Flight #1 got off to a difficult start as the CT program stopped running 1:36 minutes into the race. So we had to shut down and restart. It was a good opener for the participants, the race was dominated by Nick Vorwerk with his very high 250 watts of power to 132 lb weight. He started strong and ended kicking out 500 watts over the last quarter mile – it was an impressive performance. No one was even close and he was still pushing himself all the way to the end. The other 3 competitors were all pretty evenly matched P/W. Second, third and forth place traded places several times during the last mile and a half. With the final 3 riders finishing within a minute of each other.

Flight #1 Results:

Flight #2 was run Sunday afternoon to accommodate Don Walkers participation in the YMCA Triathalon on Saturday. Jen Sawchuck joined the fun for the first time on Sunday.

Flight #2 Results:

I had a faint hope of competing with Nick on this course, however with my power at the same rate as Nick with 20+ more pounds reality hit hard. Standard warm up was completed and Don gave the countdown and we were off. I was focussed on my power and cadence making sure I was not letting my cadence drop below 80 even on the 8 & 9% grades. I was hoping to compete with Nick however I could not hold much over 250 watts. I could feel the burning in my lungs on the steeps where my HR was maxed out at 180. I attempted to recover by dropping my HR back to 170 on the less steep sections to make sure I was able to complete the event. Having watched Nick kick out those big watts at the end of his ride I tried to emulate that. The final half mile I kicked up my cadence to raise my power output. From the last 3 months of cycling camp, I know that if I had dropped into a lower gear I would have lost power instead of getting more. I was able to raise my power into the 300 range but was not able to get anymore. I felt good about my results having completely forgot the great time Nick put up the day before. Jean Walker and I cheered Don and Jen to the course completion. It is really tough to keep working after other participants have finished but Don, then Jen brought it home in over 40 minutes of hard effort.

Looking forward to the final event and making this a bigger and better event next year for the Tour de Cause.

Tim Rucker congratulates Richard on the win

Event #2 course was dead flat with no change in grade for 10 miles. The course favored pure power with a little impact from power to weight ratio for each rider. The trick was to produce even power for the 23-36 minutes it would take the riders to complete the 10 miles.

Event #1 course was a rolling course with little flat and was more climbing than descending. That rolling course required the combination of power to weight with the ability to spin high cadence on the downhill portions of the course. Nick Vorwerk with a high power to weight and spinning ability as good as any other rider was the winner of Event #1.

Event #2 had two Flights of riders starting on the hour beginning at 10 AM. Flight #1 was Nick Vorwerk, Jay Truesdel, John Crook (me) and Don Walker. I had hoped to ride in Flight #2 to give a little more recovery from the Camp Session that ended at 9 AM, but that was not to be. The event starts with rider weigh-in to enter the rider weight in the Multi Rider program. Flight #1 lined up, we warmed up and warmed up the Computraners and tires. After warm up we calibrated each CT to 2.5 pounds of pressure to make sure the race is based on rider ability aerobic capacity and strength.

At the go, I kicked it hard using the morning practice on Power Start drills from Cycling camp to get a jump and I was out in front. Jay and Nick were close behind in that order with Don trailing. I thought getting a lead and riding from the front would give me some extra wings. I was shouting for a picture of my lead because I was not confident it would last. After a minute I was looking at a lead over Jay of 3-400 feet with Nick within 100 behind Jay. I was focused on the wattage that I was producing in comparison to Jay and Nick, I expected that if power was constant I could maintain my lead. At the 4 minute mark I looked up and saw the same numbers and I gave a brief smile, then realized that Nick was was now in 2nd position less than 100 feet behind me. Over the next few minutes I did my best to hold the young man off, but eventually Nick made the catch and eased ahead. My HR was running in the low 170′s which is at the high edge of my thresh hold – I was not running at a sustainable level so I had to be careful. At that point I decided to let Nick go, and stay close enough to try for a late catch with a final effort between mile 8 and 10.

I kept Nick at 800 feet and waited to mile 8, I clicked down a gear and kicked it to maintain my cadence. I immediately saw 2 results: Nick’s lead was going down and my Heart rate was going up – we were past minute 20 and I had been running hard. My average wattage for the first 20 minutes was 253 – If I needed a normalized power thresh hold I could use that number. In 2 minutes I had chopped 200 feet off of Nick’s lead and I was getting hopeful. Then Nick looked up and picked up his pace to stop the erosion of his lead. At that point I slid forward on the saddle to get right over the pedals to kick up my power – hoping to see what Nick had left. Well, the answer was enough to hold on – my heart rate had climbed to 175 and had not budged with that last hard effort. I was now solid in the red zone and was really feeling the effects of the effort with no impact on the distance to first place. After another minute my opportunity was gone and Nick continued to kick it to the finish.

