05/25/08

This wasn't one of my better centuries, but I have an excuse!  The Casa Grande Century was last weekend, and I had a great ride.  But Monday afternoon my throat started to feel scratchy.  By Tuesday morning I was completely laid out by a head cold that felt like it was moving into my chest.  I hit the Nyquil and slept for a solid 48 hours missing work on Tuesday and Wednesday and missing a cycling lesson with Jeff.  Jeff told me to only ride easy for up to an hour at a time, but I wasn't riding at all at that point.

My head was still completely congested, but I went to work on Thursday surviving on Dayquil.  By the end of the day I was wiped out.  I probably should have stayed home.  I had some important meetings on Friday, so I went to work again, but was starting to feel a little better -- at least my ears had cleared.  The cold hadn't moved into my chest, but I was still pretty congested.  I missed the first 200k last year because of health problems and it took me almost the rest of the year to find another ACP sanctioned 200k to replace it.  So I was determined to at least try this 200k.

So I got up early Saturday, blew my nose and got ready.  It took a little longer to get my stuff together than I expected, so I got to the start in Casa Grande about 5 minutes before the group left and was still getting ready when they actually did go.  I left maybe 5 minutes after them.  It was brisk again, but warmed up pretty quick.  For those who don't cycle, a cyclist can clear his/her nose by placing a finger on one nostril to close it, turn to the side and blow forcefully through the open nostril.  Not pretty, but it is effective.  It's a good thing I was alone, because I did that more on this one ride than I think I've done on all of my other rides combined!

I knew I needed to take it easy so I started the ride at a slower pace.  I caught some riders about 7 or 8 miles out, but just maintained my pace.  The first check point was 16.6 miles out and I was actually starting to feel pretty good when I got there (other than needing to frequently clear my nose and sweating like crazy).  There were a few other cyclists at the checkpoint getting ready to leave when I pulled in.  When I left I decided to push my pace a little just to see how I felt and soon caught and passed the other cyclists.  I was maintaining a really nice spin, the wind wasn't bad and I was really enjoying the ride.  The first 40 miles is a loop that goes out onto the Gila Indian reservation and back to the starting point (and third checkpoint).  I checked in, then went to my truck to shed my glove liners and leg warmers.  I kept my arm warmers, but probably didn't need them.

Just as I was getting ready to head back out Derek Slife pulled up.  He's still planning on riding on a two person team at RAAM this year and just paid the $2500 entry fee (ouch!).  We chatted a little as we made our way through town, but he got caught by some traffic at a road crossing and I didn't see him again until we crossed paths on my way back.  The route heads way out on Indian 15 across the Tohono O'odham reservation.  The road is kind of rough before you get onto the reservation then it always surprises me because it's so smooth and well maintained.

The wind always seems to pick up on the way out and I was starting to feel the effects.  I could tell I was working harder and my heart rate showed it.  About 65 miles into the ride I started to hit a wall, so I slowed down and ate a "cookies and cream" clif bar -- mmmm.  That hit the spot, I think I was starting to bonk and caught it in time.  I know I needed to maintain my hydration with how I felt, so I brought two 32 ounce bottles with Accelerade and my camelbak with water.  I drank more water than Accelerade, so I wasn't getting as many carbs as I normally would from my fluids.  But that clif bar did the trick and I was able to start moving again.

Mike Sturgill passed me about 6 miles from the turn around, which meant that he was 12 miles ahead of me and had already stopped for his lunch break!  Wow...  Two other riders passed about 2 to 3 miles from the turn, so Mike was well ahead of everyone.  There were still quite a few riders having lunch when I got to the 4th checkpoint.  Susan had some really good corned beef sandwiches waiting and I had a coke too (not diet -- I needed sugar!).  The wind had picked up pretty good on the last few miles to the turn around, which meant that I had a nice tail wind for the return and I took advantage of it, maintaining 25-27 mph for a good 6 or 7 miles then dropping down to about 22-23 for most of the rest of the ride.  About 10 miles from the finish the wind shifted and became a strong cross wind.  I also started having some pain in my left knee which is unusual.  It wasn't sharp or anything, just a dull ache every so often.

My original goal was to try for a personal best time on this ride, but with the head cold that just wasn't going to happen.  But even feeling like I did I was able to finish in just over 7 hours (including stops) and averaged 19.1 mph (not including stops).  Not too bad all things considered.  It also seems like all that nose blowing cleared out a lot of the congestion I had.  I still have a little tickle in my chest, but feel pretty good otherwise.  I was sitting on the couch last night and straightened my leg and my knee gave a pretty good pop (like when you crack your knuckles) but feels fine now.  Weird.  Another good brevet and I'm glad I decided to try it.  I'll take it easy for the next few days though and make sure I'm really over this head cold!