82.5 miles of hell

Today was one of the physically toughest challenges I've faced in my 40+ years.  I set out for an 80 mile loop on a day the forecasters had promised rain.  And rain it did.  I covered the last 35 miles or so (more than 2 hours) in a steady, heavy rain.  And it was very cold too.  And herein lies the problem.  I quickly got soaked to the bone and spent two miserable hours fighting off hypothermia.

It started with the extremities, naturally.  I lost sensation first in my feet.  Then my fingers went numb.  And finally I lost contact with most everything from the elbow down.   The saving grace was that my energy remained high.  High enough that I could really work the bike and keep some warmth in my core and my legs.  Only when I hit Newark and had to slow for traffic did I really get in trouble in my core.   And Newark sucked because my hands were too cold to brake or to work the gears.

By the time I got home I was shivering and going in to shock.   My hands were too cold to function so I couldn't strip the wet clothing off.  It was 15 minutes or so before I regained enough feeling in my fingers to work loose the clothes and helmet.  I lay on the ground, naked, shivering in front of a space heater for another 20 minutes.   My feet didn't warm for about 45 minutes.  And when the did, it hurt something fierce.   I finally got enough courage to hit the shower and try to warm my body.  I was beyond teeth chattering and starting to shake more violently so I needed the warm water even if it meant excruciating pain in my feet.

A number of other stupid things all conspired today.  Despite going through my very careful pre-ride ritual of laying everything out carefully, I somehow walked out the door without my cellphone.  It was in a baggie with my credit card and money.  So I had no phone.  And no lunch because I didn't have any money.   I might have called for ride at some point had I a phone.  Of course I could have stopped at a convenience store and called collect or something.

I've been trying to take a day off work for more than a month with the intent to fit in a long ride like this.  I have to plan these days at least two weeks in advance or else they won't materialize in my busy schedule.  I've failed twice previously this year because of miserable weather ... yes, beautiful days while I am at work and then all hell breaks loose (snow, sleet, rain) on my day off.  So this morning when the forecaster was calling for a chance of rain during the day and real showers moving in later that evening, I figured I had a good shot at getting the ride in before any real weather hit.  Besides, I would have felt just lousy if I wimped out, went to work, and it turned out to be a nice day.  So I set out and had almost 3 hours of chilly, but dry weather.  The last 2 or so were much worse.  The other poor aspect is that the forecaster called for a high of 52 degrees.  It didn't creep above 40 during any of my ride.  So I was underdressed as it was.

If there was anything good that came out of this misery, it was my performance.  I've had a handful of rides in the 40s, one in the 60s and now I jump up to 80+ miles along with 3700 feet of climbing.  A big jump.  But my body was solid.  My legs stayed strong through the whole ride; good thing as I needed them to keep me warm during the end.  And I missed lunch.  I did have a bottle of go-juice, a power bar, and a gu -- and gladly used all those -- but I didn't bonk and I kept up a good tempo right through to the end.  I was hitting 18.5mph on the bike path (flat ground) pushing into a slight headwind.   I also didn't stop other than to gu up once or twice.  I am really psyched about the 100 miler coming up ... as long as it doesn't rain on a cold day, I'll never do anything that stupid again.

Sorry no pictures .. left the phone at home.  Not much to see anyway.

On Target

Got a nice ride in today of 60 miles at 16.1 mph with 2500 ft verticle ... on target for Cohutta prep.  It was a reasonable day with temps around 35ish and almost no wind, finally!  There was snow on the ground but the roads were clear and dry for the most part.  I felt good and didn't have to dig too awfully deep to finish the ride, so I am sure I've got some more distance in my legs.  I'll try for 80 on Friday but will likely have to avoid the surge I put in the last 20 miles today to better conserve energy.  I also need to eat just a bit more as I did one Goo at mile 36 and was starting to run a little low by the end.  I'll try for another 60 tomorrow perhaps easing off the pace just a bit.

Winter Weather Trifecta

After Saturday's longer ride, I just wanted to go out yesterday for an easy 90 minute spin to loosen up the legs.  I waited till afternoon for things to warm up a bit and headed out the door shortly after lunch.  What I didn't know was that the weather was supposed to take a turn for the worse.

About 3 minutes into my ride, large snow flakes started falling.  Very large snowflakes!  Not many of them, but if you hit one of those suckers straight on it might make your head snap back.  Another 10 minutes later and it starts sleeting.  Pretty much throughout the whole ride it precipitated in some form.  There was one stretch that I will always remember where it was snowing, sleeting and raining all at the same time ... the winter weather trifecta.



My friend, T.F. who was supposed to go out with me, opted out at the last minute.  Obviously he was the smart one.  I picked this day to test my new camera; it is indeed waterproof (and sleet proof, and mud proof, etc.).

Windy Miles

Today was the first day in over a month that I haven't either been at work or away traveling.  With Cohutta coming ever closer, I needed to be out there today laying some serious base mileage.   My goal was 60 miles; I managed 53 but with a lot more climbing than originally planned and it was fairly windy, so I'll count this as a success.

It was crisper this morning, with air temps in the upper 30s and a strong, steady wind coming out of the Northwest at 15-20mph.  I had an easy 30 minutes on the bike path heading east, but things got more difficult quickly after that as I turned North, pushing both into a stiff wind and attacking the relentless hills.  The snow is all gone, but nothing is green.  I know we'll have more snow, so I am not believing this is really spring.  But this time of year the landscape seems stark and barren.  And an incessant wind is always howling.  A few hours of grinding against the wind is enough to test buckets of resolve.

