After yesterday, I’ve completed an official 200k ride in 4 consecutive months.  Only 8 more to go but, in theory, I should have the easiest weather months ahead of me.

My original plan was to do one of Toshi’s rides on Saturday but, as the week went on the weather forecast continued to degrade.  Saturday ended up being a wet, cold, gray, windy day and I don’t feel bad at all about pulling the plug and donating my $5 registration fee to Toshi’s pocket.  Problem was, it was late in the week when I made the decision to bail and making other arrangements for Sunday would not necessarily be easy.  But, Mike Griffith was more than accommodating and was willing to allow me to bring my registration form to the start of the ride.  He even pointed out that his wife would be meeting the group at the lunch stop so it would be possible to have a drop bag.

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day.  It was sunny and dry with temperatures in the mid to upper 40s. There were 8-10 riders signed up, including my usual pain inducing friend Joe..  I rode all day with Joe an we weren’t more than a few miles from the start when we were on our own, off the front of the group.  We saw the other riders at the lunch control but, other than, that we didn’t see any of the rest of the group all day.

We had a wonderful tailwind for the first 40 miles but the day got tough after that.  There was crosswind on the bike path, a lot of headwind between Washington Courthouse and London and then a mix of everything for the last 43 miles.  Both Joe and I ended the day without much left in the tank.  My time was 38 minutes faster than when I did the same route back in November, but almost all of that was from a reduction in off-bike time.

So, now that I’ve made it through February, I really don’t have any excuse to not work on an R-12.  It seems to be the thing to do in the Columbus rando community.  Roy just finished one, Larry is working on one and Amanda is working on her second.  I guess it’s time for me to jump is as well.

This is a good time to talk about the challenge of taking something completely subjective, like perceived exertion and matching it up with something completely objective, like watts.  The 2 latest Extra Shot videos have pointed out that if you aren’t careful about how you set the limits of your power in the spreadsheet, you’ll be left with a workout that is next to impossible to complete.

Since RPE is dynamic, it’s completely acceptable to have long stretches of a workout at 8, 9 or even 10 out of 10, as long as you realize that what constitutes a 9 at the beginning of a workout may not be anywhere close to what constitutes a 9 at the end of the workout.  But, with ERG files that assign an absolute value to each RPE level, a 9 is a 9, not matter how tired you are.

If you set the spreadsheet up so that your FTP falls at say 7/10 then, by definition, you should be able to sustain that for an hour or so.  But, if the RPEs for that time are in the 8,9 and 10 range, you will either not be able to complete the workout or you are starting with an incorrect FTP value.

If you look at the RPE numbers for the latest video, almost all of the 30 minute effort is between 7 and 8.5.  Keep that in mind when you plug in your power numbers to generate the ERG files.  Pick a maximum power percentage that puts your FTP in the correct range to allow you to ride at the 7-8.5 level for 30 minutes.

I’ve had a number of friends complete an R-12 over the last few years.  I know the distance isn’t a problem for me and it shouldn’t be that tough to complete. But, I still have not been willing to make the commitment and say, publicly, that I’m working on one.

There is an unofficial classification of R-12s that I’ve heard referred to as a “natural”.  Basically, it means completing all 12 months in your home state. That means that a Florida or Arizona R-12 is a lot easier to get than one in Ohio. I can’t begin to compete with the dedication of the riders who have completed one in Minnesota. Many of the Columbus rando riders take a few winter trips to Florida and South Carolina in search of the difficult to achieve winter rides in their R-12 journey. I have no plans to head south, so I’m dealing with winter in Ohio.

So, it’s the end of January. I rode a 200k permanent at the end of November, one early in December and took a personal day off of work on a beautiful Tuesday in January to ride a solo permanent. My theory is, if I can get a qualifying ride in during February, I’ll have the toughest months out of the way and I’ll put the R-12 goal on my calendar. But, if the weather turns bad, I’ll only have 3 months invested and I won’t feel too bad about waiting for another opportunity. If I start an R-12 in the spring, I’ll end up with my last months in the worst weather and I’ll feel compelled to either ride when it’s miserable or to cave in and invest the time and money to go to a warmer state.

I’m signed up for a flat permanent out of West Jefferson next week. If that doesn’t work, I’ve been researching routes near my mom’s house in PA. I’ll be back there for a few days later in February and, even though it will screw up the “natural” series, it might be an option if that turns out to be the only good weekend.

After that, I’ll decide if I have 8 more months in me.

In addition, I’ve had a few requests to start the ERG file at the very beginning of the video, instead of when the video title first appears on the screen.  I set up the original spreadsheet with the start-up delay in order to give me time to start the video , get everything arranged, realize that I can’t reach my towel, etc.  But, I want everyone to be happy, so I added a start time field to the tab for each video.  The default will be the current time delay, but you can now specify the elapsed video time when you want to start the ERG file.  If you want to start as soon as the video starts, enter a zero in the green box.

Thanks to fellow Sufferlandrian Graham Dunn for suggesting a simpler calculation of the workout time.

You can read the original blog post about the thought behind this spreadsheet here.

