Davis Double Century -Saturday- Day 3

The morning of the ride, we arise to find folks already getting ready.  Of course getting up early means no "Continental Breakfast".  Shucks!  Good thing we all planned ahead and I've got coffee and oatmeal hoarded away for just such an occasion.

Up, dressed, Butt'rd up and ready to roll.

We meet a buddy and his wife in the parking lot for a pre-dawn picture. 

(no that's not our bottle in the background)

Immediately after the picture we hit the road and are less than 5 minutes to the start line.... great hotel choice there Campy! With red lights flashing and white headlights going we four amigos mark the start time and reset the bike computers.  It always makes me pause when resetting the computer, and I wonder what the computer is thinking... "Oh boy, wonder how long I'll be working today". The legs like to wonder the same thing.  I do enjoy that feeling.

The first 40 or so miles is bound to be paceline work, which we have practiced together a couple times before the ride. The only thing I wonder is how long Campy will break the wind for us before I've got to keep the pace.  Everything goes fine and we end up picking up some folks on the rear wheel as Campy's keeping a strong pace on the farmland flats.  Even a Tandem hops on our line, quite the compliment!  All these riders are fairly stable and safe, but I'm glad to be sandwiched between friends rather in the rear or the front of the line none the less.

Eventually dawn breaks, and I can see an amazing purple haze out over the fields of wheat.  Clear skies, with the Sierra mountains in the horizon, flat fields as far as I can see.  We ride on a raised roadway, and the view was incredible (added to lifelong mental photo album).

Finally we begin to approach the first big climb of the ride.  Cardiac Hill.  Nice intimidating name for a reasonable climb up past Monticello Dam and the "Glory Hole".  This is an overflow point for the dam and I was anticipating a great show as millions of gallons poured through the overflow... eh water level isn't even close.

Climb up Cardiac passing quite a few folks, when finally we come to a long bend to the left and that's it.  One done, many more to go.

Overall the hardest climb for me was on Cobb Mountain.  The elevation profile shows straight up!  This is at mile 96ish, and I made the choice at one point to hop off and walk with a friend for a very short stint.  Chug up the rest of the way, then enjoy a forested fast downhill.

Last climb of note was up the much dreaded Resurrection hillclimb. This comes along at roughly 135 miles in to the ride and of course by then your legs are getting all achy from being used all day.  The climb has a nasty reputation as being hot and miserable, but I actually find it to be one of the easier climbs of the day, similar to cardiac.  Plus leading up the rest stop there's scripture in chalk on the way.  I love that touch!  Suddenly the name of the hill makes sense, and I thank God for giving me the strength for the day, and much more.

We finish off the day with a long run (about 20 miles) back across the flat farmlands, and I begin to miss the hills! Long flat Time trials are a nice break, but quite boring after awhile.  A friend and I take turns drafting in to the finish line right as the sun was setting.  In fact we pull in to the Vetrans Memorial Center (starting line and chow hall) just as it seems useful to turn on the red blinkers.

Park the bike, take off the nasty shoes and socks, go inside and chow down.  BBQ chicken never tasted so good.  13.5 hours riding 15 hours on the road, the Sustained Energy and Nuun were finally starting to get old.  Gimme some SOLID FOOD!  

Best part, there was someone there doing massage and people hadn't noticed him yet.  So we got right in for a massage, and hung out going back for 2nds and 3rds and 4ths in the food line. Finally after a very long time we head back to the hotel and I jump in a bathtub full of ice (for recovery like the pros do of course) I love cycling!  

Davis Double Century -Friday- Day 2

We arise to enjoy a 'continental' breakfast.  What is so amazingly continental about a breakfast full of carbohydrates like processed cereal, stale bagels, way too sugary oatmeal, and some unripened oranges thrown in for good measure?  Continental makes it sound so savvy and unique.  I can get a sugary continental breakfast at Denny's and it won't cost me $80 a night

Excited at the prospects of a light ride around town and a chance to stretch the legs out a bit the breakfast didn't matter too much.  Next time I've got to remember to pack food better.

Before going out on the ride, we need to meet our 4th member of the team who was driving down separately in his own little version of torture.  Something about canine flatulence, and a droning parent that makes 14 hours in the car seem unique.

