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Emailed to Jeff:
Hey Coach!
I haven’t seen the unofficial results yet, but I think I came in 9th or
10th out of 26 cyclists with a time of 8 hours 34 minutes. This was by
far the hardest physical thing I have ever done – very challenging!
The ride starts with a gradual climb to the base of the Dragoon
Mountains, then has a significant climb through Bisbee. My wife and kids
were acting as my support crew and we had two way radios that we hoped
would help if there were any issues. Shortly after the ride started the
radios started making a bunch of static and noise. I had just finished a
turn at the front of the group, so I was riding at the back and tried to
fiddle with the radio and dropped it – oops! So I stopped and grabbed
it, shut if off for the duration and sprinted back to the group, which
put my heart rate at 190-192, which was way over what I wanted that
early in the ride. I caught them and sat at the back until my heart rate
went back down. When we started the climb I was near the front, but I
noticed my heart rate going to the high 170s and it looked like the pack
was splitting in two, so I dropped back with the slower group. There
were about 6 or 7 of us in that group and we hung together until the
climb got steep. I knew I wanted to take it really easy going over the
steepest part of the ride, so I dropped to my granny gear and fell
behind the rest of them (the group pretty much fell apart at that
point). I hit the top feeling great, didn’t over do it going up, got
into a nice tight tuck for the ride down and hit 55.1 mph! There seemed
to be a nice tail wind, so I was able to spin at 29-32 for quite a way
on my own. Just outside of Tombstone I got fresh bottles from my wife
and hooked up with three riders who were riding together (they had the
same support crew). I drafted off of them until Benson, but one of them
had a rear wheel issue, so they pulled off to fix it. My wife was
waiting before the on-ramp for the freeway section and shocked me by
telling me I was in 4th place at that point! I can’t remember ever
passing the people who were in front of me going up through Bisbee, so I
thought I was somewhere in the middle or back of the pack.
I got on the freeway and there was a nasty headwind, so my speed came
down some. There is a 24 mile stretch along the highway and I past the
guy in 3d place about halfway through it. He said he was having stomach
problems as I went by. Going up Texas Canyon (I think that was the name
of it), my inner right thigh cramped near the top, but it went away
quickly. Just as I was getting off the freeway two other cyclists caught
up to me and we rode together for a few miles. I drafted off of them for
a while and then decided I should take a turn at the front. I had
probably gone 7 or 8 miles in front and decided to drop behind them
again, but when I looked back they were gone. Apparently when I moved to
the front, they didn’t match my speed. I couldn’t even see them behind
me, so I was in 3rd place again. I wasn’t even seeing their support
crews pass me anymore. When I turned onto 191 I was pretty much alone
and there was a brutal, brutal cross/head wind. I went maybe 3 or 4
miles when the cramping returned, only this time it didn’t go away. Any
time I put any power into the pedals my leg would cramp. I was about 50
miles from the finish when that started. So I dropped my speed way down
and was going maybe 14-16 mph on my own with a nasty wind. My other leg
also started cramping (both inner thighs first, then left calf). When I
got to Pierce/Sunsites the three riders I was with before the freeway
caught me, but they had picked up the two cyclists that I was with at
the end of the freeway. I gave one attempt to catch onto them, but both
legs seized with cramps and I let them go. About 20 miles out I was in
agony. I think 2 other cyclists past me, but I was in my own world by
then. Just turning the pedals was causing cramps, so my speed dropped
again to 10-14 mph. I’d spin up to 14 then get into the most comfortable
position and coast down to 10. At 14 miles to go I honestly was
beginning to think I would have to drop out, but my wife and kids were
waiting at several points cheering me on, so I stuck with it.
It was fairly frustrating, because I felt like I still had a lot of
energy, my legs just wouldn’t cooperate with me. I don’t think I’ve ever
verbally negotiated with my body parts before, but I can remember
talking to my legs – “Just give me three stokes and we’ll coast for a
while…” “The turn is only 6 miles from here and we’ll have a tail wind…”
If I hadn’t cramped up, I think I would have finished 3rd. I had a
really solid lead for a long way before I had to drop my speed. I
probably wasn’t eating right and didn’t stretch prior to the ride. I had
a couple bananas, balance bars, a bunch of gels and lots of Gatorade. I
think I was staying hydrated, just not getting enough minerals to
replace what I was losing. The problems didn’t really start until 110
miles into the ride. I should have gone with a better sports drink, had
a better breakfast before the ride and should have eaten some protein
during the ride. I had some ham that I was going to eat before the ride,
but forgot all about it.
You or Jaqui may know the guy who won, Reggie Haywood from Mesa. He’s a
triathlete -- this was his first cycling event. He was on a new Trek
time trial bike – nice! We checked into the hotel at the same time, so I
talked to him for a while before and after the ride. He normally wears a
camelback, but forgot it (had the bladders, just forgot the shell). The
Trek TT bike only has one bottle cage, so he wound up doing the ride
with one bottle. They didn’t even have a spare, so he would toss it to
his wife when it was empty, she’d refill it and meet him again (I would
have given him one of my spares had I known that before the ride). He
said everyone was taking it easy on that major climb, so he decided to
take a risk and hit it harder. I had mentioned when we first talked that
I was going to really get some speed off the descent, so he did too. He
said normally he only would have gone maybe in the mid to high 40’s down
that hill, but he broke 53, which was the fastest he’s ever gone on a
bike. Said he decided to do that after talking to me. At the freeway,
he was 20 minutes ahead of everyone else. On that long flat 50 mile
stretch with the brutal winds he started to zone out and went off the
road and wound up with some road rash. He also flatted about three miles
from the end, but still set a course record.
Anyway, I think we’re scheduled for a fitness evaluation on Thursday,
but if that requires anything from my legs, I think we may want to
re-schedule it until after my legs recover some. They are still really
sore today. I don’t have the elective list with me, but I’d really like
to talk about nutrition or flexibility, both of which played a factor in
my cramping problems on Saturday. I’ve never learned how to stretch
properly, so I don’t really do it at all now and I know that stretching
and flexibility are things that will really help me to improve.
Thanks!
Mike
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