Nick: 25:59:80, John: 26:20:24, Jay: 27:01:19, Don: 34:09:27

Flight #2 of Donna Bush, Richard Lewis and Dan Bryan weighed in, warmed up, calibrated. At the start Richard and Dan were kicking out over 300 watts each making it a close race. Without any experience watching either Richard or Dan in an event like this I was wondering if they could maintain that high of power for the duration. With both Richard and Dan large powerful riders we thought they might. Part of the answer came when Dan moderated his output to the high 200′s. This left us watching Richard’s ride to see if he had overcooked the start or if he was within his limits. At the 20 minute mark Richard continued to hold a Wattage average of over 330 watts. On this course where power is king he rode to an great time of 23:24:64 with Dan and Donna coming in that order at 29:07:05 and 36:07:08.
Event winner is Richard Lewis from New Albany at 25.6 MPH and 338 avg watts for the 23+ minutes.
2nd place – Nick Vorwerk
3rd place – John Crook.

With some calculations of power to weight we are looking forward to a good race next week where once again power to weight will impact the outcome and to Event #4 where pure climbers will test their abilities on the 6% grade course.

Come join the fun and see what you’ve got.

Flight #1 Results

Flight #2 results

Here are the top 5 reasons I would give to join the fun:

#1 If you are a competitor (triathalons, city limit signs, etc), keeping that competitive mind set in the winter will help you jump start your spring. Thinking about doing your best will keep you motivated in your winter training. Even though you are working on base miles, strength, technique in the winter you could benefit from the additional focus these events bring.

#2 If you are a recreational cyclist, this is a gathering of cyclists of all abilities and why not take another opportunity to socialize? Come early, stay after and watch, chat with friends, and talk about what could have been.

#3 If you always wanted to know how you stack up against your peers in power, you can see your real time and average power along with heart rate during the event.

#4 If you are doing a training program or always wanted to know what your “threshholds” are, these long events where you are pushing yourself can give you a pretty good number to work from. Although not as specific as a Lactate Thresh hold or a VO2 Max/Thresh hold test it would be good.

#5 If all else fails to motivate you, why not support Tour de Cause? These folks are doing great work here in the community and this is a fund raiser for them.

OK, so you may have missed the first event, you didn’t miss the second event and the entire series is just $50. That is only $12 per event to get all of these benefits, that is a real deal!

Details and sign up here: http://www.crookscycleright.com/ccr/upcoming-events/tdc-winter-time-trial-series/

The cycling portion of the tri program will be focused more on sustained effort/ time trial training than high power efforts.  The training plan will train the energy systems the way they need to be trained to keep a high, sustained power over the distance of the race. In addition to the cycling, there will be additional coaching conversations on transitioning between disciplines and fueling requirements.

Participation in the Tri camp includes a membership to the F.I.T group for group runs. The F.I.T. group has Monday evening, Wednesday morning and Saturday morning runs that include long, hill and speed work. The training schedule will be aligned to the group runs as they fit the individual campers.

Tri Camp January – May:

Weekly 90 minute Computrainer cycling session

Weekly TRX Full Body Blast strength session

TrainingPeaks account with training schedule

F.I.T Membership for the Winter 2012 session – http://fairfieldintraining.com/

Hi,

John forwarded you’re e-mail on to me so I could answer your questions about the training.  Getting started into the Winter Cycling Camp ASAP would really benefit your performance on the bike next year.  As we work through the Cycling Camp we will explain all the different intervals (their purpose, when to use them, how to do them, etc) and with the use of the Computrainer you will get solid data on how you performed on each interval.  I know it seems strange, but something as simple as a Power Interval (go all out for X amount of time) is often performed incorrectly but the errors do not show up unless we are looking at power.  After you go through a class focused on a specific interval you will know how an interval should feel and the correct way to do it, so then you can go and do it on your own at home or out on the road (if the weather happens to be nice enough in November).

