Lap one went off at about 7:30 and started at a pretty easy pace. The race was 10 laps around an 8.5 mile trail. My idea (i orginized the event) was for everyone to ride pretty much together so we know the exact course. The pack quickly split into 3 different groups. Pack one was the fast racer boi wanabees. The second pack was an average pace and people thinking about the long haul. Pack three was a little slower but also thinking about the long haul. I was in most of the groups trying to make sure everyone knew where they were going and rapping with park rangers. I came in with about a 50 minute lap (what I was shooting for and a ta of 10 minutes for a total of an hour per lap.)
In transition to lap 2 I stopped and had 1 or 2 gus and 4 Strawberry Newtons. Ummmm Newtons then I headed out for my second lap. I was riding with the same group of 3 I did the first lap with. It was a pretty easy pace as I was trying to keep my heart rate under 150 in all spots but the hills. Im still recovering from a pelvis injury and started to have some muscle cramps and pain in my back from that injury so I decided to back down a little. I actually ended up with a 47 minute lap with a 10 minute TA time. 1 Gu 4 Newtons.
Third lap was a bit more painful because my back was really starting to knot up. I tried to really focus on my spin. I kind of started feeling bonkie but wasnt sure if thats what it was cuz it was starting to heat up. The day would end at about a 100 with a heat index of 110 to 115. Halfway through other things on my body started hurting as bad as my back so I figured I could give this thing a go. There were 4 guys ahead of me at this point. One of the guys I knew was going to beat us all. 2 of them I figured would peter out and one, Gary, was the guy I was gunning for. I caught up with him about halfway through this lap and we rode together to the TA. 2 GUs. 49 minute lap and 9 minute TA.
Lap four went pretty much the same way as three. Gary went off before me and had pretty good TA times, about 5 minutes to my 10, but I caught up to him about halfway through. Then on some short climbs on the backside of the trail I would drop him. I came in first and started thinking about real food. I ate 6 Newtons this time to get in a few more cals and carbs, drink a whole bottle of Gatorade and tried to cut my TA time short so not to lose to much time on G. I wanted to have a peanut butter sandwich when I got in on the next lap so I got the stuff out and ready which extended my TA time just enough to let G get out first. I wasnt going to let him get me.
I think this is about the time we saw on of the guys, Steve, that we had been gunning for. He looked bonked and he confirmed it. He was going to have to take a long brake. We knew then he was a non-contender. The other guy, John, had surprised us both because hes supposed to be a beginner racer. He might be but he is damn fit. Up to this point he was always at the TA ahead of me and just about to go out. He looked strong but I decided not to chase and stick to my game plan there was still a long day left. I did find out he was having problems with the regular Fig Newtons, he said they were fing up his stomach and giving him gas. Dont remember what I had to eat, 50 minute lap 10 minute TA. Still on track!
Lap 5 went without a hitch. Gary went out first but once again I caught him half way through then passed him, again. I started developing a strategy on beating him. Each time he would get to a particular hill hed get off and walk, I think to try to save his legs for the long haul but for me it wasnt that bad. Later Id be able to use thing against him. Once again I got in before him decided not to eat the sandwich but I did get some quick cals in and headed out. I think this is where john started spending a little extra time in the TA. Food? 49 minute lap and 11 minute TA. Still on track!
Lap 6 sucked, big time. I needed a change from eating newtons and Gu. So I decided to try a banana. I havent eaten bananas in a long time because they upset my stomach, I have acid reflux and mix that with the extreme conditions of the was a recipe for disaster. I knew almost immediate after eating it that it was a mistake so I headed out real quick to try to cub the damage. The moment I started heating up my stomach went south. The reflux started and I got dizzy and started dry heaving. Man that was miserable. It felt like I had something stuck in my throat, which was swelling so I couldnt breath very well, and each time I took something to drink the pain got worse and I got more dizzy and more dry heaves. I tried to puke but just couldnt. So I went into survival mode and toughed it out. Gary got out again ahead of me but I knew I wasnt going to catch him. I just wanted to finish, try to recover and get out again. When I got into the TA Gary was sitting there all smug thinking I had bonked trying to catch him. I said I was having problems because of the banana, he didnt believe it. First thing I did was get some Tums and I ate a hoagie bun. My stomach started feeling better almost immediately. Gary, thinking I was down, decided to cut his TA short and make the power move on me. I knew I could catch him so I relaxed and tried to get some Gu and Newtons down for fuel. It worked. Lap 54 TA 15 minutes.
