Ride Report

This is a ride report and some ranting/soul searching

Yesterday was an epic and humbling day in the saddle.  I put in 109 of the toughest miles I have ever done (6 miles back and forth to the starting line and 103 miles on the course).  I’m trying to focus on the good things to keep me from just hanging the bike up in the garage and moving on.

1.        I finished

2.       I didn’t crash

3.       I didn’t get flown to the hospital like 3 other riders did

4.       I didn’t get a flat, and for me that’s a freaking miracle all by itself.

5.       The food (what was left of it) at the end of the ride was wonderful

6.       It wasn’t 100 degrees out there on the course

7.       I won the race (sort of, more on this later)
 

Now for the bad parts:

1.        It wasn’t supposed to rain

2.       I didn’t have any rain gear

3.       It was freaking cold descending the mountain after getting soaked by the rain that wasn’t supposed to happen

4.       The only thing worse than headwinds and hills is headwinds while riding uphill

5.       I need a bigger cassette on my bike, because I had to walk a few of the steeper sections (14-18% grade)

6.       I won the race (hey this made the list twice)

7.       I don’t have an official finishing time

8.       My bottle carrier loosened on the bumpy roads and I lost a water bottle on an descent.  I wasn’t going to ride back up the hill to get it

 

Saturday October 1^st, 2011 was the biggest bike ride I have ever participated in.  7500 of us gathered in Santa Rosa for a ride over King Ridge, then along the coast on California Hwy 1, back over Coleman Valley Road which eventually led us back to our starting point.  Here is a link to the ride.

Things were pretty good for the first 35 miles.  I had told myself that I would just noodle along, that this wasn’t a race and that I would take my time and enjoy the day.  It was pretty much working out just like I had intended.  Then the climbing started.  Just outside of the mile 35 rest stop, there was a sign that said next aid station 17 hilly miles.  I think someone needs to learn the difference between hilly and mountainous, but I knew what to expect.  This ride is in my back yard and I have done it before, but usually only in pieces, not strung together in a 103 mile death ride.

The climb started off better than I expected, I made it further up the mountain than I had previously, and I was passing riders walking up the road.  Then it felt like I hit a wall.  I just couldn’t push the pedals and make progress.  I wasn’t tired or exhausted; I just couldn’t get them to go around and make forward progress, so I got off and walked a bit.  When I hit the next spot that wasn’t straight up, I got back on the bike and started to ride again.  I had to repeat this process a couple times.  I’m actually disappointed and embarrassed that I had to walk.

Mile 52 or so was a rest stop at the top of the ridge, and it was packed with riders shivering and fumbling to make some type of rain gear.  If they had moved the merchandise tent up there, they would have made a killing on rain gear.  I’d of paid $100.00 for a poncho yesterday.   Just a few miles outside of this rest stop, they were making riders get off their bikes and walk over an expanded metal bridge.  When I got there, they were attending to a lady who had crashed on the wet metal bridge.  Apparently there were several accidents in that area.  Three people ended up being flown to the hospital as a result of rain slick descents, and several more were taken by ground ambulances.

As we got closer to the coast, the rain stopped, but it was so foggy, that it didn’t really decrease the moisture on the road.  Add to the moisture that you couldn’t see very far ahead and it made for some interesting descents.  I know I spent more time working the brakes than I normally would.  I wanted to make sure they were dry and good to go when/if I needed them.  I didn’t want to hit a corner, grab the brakes and have the wheel keep on spinning. 

At the 70 mile rest stop they had a couple school buses and a big moving truck.  They were loading them up with bikes and riders who were abandoning the ride.  I looked at my watch, did some quick math and thought damn I should just get on the bus.  I’m not sure I can finish before it gets dark, and I didn’t bring any light source (I didn’t think I would be out there this long).  I managed to talk myself into going on, I figured I could ride to the next aid station and recalculate my time schedule.

The next two stops were very close together.  They had one only 6 miles away at mile 76 (probably a good idea because the first few miles after the mile 70 stop were almost straight up hill)  I arrived at this stop at 5:00 pm which is when they were supposed to be starting the sweeper truck.  The finish line festivities were only supposed to go until 5:00 so I had already missed those.  While I was considering abandoning the ride earlier, now it was a race.  I know it’s the same whether I quit or get picked up, but somehow I couldn’t stomach the idea of being told I couldn’t finish.   I had to do a quick repair on a bottle carrier; it had loosened itself and was just dangling.  Someone was nice enough to loan me a wrench and I disassembled it.  It was quicker than trying to fix it.  After stuffing the pieces in my fanny pack I got back on and started riding.

The race is on.  I made it to the final rest stop, and they were breaking it down.  I filled my water bottles with some coke and water, popped a couple hammer endurolytes ate a gel and looked at the time.  According to my watch I had 14 minutes to cover 20 miles.  Well it doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out; I wasn’t going to make it.  However I figured that if I could stay ahead of the few people behind me, I could keep distance between the sweeper vehicle and myself while they were busy loading the slower riders.