In addition to this, the Winter Cycling Camp will help keep you on track throughout the winter.  It is easy for training to get bumped down the priority list through the holidays and when the racing season is still far off. With a regular trainer day plus extra “homework” during the week your off season training will have more structure and purpose, which will definitely help keep you focused during the colder months.

http://www.winthefight.org/granfondo/

Options were:

• The “Diabolical Double” – the feature event of the Garrett County Gran Fondo, the Diabolical Double is a true, extreme epic on par with European climbing classics such as Etape du Tour, la Marmotte, and the classic Italian Gran Fondos. At 125 miles and 16,500 feet of climbing, the Diabolical Double is an all-day affair that is an extreme challenge for even the most fit rider. Included in Rapha Continental’s 2009 tour of the Top 25 Epic Rides in North America, and called by the Rapha riders “one of the most demanding and stunning rides of the summer”, the Diabolical Double is destined to become a true North American cycling classic.
• The “Savage Century” – at 102 miles and 12,700 feet of climbing, the Savage Century is a very challenging century ride in its own right despite playing second fiddle to the Diabolical Double. The Savage Century shares the first 59 miles and final 15 miles of the Diabolical Double route.
• The “Masochistic Metric” – at 62 miles and 8000 feet of climbing, the Masochistic Metric can stake its claim as the toughest metric century route in North America. The Masochistic Metric shares the first 47 miles of the Diabolical Double and Savage Century routes and includes some of the most stunning rural scenery and vistas you are ever to encounter on a bike as well as the vast majority of the steepest climbs encountered in the Savage Century and Diabolical Double routes
• The “Garrett’s Greatest 25″ – A beautiful 25 mile ride through the rolling Garrett County farmland with a challenging 3 mile climb to the finish atop Wisp Mountain.
  

Event and ride report on the Gerrett Fondo

The Garrett Fondo is an amazing ride.  I think I was way overtrained for the challenge of the course I signed up for but underprepared with supplies.  At the hotel the night before the start, I was certainly intimidated by the other riders.  There were all these grim, skeletal gentlemen who looked like they spent their lives climbing l’alp.

The fondo was all wooded lanes, farms and alpine meadows.  The course was steeply up or steeply down at every inch of road, but the longest climb was not more than 4 miles. Still, at what a pitch: we must have been climbing 20% grade for 2 miles on Bowman Hill, the biggest climb.  At another point on one flatish stretch of road, I looked at my elevation meter and saw we were still climbing at 10%.  And at the steepest points, even the people crawling back-and-forth across the road were probably climbing at 15%.  I was glad I had learned how to eat on sheer descents, because there was no way I was going to do it climbing.

There weren’t that many riders, although the fondo did sell out.  Each group was around 80 riders, and we left from the mountain of the Wisp ski resort in three heats separated by thirty minutes.  I started with the 3rd and last group who looked totally unprepared for this 60-mile route (or any 60-mile route), except for their amazing bikes.  Does everyone else but me have a R2 Cervelo or Dogma at home?  (There were also tri bikes!)

I was riding all alone after two climbs up Shingle Camp and White Rock Road, when the route took me down into the wooded valley below the ski resort’s summit.  And on your good advice, I rode by the first checkpoint without stopping.  And then the real climbs started: a 1,200 foot ascent up Morgantown Rd, and several 500+ climbs up Everly Rd and Collier Rd and Pig’s Ear Rd and the Devil’s Half Acre.  My only moment of pain came about 20 miles later with 2 miles left to the last checkpoint, where I cramped up suddenly somewhere between Pig’s Ear and Devil’s Half Acre.  I had run out of electrolytes 15 miles back, and I had no idea what they would have at the checkpoint.  People I passed just minutes before came along and zipped by me only offering a few sharp remarks.  But I recovered, feasted at checkpoint 2, and gingerly rode through the Savage Forest area and up to the summit finish with a few heat 1 riders who had cut their 125 mile ride short.

Do no families come to these events to see the riders finish?

When I crossed the line there was Melanie and Bea cheering for us with no one else around besides a handful of volunteers.  I never did see the real climbers, the walking skeletons who spooked me at the hotel the night before.  They must have still been enjoying the double century when I packed up my bike and drove off.  The food tables were still piled high when I finished, and my toddler and I feasted on Goldfish and Heed.

For my first organized ride, I was happy with my pace, although it was not much to talk about.  Before my leg cramped up, I was riding around 16mph/well under 4 minute miles.  At the end, my average pace had gone to 14.2mph or so which is around a 4:15 minute mile.

