Now and again, I checked the mileage on the GPS. I was ticking down the miles and I knew what I had left. This wasn’t a timed event, so I wasn’t thinking about emptying the tank. When I reached the park entrance, I was beginning to think about what to do when I got back. Firstly, I stopped the GPS at the start/stop (gated entrance). I got back to the car. (It was in one piece and all the doors were closed and locked). I got my shoes out of the car, put my exercise pants on, my baseball cap and went to checkout. Of course, I was wondering if they were going to give out medals, but not this year. Instead, I received recognition and a raffling ticket. When I got back to the car, I had lunch (P&J sandwich). I put my gear back in the car, did the walk-around and made my way back home. In retrospect… Concentration was good. I took the rehearsed approach. Staying active in the mind. Constantly scanning the road for debris. Keeping tabs on the muscle pains. Feeding, hydrating, bio. When I felt my mind drifting, I listened to the music, did some calculations and that got me by. Balance and form were good. I was pedaling in circles, and the climbing legs were there. Gear worked flawless. I haven’t checked the footage, but I’m confident that I captured the ride in its entirety. Ailments, my left shin. A bit of calf pain towards the last 5 miles. Minimal pains in the hands. I was a bit on the light-headed side when I reached the last rest stop. I knew I had to feed and that did the trick. Nutrition was perfect. I had a half Cliff Bar to start, and two more on the road. The powdered Gatorade worked like a charm. One 2021 Spooktacular Morbid Metric Century, done.