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Who turned on
summer?!? Wow, I was not prepared to deal with
riding that long in the heat and wind! And after almost a year and a
half off of the ultra-distance events, I'm struggling with re-learning
long distance on-the-bike nutrition. The combination of those resulted
in about 13 pounds of water/weight loss on this weekend's 600k (375.5
mile) brevet! For those of you tempted to send me the "that's an
unhealthy, stupid amount of weight loss!" flaming email, yeah, I know.
Annette has already chastised me sufficiently enough! ;-) She said I
looked pretty bad when I walked in the door. Took about a day and a half
to get the weight back. I was only down about 2 pounds after getting
re-hydrated on Wednesday. I took Monday off work to recover.
The ride actually started pretty good. It was a bit brisk at 5am for the
start, but not bad and the initial pace was really reasonable. We had a
pretty good group working together all the way to the I-10 frontage
road. Cold weather always affects my bladder, so I pulled off to answer
the call shortly after making the turn. A bit down the road I caught up
to Paul Denhaus who had to answer a similar call. He's training for solo
RAAM and has been putting a LOT of miles in. He was planning to ride all
the way through and skip the sleep stop.
We chatted for a minute then I pulled away. I wasn't trying to catch the
lead group, just riding my own pace. The lead group was still at the
Circle K in Marana when I got there, so I made a quick stop, shed some
cold weather clothes, changed the clear lenses in my Oakleys and left
with them. We picked the pace up a bit through the farmlands and the
group thinned out along Sandario. I didn't try to stay with the lead
guys for too long and rode through Saguaro National Monument on my own.
Paul and Steve Kinney were just about to leave the Circle K on Mission
Road in South Tucson when I pulled in. I filled my bottles and had a
quick snack then pulled out. Roger Peskett was just pulling up to the
light, so we rode together and caught Paul and Steve at the next light
-- we weren't going fast, they had stopped for a minute.
Roger and I sat on their wheels for quite a way down Mission Road. Steve
did most, if not all, of the work while I was with them. Roger dropped
off a bit before me and I dropped off before the climbs through Helmet
Peak. I was still feeling pretty good and made good time to Green
Valley. There was a checkpoint stop where we needed to get a receipt
just before the freeway, so I rode through a strip mall hoping to find a
sandwich place like Subway or Blimpies for lunch. No luck. The only
option was McDonalds. In hindsight, I probably should have gone into the
Safeway to get the sandwich I had a craving for. Instead I had a pair of
McD's double cheeseburgers and a large diet coke. Steve and Paul were
still eating when I got there, but left before me. We saw Roger ride by,
but he didn't stay and went across the street to a Chevron with a
mini-mart instead.
Steve and Paul left before me and I took my time finishing my meal. I
completely forgot to grab my checkpoint receipt! I didn't realize that
until about a mile down the road, so I turned around and went to the
Chevron. Roger was just turning back on the main road when I turned to
make the stop. I grabbed something cheap (don't remember what it was)
for the receipt then headed out again. The wind was starting to pick up
and it would remain relatively windy the rest of the ride. I stopped
once after turning on Sahaurita Road for another natural break then
continued on. I caught Roger along there somewhere and we worked
together for a few miles, but I stopped at the Convenience Store on
Houghton to fill my bottles.
I passed Roger on the long climb up SR83. This was his first time doing
this route and he asked how much more climbing there was. I warned him
there are several false summits and there was still a ways to go. But I
was prepared with iced bottles from that convenience store (had to pay
extra for the ice there) and made it over without issue. It warmed up,
but wasn't really bad. I took my time to the lunch stop at the Elgin
club. The wind was getting to me more than the temperature at that
point. I had a turkey wrap and soda, chatted with Susan for a couple
minutes, then headed out. I was feeling a bit tired, but I got a nice
tail wind and made decent time to Tombstone. I passed Paul and Steve,
who were on there way back already, about 5 or 6 miles out of Tombstone.
When I got to Tombstone I was definitely feeling the efforts of the day
and I hadn't been keeping up enough with my nutrition. I ate a ham and
cheese sandwich and half a cheese danish and sat outside the Circle K
for quite a long time (probably close to an hour). I had debated about
staying in Tombstone instead of the Sonoita Inn prior to the ride and,
in hindsight, should have stayed there. It's just about the perfect
stopping point to recover for several hours. Instead I turned around for
the 42 mile ride back to the Sonoita Inn. I left just as the sun was
going down, so I put on my cold weather clothes before leaving. I passed
a couple people just outside of town and everyone else somewhere along
SR82.
That tailwind I had on the way to Tombstone was now a direct headwind.