Annual Columbus Outdoor Pursuits cycling event

Steve Hewitt has organized and mapped the route for this ride.

http://www.outdoor-pursuits.org/event.php?editEvent=2324

Great day on the bike! The weather was perfect for riding and the route is challenging and fun. The ride started at the Barneby Center parking area of the Clear Creek Metro Park this year. The ride has gotten so popular that Steve had to move the start location from the parking area at the Starner Rd. intersection. Since I live in Lancaster I was running late, the change of start made me even later… so I arrived just in time to get a map and head up the overflow parking area. As I was signing in I ran into all the usual suspects. Quick chat with Franz Tan and Amanda Orr, said hi to Steve Hewitt, then found Mitch, Jeff, Steve Oxley, Pastor Mark Clingan and John H.. They were talking about an alternate route for the start and that sounded good to me (maybe make that suggestion to Steve H. for next year.) Since Clear Creek Rd was a mess between the start and Starner we thought turning right and going up Snortin Ridge to Buena Vista then catching Cantwell Cliffs would be better roads. After signing in, I burned it up the overflow parking, quick unload and gear up and I was rolling down the hill.

I caught up with Steve, Mark and John at the top of Snorting Ridge with some effort, (gassed) but was able to rest a little on the ridge riding on Buena Vista. It is amazing that such a nice road exists out in the middle on nowhere. At the intersection of Buena Vista and Cantwell Cliffs we ran into some riders – back on the official route. With a comfort break at Cantwell Cliffs SP and the longer starting route we were behind most of the riders, but Steve, Pastor Mark and John like to ride hard to we were in catch and pass mode most of the day.

Got to see the White Bike placed in Memory of the Pelatonia rider that was killed at the intersection of 180. That is a nice touch and is a reminder that we are vulnerable when we are out there with cars and trucks.

There was some friendly competition among us during climbs, city and county limit signs and we all collects some prizes. The group was very close in ability and good to have as company. Steve took the big prize at the top of Blue Valley Rd. – the first one to the top of the final climb is “The Man” and Steve was walking away from us. Pastor Mark and I had a photo finish without a photo – so second prize is determined by who is telling the story.

This route was mainly back roads so there are some spring thaw holes and rough spots. With normal caution on unfamiliar roads it was easily navigated. All in all the ride and company was fantastic.

With our “adjustments” the ride was 59.5 miles, advertised as 5500 ft of climbing. Avg Speed of 18.1 – not bad for a very hilly ride. Time on bike 3:15, ET 3:45.

A more realistic assessment of the race has led us to begin to transform Crook’s Cycle Right from a “Fit Studio” into a “Cycling and Endurance Performance Center.” The right position on the bike is always going to be a part of our services. We are making plans to extend our services based on what I believe are the keys to the positive aspects of the race.

On Reflection…

We all want to be first or reach our stretch goals every time – and feel disappointed when we don’t reach them. I did not reach my stretch goal of 5 hours, but then 5 hours may have been unrealistic. Given the challenge, an aggressive goal for me at this event would be under 6 hours.

Official results –  1600 riders started and only 1,000 riders made it to the finish line on Mt. Baldy. That is an incredible 40% drop out rate. What makes this even more incredible was the quality of riders at that starting line. These were not cycling newbies, these were seasoned riders from the area that understood the challenge of these mountains.

My results – I finished in just under 7 hours from the start timing chip to the timing chip at Mt Baldy. OVERALL I was #402. Within my AGE GROUP I was #23 out of 100 in the 55-60 age group. That means that I was in the top 25% of riders in my age group, and in the top 40% of all riders of all age groups. That is a GOOD result given difference is cycling seasons between Ohio and California, if you are from California May is 3 months into excellent cycling weather – Ohio had not had good cycling weather yet. The result is GREAT given my asthma/allergy condition I was experiencing.

KOM Results: On KOM #1 I was #245 overall and #12 in the 55-60 age group. Even with my asthma/allergy problem I was in the top 50% of riders in my age group on the KOM #2.

I already discussed what kept me from achieving realistic goals. But I wanted to share with you what I would do the same way again and what I would change.

Keep doing:

1)      TRX Full Body Blast training

2)      Computraininer pedal technique drills

3)      Computrainer threshold/climbing drills

4)      Weight loss with Advocare

5)      VO2 Max and Thresh hold test to begin training

What to change:

1)      Coaching

2)      Singulair and Prevecid prescriptions

3)      Lighter bike

4)      Outdoor riding

5)      VO2 M/T test mid training

What not to do again:

1)      Self Coaching

2)      Avoid tuning my hydration and nutrition

What I would keep doing.

