[The Toninator]

Have you Are you going to do a little write up on your race?
we wana know about how it went.
how you felt morning, noon and night?
what you ate?
what the 'glory lap' felt like?
etc
we're very interested, at least i am.

 

[splat]

Tony , he has a write in the Daltom Pics thread

 

[Westy]

Have you Are you going to do a little write up on your race?
we wana know about how it went.
how you felt morning, noon and night?
what you ate?
what the 'glory lap' felt like?
etc
we're very interested, at least i am.

I put a short write up in the big Dalton thread. I did not want to bore people with the gritty details but if you want it here it goes.

The night before the race I wanted to get as much sleep as possible. I am a very light sleeping and new this would be tough to do at a campsite with so many people around. So Friday night I drank a bunch of beers at the 4 - Monkey and a Baboons campsite to get carbed up and tipsy. I chased the beers with an endurolyte 2 tylenol PM's and a multivitamin. I ended up waking about 6:30 in the morning getting 7 good hours of sleep, good enough.

Before the race I ate a bunch of pasta with a buffalo and bacon meat sauce, drank some coffee and OJ, took another edurolyte, some Creatine, and an Aleve. I did no warm up of any kind. Just got changed and showed up on the starting line.

Start: I suck at running, so I just trotted along making sure I did not turn an ankle. When I got to my bike I just rode fairly hard making sure not to go past my lactic threshold. The first section of trail was soft and muddy, like MMcG new custom title says, like riding on peanut butter. It took a lot of energy to move at all. When I got to the infamous long climbe it actually felt good to be on some solid ground. I locked out the fork, shifted into a big gear, got out of the saddle (got to baby the bum) and mashed my way to the top. I felt good, passed a lot of people, I wanted to go faster but forced myself to back off a bit.

Lap 2: I quickly pulled into my camp and grabbed a fresh water bottle ( filled with sustained energy) and a flask of mocha mocha cliff shot. I was warmed up, people were spread out and I felt great. I put in a very fast lap, only backing off a little. I knew I could not keep that pace but I like to go fast so I figured one fast lap would not hurt me.

Lap 3: Stopped for another water bottle and a few forkfulls of pasta. I finally had calmed down and started riding at a sustainable pace. After going through some very muddy sections I realized that neither my drivetrain nor my brake pads were going to last the race if I kept riding the same way. After that point on I just carried my bike through the two long nasty sloppy mud holes.

Lap 4: Stopped to clean and lube the drivetrain, adjust brakes, grabbed another water bottle and ate some pasta and a few handfulls of peanut M&M's and some endurolytes.

Lap 5: When I went past my campsite I noticed my canopy had blown over and was all bent up sitting on top of my neihbors car. I rallied some help from people around me and got it folded back up. While doing it i tripped over my neighbors hibachi and got a nice burn on my right calf. Other than that Just another lap, still felt great but my back was starting to get a bit tight.

Lap 6ut on the lights, took some more edurolytes, grabbed another cliff shot flask. Things were just starting to get dark. I had my light mounted but had not turned them on yet. At this point it started to get really hard to see what was on the trail.

Lap 7: More bike maintentance, ate pasta and m&m's endurolytes and an aleve. First full night lap (I think), turned the lights on. The trail was totally different at night. It was easy to see the trail, it was a dark black compared to everything around it, but it was hard to tell what was going on on the trail, rocks, roots and really muddy sections were pretty much hidden. The downhills were tricky and even when taking it easy I has several close calls. Until I crashed on the easiest part of the lap. I have no idea what happened my bike just jumped out from underneath me. I was going fast and crashed hard. I banged my left knee and hurt my left hand pretty bad. My left pinky hurt like hell but I found a way to hold the handlebars that was not too bad. But after that I decided to be very carefull, my balance and reflexes were going downhill quickly, but my legs still felt good.

In the past night riding always hurt my neck, the lights always mad my helmet slide forward and put a bunch of stress on my neck. One little trick that I tried was ataching a rubber band between the back of my helmet and my camelback. It stopped my helmet from sliding forward and kept the weight of the light off of my neck. It worked great.