Lap seven felt pretty good although I still did feel a little pukie every now and then. I set my sights on catching Gary early this time because I decided I was going to knock him off his high horse. I did make a slight mental error calculating how many laps were left. When your starting ON lap 7 there are actually 4 laps to go not 3. Doh! Caught Gary about a quarter of the way through and dropped him. It felt good and he was very surprised. 51 minute lap 12 minute Ta.
I decided on lap 8 to make the power play. Gary came in after me but this time I cut short my stay and headed out before him. That surprised him again. I didnt see him that whole lap but every part of my body started hurting. I really felt the competitive juices flowing and really wanted to hammer but knew if I did I wouldnt make it. So I just eased into a good rhythm and pounded out the lap. It was around 1:30 or so and it was HOT. I started feeling every bump. I knew I was pushing myself pretty hard and might regret it later.
53 minute lap NO TA!
I decided to go for the win move over Gary on the 9th lap. Instead of taking a break like I had done all day. I popped in grabbed some Gu and hit it without even getting off my bike. I looked on the time sheet and could tell that I had just made a big time gain on him. I went out and this lap was excruciating. Every bump when right into my bones. I was exhausted and could barely keep my pace up. I had to stretch every 5 or 10 minutes but I had to focus. I knew I could take him. Pedal, pedal, pedal is all I could think. I got into the TA and pretty much everyone had quit by then but a few of us nuts. Halfway through that lap a really bad storm starting kicking up. The wind was howling, there was thunder and lighting and a little rain. I started thinking about what to do. I didnt want to get caught in the storm. My body hurt. I was tired. I was having chafing issues. So I decided that I had accomplished everything I had set out to do that day. First off I wasnt even sure I was going to be able to do 1 lap much less 9 because of my thigh injury. I havent ever participated in a solo endurance event and was sure how to do it. Ive done 24s and 12s but on teams and nutrition has always been a problem and I think Ive started getting that sorted out because I didnt bonk the whole day. So taking all this into consideration and the damage I was going to do to my body had I continued on I decided it wasnt worth it had this been a real event I could and would have gone on but for practice I couldnt justify it. Gary came in 12 minutes later and looked relived that I wasnt going out. John, sandbagger, went out for his 10th lap so SuperG had to one up him and do another for a total of 11. Had I went even though I would have beat G for the challenge we would have been tangled up in a 1up contest and I wasnt at all prepared for that.
So all in all I learned a lot about my self, endurance racing and strategy. It really, really hurt but was a fun time. We Barbequed afterwards and drank a couple of beers.
Stats: 10.1mph avg, 75.6 miles with a saddle time of 7 hours and 28 minutes. Heart rate monitor time 9 hours 2 minutes, 5648ks burnt and an average hr of 148.
In transition to lap 2 I stopped and had 1 or 2 gus and 4 Strawberry Newtons. Ummmm Newtons then I headed out for my second lap. I was riding with the same group of 3 I did the first lap with. It was a pretty easy pace as I was trying to keep my heart rate under 150 in all spots but the hills. Im still recovering from a pelvis injury and started to have some muscle cramps and pain in my back from that injury so I decided to back down a little. I actually ended up with a 47 minute lap with a 10 minute TA time. 1 Gu 4 Newtons.
Third lap was a bit more painful because my back was really starting to knot up. I tried to really focus on my spin. I kind of started feeling bonkie but wasnt sure if thats what it was cuz it was starting to heat up. The day would end at about a 100 with a heat index of 110 to 115. Halfway through other things on my body started hurting as bad as my back so I figured I could give this thing a go. There were 4 guys ahead of me at this point. One of the guys I knew was going to beat us all. 2 of them I figured would peter out and one, Gary, was the guy I was gunning for. I caught up with him about halfway through this lap and we rode together to the TA. 2 GUs. 49 minute lap and 9 minute TA.
Lap four went pretty much the same way as three. Gary went off before me and had pretty good TA times, about 5 minutes to my 10, but I caught up to him about halfway through. Then on some short climbs on the backside of the trail I would drop him. I came in first and started thinking about real food. I ate 6 Newtons this time to get in a few more cals and carbs, drink a whole bottle of Gatorade and tried to cut my TA time short so not to lose to much time on G. I wanted to have a peanut butter sandwich when I got in on the next lap so I got the stuff out and ready which extended my TA time just enough to let G get out first. I wasnt going to let him get me.
I think this is about the time we saw on of the guys, Steve, that we had been gunning for. He looked bonked and he confirmed it. He was going to have to take a long brake. We knew then he was a non-contender. The other guy, John, had surprised us both because hes supposed to be a beginner racer. He might be but he is damn fit. Up to this point he was always at the TA ahead of me and just about to go out. He looked strong but I decided not to chase and stick to my game plan there was still a long day left. I did find out he was having problems with the regular Fig Newtons, he said they were fing up his stomach and giving him gas. Dont remember what I had to eat, 50 minute lap 10 minute TA. Still on track!