Version 2 adds data for the newest Sufferfest video, Hell Hath No Fury.  This 1:15 workout uses footage from the UCI Pro Women’s World Cup races.  The workout, as described on The Sufferfest website:

Onto the trainer and into another world! You are a Sufferlandrian. And you’re racing for the Sufferlandrian National Team in the Tour of Sufferlandria. You’re expected to take the leader’s jersey (and a very special jersey it is) over the race, the stages of which are:

• 3:30 Warm-up
• 5:30 Stage 1: Easy, flat terrain at effort level of 6/10 with a few accelerations
• 20:00 Stage 2: Rolling terrain with a series of attacks as the pack tries to take the lead from you
• 6:00 Recovery
• 20:00 Stage 3: More rolling, attacking racing in which you try to break away to get the lead back
• 4:00 Recovery
• 3:30 Stage 4: Team Time Trial in which you have to crush yourself in order to take the lead, and the Tour of Sufferlandria victory
• 6:00 Recovery, featuring Mental Training Reflection from Athlete’s Audio

I’ve also added the support for the MultiRider format (MRC).  On the tab for each video there is a yellow box containing the text for an ERG file and a blue box with the MRC data.  Pick your poison.  I don’t have a copy of the MultiRider software, so I’d appreciate any feedback on the files from anyone who tries the MRC version.

Mr. McNamara was kind enough to include a link to my Sufferfest ERG file spreadsheet but his review goes much deeper into how well the videos work as part of a power-based training plan, focusing on the training stress score (TSS), intensity factor (IF) and interval composition.  Check out his review and see how the Sufferfest stacked up.

As much as I hope to continue riding outside during the winter, the reality of winter in Ohio means I need a plan B.  Last year I spent my trainer time putting myself through the pain of Sufferfest video workouts and spent more time on my trainer than I usually would.  This year I’ve moved my indoor riding to a CompuTrainer and I have a pretty solid, power-based, workout plan to follow but I still want to include Sufferfest videos when they fit in the plan.

The Sufferfest workouts are interesting, challenging, motivational and, occasionally, fun.  But, they suffer from the same problem as all “perceived exertion” based workouts.  That is, they rely on me to determine if I’m working hard enough. I have great intentions when I talk about the workout and even when I climb on the bike, but when the screens says to go at level 9/10, am I really giving it 90% of my absolute best effort?   So, with that in mind, I set out to combine the gut check of the Sufferfest video with the technology of the CompuTrainer.

The rest of this post has some of the details behind this project but, if you really don’t care how all of this works, just download the ERG File Spreadsheet, read the short instructions in the file and get on your bike.

The CompuTrainer can be used in multiple ways.  In addition to recording data for future analysis, it can be connected to a computer and programmed to generate a specific pattern of load/resistance.  It is possible to configure a workout based on grade, distance and wind speed or, in the case of my plans for the Sufferfest, it can be programmed to generate specific wattage loads for certain amounts of time, in very fine increments.  The data for programming the CompuTrainer in this way comes from a specifically formatted text file called an ERG file.  An ERG file contains a header with information about the workout data and the workout data itself, indicating how many watts to produce for what period of time.  Depending on the format of the data, the wattage will either remain constant for a period of time, gradually increase or decrease from one time point to the next or make a quick step change from one wattage to another.

My initial goal was to create an ERG file to match each of the Sufferfest videos.  I could start the ERG session when I started the video and the computer would automatically adjust the resistance load on the trainer to match the recommended level of exertion on the video. Sounded simple enough. It was simply a matter of recording the time stamps in the video when each exertion level change occurred, determine what my wattage needed to be for each level and then create an ERG file with that information.

Almost immediately, I started to complicate the plan.  As the winter season wears on, I hope that my power output will increase. So, the watts I’ll use in October will probably not match the watts I’ll want to use in December.  That means making dozens of changes to each file every time I want a harder (or easier) workout.  What if some of my friends want to use the files on their CompuTrainers?  How would they use their power data, which is guaranteed to be different from mine?  So, I began to work on how to automate the process of generating each ERG file.

I ended up with a spreadsheet that asks the rider for 3 pieces of information.  Functional Threshold Power (FTP), the percentage of FTP that represents a perceived exertion level of 3/10 (easy recovery) and the percentage of FTP that represents a level of 10/10 (maximum exertion).  I chose FTP because it is a value that is commonly used with power-based training and is remeasured and adjusted at various points in a training plan. As FTP changes during the year, it is a simple matter to change that one number in the spreadsheet and automatically recalculate all of the Sufferfest ERG files.  I also made an executive decision to use 3/10 as the easy recovery base, even though there are a few places in some of the videos where level 2 or even level 1 are suggested. If you really need to go below level 3 to recover, just adjust that value lower when you set up the data.

Once that data has been filled in, the tab for each video will contain text that can be cut and pasted into a file to be used with the CompuTrainer Coaching software.  Unless I got a time stamp wrong, the only editing necessary in the file is to set the 3 starting data points.

In order to give me time to start the video and then switch over to the CompuTrainer Coaching software to start the ERG File, I picked a place in the video where I can start the workout (by pressing F1 on the controller).  The workout start is after the introductory screens and, in each case, is the point where the title of the video first appears on the screen.  The exact time to start the workout is listed on the spreadsheet tab for each video.