Well I won the race between myself and the sweeper truck.  I managed to get back to the start/finish line before they could tell me I was done.  Not that I need the official time, I have it on my watch when I started moving and when I stopped, but they had already pulled up the timing mats at the finish line, so it was a bit disappointing not getting to see the official time, and I imagine I’ll probably be listed as a DNF because they didn’t have a time for me. 

There was only one vendor left serving food when I arrived, but luckily for me it is what I would have chosen anyhow.  They were serving up big plates of Paella and it was wonderful.  I called my wife and asked her if she could come pick me up.  “You can’t ride home, It’s only 3 miles", Yeah let me finish my dinner and sit here for a while I’ll probably feel much better.   I’ll ride home, see you in a few.  At that point I would have walked home before I admitted I was too tired (It’s amazing what shame can do for motivation).  When I got home, she wasn’t there, I guess she felt guilty, because she had gone looking for me.

Well its day 1 after Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge GranFondo and I’m still sore and tired.  I can feel every one of the spots in my legs that waged war with me yesterday.  As I sit here writing this, I’m really conflicted, I’m glad I did it, but I don’t consider it a success.  It’s like those people who finish their ironman 1 minute after midnight, yay congrats, but you are not going to get the “you are an ironman" accolade.

I have already heard it from my friends and family; oh look what you accomplished, three years ago blah, blah, blah, you would never have been able to do this blah, blah, blah.  I don’t know why I can’t focus on the positive things, but It’s just not the way I’m wired.  It’s funny how the people who know me are oblivious to the way I function and think.  I appreciate their well wishes and their attempts to make me feel better, but it actually has the opposite effect.

The ride itself is really beautiful, and I have some photos posted here.  If you want a challenge and a chance to be part of a big event like this, I highly recommend it.  It really is cool to head out with 7500 other people.  By the way, I was .12 miles from the start line.  It took 6 minutes from the start before I too the first baby step forward on the bike.  It took another 7-8 minutes to get to the point where I was actually pedaling.  I understand it was over ½ hour for the people in the very back.

Scott

 dude, that is one HECK of a ride.  I would really like to do one of these "non-race" rides.  Very cool, very awesome.  And I love that you outran the sweeper!

Sweet report, blah, blah, blah!
Great job, Scott!

On October 3, 2011 at 5:29 AM Pacific Time, Hawgman wrote: Sweet report, blah, blah, blah!
Great job, Scott!

Love it, now that made me smile!

scott.  you have a lot to be proud of.  starting with the fact that you didn't throw in the towel when you had every opportunity to just give up and say the hell with it.  it goes to show that you can really leverage that stubborn streak we all have for motivation :)  like i said on FB, that ride looked brutal, kudos for sticking it out and finishing it.

tough love time.  you tackle a lot of HUGE events and big challenges without being fully prepared.  you should absolutely go for it and do these events, but you should (in my opinion) come up with a more aggressive training plan building up to the event.  you shouldn't get down on yourself, you are already in the exclusive club of ultra biking, you just need to make some tweaks to your racing and training schedule.

heal up!

You are right, I think I try to back into too many of these events.  I figure I can gut it out, and then I get down on myself when I don't perform to a level that I would like.

I've been mulling that over in my head the last couple days... Well probably longer than that, but this weekend just kind of reinforced that.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I love that you raced the sweep van.  That takes a lot of heart! 

Sounds like Bill offered you some good advice - keep on trucking!

Super proud of you, and glad you finished safely!!

I agree with Sue, you've got a lot of heart! Keep that head up cuz you still have a lot of pros in that report and it could have been way worse.

So how are you going to adjust your training?

I don't know Danni,

I'm not sure I have any free time to dedicate to more training.  Some times I feel like my family time already suffers from my hobbies.

Family, school, & sleep are the only things that could budge to make time for more training, and I'm not sure I want to give up any of those. Family always has to be first priority and some times that takes a hit for my own selfish gains.  Being gone all day or a couple days for these events is not only a bonus for me, but it's a minus for the family.  It's too bad these events dont exist in a vaccuum.

Maybe I just need to be practical and realize I don't have the desire to make sacrifices and find the time to train properly for these events.  I just may need to set my sights lower.

My priority has to be Family, Work, School, Sleep, Exercise/training in that order.  Sleep would be the thing that would have to suffer, but that would effect my attitude, work performance and school results, so I don't think it is worth cutting into that.

I just need to win the lotto so I can quit work and school, hire a full time trainer and spend my time playing with my son and training.

Yeah, that's what I think when people ask "When are you going to do a Tri?"  WHAT?!?! I think, I barely have time to train for one event...I can't imagine training for 3! I would never see my wife!!

I think finding the balance has been the most difficult part of training. I often wish that I was independently wealthy and could spend the time I'm at work, on training....sadly, that is never going to happen, and so the balancing must continue.

I wish you luck on finding the magic numbers, I'm sure it will take some trail, error and flexibility on everyone's part, but you have your priorities in good order so just be patient with yourself and try as best you can to incorporate your family in your training.

My wife keeps trying to get me on a tandem; where I do ALL the pedaling and she does the driving....thinkin bout it!

Good Luck Scott!

:Danni