Lap 5 went without a hitch. Gary went out first but once again I caught him half way through then passed him, again. I started developing a strategy on beating him. Each time he would get to a particular hill hed get off and walk, I think to try to save his legs for the long haul but for me it wasnt that bad. Later Id be able to use thing against him. Once again I got in before him decided not to eat the sandwich but I did get some quick cals in and headed out. I think this is where john started spending a little extra time in the TA. Food? 49 minute lap and 11 minute TA. Still on track!
Lap 6 sucked, big time. I needed a change from eating newtons and Gu. So I decided to try a banana. I havent eaten bananas in a long time because they upset my stomach, I have acid reflux and mix that with the extreme conditions of the was a recipe for disaster. I knew almost immediate after eating it that it was a mistake so I headed out real quick to try to cub the damage. The moment I started heating up my stomach went south. The reflux started and I got dizzy and started dry heaving. Man that was miserable. It felt like I had something stuck in my throat, which was swelling so I couldnt breath very well, and each time I took something to drink the pain got worse and I got more dizzy and more dry heaves. I tried to puke but just couldnt. So I went into survival mode and toughed it out. Gary got out again ahead of me but I knew I wasnt going to catch him. I just wanted to finish, try to recover and get out again. When I got into the TA Gary was sitting there all smug thinking I had bonked trying to catch him. I said I was having problems because of the banana, he didnt believe it. First thing I did was get some Tums and I ate a hoagie bun. My stomach started feeling better almost immediately. Gary, thinking I was down, decided to cut his TA short and make the power move on me. I knew I could catch him so I relaxed and tried to get some Gu and Newtons down for fuel. It worked. Lap 54 TA 15 minutes.
Lap seven felt pretty good although I still did feel a little pukie every now and then. I set my sights on catching Gary early this time because I decided I was going to knock him off his high horse. I did make a slight mental error calculating how many laps were left. When your starting ON lap 7 there are actually 4 laps to go not 3. Doh! Caught Gary about a quarter of the way through and dropped him. It felt good and he was very surprised. 51 minute lap 12 minute Ta.
I decided on lap 8 to make the power play. Gary came in after me but this time I cut short my stay and headed out before him. That surprised him again. I didnt see him that whole lap but every part of my body started hurting. I really felt the competitive juices flowing and really wanted to hammer but knew if I did I wouldnt make it. So I just eased into a good rhythm and pounded out the lap. It was around 1:30 or so and it was HOT. I started feeling every bump. I knew I was pushing myself pretty hard and might regret it later.
53 minute lap NO TA!
I decided to go for the win move over Gary on the 9th lap. Instead of taking a break like I had done all day. I popped in grabbed some Gu and hit it without even getting off my bike. I looked on the time sheet and could tell that I had just made a big time gain on him. I went out and this lap was excruciating. Every bump when right into my bones. I was exhausted and could barely keep my pace up. I had to stretch every 5 or 10 minutes but I had to focus. I knew I could take him. Pedal, pedal, pedal is all I could think. I got into the TA and pretty much everyone had quit by then but a few of us nuts. Halfway through that lap a really bad storm starting kicking up. The wind was howling, there was thunder and lighting and a little rain. I started thinking about what to do. I didnt want to get caught in the storm. My body hurt. I was tired. I was having chafing issues. So I decided that I had accomplished everything I had set out to do that day. First off I wasnt even sure I was going to be able to do 1 lap much less 9 because of my thigh injury. I havent ever participated in a solo endurance event and was sure how to do it. Ive done 24s and 12s but on teams and nutrition has always been a problem and I think Ive started getting that sorted out because I didnt bonk the whole day. So taking all this into consideration and the damage I was going to do to my body had I continued on I decided it wasnt worth it had this been a real event I could and would have gone on but for practice I couldnt justify it. Gary came in 12 minutes later and looked relived that I wasnt going out. John, sandbagger, went out for his 10th lap so SuperG had to one up him and do another for a total of 11. Had I went even though I would have beat G for the challenge we would have been tangled up in a 1up contest and I wasnt at all prepared for that.
So all in all I learned a lot about my self, endurance racing and strategy. It really, really hurt but was a fun time. We Barbequed afterwards and drank a couple of beers.
Stats: 10.1mph avg, 75.6 miles with a saddle time of 7 hours and 28 minutes. Heart rate monitor time 9 hours 2 minutes, 5648ks burnt and an average hr of 148.