I’ve posted the file for anyone to try.  Keep in mind that it isn’t intended to be a scientific, power-based workout.  I simply wanted to use the technology of the CompuTrainer to take the guesswork (or cheating, depending on how you look at it) out of the perceived exertion guidelines in the video.  It’s up to the rider to determine what their recovery and maximum levels should be.  It’s a geek thing.  Enjoy.  Or suffer.  Or both.

We rolled out of Blue Ash, Ohio at 5:00 with 34 riders and the promise of a dry, sunny and very hot day. The first 300k was a repeat of the first part of the 400k from a few weeks ago so I knew what to expect. Much of the 2nd 300k would be on roads from the 200 and 300 this year so I had a pretty good idea what the latter part of the ride would be like as well.

After the 400k, I added a small mount for my light that raised it above the handlebar and got it out of the way of my GPS. Very quickly on this ride,I realized that it wasn’t tight enough and my light would rotate toward the ground on every bump. I tried to adjust it while riding but, eventually, ended up just holding it in place with my left hand until sunrise.

The group separated on a tough hill a few miles from the start and the faster riders settled in to a brisk, but manageable, pace for the first 56 miles to the control in Georgetown. I think the whole group was concerned about riding this 56 mile section on the way back. It would be very hot by then and there just weren’t a lot of options for water in that stretch. One of the local riders in our group pointed out a small park with bathrooms and a water fountain. I marked the distance so I knew when I could expect to get back there later.

After Georgetown, the hillier roads started and the groups of riders began to thin out. I saw Steve Glowacki in the group and knew that the pace could get fast anytime he decided to make it fast. Steve is a tall, skinny kid in his 20s. Joe and I chased him up the hills of Tar Hollow on a brevet a few years ago and he’s just a natural rider who doesn’t seem to have many limits. He holds the Calvin’s Challenge 25-29 record at 257 miles and the 20-24 record at 261 miles. I was also riding with Chris Scott, who I’ve been with on almost every mile of the previous 3 brevets, Jim Sarks and a few other riders, on and off. A few weeks ago I rode Chicken Hollow Rd and Suck Run Rd. in the rain and didn’t really get to enjoy them, This time it was dry and sunny and, I have to say, they really are incredible roads. It was great to see Don & Phyllis at the top of a hill on Chicken Hollow. I knew they’d be out there with a secret control at some point and I knew the odds were good that it would be at the top of one of the hills on that road.

We rolled into West Union, made a reasonably quick turn-around and headed out into the worst of the heat. Out-and-back routes have their pros & cons, but it was fun to see the other riders and see who was riding well. By that point, we could see riders that were obviously going to have a tough time finishing. We took a little longer at the Georgetown control and had some solid food. I had 3 water bottles and knew that we should find some water at the park in another 27 miles. As Steve and I pulled up to the park, the pavilion was filled with parents and kids at a birthday party. They had the water fountain covered with presents and decorations. We asked them if there was any way we could get to it and one of the moms said not to bother and started pulling bottles of ice cold water out of a cooler. We stayed there 10-15 minutes, trying to take in as much fluid as possible. I, like a lot of people, had been having really bad hot-foot problems and was having trouble standing up by the time we got to the park. I took off my socks to give my feet a little more room and spent the rest of the ride back to Blue Ash pouring water on my shoes to keep my feet cool.

Not far from Blue Ash, the route climbs a tough hill. As Steve, Chris and I were going up, a local rider pulled up next to Chris and asked how far we were riding. I don’t think he believed the answer because he rolled up to me and asked the same question and then did it again with Steve.

The 3 of us got back to Blue Ash at 5:47pm. That was 17 minutes later than we’d done the same route on the 400k. Since we didn’t stop at the park on the 400k, I figure we rode almost exactly the same overall pace for that stretch of the ride. We ate at Subway, then went back to the hotel to change clothes, pick up fuel, add lights, chat with Don, Phyllis, Bob and Patti and rolled out toward the sleep control in Xenia. We rode through Loveland, made a quick stop for water in Morrow, rode down Oregonia hill and into Corwin before sunset. We turned on our lights and had a great time riding, with a little tailwind, toward Xenia. At one point I was riding down a slight decline when I glimpsed something dark out of the corner of my eye. Steve pulled up and said “Man, that raccoon missed your wheel by inches”. At least it would have been the rear wheel. Not long after we left Corwin we were treated to the most amazing lightening show. It seemed like it was a long way away but there was almost constant lightening for close to an hour. Finally, as we neared the bike path, outside Xenia, someone flipped the wind switch and we had 30mph crosswinds. Large things were blowing across the bike path and 4-5 miles from the control we got some light rain.