TRX Full Body Blast sessions are 45 minutes of relentless work. A combination of strength and cardio. The strength portion is 60% leg, 20% core and 20% upper body which is perfect for cycling. The addition of cardio with these strength drills makes these very intense workouts. At the end of my firs session in November ’10 I wasn’t sure if I would pass out or throw up. After a couple of months I was doing the advanced position on all drills and finishing strong. By participating in sessions with a trainer you get pushed to a level that is hard to do to yourself. These TRX sessions gave me incredible leg strength for climbing.

Computrainer drills provided technique feedback along with the wattage training at threshold. These sessions maximized the time I did spend training, however I do believe these would have been more effective with proper coaching. The pedal technique training was key to maintaining the power required to attack the KOM sections. These KOM sections are about an hour at threshold power and proper technique is vital to maintaining that power.

Weight loss is tough to do and I applaud anyone that that looses weight. This was difficult but paid off on the climbs. The 13 lbs should stay off and I hope to drop a few more as the summer progresses. I did the 30 day challenge + performance products from Advocare. This program did give me the structure and vitamins that allowed me to work, train and travel with no illness over the training period.

The VO2 testing gave me the confidence to train to the ranges that my previous training would have proscribed. The challenge of this approach is that it is difficult to push yourself the way a coach will.

On that note, what would I change…

I had dropped a coaching program in November because I didn’t have a goal event. Well 2 months later I had a pretty challenging goal event and decided to self coach. Not a great plan because a coach would have given me even more structure and pushed me to take at least 2 long rides to dial in the hydration and nutrition.

The Singulair and Prevecid will help, and following up on those is underway. I was taking both of those when I posted a blow out time at Cheat Mtn. Challenge

I rode a loaner S9 Matta Ti Bianchi from Dan at Lancaster Bicycle in Lancaster and it was wonderful. I think I could have even made it lighter. But the difference between my everyday bike and that bike was huge. So getting a new bike is on my shopping list – I am talked to Standridge Speed about a superlight custom steel. I would have a frame that is perfect for my position.

I was talking to my old coach about the event results and Tim said he thought that I had done pretty well since he figured this was my first ride over 5 hours this year. Well, the truth is that I hadn’t done a ride over 1:45 up to the day we departed for California. I was pretty lazy about getting out and needed a kick in the butt to get outside for a couple 3-4 hour rides

I took the VO2 testing to begin the training, I should have done a test 6-8 weeks in to gauge how my self coaching was doing.

What to make sure I don’t repeat if I expect to achieve my goals…

Other than the items noted above I would say the plan was really solid. The trip and accommodations were great and gave me a nice run up to the event.

Fit Studio to Cycling Performance Center

I now have 2 TRX sets at the studio and am ordering Computrainers to expand our services to offer the 3 items on my “Keep Doing” list. I am looking forward to the announcing when we are officially offering these services.

John C.

This was titled, “Sweat, Snot and Slobber” when I sent this to my friends. Or, how I made it through a tough day on the bike. The original title came from my urge to write the story in memory of the moment when I realized that slobber had joined the sweat and snot dripping on my top tube – which was shortly followed with the urge to hurl – This happened at mile 106, 2 miles of climbing to the ride finish at 108.5 miles

After my California experience, I was thinking about how I felt at the end of this ride in 2009. At the finish line, I felt really wrung out, woozy, chest constricted, and sick to my stomach. This was very much like the feelings I had on the l’Etape of California. The conditions that day were similar, I felt good up to the end of a long climb then felt really weak, and then had to keep stopping to gather myself over the final 35 miles – including a stop midway on the final climb. Interesting note – in 2008 I was taking Singulare for allergy symptoms and Prevecid for acid reflux.

The Story…

First let me give a shout out to Ray Gun for another great weekend of riding and comraderie  – I know the Bicycle Tour of Colorado demon has been exercised.

I am writing this during my Monday commute to DC feeling great, no soreness or other effect from the ride. Admittedly going in to the weekend I was a little ambivalent about the event in 2009. I had really hung it out the year before and was wasted on the climb to the Snowshoe Ski Village, a mountain top finish of the ride – I had finished the 2008 edition with 6:36 elapsed time with only 20 minutes off the bike. That time put me in the top 20 finishers of the 108 route.