It was a long ride back. I must admit, I really like my new Schmidt
headlight and generator! They really light up the road when you get that
beam adjusted right. There was one point on a descent where I saw a bird
sleeping on the road. I swerved to avoid it, but it took flight and
smacked my shin as I was going by. Hope it was ok!
We detoured through Elgin again on the way back for the dinner stop.
That road has some sections that drop into some super cold areas! I took
a bit more time at the dinner stop and chatted with Susan some more
while eating some rice with chicken and sausage. My stomach wasn't
feeling too great and I think it was because I hadn't eaten enough
during the ride. I rode slowly over to the Sonoita Inn for a shower and
sleep. The shower felt good, but my stomach was pretty upset when I went
to bed.
I got up at 5am to get ready. The inn had some leggo waffles, fresh
fruit and danishes available for breakfast. I had 4 waffles, two
oranges, an apple, a cheese danish and two cups of coffee. I wasn't in
too much of a hurry because I didn't want to worry about wearing my
night reflectors and waited for sunrise before heading out at about
5:50am.
I took my time through the rolling hills outside Sonoita then flew down
that long climb. When I turned back onto Sahuarita road it was already
starting to warm up pretty good, so I stopped and took my cold weather
clothes off. I knew it was going to be a long day, so I wasn't pushing
my pace at all. It was still a bit windy and warmed up really quickly.
It started to get just plain hot on the climb up to Helmet Peak. I
remember times where I flew down Mission road back to Tucson. With the
wind, that just wasn't happening for me. It was a long, bumpy ride and
my stomach started to act up again.
So when I stopped at the Diamond Shamrock gas station checkpoint in
South Tucson, I bought a Dinty Moore beef stew (52% of your daily sodium
requirements), several drinks and sat down outside to eat and recover.
Steve pulled in to get his checkpoint receipt, but he didn't stay long.
The beef stew definitely helped, I should have had a second or gotten
something else to go along with it. From there to the finish it was just
plain hot out.
I really wasn't pushing my pace, but I also wasn't eating enough. Every
so often I'd remember to take a Gu or HoneyStinger electrolyte chew, but
not nearly as often as I should have. I wasn't cramping at all, but my
stomach just didn't feel right. When I got to the Circle K in Marana,
Steve was standing in line. I bought several drinks and some sliced ham.
Steve asked if I wanted to ride with him, but I planned to be there for
a while so he left without me.
I sat outside and drank (don't remember what I bought). But as soon as I
tried to eat a slice of ham, my stomach rebelled and I quickly walked
around the building and hurled. It wasn't pretty. I still wasn't
cramping and felt ok otherwise, but my stomach was upset. The heat
wasn't helping at all. With two bottles full of ice and electrolyte
water, I headed out again. Wow, was it hot. I pretty much kept my head
down and just turned my cranks to Picacho Peak where I stopped at the
Dairy Queen for a sherbert bar and something to drink. I sat at a booth
and took off my shoes to let my feet cool down. I was there for a LONG
time. John and Liz Mazzola, who were riding their tandem, stopped in for
a pair of ice cream cones. They also offered to ride together to the
finish, but I wanted to recover some more and I knew their pace would be
quite a bit higher than mine. I probably stayed another 15 minutes or so
after they left. I wanted to wait until I had an urge to urinate before
leaving.
I stopped again in Toltec for a popsicle and to fill my bottles with ice
water. That popsicle was really good! I sprayed ice water on my legs,
head and back and headed out. I frequently sprayed myself to try to cool
down, but it was just hot. It was a slow ride back into Casa Grande. I
checked in with Susan at the finish, then went over to Panda Express for
a drink. But before I could go in, my stomach turned and I had to go to
the side of the building to hurl again. It took a few minutes before I
felt ready to go inside for a cold drink. With my stomach feeling like
it was, I sipped the drink pretty slowly. I figured I'd better head home
and went over to my car, opened the back and laid down for a while. My
car has a remote start that keeps the car running for 10 minutes with
the AC full blast that I used twice while laying in the back. Then I
turned it on and laid down some more. When I got up to put my bike in
the back, my stomach turned and I tossed my cookies again. I was really
not in good shape. I put the bike in back, closed it up, then sat for a
while more sipping my drink.
I honestly don't know how much time I spent there, but eventually
decided to head home. It's about an hour drive. I just plopped down on
the couch and zoned out for a while, then started to re-hydrate. I did
wind up eating a can of thin soup before going to bed. No cramping, just
stomach problems and 13 pounds of dehydration! So it wasn't one of my
better rides, but it certainly wasn't as bad as some other rides I've
done ... and I finished! 375.5 miles in 35 hours, 36 minutes.
Here are the links to my Garmin files (the 705 saved Day 1 when I
plugged it in to recharge it at the Sonoita Inn):
Day 1:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/3949848
Day 2:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/3949827
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