I knew I was going to try to sleep for 3-4 hours at the control, but Steve and Chris were both planning on riding straight through. We stored our bikes, found Don to get our cards signed and I said goodbye and good luck to my riding partners. I got a room from Don, who told me that I might have it to myself, based on the number of riders who had dropped out and the fact that many were waiting out the rain at earlier points on the route. I got to the room, dumped my wet things, grabbed a welcome shower, tried to get prepared for leaving in a few hours and was about to crawl into bed when there was a knock on the door. Steve and Chris had looked at the weather and decided to sleep for a while instead of facing the storm. Steve curled up on the floor and was asleep in 30 seconds. Chris and I each feel that we may have gotten an hour of sleep over the next 4 hours but at least we were clean, dry and resting. We got up at 3:00am and were ready to roll out by 3:30am. We picked up Taylor, a young rider who had grabbed 2 hours of sleep on the floor of the bike storage room, and the 4 of us rolled out. We had to walk around downed trees on the bike path leaving town, but the rain had stopped and the roads were mostly dry.

We rode through Wilberforce, where the control would be on the way back, did the up and down on Grinnell Rd., through Yellow Springs and saw a lone taillight in the distance. Don had told us that Steve Phillips, the RBA from Alabama had rolled out of Xenia ahead of us. We caught up with him and the 5 of us rode together until sunrise. As soon as the sun came up, Taylor dropped off the pace. I think he just wanted company during the night riding and he liked having a couple of GPSs to follow instead of trying to read cue sheets in the dark.

This was the point where I was really starting to have problems. Physically, I was great. Nothing hurt, I had good legs and I was doing well with food and fluids. But, I wanted to close my eyes so badly it hurt. I looked for places to pull over and sleep. I was taking in caffeine but it just didn’t help. I was still riding well but all I could think about was sleeping. We got to the turn around in Urbana and I sat down in front of the store and then just put my head down on the sidewalk and closed my eyes. I figured that if I heard the other guys leave, I’d join them. If not, I’d sleep until I woke up and then ride on alone. Another rider, Jim House, appeared from out of nowhere, made a quick stop and rolled out ahead of us. We hadn’t seen his lights behind us at night but he caught us and was now ahead. I heard Chris, Steve and Steve get on their bikes so I got up and caught up with them. Steve Phillips dropped off and it was back to just the 3 of us heading back to Wilberforce. We started seeing other riders on their outbound legs. First Taylor, then Scott and Amanda, then Fred and Tom. It was good to know Tom was still riding but I began to wonder about who had dropped out.

We rolled into the last control with 56 miles to go. I wanted solid food and didn’t care too much what it was.  Even though it was still only mid morning, I had a couple of hot dogs and a Pepsi. I knew the other guys didn’t want to wait much longer so I sent them on, knowing that I’d probably be riding the rest of the way alone. I was still fighting to stay awake and knew that, by myself, I could make the decision to sleep somewhere pretty easily. I made it down the bike path to Spring Valley and through the rollers to Corwin before I caved in. I saw a shaded picnic table in a small park and I pulled over, set my alarm and took a 15-20 minute power nap. After that, I felt much better and knew I’d be ok to the finish. I rode up Oregonia Rd at the 354 mile point and was surprised at how good my legs still felt. I rode to Morrow (20 miles to go), knowing that there was a convenience store there where I could get something cold to drink. Steve Glowacki was at the store when I pulled up. He’d been there about as long as he wanted to wait and rolled out as I was heading inside. The girl behind the counter saw me and immediately turned to the cooler and pulled out a gallon of water. She didn’t charge me anything. I suppose the 3 riders ahead of me had explained our craziness and she felt like making a small contribution. I had some Chips Ahoy and another Pepsi before knocking off the last 20 miles.

I finished in 32:40, 7 minutes behind Steve and 32 minutes behind Chris and Jim. We did 17,835 ft. of climbing.  Out of the 34 starters, only 17 finished the ride.  If could have handled the sleep issue better, I would have had almost no complaints. I had no major pain, I finished with decent legs and something left in the tank and I managed my calories and fluids well.  But, now I know why they use sleep deprivation as a kind of torture. I’m quite sure I could have ridden on Monday if my schedule had allowed it. I’m not sure yet whether I want to do it again but, I’m glad I did it.

Here is my rather long winded, sleep deprived recollection of the ride.
The weeks leading up the Ohio Flèche this past weekend were a jumble of equipment decisions, route options, team decisions and weather obsession. Our original team of 5 bikes was whittled down to 3 due to illness and injury as Joe continues to recover from his crash with the suicidal squirrel and we lost the tandem of Don and Phyllis as Don came down with a chest cold and back pain in the weeks before the ride.

I probably spent more time looking at weather forecasts than I did anything else leading up to Saturday. Every service I looked at had a slightly different forecast and the range of possibilities was incredible. We had our choice of light rain, showers, locally heavy rain, thunderstorms, chance of thunderstorms, wind, gusting wind and any combination of the above.

4 of the 5 registered teams had lost riders and there was a flurry of emails from team leaders and RBA Bob Waddell as late as Friday with offers and suggestions to recombine riders to make fewer, 5 bike teams. But, our group of 3 decided that knowing the route and knowing the other riders well was just as important as having more wheels to draft. We decided to stick with the original plan and go with just the 3 of us. That meant, for any of us to get credit for riding, we’d all have to finish.