I can tell he's glad to see us, and eager to get on the bike, just like the rest of us.  But before then, we go to a local Pearl Izumi outlet, and I found alot of neat stuff, that was WAY overpriced for my taste.  Gimme a $30 pair of cycling bib shorts anyday (thank you Canari and Sierra Trading Post).  You can keep the 'really good deal' bib shorts for $120.  Someday maybe I'll work up the nerve to drop that kind of bread on something as frivolous. But I probably won't be married to the person I am now, nor have control of my bowels by that point.  But it was fun to drool.

Off we go, for packet pick-up and to put a limited number of miles in on the bikes.  This was our first chance for all 4 of us to stretch our legs, feel the heat of the day, over-hydrate from having a dry mouth, and feel the allergies flare up.  As we pull in to pick up packets from the Vetran's Memorial center I'm reminded why cyclists are so much fun.  Not only do we all walk around in Spandex.... er Lycra I mean.  We also all seem to have an unwritten understanding that we're all about to experience pain and suffering.  TOGETHER.

This creates a strange sort of fraternity (or sorority)  of middle aged college kids doing something big.  It's like we're all part of a big thing. I dig it, instant friends.

We pick up our packets, and say goodbye to our fellow crazies, and take off back to the hotel.  Time to start prepping the gear and getting nervous?

Last minute changes to the bike, remove the fenders, go through the saddle bag to remove broken open salt packets and Aleve gel tabs.  Note to self: do not put gel tabs in a saddlebag again, big mess.  Inspected tires for damage, looked over cables and derailleurs.

Watched "Breaking Away" a great classic of cycling I'm told.  Good flick, check it out.

Packed the 40 scoops of Sustained Energy into ziplock baggies, randomized by Nuun tabs in the containers.  Lemon-lime, BannanaNuun, Tri Berry, Orange Ginger, all random.  2 Tubes of Nuun.  Forgot the Gels.... arg oh well, one less thing to worry about.  I figure they'll most certainly have fruit at the rest stops if needed for simple sugars.  Put it all away, and hit the sack with anticipation of a great next day.  Sleep was quite easy, and didn't wake up at all during the night in anticipation, in fact I slept like a baby, a really tired... and well behaved baby... that dosn't wake up crying... all night....

Davis Double Century -Thursday- Day 1

The trip down to CA was uneventful.  Met up with the fellas in Edmonds and rolled out before light.  Getting to Campy's house should be a piece of cake by now.  I've been there probably a dozen times now, but the problem is that I really only memorized how to get there from the saddle of a bike.  At least that's my excuse and I like it.

So as I drive to meet our 3 team member at his house plans change and I'm late getting to Campy's now!  So I drove a wide circle to find my way back to a familiar road, then I see a lone van with bike rack headed the approximate direction I knew to go.  So I follow...

We all meet up, and begin loading the minivan full of gear.  I'm relieved to find out I had packed the least amount of stuff, therefore do not deserve the title of "packing like a girl" because as we all know most come with many many bags of accessories. Little did I know that this light packing would end up being a drawback later as I didn't bring knee warmers, pants, or food... duh.

Load the bikes up, grab a seat, hit the road.

We're well past traffic before it hits, and are making good time on the trip down.  Of course being new to the sport of cycling, I have to admit: "There's a ton of junk you've got to pack!" not only that if you miss even one of the smallest items like chapstick, it could make the day of the big ride miserable.  So every item that goes with you could be a game changer.
Forget the helmet: no ride
Forget the bike shorts: no ride
Forget the clipless shoes: no ride
Forget the nutrition: no ride
...on and on....

Some things are just flatout miserable to forget, like sunscreen, chamois cream, legwarmers, food,  but you can make do.

So we get to Davis finally without any major incident, and I've successfully dehydrated enough on the trip to no longer pee every hour, success.

5pm: We check in to 2 hotel rooms, deciding that squeezing the 3 of us into 1 room would be a bit tricky, and since Roy (not his real name) snores he get's his own room.  I'm of course happy to be splitting the cost with a friend, (who dosn't snore) and we quickly get situated.

We then head off to get some dinner. Fish and chips. It's shame they breaded the life out of Tilapia and then overcook it! Maybe that's how college kids like it though (UCDavis).  Good thing those kids are in school, so they can learn what good food actually tastes like!

Oh well, off to wander the streets, and eventually make our way back to the hotel.  I hit the sack wondering what kind of 'light ride' we have planned for tomorrow...