This year I was distracted with a new job and a side business. I had originally pointed to another event as my goal and not really committed to this event.

Then I made a preparation blunder – I had always ridden this event with a 50-34 compact crank and 25 tooth cassette. I had taken the compact off of my home bike due to the constant cross chaining on the terrain on my training area. In preparation for this ride I decided to put my 13-29 cassette on the bike instead of putting the compact back on. – Good plan, except I forgot to execute. 2 hours into the trip down to Snowshoe I realized that I was going to be riding with 39-25 as the low gear – oh crap. I had commented on a forum a couple of years ago that I could probably do the Etape to Alpe d’uze on my 39-25, I wouldn’t need my compact anymore. Now I had the opportunity to prove it, or eat my words!

The Result!

Was the result this year horrible, no – but not as good as last year. CMC 2009 result 7:14 ET with 6:44 time on bike. With the 39-25gearing it was a long day of grinding at 60-70 rpm – I spent at least 3 hours in that cadence in my low gear. I will credit coach Tim for building my strength over the winter to allow me to grind for that long. I will credit my son Tom for showing me how to pedal efficiently, and Wobble-naught for a great seated and standing position (shameless plug.)

Friday night I was  re-vamping my game plan for the ride based on my gearing blunder. I decided to take it easy the first 55 miles to conserve for the 3 long climbs at the end 6 miles, 3 miles and then 6 miles. This strategy is what made the day longer than 2008, but it also allowed me to make it to the finish with a respectable time. What really hurt was my lack of hydration again, I really have a tough time drinking a lot of water after putting a bunch of sugar in my gut and riding. Coach Tim told me to Drink, drink, drink – I was on pace for that until mile 55. The climb from mile 55 to 65 the road is open and even on mild 80 degree day I just bake. That was when it started to go south. The road until mile 80 is open and hilly also, more baking.! One of these days I will learn from history – Hey, that is another good plan!

This is my L’Etape du California experience.

I was thinking about how to start this story, I first thought about the end when my Dr. said to me “your life seems to be a series of stress tests, but we want you to take one watching your heart just to be sure…” but I decided to start at the inflection point of the race for me.

I took this picture at mile 65, looking ahead to the finish somewhere up on those mountain tops off in the distance.

You can see the road off to the right of the picture, as it was cut around the mountain; the problem was that I didn’t stop for the scenery and pictures. I rolled to a stop trying to breath – I had slowed to a relative crawl going up this jump because I felt like there was someone on my back had their right hand jammed up under my right rib cage and their left fist pushed into my stomach. I couldn’t take a deep breath and that was making it difficult to climb. As I stood there about 11 miles from the finish, pouring water on my head, thinking about what to do next… I heard those immortal words “Pain is temporary, quitting is forever”, but then I thought “dying if forever too!” I really did not want to stop, I have never considered stopping unless there were broken bones or blood involved. Balancing what to do, the positive was that there were only 11 miles left, fthe negative was the last 11 miles included 6 miles of extreme climbing. So, after a 10 minute break, watching riders stream by headed to the finish – I still could not breath normally but was recovered enough to get back on the bike and head off to the next rest stop hoping that I could regain the power I had up to just a few miles ago.

I had reached the top of KOM #1 at 4 hours :30 minutes, My avg speed after 56 miles and the majority of the climbing was 14.7 MPH for time on bike. I was close to my plan – and thought I would easily do the final 20 miles in an hour and 30 minutes. At the top of the KOM (mile 56), I had no doubt that I was going to finish strong. As I pushed off this time, I wasn’t sure I could even finish.

You might ask (my wife does) why would one put themselves on the side of this mountain in California at the beginning of May feeling this bad? First you have think that cycling 76 miles with 10,500 feet of climbing sounds like a fine way to end a vacation. Then you have to think that you can go from good winter fitness to race fitness in 10 weeks. Add dropping about 18 lbs to the plan, travel, Ohio weather, and it all starts to sound less and less like a great idea – but plans are made, the vacation is scheduled and the ball starts rolling to race day; May 7^th Claremont California

Race day arrived the weather forecast was perfect, 55 at 7AM, high in mid 70’s. No rain, partly cloudy to sunny. I was feeling great. I had lost 13 pounds coming in at the lightest weight for any of my goal events. I was fueled up and well rested from the easy riding I had been doing in Santa Barbara. I lined up with the 15 MPH group which would match my goal speed. 76 miles, 15 MPH = 5 hours of riding. Since I had completed 108 miles and the same climbing in 6:35 at Cheat Mtn., I was felt ready to rock this course. During the usual start line chat, some folks suggested I move up into a higher group. My strategy was to start with a slower group would be better to conserve energy – since most folks start off with some “Group Enthusiasm” and go quicker for the first couple of miles than they will the rest of the course, I would ride with this group for the first several miles to keep me my pace low and then go if the pace was too slow.