The ride started at 7:00 at my house on the northeast side. Everyone showed up around 6:30 and we checked all of our equipment and our drop bags and rolled out a few minutes after 7:00. I think all of us were thrilled to be starting without rain, but we knew that wasn’t likely to last all day. Tom’s wife Evette had agreed to pick us up at the end of the ride and my wife, Tracy and Ned’s wife Linda had graciously agreed to meet us for dinner in Chillicothe, bringing bags of dry clothes for the night time leg of the ride. All of us talked about how we were riding the heaviest bikes we can remember riding, but I’m sure that Ned wins the award for hauling the most stuff. At one point he referred to himself, compared to Tom and me, as a cargo plane compared to jet fighters. We all had fenders, some sort of giant bag and/or rack combination, headlights, taillights and rain gear.

Our first control was in Sunbury. Here we got the first of what would be many quizzical looks and questions about whether someone was holding our children hostage to force us to do what we were doing. We had a slight tailwind heading over to Utica for Control #2, then out the hills on Blacksnake and Eden Church to Purity. Our pace was ahead of schedule and we kept the stops shorter than planned, in an attempt to put as much time in the bank as possible for the headwind stretches we knew would make up the bulk of the day. We arrived in Hanover about 40 minutes ahead of schedule and then took the bike path, through Newark, to our lunch stop in Granville. Don and Phyllis made the trip out and met us for lunch, bringing towels, tools, a pump and, most importantly, Rice Krispie Treats. It was great to have them join us. Based on the way Don was coughing, they certainly made the right choice to skip the ride, but they, and Joe, were missed (and would be missed even more when we hit the wind).

We left Granville and started heading south, through Hebron, around the east end of Buckeye Lake, through Thornville and into Rushville. It was a very pretty, but hilly section. The hills through there were pretty much the only thing that broke up the group during the entire ride but we still got to Rushville within a couple of minutes of each other.

We had a decision to make at this point. Our next control was in Circleville. The original route went due west then stair stepped south and west to the control. I had an alternate route that went southwest through Lancaster and Amanda. The original route was a bit flatter and had changes in direction, but it was 8 miles longer. With a strong (15-25 mph) southwest wind, we opted for the longer route in order to not spend the entire leg riding directly into the wind. Not long after leaving the control, we began to see dark clouds south of us and by the time we got to the long stretch heading west, the rain had started. Fortunately, it was reasonably warm but it continued rain harder and harder. None of us had rain gear on at this point and Ned was in shorts and a short sleeve jersey. Finally, Tom picked out a church, just east of Carroll, and we pulled under a walkway and dug out rain gear. We had steady rain for the next few hours but it wasn’t as bad as we expected. I did yell at a particularly long roll of thunder but the subsequent lightening convinced me not to push my luck. After that, we had a few sessions of light rain but that really was the worst of it. We made a short course modification and rolled into Circleville pretty close to being on schedule.

Our next control was in Chillicothe, where we had time planned for a sit down dinner at Frisch’s (mostly because they were open later than any other place I could find) with Tracy and Linda. We rode a beautiful road called Sulphur Spring Rd. from Kingston to Chillicothe and arrived just as the sun was setting. We’d ridden 161 miles with close to 100 of it being headwind. The schedule called for us to arrive at 8:23pm. We started 7 minutes late and arrived at the restaurant at 8:32pm. So, it took us 2 minutes longer than we’d planned and that gave us a lot of flexibility if the night riding threw us any curve balls.

Tracy and Linda had gotten there early, gotten a table and, apparently, told our story to the people sitting nearby. A woman at the next table started asking me questions as soon as I sat down. But first, we had bags of warm dry clothes and our spirits got much better with the chance to clean up, get dry and have some real food. One of the decisions we’d made earlier was to spend a little more time at dinner than we’d planned and spend less time at the next control in Washington Courthouse. Sitting around a table at Frisch’s, warm and dry, seemed like a better choice than hanging out, potentially in wet clothes, at a Walmart. Sometime during dinner, the rain started up again and I was sure we’d be leaving in the rain. The forecast showed rain in the southern part of the state and I figured we’d just gotten lucky on the first half of the ride. But, the rain had stopped by the time we left and, although the roads were wet, we rolled out feeling pretty good. Both Ned and Tom decided on full rain gear leaving the restaurant. The pants looked amazingly hot to me and I told them that I thought they’d be sorry. We may have gone 4 miles before both of them called out that we absolutely had to stop. The temperature was in the mid-50s and they were burning up. So, once we got clothing adjusted, we headed out for a long stretch on the bike path.

There was some concern on the team about riding that section of bike path at night but we stuck with the plan in order to avoid any traffic in the Chillicothe area. I think the concerns turned out, fortunately, to be wrong. The path was wide, straight and smooth. We had either a slight tailwind or enough shelter from the trees and, after fighting headwind all day, it didn’t take much to feel like we were flying. We were holding a conversational 16-18 mph, which was much faster than we’d planned. Then, we had our only mechanical problem of the ride. Ned had a flat on his rear tire. But, we were on the path, with plenty of lights and it wasn’t raining. He quickly found a stone that had worked its way through the tire so we didn’t have to work too hard to find the cause. It was not exactly the quickest tire change, but we were tired and it was after midnight and we were back on the bikes without issue.

