At the end of day 1, we (Gary and I) rolled into Issaquah after over 400k of riding (lots of bonus km) at 5:00 AM. I was greeted Keith Moore and his wife Kasia who offered me any and all assistance and food they had. I ate most of a piece of pizza and grabbed a Sprite and headed off for the room. My roommate had decided to DNF his 600 and was just leaving, so I had the room to myself. It was about 5:11 when I hit the sack, setting my alarm for 6:30, figuring to get as much sleep as I could and still leave with a few minutes in the bank, or not too far out. The control "exit time" to stay on pace was 6:44 AM.
I was awakened by Kasia knocking on my door at 6:30. I had failed to set my alarm properly. I woke up, got up, showered, dressed and as I was brushing my teeth, I heard a knock at the door. Kasia again. I think Susan sent her down there and said "You stand at that door and knock until he comes out!". I finished brushing and headed up for breakfast. Susan had set out oatmeal, watermelon, and coffee for me, and encouraged me to eat quickly. What did I need? They would do ANYTHING to get me out of there quickly.
Why? Because, she explained: You need to get to Carnation 13 miles away by 8:16 and it's too far to do that. But there is an unwritten rule that sometimes if you miss one control, you'll be OK if you can make it up by the next one, in Snohomish, 42 miles away. That's at 11:11. So you need to move it, don't stop for anything until you get your card signed in Snohomish.
OK, got it. I got outside, packed up and ready to roll, and found my front tire "soft". I was a bit concerned but I figured if it was going to go flat, it would have by now, and no time to replace the tube. I asked Keith to pump it up to 50 psi and I'll be off.
I rolled out of Issaquah around 7:15, about 30 minutes behind. And in a half mile, I hit a wall of a road going straight up. Susan had said "You will hate this hill, just walk it." And walk it I did, and even that wasn't fun.
Once at the top, I started riding - more hills, but manageable. I felt surprisingly good considering I had just ridden 240 miles over 24 hrs with just a little over an hour of sleep. However, when I tried to 'get out of the saddle' and stand on the pedals, I didn't have any power, all I could do was sit and spin. Fine, that'll get me up the hills too.
I am all alone today -- everyone else left long ago. The route goes up to the Issaquah Plateau, with it's steep rollers - and then down the other side on Issaquah Fall City road. My mantra was "No coasting". On every downhill, I put it in the big ring and found some gear I could keep pedaling in. I needed to make up some real time.
Once down into the flats, I was cruising, at 25 kph. I think I may well have had a tailwind from the south at that time of day, but whatever, I rolled into Carnation at 8:26, 10 minutes late but having made up about 20 already. I was actually thinking I wasn't doing so well because the time on the control card was 8:016 - a typo - so I was thinking it was 8:01. I was still pretty sure I could get to Snohomish in time.
From Carnation to Snohomish, there are more rollers, but nothing serious, just a short 5% here and there, with similar slopes on the downhills -- no coasting! -- keep moving, we are under the gun. My Garmin was working, and I knew the route, having ridden these roads many times on different rides. The sun was out, it was mild, and my power was coming back. I could stand on the pedals to get up some of the short hills.
And my work paid off. I rolled into Snohomish to the Snohomish Bakery at 10:37 - over 30 minutes ahead of the deadline! I had made up nearly an hour by riding like there was no tomorrow. There were lots of people out on Sunday morning for breakfast - and I stopped and celebrated with a breakfast croissant, chocolate croissant, and coffee. The food took forever to arrive, but I still managed to leave Snohomish at 11:11, the official time. Now I'm not ahead or behind, but confident in my ability to keep up with the clock.
From Snohomish, we head north on the Centennial Trail, 50 km (30 miles) north to Arlington. This is a "rails to trails" trail, an old railroad bed. It's not hilly, but it isn't flat, either. You go up long 2% grades for miles - and that affects speed. Also, there was a pretty constant headwind from the north. Hour after hour, the wind did not let up, and fighting the headwind was pretty demoralizing. I knew it would eventually not be an issue, but that long in a headwind is tough. I figured I had 3 hours to get to Arlington, where we had another "Info Control". They aren't timed, but I still needed to know how I was doing on the day. In fact it took me 2:44 to get there -- not fabulous, but it was good enough.
And now I head south - looking forward to a tailwind. And I get one - for a couple of miles. I'm hitting 30 kph, which is 50% faster than I was going north -- and then the wind shifts!! It starts coming from the west, as a crosswind. Really? Really??? Yep, really. Well, OK, fine. Mostly fine. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My toes are hot. But the legs are turning the pedals, I'm making good time, I have 500 of 600k done, and I have 7 hours to ride the last 100k, 65 of which is pretty flat - plenty of time. I predict a finish of 8:30 or better.
I think about how I'll feel when I finish, and get almost emotional about it - and then remind myself I have to finish first, and then I'll celebrate.
I'm riding through towns, lots of little road crossings. People everywhere having a great Sunday. The route goes over a river, and you can look down on all the people on the rocky shore having fun on this beautiful day. Dogs romping in the shallows.
