RAAM is Close

This week has been one of the lowest milage totals for me in a long time. After TRANS IOWA and the 300K Brevet I thought I needed a break. I have been training pretty hard since December and with no races in sight I am having a tough time getting motivated. Oh well you will have that. Next week I will pick it up.

Three weeks from today I will be halfway to California on the drive out to the start of RAAM. I have been working on getting the van ready with the PA system and speakers for Paul’s music. I have a good idea on how we are going to put some shelves in the back of the van with a sleeping “bunk” on top for Paul to take naps of even get his 3 hours of nightly sleep if there are no close Hotels.

There are 9 of us on the crew in three vehicles doing 8 hour rotations. Paul has some co-workers that are going to use him as a guinea pig and conduct all kinds of tests on him as the race progresses. Power output, heart-rate, core temperature, hydration level, swelling and many other things will be captured as we spend 12 days crossing 3000 miles of the center of the USA.

There will be updates to his facebook and web page and I will post the links on my blog as the race gets closer. I will also update on my blog from time to time.

Paul's RAAM Profile

All for now.

Trans Iowa is not for you if:

Found this on a riders blog.

http://buffduluth.blogspot.com/2010/04/trans-iowa-v6-v1.html

The comfort zone is a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.

The TRANS IOWA is not for you if:

You don't like riding your bike.
You don't like the dark.
You don't like rain.
You don't like thunder and lightning storms.
You don't like loose gravel.
You don't like speed.
You don't like steep hills.
You don't like gravel in your eye.
You don't like riding your bike in the dark, down steep hills covered by loose gravel, in a thunder and lightning storm, in the pissing rain, with gravel shooting up into your eye.

You don't like Iowa.
You don't like the farm country.
You don't like spending all day outside.
You don't like the smell of pig manure.
You don't like walking in mud.
You don't like carrying your bike.
You don't like spending all day outside in the Iowa farm country, riding and carrying your bike thru mud, with the sweet smell of pig manure constantly in your nostrils.

You don't like spending all day with the same people.

You don't like strange people.
You don't eccentric people.
You don't like gas stations.
You don't like gas station food.
You don't like eating food who's first ingredient is sugar, corn syrup, or high fructose corn syrup.
You don't like spending all day with strange and eccentric people, living off gas station fodder made of high fructose corn syrup, including Pop-tarts, cherry pies, Suzy Q's, Coke, and cookies.

You don't like like pain.
You don't like physical exertion.
You don't like mental exertion.
You don't like exploring your dark side.
You don't like the hurt tank.
You don't like stepping outside your comfort zone.
You don't like stepping outside your comfort zone, into the depths of physical and mental exertion, exploring the hurt tank, the dark side.

Time for a break

After the 300K Brevet last weekend I am ready for a break. 16 1/2 hour ride one weekend followed by a 11 3/4 hour ride the next weekend and my legs are shot.
The 300K was put on by the Big Dogs in the Quad Cities. The ride started and ended at Comfort Inn in LeClaire with the turn around at Key West Iowa. Hard to believe there really is a Key West Iowa and if you google it I am not sure you will find it. It is a suburb of Dubuque right on highway 61 and 52. Of course it is at the top of a big hill. Not surprising since this route had 8000 feet of climbing. It basically is the TOMRV Sunday century route up and back. McCausland, Follets, Low Moor, Elvira, Miles, Sabula, Bellevue, St. Donatus, Key West and back. There were 11 of us starting the ride but it soon broke into 6 of us and then down to small groups of two or three.

The ride up was great as the wind was blowing from the south pretty strong but promised to be a tough ride home. The trip up took 5 hours and 10 minutes and after a 20 minute break in Key West the trip home took 6 hours and 15 minutes. Total time was 11:45 with 55 minutes off the bike. The 27 miles from Sabula to Low Moor took 2 hours of non-stop riding. The wind finally died a little for the last 25 miles as Keith Wells and I rolled back into town.

I am still working on the write up for Trans Iowa but for your reading pleasure here are some other riders blogs and some pictures from the ride.

http://cornbreadblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/pics-nowwords-later.html

http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2010/04/trans-iowa-v6-race-report-pre-race-meat.html

http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2010/04/trans-iowa-v6-race-report-start-and.html

http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2010/04/trans-iowa-v6-race-report-unravelling.html

http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2010/04/trans-iowa-v6-race-report-seven-bikes.html

Tune in for my final report.

Tran Iowa

Soupy gravel roads, lightning storm, some sunshine, thick mud, pushed 3 ½ miles of mud roads (either pushed in the grass of carried bike) soft hilly roads with 3-4 mph uphills, and some 4 mph flats through the quick sand, light to moderate head wind all day until the end then 30 mph head wind. 134 miles of racing in 13 hours (less then an hour off the bike) followed by 3 ½ hours of pavement back to Grinnell in pouring, driving rain with three others. 181 total miles in 16 ½ hours. It really was fun and I felt great except for the blister on my foot from walking in wet shoes. I stayed warm, did not cramp and the bike worked great. Needed a bigger cassette. 58 starters, 27 made the first check point, about 15 made the second, 7 still riding when the race was stopped at mile 154 of the race. Conditions were such that we were not going to make the next check point so I figured no finishers. Chose the easy route of 43 miles back to Grinnell in the rain with 23 being head wind and 20 cross wind. Found out later if I would have gone on I would have been stopped but at least been a finisher. Bummed about that. Next year????????? I will post a more detailed adventure and some pictures later this week.