We stayed on the bike path as far as Austin. The plan called for us to stay on it for a few more miles but it just ended and dumped us into a gravel driveway with a dozen barking dogs (a situation that I didn’t help by riding back in there to see if the path continued). I’m sure we could have found the path again, but we always had a back out plan of hopping up to the parallel county road if the path became a problem. So, a quick map check and we were back on the road. Once we left the path and the tree cover, we noticed that the wind was still blowing in from the southwest. I didn’t realize it at the time, since the road seems to be flat, but were actually climbing slightly since our last stop (and would be for 70 miles). Having stayed longer at dinner, taking time to fix the flat tire and the crosswind and slightly uphill road, I knew we were pushing our time schedule for the first time, but I couldn’t remember the exact schedule. We rolled into Washington Courthouse and headed for Walmart.

If you think that the Walmart in Washington Courthouse might be a center of activity at 2:00 on Easter morning, you’d be wrong. When we pulled in, I thought they might have been closed, but there were a few early morning souls there. Unfortunately, we arrived a few minutes after we were scheduled to leave that control so we were now more than 90 minutes behind schedule. We knew we’d have to keep the stop short. We tracked down the folks at the customer service desk to get our cards signed and, somehow, Tom started a conversation with them about marshmallow peeps. The next thing we knew, the women at the desk had pooled their money and bought us a pack. By this point, Ned was having some stomach issues (although, who knows, a couple of peeps might have been just what he needed) and I knew it was a bad idea for me. But, Tom took one for the team and polished off a number of the critters (purples ones).

We rolled on toward London and the rain started again. It wasn’t hard but we contemplated putting our rain jackets on. We had a many miles of light rain throughout the rest of the ride and did eventually stop to put on our jackets but we didn’t have any significant rain for the rest of the night.

The road we took between Bloomingburg and London turned out to be a perfect night riding road. Straight, smooth and with absolutely no traffic. Ned’s stomach problems were making it tough for him to take in enough calories and I know how frustrating that can be. The three of us kicked it back to a nice conversational level and headed for London. At one point, I had stopped for a nature break and was riding to catch the lights of the other bikes. I was looking up the road and didn’t notice the dead possum in the middle of the lane until much too late. I was too tired (and moving too slowly) to do a proper bunny hop (possum hop?) so I basically rolled over the thing. There was a moment of panic about crashing in the middle of nowhere at 3:00 in the morning but I successfully cleared the thing.

We knew we were late getting into and leaving Washington Courthouse. But, since we didn’t stay there long and we were riding a bit faster than the 14 mph we’d planned, we weren’t too far off on the schedule. This was really the only place all day when there was any stress about the pace and the time schedule. The flèche rules required us to be at the 22 hour control at 5:00am. The plan had us arriving at 4:15 and leaving at 5:45, if we could average 15 from there back to the finish. We had 2 route options and took the slightly shorter, busier one to get to the control sooner. We arrived at the Waffle House at 4:30; 15 minutes behind schedule but well ahead of the 5:00 requirement. Knowing that we couldn’t do anything for at least 30 minutes was a great relief. We all ordered a waffle and bacon and I took a 10-15 minute nap. Tom had been riding with only one of his headlights for many miles and took the time to try and get the 2nd one working. He eventually gave up but Ned had an extra one and they switched it to Tom’s bike.

We knew that averaging 15mph might be tough so we rolled out a bit early and had a nice leisurely ride back to Columbus. After a quick stop for Ned to cover his legs, we rolled back into town, arriving a few blocks from the finish with about 20 minutes to spare. Wanting to keep up the tradition of the flèche, we pulled into a park and chatted for a few minutes before hitting the finish close to 7:00.

It was an amazing experience. With the exception of only a few miles, we were within eyesight of each other for the entire ride. We all had our up and down moments, but the mood was good the entire time. Ned had some back and foot pains and, in Chillicothe, I heard Ned tell his wife about how he was feeling. She asked him if he wanted to stop. His answer of “no” came out amazingly fast. He reminded her that if he didn’t finish, none of us finished. It was a great pleasure to ride with Ned and Tom and I appreciate the work that the injured half of the team did to help us pull everything together.

Our thanks got out to Don and Phyllis for meeting us at lunch and to our understanding and supportive wives for allowing us to go out and play and for sacrificing their time and their time with us to make this possible.

The final stats for my team were 252.73 miles, 7,174 ft. of climbing, 17:00 of riding and 23:49 total time.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81183358

I’m a map guy and a data junkie so I know every turn and every climb and every descent on this ride and I have a love/hate relationship with every mile.  The ride covers 100 miles in Virginia and West Virginia and climbs over 9 mountains for a total elevation gain of 9,800+ ft.  I’ve seen websites that advertise the ride as having 13,000+ ft. of climbing, but far too many GPS units come up with a figure closer to 10,000.

This year my training was good but there isn’t anything in central Ohio that even comes close to the kind of climbing that Mt. Mama offers.  None of the hills are Ohio steep (only one goes into double digits for any length of time), but the short climbs are 1-2 miles long and the long ones are 5-8 miles long.  So, it is always a bit of a guess if I’m really ready or not.

