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The Desperado Dual is a 200 mile ride through some of Utah's scenic
country and areas that I haven't been to in many, many years. After almost 2 months off of long distance riding,
I was really looking forward to it. But was I
in tip-top shape? Ummm.... no. Was I at a high fitness level? Uh, well,
no. Was I at least at enough of a fitness level to survive? Yep! :-)
In July I spent a week in the Boston area and a little over a week in
the San
Francisco area (a coast to coast month!), so my body was pretty well acclimatized to sea level
with minimal
activity and only a few hours on a stationary bike at a hotel gym and
the local fitness club near my in-law's house. But I was able to get in two
good days of commuting to work before
heading up to over 6,000 feet for the start of the Desperado Dual!
Talk about a shock to my body! I planned to make this a training
ride and not a ride I would be going after a fast time, so I was
only a bit nervous about my lack of activity prior to the event.
My brother Leo was kind enough to join me for the drive to Panguitch
Utah where the ride started and finished. We stopped in Flagstaff on the way up
and stopped to have lunch with Dave
Flake (we don't get to see enough of him these days!). Of course I forgot to print
information about where ride registration was in Panguitch, but figured
it was a small town and it would be hard to miss 350 or so cyclists
registering. We pulled into the hotel at a bit before 6pm and I asked
the hotel clerk if she happened to know where the ride would be
starting. Luckily for me it was literally right next door! I saw Lonnie
Wolff (the Desperado Dual event director and a fellow AZ Brevet rider), Clair
Jenson (another Utah resident who does the AZ Brevets) and Susan Plonsky
(the AZ Brevet Administrator) at the check-in. I had a really good
nights sleep and was up at 5:30 am to get ready. I always seem to cut it
close for the start, but at least I didn’t miss this one and got there 5 or 10 minutes early. I saw Mike Sturgill and Roger Peskett
(both AZ Brevet riders) while waiting. Mike said he was doing the
ride with Dave Lukens, a
Bullshifters
club teammate. You see a lot of the same folks on smaller ultra distance
or extreme rides. I also saw Roger at “Ride around the
Bear” in California in June. Anyway Lonnie had some last minute
road announcements (a couple small construction areas) and we started
out promptly at 6:30am Utah time.
I started at the front of the group, but dropped back after the first
mile or so. I rode with the group out of town, but when we hit the first
2% climb the elevation really hit me and my heart rate jumped
to 170 just trying to stay in the group, so I dropped off. Several small
groups past on the way to the first turn onto scenic route 12, but I
just rode my own pace and tried to stay aerobic. Shortly after turning
onto route 12, we moved off the main road onto a very well maintained
bike path through Red Canyon. This was the first major climb of the day.
The group had thinned out quite a bit by the time we got onto the
bike path and it was wide enough to allow safe passing. I found the bike
path to be the most enjoyable part of the ride. It was very scenic and
obviously had no traffic. But
I was still having trouble keeping my heart rate under control,
especially when the grades went to 8-14% (according to my Polar CS600)
in spots along the climb, but those sections were really short.
The next sections were pretty flat or even descending, so I started to
make really good time. I still had plenty of fluids and food, so I
didn’t stop at the first rest stop. Several of the faster groups went past me
again, but I was enjoying the solitude of the ride and was still trying
to stay out of my lactate threshold zone! I had a fun descent down into
Black Canyon and did stop at the next rest stop in Antimony to refill
fluids, use a porta-potty and refuel before heading on to Circleville.
I must say this ride had the most optical illusions of any ride I’ve
done. No, I wasn't seeing pink polka-dot elephants! The illusion
was that the road ahead would look like a climb or like a descent, but my
effort level didn’t match what I was seeing and when I looked at the
inclinometer on my Polar it showed the opposite of what I was seeing
visually. That’s a little discouraging when your mind tells you that you
should be flying down a descent that is really a climb and exhilarating
when you are speeding up a climb that is really a descent!
Anyway, in Circleville I saw my car parked outside of a little café, so
I stopped and found Leo having a cup of coffee and chatting it up with
the locals. I was a bit ahead of
what I told him my schedule would be, so he was surprised to see me. My
grandparents (on my mom’s side) lived in Circleville, so I met Leo over
by their old house to see how it was holding up. It was WAY different than I
remembered. Leo drove right by it on his first pass because he
didn't recognize it! Apparently it’s being used to advertise composite siding, so
it looked really nice with a well manicured lawn. I also remembered it
being kind of off by itself, but now there are houses all around it. But
it’s been quite a long time since I’ve been to Circleville (probably
over 20 years). After visiting the house, I met Leo over at the
Circleville cemetery to visit my mom and grandparent’s burial plots.
The cemetery is still being very well maintained and I’m glad I took the
time to stop there. The detour added about 3 miles total to the route. I
didn’t stop at the official rest stop in Circleville.