Scary

April 24th is about here. The training is done as much as I can. The only thing left it the execution of the ride plan. This will have to include many calories and ounces of water along with electrolytes and pacing. Physically I think I am ready and feel I am in the best shape of my life. Mentally I really want to finish this ride to wipe out the RAW DNF.
This is the picture of how my cyclo-cross bike will be set up for the ride. I will also carry a 70 ounces camel back.


Training has gone well. I did a 95 miles gravel road ride last Friday and felt really good finishing. Total time was 6 1/2 hours with 12 minutes off the bike. The diet was mainly fig newtons and perpetuam. Now all that is left is figuring out what to pack and how to carry it on the bike. The new headlight works great and I can't wait to get in the middle of no where and see how bright it really is. Being able to see well on the gravel/mud roads is going to be a big plus.

200K Brevet

The photo at the top of the page is looking over the Mississippi at the Interstate 280 bridge at 6:10 Saturday morning. I decided to ride to LeClaire for the 8:00 start of the 200K brevet. I left home at 5:10 and was along the river right as the sun was cresting over the horizon. It was tough rolling out of bed at 4:30 but riding as the sun comes up is very rewarding.
The weatherman got the forecast correct and the wind was already blowing from the south west by the time I got to LeClaire for the start of the ride. This made for a nice ride to LeClaire and would also provide quite a push as we headed to Bellevue for the turn around. 15 riders started the day but the climb out of town split is up pretty good and left 8 of us together. The out and back route follows quite a bit of the Saturday TOMRV route going through McCausland, Elvira, Miles before heading north to Bellevue. There are no really big climbs but the entire course had rolling hills.
The pace was pretty high all the way up with Keith Wells of Des Moines pushing the pace on the hills. We averaged a little over 21 mph on the way up. We arrived in Bellevue with five of us together and another group of two right behind.
After a quick stop we headed back to enjoy the nice head wind. The first 11 miles along the bluff were protected from the wind before heading south to Miles. Just before heading south I dropped off the pace and was on my own for the next 25 miles until we got to Low Moor. There I caught up with three other riders and heading back to LeClaire as a group.
We finished the ride in 7:16. I did not eat enough early on and definitely did not drink enough water. I had plenty off water with me just did not drink it. This is something I will improve as I get closer to the Trans Iowa.
My next training ride will be 100 miles of gravel around Muscatine county with the bike set up as it will be for Trans Iowa.

Ultra Training

I meant to post this at the begining of April but due to computer problems it did not post.

March and April need to be a big months for me as far as miles go. The 24th or April is my first big race of the year the Trans Iowa VI. Work has made my training very sporadic with some long hours and business trips. The weather the last couple weeks has been great so when I was able to ride it was pretty enjoyable.

Weekly miles:

Feb 22 - 333
Mar 01 - 190 (In New York for work)
Mar 08 - 199 (injured shoulder)
Mar 15 - 316
Mar 22 - 190 (In Canada for work)
Mar 29 - 196 (12 hour days at work)

Currently there is no traveling or "special" project at work so the miles will level out around 300-350 per week.

Training for ultra-distance events can very daunting. As with training for any type of sporting activity the weeks prior to the event need to be focused to prepare yourself for the event. When I was racing criteriums and road races I would work on sprinting, hill climbing or short burst of 100 percent effort. When your event is 24-26 hours in length specific training can be pretty tough. Training for ultra-distance races also includes comfort on the bike, fueling, hydration and night riding. To get a good handle in these areas you have to do looooonnng rides. Ideally a long training ride would be 10-12 hours. My longest this year has only been 8 hours. I have quite a few 4-6 hour rides but they are not enough. I plan to get a 10 hour ride this weekend.

Some of my miles have been on gravel with the cyclo-cross bike. Right now the roads are in pretty poor shape. There are sections that are like quick sand and are very difficult to keep a good speed or straight line. Hopefully some heavy rains will take care of the problem. Riding last Friday with a stiff cross wind on the gravel proved to be a bit of a challenge. Picture yourself riding down the road with a 20 mph cross wind. Your bike is leaning into the wind to compensate. The challenging part with the gravel is your wheels are basically sitting on ball bearings. If your center of gravity gets too far off you are laying in the road. When you hit the lose sections you need to be centered over the wheels but then the wind pushes you to the side of the road. During this ride I was actually looking forward to the head wind sections. Some of the aspects of gravel road riding that I love are low traffic, new roads and the new scenery. There are more miles of gravel roads in Muscatine county then paved roads. After 4 months of exploring them I still find new ones almost every time I ride. This picture is of a dirt road I found near the Cedar river off Independence avenue. My plans for the year are to keep riding the gravel once in a while just to keep from getting into a rut.