My group of 8 riders took Friday off of work and drove down early so we have time for a short shakedown ride.  I was only 4 miles or so into the ride when my rear wheel started making unusual noises.  After checking a few things on the road I decided to skip the rest of the ride and head back to town and then drove over to the start of the ride to see if the SAG mechanics were around.  I was hoping they might have better news, but I was pretty sure that the freehub was damaged.  It didn’t take the mechanic long to give me the good news/bad news info.  The good news was that my diagnostic skills were sharp as ever and the bad news was that my freehub was bent internally, allowing the cassette to move on the hub.  Monterey isn’t exactly a big town and there are no bike shops.  The SAG guy was a couple of hours from his shop and there really wasn’t much he could do in the parking lot.  So, we packed it full of grease and decided that it would be loud but it should hold together.  Just the kind of confidence I would need at 45+ mph on a downhill.

Saturday morning’s weather forecast was for sunny skies, temperatures in the 70s and not enough wind to care about.  The ride has a mass start at 8:00 with close to 350 riders doing one of 4 different routes.  As we rolled into the parking lot at the school, I found Robert and Wendy Wells getting their tandem ready.  Robert and Wendy designed the Mt. Mama routes back when her dad was the ride director.  They are amazingly strong riders and have been among the first finishers of this ride on a number of occasions.  But, 3 babies in 3 years have kept them off the bike for a while, so it was good to see them back.

As I was waiting for the start a young guy on an Orbea rolled up next to me and commented on my new Torelli Montefalco.  He mentioned that he had a Torelli as well and that he’d gotten it near where he lives outside of Philadelphia.  I’m originally from southeastern PA, and we quickly determined that we had attended the same high school (about 100 years apart) and that he new exactly where my mom’s house is.

After a round of announcements, including 11 reminders that this was not a race (tell that to the tall, skinny guys in team kits gathering at the front of the group and salivating) the starting horn went off.  The warm-up part of Mt. Mama last for roughly 300 yards before the route turns right on Rt. 250 and begins the climb up Jack Mountain.  The group strung out immediately and I settled in to find my climbing legs, figure out where my friends were and gauge whether I was moving up or back in the crowd.  The first climb is a little over 1.5 miles at an average grade of 7%.  My legs were complaining that they’d just gotten out of bed and were already climbing.  I found myself in the 2nd group going over the top but I knew that the fun was about to start.  After a couple of sharp turns, we had miles of straight, big ring descending and fast pace lines formed immediately.  It didn’t take long to reel in the lead group and I rolled through the town of McDowell near the front of the pack.

9.5 miles into the ride we started the climb up Bullpasture Mountain, a 2.5 mile climb with grades from 4-11%.  The group was still relatively civilized and I was comfortably near the front with my friends Kevin, Joe and Mark.  As we got near the top, Mark flatted but he is the strongest climber in our group and would have no trouble coming back to the front as the climbs got tougher.  I’m not a bad climber but I can descend as well as anyone in that front group.  The descent off of Bullpasture Mt. is winding and technical and fast and I love it.  I like it better with less people but it was still a blast, carving through multiple S-curves before making the turn north on Rt 614.

The next 16 miles is a fast, pace line ride through a beautiful valley.  The first 6 miles are gradually uphill and the last 10 miles are gradually downhill and we typically cruise through there at 23-25 mph.  This year, however, the pace seemed rather sedate.  It turns out that the guy who finished with the best time last year wanted to duplicate that feat again this year and so he brought along some teammates who were keeping the pace down so no one got up the road on the flat section.   At one point this guy, riding at the front of the group, decided he needed to take off his undershirt.  So, he sits up, hands his helmet to a buddy, takes off his jersey and hands that to someone, takes down his bib straps, removes his undershirt (which he throws in the window of a passing SAG vehicle) and then proceeds to get dressed again.  That was about as much as some riders could take so Joyce, Joe, Kevin, me and a few others went around these guys and picked up the pace.

At the 30 mile point we passed up the 2nd food stop and turned left to start the 3rd mountain climb.  This was the point where I knew I’d need to let the first group go. Hoover Mountain is a steep climb that gets tougher as it goes.  Approximately 2 miles long, Hoover gradually increases in steepness until topping out at 15%.  It is definitely the steepest climb on the ride.  The descent is typically fast with a few fun curves but, just as I neared the top, a dump truck full of mulch pulled around me and then rode the brakes all the way down.  Of course, Joe made it over just in front of the truck so I watched him pull away as he took off down the mountain.

The 4th mountain is another climb up Jack Mountain to Moyer’s Gap and is one of the easier climbs of the day.  1.6 miles long with an average grade of 5%, topping out at about 9%.  I was riding pretty much alone at this point, occasionally leapfrogging the same couple of riders.  The descent off of Moyer’s Gap has one section of road that looks like a ribbon through the trees.  It weaves gradually left and right but you can see all the way to the bottom.  Definitely one of my favorite downhills of the day.  At the bottom we ended up back in the valley and had about 6 miles of flat to rolling road before the food stop at the midpoint of the ride.  I kept hoping for a paceline to catch me so I wouldn’t have to ride this stretch alone.  Eventually I caught sight of a group being led by my friend Kirk charging up behind me but we were only about 3/4 of a mile from the food stop when they caught up.  This was my first of 2 stops for the day and we saw Joe pulling out as we were pulling in.  The volunteers took our empty bottles and filled them for us while we chowed down on one of the two rest stop luxuries of this ride.  Each stop had a large tub of cooked, redskin potatoes.  Covered liberally with salt, they are the perfect food on a ride like this.  Feeling refueled and with high spirits we took off for the tougher half of the ride.