1600 cyclist lining up for an epic ride, Dave Zabriskie an Chris Horner were at the front of the group – I never saw them…

To start the event, the VIP group went off at 7 AM, Group 1 went off at 7:05, Group 2 went off at 7:10 and my group is asked to move up to the start line. We are sent at 7:15 and we are off through the sleepy streets of Claremont with a full police traffic control. Quickly rolling through the city on a 1-2% grade, I found myself moving up through the group with a HR about 155, I was rolling at a nice pace. At mile 3 I hit the gap between Group 3 and Group 2, and bridged that over the next half mile. And so it continued up the first 12 miles. Riding around and through rows of cyclists, gutter one time, center line the next, between riders when necessary – got passed by 4-5 riders – but mostly doing the passing.

I was in the last 500 meters before the first rest stop,  near the top of the first climb thinking that I was really kicking it when this guy in a Mellow Johnny’s kit flew past – this was a pretty steep section, I am guessing 8% he is going 12-14 MPH to my 8-9. I yelled at his back asking if he was Lance, he looked back and grinned back at me as if he was saying “No silly boy, Lance would be going faster then this!” I rolled past the first rest stop at 1:10, I was going pretty good since the next 20 miles were mostly down hill and I could easily make up the time I needed to keep my 15 MPH avg. I thought this was going to be a great day. The only issue I had was a little trouble talking, more like squeaking when I tried to say something. This seemed to kick in about mile 8, but I wasn’t doing much talking. I just thought I had gotten some water down the wrong pipe when to took a drink.

A couple of miles of up and down and then the down hill really started. I pretty quickly realized this decent was too technical for high speed and I was too rusty at technical descents to put the bike on the edge. Or maybe it was the sheer cliff that was always a couple of feet away that kept me from really letting it hang out. So I was content to roll down the mountain, watching out for the dare devils, rocks falling from the cliffs and the riders that were even slower than I was. Although it looks like fun, hanging onto your brakes, moving around the bike, corner after corner is wearing. Better than going up hill, but not any where near relaxing.

I reached the turn at the reservoirs and was greeted with the predicted headwind. Pedaling uphill is expected, but when the grade dropped to 2-3% the wind was doing an effective job of slowing me down. So the trudge around the reservoirs began. A few uphill sections, mostly downhill, still having to make the choice of tuck and roll or in the drops and pedal. A couple of pace lines passed me, but I opted not to join because they looked like a caterpillar going up the road, constantly waving, crawling sideways, collapse, expand, and on. Making a calculation of shelter vs. safety. I opted to stay out ot the caterpillar.

I took a short break half way down the reservoir and there was no hydration problems – all systems go. You can see the weather is a little hazy, but it burnt off pretty quickly.

You can see the road off to the right winding down the valley. Nice road, down hill, head wind, beautiful scenery: almost perfect, I was thinking how great it was going to be to climb up the left hand side of the valley with the wind at my back.Plus more down hill until the Glendora turn. Skipped the next stop heading towards the 43 mile stop at Glendora.
Short break, made longer by the lines at the porta-john’s, pretty strange that there were no lines up to this point. But an extra couple of minutes wasn’t going to make or break the ride. Plus, the first King of the Mountain was coming up.

After the short stop in Glendora and I was back on the road. Fueled up, 1 water bottle (why carry an extra one up the hill), bio break and I am on the way to the KOM #1 from Mile 46 to 54. I ready to rock when I crossed the timing strip and I pegged my HR at 168. Good cadence, lot’s of power for any jump, I was collecting riders. One or 2 collected me, but I couldn’t go any harder for the entire hill so I was relaxing into the effort. My HR was moving between 168 and 171, my speed was moving between 9.8 & 10 MPH. Nice and steady, full power. The signs counted down to the KOM end 5 KM – 3 KM that is 2 miles and I am still rocking it steady. 1 KM, 500 M, it is over and I was still rolling at the strip. I immediately started recovery as the road leveled.

