Allen Muroski (Memphis, TN), Travis Werts (Nashville, TN), Jeff Bauer (Nashville, TN), Daniel Matheny (Murray, KY), Dustin Greer (Chapsmanboro, TN), Tod Williams (Cookeville, TN), Chris Curdiff (Clarksville, TN), Roger Orth (Evansville, IN), Carl Bowden (Gallatin, TN), Chris Allen (Greenville, KY), and Steve Wilson (Benton, KY)

The guys pictured above completed the Clarksville Century course in 3:53:00, represents an average of 25.751 mph over the 100 mile course. This is an unofficial time due to the presence of a tandem in the paceline.

The weather was just about perfect at the start of the event but by 10 A.M. had climbed into the low 80s with a wind building out of the west. The wind played a role in lowering the group's average speed over the final 30 miles, leaving room for improvement in future years.

Jeff Bauer was kind enough to describe the day in an email to us, noted below. Comments in blue are by a member of the support team:

A stoker's view of the 2005 Sunrise Century in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Last year I rode with Fredia Barry on a borrowed tandem bike. It was my first tandem ride but I enjoyed it so much that I later purchased a used tandem. On last year's ride, a "studly" tandem couple, Robert and Wendy Wells, led a group to finish the ride in 4:01:13. Obviously the challenge for 2005 would be to finish in less than four hours. To assist riders in breaking the 4 hour mark and to ensure safety, the ride organizers offered limited support to the lead peloton: three motorcycle marshals to control intersections, a SAG vehicle with water and food, and a police escort through Elkton, Kentucky..

A few weeks before the ride I contacted Travis Werts, a bike racer and employee at the Gran Fondo Bicycle Shop. Since he is a stronger and a better cyclist, he agreed to captain (ride the front position) our century ride. Travis added a new stem, an 11-tooth cog and adjusted his saddle height, but otherwise made no adjustments to the bike. Just before the ride, Charles (the SAG guy) asked for someone in the fast group to carry a receive-only radio so he could issue instructions to the peloton. A few people pointed to me, the stoker on the tandem, so I got elected. The radio was actually of limited usefulness, because I had little success verbally conveying messages to the other riders.

The official century ride started at 7:00 A.M., but was delayed a few minutes so the riders who hoped to establish a course record could depart first. I think we had approximately 100 riders who opted to try riding with the fast group. Over the radio I could hear some concerns from the marshals if they could handle such a large peloton. Within a few miles, however, 40 riders quickly got dropped off the back. The first few miles were hard for me because of the fast pace with little pre-ride warm-up. (Prior to the start we warned riders that the initial pace was likely to be in the 28-30 mph range. This proved to be the case, with numerous riders getting dropped in the first 5 miles.)

We took a couple of long pulls on the tandem, at one point overtaking a motorcycle marshal on the right as we urged him to speed up. We had no bike computer on the tandem, so I just used my wrist chronometer to estimate our distance (1 hour ~ 25 miles). At one point during the first hour someone said our average was 29 mph. (In some flats, before the wind picked up, the peloton was traveling 35 mph.) After the first hour things seemed to settle down into a routine. I was riding close to my limit, actually somewhere above my normal threshold, but Travis was smoothly in control of the tandem. Often he would have to ask for more power: especially up a slight incline, to bridge a short gap, or just to pull to the front of the peloton. I now have a better appreciation for being the stoker on a tandem. Since I couldn't see directly in front, I couldn't judge when to apply power without verbal cues from Travis. More often, probably, I was just getting lazy or mentally distracted and needed Travis to remind me to keep up the effort.

Somewhere before our course midpoint everyone agreed to take a brief roadside bathroom break, but people started moving again before everyone was ready. Our tandem took longer to get up to speed and we had to work a bit to get back on the peloton. Travis, who had reluctantly wore a Camelbak, took the opportunity to hand it off to the SAG car.

Charles had detailed information about the course and would communicate to me throughout the ride -- upcoming turns, elevation, etc. During the second hour he mentioned that it might appear that we were going slow, but were gradually gaining elevation. Not having a bike computer meant that we didn't really notice. At the 50 mile mark Charles mentioned that we were about 5 minutes ahead of schedule. He was probably basing his estimate on an even time split and I wasn't sure if we'd maintain this pace throughout the ride.