A few miles down the road the route turns right and heads up Snowy Mountain.  In 2000, one of the volunteers told me “Snowy isn’t a mountain, it’s just an up-tick”.  Well, this up-tick is almost 5 miles long with an average grade of 5% and sections as steep as 9%.  It is unlike any other climb on the ride and feels a little out of place in Virginia.  It remind me of climbs out west as the road eventually emerges out of the trees into wide open mountain pastures.  I pulled away from Kirk and then rode up to my friend Greg as we neared the top.  Greg had skipped the previous food stop and had passed me while I was enjoying the potatoes.  He is an incredible descender and the two of us took off downhill, looking out over a spectacular view.  We hammered through a short valley stretch before making the turn that keeps me up nights before this ride.

The next 2 climbs are over Allegheny Mountain.  The first time over it we climb for 8 miles.  The first 4 miles are relatively easy but you’re still going uphill and getting more and more tired.  The last 4 miles averages 6% and gets gradually steeper with consistent 8-9% grades near the top.  The road is rather straight and wide open and seems to go on forever.  The descent is rather boring as well so there really isn’t anything fun about it.  There is even a false top, just to get your hopes up, but I’ve climbed this mountain enough times not to be fooled.  I did the climb alone with no one even in sight.  Greg had dropped off at the rest stop 4 miles from the top so I had no company .  In fact, I’d have no company the rest of the day but this is one place where it can really help to have someone to work with.

After the descent and a short flat stretch, I pulled into the 80 mile rest stop.  There are 3 mountains to climb in the last 20 miles and the next one is where the day usually catches up with me.  I kept the stop short but I did take time to enjoy the 2nd rest stop luxury of the ride.  Fresh peaches.  At this point they taste like candy.  While I was finishing my 2nd peach, Jason, Greg and Mark rolled in.  Mark was there all of 2 minutes and he and Jason both pulled out ahead of me. I knew I wouldn’t see Mark again but I figured Jason (a Mt. Mama first-timer) would be in my sights on the next climb.  A mile or so up the road we started the 2nd ascent of Allegheny Mountain.  It’s a shorter climb this time but it’s consistently at 8% for 3 miles.  The West Virginia/Virginia state line is at the top and that signals the last of the really tough climbs.  I felt pretty good on the climb which gave me reason to think the last 2 mountains wouldn’t be that bad.

The descent off of Allegheny II is fast and long and curvy.  I was making up time on Jason and passed one other rider on the way down (apparently he thought you were supposed to use your brakes).  As soon as the descent ends the road turns up as the climb up Lantz Mountain starts.  This is my favorite climb of the ride.  It’s just a little over a mile long with grades in the 7-10% range.  I always seem to find a second wind here.  I caught Jason about half way up and expected to ride in with him.  But, as I pulled along side he asked where the top was and then pulled over to deal with some foot pain.  I continued up and over Lantz and down into a beautiful valley through Hightown (which is a handful of buildings).  There is one last food stop in Hightown but I waved and thanked the volunteers as I rode past.

The last 5 miles of the ride is a 2.5 mile climb up Monterey Mountain followed by an exhilarating 2.5 mile descent back into town.  Not quite switchbacks, the climb is a series of S-curves with tremendous views as the road snakes up the mountain.  There is an old wooden fence on the left at one point and I know that there are 8 right turns between there and the top and I counted down each one.  Kevin saw a black bear on this climb but I had to make do with a few buzzards who seems to be judging whether I had anything left or not.  I made the 7th right turn, swung left then turned right as the Monterey Mountain elevation sign came into view.  A quick shift to the big ring and a fast ride back into town and the ride was finished.  My ride time was 6:04 and my total time was 6:17.  It would have been fun to break 6 hours of riding time, but I was still 14 minutes faster than my previous best.

I had minimal solid food during the ride.  I finished off one Hammer 4-hour bottle (a thick mixture of 4 scoops of Perpetuem and 4 scoops of Heed), 4-5 ounces of gel (Hammer and Power Gel mixed together), 5 or 6 pieces of potato, 2 peaches, some water and Gatorade at the stops and a couple of water bottles with Nuun.  I also took 2 Hammer Endurolytes, 1 Endurance Amino and 1 Anti-Fatigue every hour or so.

Just a quick note about my friend Frank.  Frank is a 3 time Paris-Brest-Paris finisher and he is always looking for a bigger adventure.  He’s not built like a climber but he is the Energizer Bunny of cycling.  He has decided that riding the Mt. Mama century route isn’t tough enough so he added in a little extra.  At the 60 mile point, Frank left the route and made the climb up the mountain to Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia.  After making the descent, he got back on the Mt. Mama course, finishing the day in 9:45 with 137 miles and 10 mountains climbed.