Laps 8-10: Time started blend together. I just kept riding along at a decent pace and keep my upper body relaxed on the downhills. I always tried to start conversations with the people around me, some were not responsive, some were very cool, a great way to pass the time. Still felt great although it was getting tougher to concentrate and I lost all confidence on the downhill sections.

Laps 9-11: The little voices inside my head started to complain. My legs still felt strong and nothing hurt but my desire to keep going was sliding. I found myself taking longer and longer breaks at my campsite. I was still eating pasta M&M's and grapes but it was getting hard to get the food down.

Laps 12-13: Started slide into the pits of despair, misery was setting in. My legs still felt strong an nothing hurt but I was getting cold, could not focus and was not having much fun. After lap 12 I was extremely cold, I was shivering and could not warm up just by putting on warm clothes. I jumped into my sleeping bag for a while but that helped little. I started my car and cranked the heat and took a 30 minute nap. When I woke the sun had started to rize and I felt warm enough to venture out to find a cup of hot chocolate.

That cup of hot chocolate felt great. Warmed me up and got me motivated again. It did not hurt that I realized that I was in first place (actually second). I hopped back on the bike and cranked out another lap. With daylight I felt a lot better on the downhills and could actually see some of the roots an rocks that had given me grief all night. There were two tricky sections that I thought were best walked given my state of fatigue.


Laps 14-15: Legs felt great, although I could no longer stomach solid food my crappy tasting sustained energy sports drink gave the calories I needed to keep going without bonking. Trails were looking much better and I was feeling good about my handling skills again.

laps 16&17: While starting my second to last lap I found that I somehow had dropped from first to second. I never expected to be anywhere near the front but in my fragile mental state this crushed me. I planned on just putting along for one more lap to come in sometime after 11:00 and quitting. But when I went through the "over Under" section near the beggining of the lap there were a whole bunch of 's there cheering me on, it was almost deafening. That gave me a huge shot of energy and motivation. When I came through the start finish they asked me if I wanted to go for another lap, I just smiled and said of course and hammered out another decent 1:20 lap. I really could not have done those last two laps without everyones encouragement. It was a great way to end an awesome race.


I am still very shocked on how I was able to physically feel so good throughout the race. My only explaination is that this was the only event I ever specifically trained for, and the Sustained Energy stuff I was drinking is incredible. When I could no longer eat anything it kept me going for close to 5 hours with nothing but chalky tasting water. BTW I am not sponsored by them in any way.

 

[Serial Midget]

I still want to know your top secret training program...

 

[The Toninator]

awesome!!!! thanks for the write up.

 

[douglas]

laps 16&17: While starting my second to last lap I found that I somehow had dropped from first to second. I never expected to be anywhere near the front but in my fragile mental state this crushed me. I planned on just putting along for one more lap to come in sometime after 11:00 and quitting. But when I went through the "over Under" section near the beggining of the lap there were a whole bunch of 's there cheering me on, it was almost deafening. That gave me a huge shot of energy and motivation. When I came through the start finish they asked me if I wanted to go for another lap, I just smiled and said of course and hammered out another decent 1:20 lap. I really could not have done those last two laps without everyones encouragement. It was a great way to end an awesome race.

.

ever time I saw you on the course I yelled........glad to do my little part in helping you stay motivated

 

[MMcG]

I am still very shocked on how I was able to physically feel so good throughout the race. My only explaination is that this was the only event I ever specifically trained for, and the Sustained Energy stuff I was drinking is incredible. When I could no longer eat anything it kept me going for close to 5 hours with nothing but chalky tasting water. BTW I am not sponsored by them in any way.

Great write-up Westy and again - great job - truly inspiring.

Now, what is this Sustained Energy Stuff that you drank and how does a Monkey find it?

 

[splat]

Westy , I know after I did my Night lap ( around 2:30 ???? ) , as I started back to camp And saw you coming through the shot and you didn't look happy , and I screamed at the top of my Lungs GO WESTY !! you suddenly had a Big Smile and a thumbs up.