The route has two huge loops that form a figure 8 with the start/finish
center in Panguitch. So I told Leo I’d meet him back in Panguitch in an
hour and a half or so figuring it wouldn’t take too long to go the
25ish miles between Circleville and Panguitch. But when I left
Circleville I hit a nasty headwind that really cut my speed. Mike
Sturgill past with a small pace line. I jumped on the back for about a
minute or so, but my heart rate started to go up again, so I dropped off
and just plugged along. 10 miles or so out of town a tandem past me
going up a hill when all of a sudden they lost power and started
coasting even while pedaling. I stopped to see if I could assist.
It
appeared their cassette had come loose and the chain was slipping
between two cogs. They thought they would be able to get it fixed, so I
continued on.
I finally pulled into Panguitch a little after noon and stopped by the
hotel room to use the bathroom. That last section had really taken a
toll on me and I was seriously considering making this a century instead
of doing the double. A few miles before getting back to Panguitch I started to get those
dreaded twinges that signal impending cramping -- not a good
sign. The problem with rides with routes that pass through the
finish area is the temptation to just
quit. After using the bathroom in the hotel room Leo and I walked
over to a Subway for lunch. There was a pretty long line of people, so
we waited and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of continuing
the ride. Leo pointed out we had some Guinness Stout waiting for me to
finish the ride -- hmmm… a nice cold Guinness sounded REALLY good right
then. This was also a ride for me to try to get back into form and it
would probably be smartest to just call it a day. Then my obsessive
compulsive, stubborn side kicked in and reminded me that I bought a ride
jersey and ride arm warmers ($90) that I know I wouldn’t wear if I
hadn’t earned the right to wear them by completing the full Desperado
Dual. AND we didn’t have the beer on ice yet, so I’d have to wait for it
to get cold. We spent about an hour or so relaxing at lunch. Of
course, my stubborn obstinate side won out and I decided to finish the full
course. I was rewarded for this decision with a head wind and some light
rain on my way out of town!
I didn't take a close enough look at the route profile for the second
loop. The first big climb out of town had a number of small
descents that kept fooling me into thinking that I was finished with the
main part of the climb, then it would go up some more! It took a long time to get to Panguitch
Lake at the top of the climb. On the way up a guy in a Cancun
jersey past me and we chatted a bit before he left me behind. I
past him on the descent, but saw him again at the water stop at
Panguitch lake and at rest stop #4. I was surprised to see Mike
Sturgill there too. I figured he would have been miles and
miles ahead of me with how long I stopped in Panguitch. But he
said he and Dave were enjoying all the food at the rest stops and were
taking their time. They left a minute or so before me. The
guy in the Cancun jersey caught me somewhere along there and we rode
together for a few minutes. He was struggling a bit and decided to
cut the ride short by lopping off the leg out to the last rest stop in
Alton. Before we parted company, he complemented me on my
descending skills and said he couldn't stay on my wheel during the
descents. He wanted to know more about how I maintain a
comfortable position to get that kind of speed, but I told him I was
naturally gifted with a pat on my rather un-ultra-cyclist like belly!
There was a long descent before the turn onto 89 towards Alton and I
lost him on that descent. 89 continued down to the turn onto Alton
road. It was quite a descent, but I kept thinking, Man, I've got
to climb back up this beast!
Mike and Dave were still at the checkpoint when I got there and were
enjoying some hot soup. I just filled my bottles and had some
fruit and left before they did. I thought they would catch me on the climb.
I was amazed that I didn't have any issues with traffic on this ride.
No blaring horns or people yelling from windows. Even through some
construction that put me in the lane going up the climb. I
probably just got lucky, but the drivers were courteous. From
Hatch the route pretty much descends back down to Panguitch. I
thought Mike or some of the other folks at that last rest stop would catch me on the climb, but
I never saw anyone.
Once I hit the descent (another optical illusion by the way), I started
making great time and was finally rewarded with a tail wind! I
told Leo, optimistically, I would finish in about 12 hours. But most
likely it would be 14 hours and pessimistically it would be 16
hours. The ride cutoff was 17 hours. I knew there was a
chance I'd be riding after dark, so I had a head light stashed in the
little trunk rack I brought along for the ride just in case it got dark.
The sun was just beginning to set I got closer to Panguitch. 6 miles out I had my
first and only flat for the ride. I picked up a little bit of wire
from a blown tire. But that was my only mechanical issue.
I finished a
bit before sunset with a total time of 13 hours 47 minutes and an
on-bike ride
time of 11 hours 45 minutes (2 hours off the bike along the route) and
just over 203 miles with my detour in Circleville. My hip is bothering me a little
today, so I did overdo it. It's not the sharp pain I had at the
end of last year, but more of a dull ache. I haven't been back on
my bike yet, but I'm hoping it's just stiff from the 9 hour car ride
back home. In any case, I'll take it easy for the next couple days
until it feels better. And the Guinness was worth the wait!
Leo had it on ice when I got back! What a guy! He also called our Aunt
who lives near Fredonia and arranged to meet a bunch of extended family
I haven't seen in years for breakfast in Kanab on our way back.
Overall it was a really nice trip and a nice change to have company on
the long drive. The Durango Fall Blaze is coming up at the end of
September, maybe he can work out another 3 day trip with me! :-)
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