I learned some new things about riding a tandem with a group of fast riders. We had to work hard coming out of the turns, especially around sharp corners. Fortunately, we had the motorcycle marshals ahead to block the intersections and indicate which direction to turn. The tandem requires a greater turning radius, so if we were in the front this was less of an issue. At any rate, as the ride progressed Travis got comfortable and more aggressive with taking the tandem through the turns.

Another issue was the hills. It's true there aren't any real hills on the Clarksville Century, but any time we were climbing on the tandem, our bike + rider weight of almost 400 pounds would be at a temporary disadvantage to fast single riders with less than half our total mass. It was slightly annoying to have someone whip around us and create a gap after we'd just been pulling them. Travis was vocal about this on more than one occasion. It was especially galling as we were studiously working for the paceline even if it meant that we had to slow down or (horror!) even tap the brakes on the downhill side.

Not far from the 50 mile mark we were riding a fast four lane highway. (New 68/80 between Fairview and Elkton, Kentucky.) Initially we rode on the shoulder, but with the rumble strip and bits of debris Charles radioed that he'd block the cars in the outside lane so we could safely ride on clean pavement. We were on a slight incline and some riders were getting aggressive, wouldn't ride single file, and were moving too close to the center line. SAG was trying to get me to move everyone to the right because traffic was passing us in the inside lane at 65 mph. One rider refused, arguing with me ... while the radio kept telling me to have him move over. (Even with a wide shoulder and a clear lane that was being blocked, one rider wanted to risk life and limb by riding in the unprotected lane. Amazing -- and we sometimes wonder why drivers yell at us when we ride.....)

As mentioned earlier, having instructions sent to the peloton via radio wasn't 100% effective and did have one unintended side effect for Travis. Every now and then he would turn his head and I would simultaneously yell out instructions to the group directly in his ear. Sorry, Travis. ;-)

It was during this slightly inclined section that we lost a bunch of riders. Between the 50 and 70 mile mark the peloton suffered substantial attrition as riders started to fade. If someone dropped off the peloton for just a moment, it was unlikely that they could generate enough power to rejoin. (A number of riders suffered on Beeker Road as the peloton approached Fairview, Kentucky. Beeker has a very gradual uphill grade, with two small climbs. The riders recovered a bit during a long, gradually downhill on 68/80 after passing Fairview. Their hopes ended with a 2 mile ever-so-slight upgrade as we approached the turnoff to Elkton. The peloton leaders maintained a speed that the weaker riders just could not maintain. Rather than blowing up, they backed off and set their own pace. This brought the lead group down to about 15 riders.)

By the 3 hour mark I think we were down to eleven bikes. Charles radioed that we were eight minutes ahead of schedule. At one point Travis and I were spinning our pedals like crazy and I noticed the chain had dropped into the middle ring. Travis was having problems getting it back into the big ring. If he'd not managed to get back in the big ring, we'd have been dropped from the peloton.

During the final hour of our ride we were passing slower riders on the 48-mile route. The motorcycle marshals encouraged them to single file but being inexperienced riders they didn't always get the idea. With less than 30 minutes remaining I was borderline cramping. At a long straight section Travis wanted me to apply more power and I had to beg off. We didn't get dropped, but we were limited to what we could contribute to the peloton during the last few miles.

Throughout the ride my heart rate stayed mostly between 172-177, hardly ever dropping below 166. This may have been an indication of inadequate fluid intake. Although the early temperatures were a quite reasonable upper 60's, by the time we finished it was probably in the lower 80's.

As the radio started counting off the final miles, I realized that we'd actually break a 4 hour century. A few riders made a half-hearted sprint at the finish line, but this wasn't a race, so I didn't even notice who finished first. The clock read 3:52:22 but the clock was started late. Our official finish time was 3:53:00.

We did it. A hundred miles in less than 4 hours and a new course record -- my first (and last) time I have ridden a bicycle so fast for so long. Primary credit, of course, goes to Travis Werts, who managed to finish with the lead peloton despite being handicapped with me. Also major kudos to the other members of our peloton.

We were also fortunate to have an unprecedented level of support for a century ride. The Sunrise Rotary Club worked their butts off to provide a safe and challenging ride, so the bulk of my gratitude goes to them for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Jeff Bauer
Nashville, Tennessee