Davis Double Century & Tour of California -Packing

Got all the packing done, got the ride set up.  Even got a sponsor, thank you Nuun!

Now just need to get some sleep.

Tonight, I will be working the normal shift at the YMCA, and then to sleep hopefully by 11pm. To get back up again at 3am, and on the road to meet up with fellow team-mates to head down to Davis, CA.  That's ok, tonight will be a perfect field test (second attempt) for Calms Forte, a natural sleep aid.  Don't worry, it has things like chamomile, green tea extract, and eye of newt.  So no narcotics, and so far no side effects!  Although, it's pretty much had no effect as well. Tonight I will see if it can take some of the 'edge off' my nervousness at the end of the night, and allow me to forget about all the things I didn't pack.

Isn't that strange?  We worry about the things that we forgot to pack.  Worry about forgetting something?  Perhaps we should be worried about remembering something instead.  One of those half-empty/half-full things I guess.  So I'm trying to 'Forget' about the things 'I Didn't Remember'.  Wish me luck...

The Davis Double Century is right near Sacramento, and hosts this years AMGEN Tour of California for stage 2 on Monday 5/17. I wonder if any of the competitors will be tooling around the course before their stage race the next day...

See the Tours site here: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

We will be able to catch stage 1 of the tour on Sunday, and look forward to seeing some of the top level racers up close and personal.  Hopefully, we can find a nice hilly spot, and run next to them wearing ridiculous hats and capes.  I'm thinking viking horns FTW.

Viking helmet or not, promises to be a fun time. Just more fun if we can be there to encourage the pros in costume.  Look for me on Univeral Sports.

Target: Cramping

Interesting ride today (Weds).

The ride started just fine, we planned on a long flat and fast ride, although the hills are always present.  We rounded the few mandatory hills in order to find ourselves on some great country roads.  The weather was definitely cold, wet, and had a strong headwind for portions of the ride.  I'd planned on it being cold, as we were doing a lot of work on the flats, and that usually means lots of airflow, therefore cold (of course at the speed I was going, we didn't exactly get airflow). But the wind and rain definitely kept things colder than planned.

After awhile my back started getting really tight, and I enjoyed stopping to stretch a bit.  Unfortunately, as soon as we'd start, I'd start getting sore again.  Also, my glutes (butt) was on fire, it seemed I was overusing the muscles, to compensate for a tired lower back from some workouts earlier in the week.  This of course is tough, as your butt muscles are pretty small, and they build up lactic quite fast.  I think of Rudy from Ironman: Kona who's a double above the knee amputee, and only has glutes to ride his bike over 100 miles.  Yeouch!

So trying not to cry or whine like a little girl to Campy about my sore rearend, and back, and legs, and shoulders, and cold fingers, arms, and knees.  I would try to space out my complaints to at least every 45 minutes at the most frequent.  But I knew he could tell somethings were wrong when my speed dropped even lower than we started.

Finally, as we were headed up a hill I felt it.  The moment I'd been waiting for, another LEARNING OPPORTUNITY.

Now let me define learning opportunity.  It means, I just screwed something up bad enough to learn a lesson from it.  If I'm not too busy crying like a baby, then there's an opportunity to learn something useful to never, NEVER do whatever it was again.

That's what happened next.  I stood on the pedals to climb a hill, again with HR down in the 150s, much lower than my normal pace at 160-168max.  While standing both right and left quads cramped up, more like a stabbing pain.  It wasn't locked up solid, but definately like a knife cutting into the muscle tissue.  Not the most pleasant feeling.  So I immediately plopped back into the seat, and told Campy.  The next 15 minutes I spent trying to figure out what to do next, "Protein, ok 2 gulps of Sustained Energy" "lower cadence (is it even possible?)" "gels, no" Then the glutes started to cramp, along with an increased pain in the back.

Finally after awhile, Campy recommended some Ibruprofen, and he had some suppliments from Hammer (still need to find out what those were too).  Being the good student, I remember him telling me a story about how "only old guys have Ibuprofen in their saddle bag".  Wanting to someday be an old guy, I did as he suggested.  Aha! Ibuprofen, some unnamed suppliments, and a few swigs of Nuun later, and I was feeling GREAT!  Yes, really.

Back pain was mostly gone, glutes hurt less, legs hurt less, muscle cramps were gone.... life was good once again, except for the continual rain and cold.