My thighs started stinging from the effort of the KOM as I rolled towards the next rest stop, a little on the bike massage and some standing worked through that pain. The rest area at mile 56 came quick and I kicked out and filled up another bottle, ate a Honey gel and a banana and I was off for some more on the bike recovery.

A couple of rolling hills and the road is going up again. The difference is that I am staring to feel like I a dishrag. I take a deep breath and I feel like I just cannot expand my chest and fill my lungs. I stand up to stretch out and it is some relief, but the effort of standing is draining any extra air I am getting. All I can see ahead is the road is going up, it seems like I am starting to bake on the sun. After a couple of miles of this with each mile becoming more difficult, I saw a shady spot along the road and decide it is time to rest.

This is where I found myself at Mile 65, in the middle of a climb, struggling to breath and contemplating if I am able to finish this event. Trying to relax and make lemonade out of the stop I scooted across the road to take a picture of the challenge ahead.  I get asked if I am OK – well sure I am. Not very convincingly, but I say “Yeh, I am OK” More of a rasp, but still got it out.

So, back on the bike, legs would be good if I could get some air, so keep stretching, pushing, just keep going. My goal is not to get to the finish, all I am thinking about is the next rest stop, mile 70 can’t be far away and this road has got to smooth out. Then a down hill section appeared and then a couple of rollers and a short uphill and I was at the last rest stop before the finish.

I filled up again since I had dumped my water on my head to cool off. And off again, 6 miles to go, another down hill and then the final climb.

I really didn’t need to decide right then if I was going to continue, but I did need to keep the finish this race mind set. I remember thinking – “They said it was steep, but 8% doesn’t sound steep compared to the 10-15% roads in S. Ohio. I am sure I can muscle up the hill.” After the short down hill to the bottom of Mt. Baldy turn off the climb started well, for about a mile. It was a relentless steep road that doesn’t have much bend to it, just up. That same feeling from Mile 65 was back, only this time that damn elf was on my back giving me the Heimlich. More baking, more gasping and a few feet with every pedal stroke. I was now resigned to grinding up the hill with a low cadence that didn’t require as much air in my lungs. Even with this strategy I was struggling, I saw another rider pulled over into a drive way and it looked like an oasis, I had to stop.. Short recovery, climb back on 5 miles to go. Then it seemed to get even steeper with switch backs. When you are struggling as I was on this climb switchback present tortured decision, taking the long way was extended pain, taking the short steeper path was a quick way to pain. Another mile and I had to stop, then another mile and another stop, and another, and another until I could literally look straight up and see the finish line. One more steep section and I would get to the 4 parking lot tiers to the finish. I pushed my bike up the last 50 feet and climbed back on and made my way across the finish line 7:0X:XX.

I don’t remember the exact numbers because I knew it was from the first rider, not my group. All I was thinking is how disappointed I was that it was just over 7 hours. That means that it took me about 2:30 from mile 56 to mile 76. That is incredibly long to crawl the final few miles.

Now all I had to do is recover enough to roll back to Claremont. This wouldn’t be difficult; there was only one up hill section in the 15 miles between Mt. Baldy and Claremont. As I rolled down the hill, the stream of human wreckage was continuous heading to the finish was continuous from the top to the bottom. Slow, slower and stopped was all I could see. But, I was that picture to the riders that were descending as I was making my tortured climb.

The results:

1600 riders started – 1,000 riders made it to the finish line on Mt. Baldy

I finished in just under 7 hours from the start timing chip to the timing chip at Mt Baldy, that placed me #402 of 1,00o finishers, and #23 of 100 finishers in the 55-60 age group

KOM #1 I was #245 overall and #12 in the 55-60 age group

The aftermath.

The Dr. said he is certain that I had Exercise Asthma given the early ride symptoms of hoarseness/squeaky speech. As I continued to ride and then went hard on the KOM #1, I had asphyxiated myself during the ride to the point where I was unable to function effectively.

He asked when I was going to do something like this again so that we could test his theory. – I haven’t made those plans, but I now have some Singulair to suppress the Asthma and I am looking forward to trying that stuff out. The Dr. does want to do a stress test to rule out anything serious, but given that I haven’t died in any of the other fun rides like this one he doesn’t think it is likely.

A request:

I was planning to do this ride as a fund raising event to a group that I strongly believe in.

If you were inspired, pained, enjoyed my pain, or you have some extra cash you need to get rid of – please check out my fund raising page.

http://www.ministrysync.com/event/website/?m=618928

Thanks for reading,

John C.