About 25 miles into my ride I spy another rider cresting a ridge adjacent to my valley route.  We are way out in the boonies and he is heading down an unmaintained road on what looks like a road bike; he obviously isn't just a putterer.  I decided to give chase to greet my fellow trainer.  I caught up to K. N. a few miles later on a steep climb.  He is a pilot and seems to put in some real mileage.  He was out here in the wind on the steeper, larger climbs and this was his rest day ... hmp, some rest day.  We chatted for a few minutes, sharing experiences and training philosophies.  He put it well when he said today is far from perfect, but it is the kind of day that you need to be out because things will be worse.  He puts his road bike prowess to good use and rockets us down a river valley.  The pace is too rich for me so we part company with good wishes.

The roads have tons of crud on them, mostly pea gravel.  The shoulder is a dangerous place to be and the center of each lane often has a line of gravel.  The bike paths are littered with mud, sticks, fallen trees, etc.  The cross bike is a perfect weapon for these conditions, but it does catch the wind just that much more.  I add on a loop to attack one more hill, Dragoo, with 250 feet of elevation gain and sections around 15%.  Then I have a long 90 minute slog into the headwind on the flat, exposed bike path to find home.

Windblown

I went out for a smallish ride yesterday morning.  As advertised, there were 25-35mph winds howling out of the west.  I spent over an hour pushing into that gale.  At times I was pressed to move forward any faster than 8mph (on flat ground!).   The payback was the turnaround point.  Coming back home with the monster tailwind I regularly saw speeds between 25 and 30 and hit 35 two separate times (again, on flat ground).   A very interesting ride.  

A Winter Respite

It's been a while since I've written, but I have been keeping busy on the bike.  This last weekend was my third in a row of traveling; I am very ready to be home again.   It has also been bitter cold here.  After the last ice storm left 3" of shiny, slippery ice on our driveway and sidewalks, the arctic air moved in and set up camp.   I finally got fed up with the indoor trainer and tried to go outside on Thursday evening for hill repeats on my cross bike.  It was 8 deg without the windchill.  Despite wearing my warmest gear, I was back inside within 30 minutes with frozen fingers.   It is just too nasty and I was very dejected.  

My latest business travel took me to Claremont, CA for a writing workshop.  I think this is the only warm place in the whole country at the moment.   Florida barely nipped above 50, Atlanta was about the same, but Claremont featured azure blue skies and sun drenched temps in the upper 70s and lower 80s.  Ah, warmth!  I had 3 hours to kill so I found a bike shop that rented me a set of wheels and headed out on a nice new Trek Madone.   The only bummer was that I had running shoes on, so I asked them to lever a set of flats on the bike.   But I did pack my jersey and shorts, so I was set to go.

On the edge of town, a large range of mountains looms in the distance.   The standout peak is Mt Baldy which is featured as the decisive climbing stage in this year's Tour of California.  The climb up to the ski resort at the top is about 12 miles at an average of 8% with a 5000 foot elevation gain.  It was a monster climb.   Good thing I didn't really know anything about it at the time, I was blissfully unaware of what lie ahead.  

I think it took me about 30 minutes or so to reach the set of tunnels.  The average grade on this first part is relatively tame, about 5% to 7% with a few punchy rises.   After the tunnel, it noticeably kicks up to about 9%.   It took me about an hour of climbing to reach Mt Baldy Village.  I expected this to be the summit but it was clear the road went up quite a bit more.   I was now above 4000' and the temps were dropping fast.  The sun was starting to move lower and hence more of the roadway was left in chilly shadows.  I was also watching my clock as I had to be in a suit and tie at a formal dinner within 2 hours. I climbed a bit further past the village until I found a hiker on the side of the road and inquired about how far the summit lay ahead.  He indicated that it was still a bit further up, so I made the strategic decision to turn around after about 90min of ascent.   

The descent was a hoot.  The road is not too technical ( I think the real switch backs were just up ahead of my turn around point) and good speeds can be obtained in a hurry.  I didn't have a speedo on my bike and my comfort level was a bit down not being on my own bike and also not having my feet clipped securely in.   So I didn't test the limits.   Still I can guess that I averaged around 30mph and probably hit 50 at some point.  It took me only 18 minutes to lose all that elevation.  I was very chilled at the bottom.   

I am very glad I hustled over to that bike shop.  It was a tad expensive for a 2.5 hour diversion, but now I've been on Mt Baldy and I rode in shorts/jersey and warm sunshine for the first time in over two months.  I returned home to 45 degree temps; we haven't seen that kind of weather since November.  Looks like I can finally get out and log miles soon!

All In

I am not a poker player -- I cannot lie/bluff well.   But this poker expression, all in, which means to commit all your resources to one outcome/hand, is surprisingly appropriate for bicycle racing.  Today I made the commitment to ride the Cohutta 100 ultra endurance mountain bike race.   I booked hotels, sent in an entry fee, and blocked the time off from work.   This is the point of no return -- my “all in” day.   Now all that is left is to put in the work to get ready for the event.  

Except that the circumstances have been especially challenging lately.  I just got back from a 4-day business trip (little time for workouts), am now nursing a cold, and today Ohio is experiencing an inch of ice as part of this latest massive snow storm.