While we were out in the boondocks of Duvall, we encountered my first Road Rage to cyclists person.  It was a GMC truck Washington plates A96186A that decided it was a brilliant idea to come within 3 inches of Campy as we rode along, for no good reason.  Zero oncoming traffic, tons of room to go around, and no warning he was coming.  Not being one to hide his love of those that jeopardize his life, Campy begins shaking his fists at the other driver, and apparently that was enough to cause the driver to throw his truck in reverse, and try to run us down.... seriously?  So we bail off the road aiming for the drainage ditch, and forthwidth call 911 to report "Assault with a deadly weapon".  I always thought that seemed somewhat excessive, until a raging idiot tried to do it to us.

Mission accomplished, cramping muscles recovered. I learned my lesson, definitely, definitely eat enough protein after working out, get good sleep, and lots of Omega 3 & 6. Also, pack along some Ibuprofen so you can get to be an old guy, as long as road raging idiots are kept far away.  Thank you Lord for no injuries today!

Notes:

• -Really tight back may mean upcoming cramping, or poor nutrition somehow
• -Eat right during training, loads of protein and nutrients, and lots of rest
• -Bring along extra clothing!
• -Carry the concealed weapon

Fueling For The Win

Fun ride, nothing terribly exciting to learn today

Another long ride today (Thurs), it was a rainy day going across I-90 to pick up some additional Sustained energy.  But payoff!

No bonking, cramping, or any other problems!  A very successful day.

Used Sustained Energy, Hammer Gel, and Nuun

Target: Bonk

Training ride on 3-24 with Campy:

6 hours total, 86 miles. At hour 3 I bonked.  Best possible training at that point.  I had been pushing a hard ride in the beginning with HR at 172-178 and ate not enough calories using a inferior fluid replacement drink.  I then made the mistake of diluting the half full bottle at one of the water stops instead of just dumping it and starting over.  After I realized the mistake it was too late, and I was getting hungry... uh oh.  So chomped a certain energy bar, and about 30 minutes later, I wanted to hurl all over the road!  Funny thing is these bars didn’t used to do that to me, but I think the high HR cut off my ability to digest well, and liquids were the only thing I could handle at that point.  So at this point the goal was well on its way.  Who knew... it's so easy to screw up your nutrition, yay!

Since this is the primary reason for some of these long training rides, I started trying to put back the pieces of the puzzle.  Of course while you're thinking your way through the plan, the brain can only think of one thing, "I'm really hungry and want to throw up all at the same time leave my legs at the rest stop in favor of a painfree fresh pair".  So I determined that the legs need to stay attached, food will have to improve, and take it slow.

I used a sampler of a higher end fluid replacement, and sipped that aggressively to get it in.  Ate a gel, and slowed down HR to 145-153.  The slowed pace and better food intake started kicking in, and over the next 1.5 hours I was able to get the energy back.  Popped a caffeine gel and finished my fluid replacement drink just as we started back towards home.
On the way back I got the benefit of watching Campy draft a school bus, and actually had enough energy to catch up (if only for 5 seconds) while going uphill at 20mph.

Mistakes

• Didn't follow a plan: While I though I had one, it fell apart after the first 'fun hill' (yes it's illogical fun+hill).  Make a plan, stick to it, for both electrolytes and carbs/protein
• Inferior FRD: Using Accelerade dosn't allow me to mix it strong, the taste is way to sweet, and it's a sticky mess.  
• When I needed to digest some calories, I chomped a powerbar way to quickly, and kept the HR in the 170s.  This was a bad decision, as I got nauseous and inadvertently stopped getting in calories as a result.
• My gel use was completely random, relying on "now seems about right" or "hmm, I'm getting hungry now".  100 calories per gel, I should have planned out when to use them instead of just going by feel.

Benefits 

• Got to try Perpetuem by Hammer Nutrition, Caffe Latte flavored. It taste pretty bad.
• Got to try Sustained Energy by Hammer Nutrition, Unflavored. It taste pretty decent.
• Also had Esspresso Hammer Gel. It taste GREAT!  Also, the caffeine really helped after I'd bonked, to change the metabolism over to fat burning, as well as a boost via carbs.  This was a game changer for me.

At roughly hour 4:45 I was back.  So that experience knocked me down for about 1.5-2 hours, yikes!  But being able to put the body back together felt really excellent!

Lesson learned, and added to the cycling repertoire. Let's do it again, after my order comes in from Hammer...