 

[I Are Baboon]

Now, what is this Sustained Energy Stuff that you drank and how does a Monkey find it?

www.e-caps.com

It's expensive stuff.

 

[Westy]

I still want to know your top secret training program...

Crap, I'm getting 0 done at work today. But if I get fired I'll have more time to ride.

My secret training program:


First of all I ride a lot. Whenever I have the time I ride, my social, professional and family life suffers because of it but I don't care. When I ride I always try to push myself whether it means better fitness or handling skills. This year I started to ride on a team for a local bike shop, so I started riding with people who were faster than I was and I always had to push myself to keep up.

About 8 weeks before the race I tried to get in one long ride each weekend along with my normal just for fun rides. This usually was an epic ride somewhere in the mountains around here, which means very long climbs and tough terrain.

6 weeks before the race along with my normal fun rides I added a midweek training ride where I concentrated on hill repeats or intervals for an hour or so. Still all MTB riding and started to increase the length of my weekend rides. I always made sure I got enough rest between hard rides.

4 weeks before the race I added another "training" ride in the middle of the week. Hill repeats for an hour with a few more hours of hard riding afterwards, I removed one rest day and would ride even if I was a little tired. I ended the week with a brutaly hard 80 mile road ride.


3 weeks before the race. I allowed only 1 rest day all week. I ended the week with a 115 mile road ride that included 3 of the longest steepest climbs in the area. This was the hardest ride I have ever been on, we rode the same pace as the 80 mile ride but kept it going.

1&2 weeks before the race I did very little. Got as much sleep as possible ate well balanced meals. Did one easy 3 hour ride each week.

 

[MMcG]

www.e-caps.com

It's expensive stuff.

I didn't mean the e-caps I meant the Sustained Energy Drink thingy.

 

[I Are Baboon]

I didn't mean the e-caps I meant the Sustained Energy Drink thingy.

E-caps makes it, yo.

http://www.e-caps.com/products/category.cfm?div=Products&cat=Hammer

 

[MMcG]

E-caps makes it, yo.

http://www.e-caps.com/products/category.cfm?div=Products&cat=Hammer

Doh!

I saw some of that Hammer Gel at Valley bikes in Granby.

when you and MBC move - that could be your Lbs of choice - either there or Benidorm.

 

[Westy]

Westy , I know after I did my Night lap ( around 2:30 ???? ) , as I started back to camp And saw you coming through the shot and you didn't look happy , and I screamed at the top of my Lungs GO WESTY !! you suddenly had a Big Smile and a thumbs up.

It's true, your yelling kept me going. My hardest laps were the ones late at night when there were few people around.

 

[Serial Midget]

Engh... I don't care if you get fired. :devil:

About how many hours a week / days per week does this translate into? I'm just starting with the 12 hours @ 80% and it seems like I'm going to do fine as long as I get one rest day in per week. I'm not looking to for a 24 hour deal but I would like to knock a century out in 5 hours or less before the summer is out.

When you are on your road training rides what is the average pace for all the miles? 115 miles took how long? Is there any drafting during these rides?

Thanks...

Crap, I'm getting 0 done at work today. But if I get fired I'll have more time to ride.

My secret training program:

 

[indieboy]

yo dude!! congrats on the ride and a great write up! do you know how you actually finished?

and as for the sustained energy stuff......that stuff is awesome! i've been using it for a year and a half now and it flat out works for the longer rides. it's really really easy on the stomach

 

[Serial Midget]

Pay attention!!! Westy KICKED ASS and finished 2nd overall for solo nutzo's.

yo dude!! congrats on the ride and a great write up! do you know how you actually finished?

and as for the sustained energy stuff......that stuff is awesome! i've been using it for a year and a half now and it flat out works for the longer rides. it's really really easy on the stomach

 

[Skookum]

Pay attention!!! Westy KICKED ASS and finished 2nd overall for solo nutzo's.

Oh yah well i already pm'd him for an autographed can of Sustained Energy and he's throwing in an unwashed pair of spandex. So there!