And then at a road crossing, I crashed. And the ride was over. You can read about the crash HERE .
So what next? I'm out for PBP 2015, it is not going to happen. I don't have the time to do another 600k. And I'm not that fast. Although I was able to make up time on day 2, it was pretty easy miles. I can finish brevets - usually - but have some DNF's on my record, and also some lantern rouge (Red Lantern, the last rider) or near LR on my record. For PBP you have to be fast enough to build up some hours in the bank for sleeping. I don't know that I'm that good at it -- yet. But no matter -- it was an idea that became a mission, but even without PBP I had fun along the way, and will continue to ride Rando. It's a disappointment, but I'm very happy with my performance on this last ride. I didn't quit after that last DNF, but gave it my all, and I think I really would have finished in time had I not crashed out. And I don't think I'll forget how good I felt the night before as Gary and I rolled up and down the hills of east King county. I've met lots of good people and we'll just have to see how things go. And I will mention that all the support I got from people who read the blog, Susan Otcenas who was a huge rooter and coach, and all my Facebook friends who were giving their encouragement -- that all helped keep me going when things got hard.
There's another PBP in 2019.
Monday, June 15, 2015
2nd and last chance 600k - Day 1
To get this out of the way right off, many people already know I crashed out of the 600k and didn't finish. I won't recap the details, but if you want you can read it HERE.
You may notice there are no pictures on this posting, or day 2. My focus was 100% on finishing the ride, and although there are lots of great pictures to be taken, each one takes from 1-3 minutes, and I didn't want any distractions on this ride. Plus, it would be all Mt. Rainier pics anyway, and we have plenty of those elsewhere.
Before I could roll out on this ride, I had some issues on the last 600k that I needed to fix. Shorts, food, sleepiness and "attitude". The shorts issue: I did some research and got some (expensive) Assos shorts with a little tighter fit so the pad wouldn't move about. I bought some recommended "butt cream" to help when things get damp.
For food, I made some savory sticky rice bars - using a bit too much water, but they turned out OK. Sushi rice, chopped bacon and scrambled eggs, soy sauce and brown sugar. Quite tasty, actually. I wrapped them in foil and brought them in a padded (e.g. insulated) bag with a skinny blue ice block.
Also I bought a 6 pack of Ensure. I'd heard good things about it, and each 8 oz. bottle has 260 calories, enough for an hour of cycling. Finally, I'd had people recommend ginger for stomach upset - either candied ginger, or ginger pills. I found both at Whole Foods and packed some in my bag.
For fatigue, I brought some GU with caffeine. This is a sugary paste in a small pouch, made for quick energy hit.
Mentally, I promised myself that no matter how the ride went, I wasn't riding it to "get" to PBP. Last time, as things got tough, I thought "This isn't any fun. If I'm doing this to go to PBP then forget it." But this time, my mantra was "Just finish this ride." No commitments going forward, just finish the ride. I knew my brain was going to try to trick me into quitting or napping when things got tough, and "Just finish THIS ride" would help.
I even got to bed early (for me) at 10:00 which would get me 5 hours of sleep before the 3:30 AM alarm. 3:30, up, eat, shower, dress, and out of the house by 4:15. Short drive to the start in Issaquah, load the bike, park the van, and get checked in. There's about 25 people here, some doing 600k and some "just" 400k. As we roll out through Issaquah at 05:00, the streets are deserted. Not a single car on Gilman boulevard or Front street.
Early on I rode a ways with Peg, one of the pillars of the Rando community in Seattle and Gary from Texas who is now in TriCities. Once the road tilted up and we hit hills, everyone went their own way, depending on their ability. I can go up hills but not very quickly and if riding with someone else, usually drop back. However, I can descend like a rock and occasionally even catch the person who got up the hill ahead of me.
It was a chilly morning, and I was glad to have three layers on: base layer, wool shirt, and wind vest, arm and leg warmers.
First control is in Enumclaw, and I linked up with Bill Gobie on his Baccetta Recumbent bike to find an open Starbucks, as the Chevron that was to be our control hadn't unlocked the doors yet. I took a bit of time there as carefully as I could to get some bathroom business done, remove leg warmers, refill water bottles and consume a breakfast sandwich. I was going to try to eat as much regular food as I could, avoiding loading up on simple sugars, to see if that would get me by. So far, so good.
Bill left before I did. After riding on 410 east for a while, I caught up with Jeff Tilden, with whom I had ridden a good spell on the 300k. Jeff is a very friendly guy and we had a nice ride for a while. We got to Greenwater where we filled up on water and I ate one of my rice bars. Pretty good!
Now the climb up Cayuse Pass. It tops out around 4200 feet. The first 10-15 miles are a shallow 2-3% grade, following the adjacent river, and then it tips up to 6-7% for the last 5 miles. That's just a grind-it-out and keep going grade. I was ahead of Jeff for the shallow part, and then he passed me on the steep part, and I summited alone.
Now for a screaming downhill ride! 5 miles of 6-7% grade had me hitting speeds of 60 kph (37 mph) which was feeling really fast - especially after 2 hours of grinding along at 10 kph (6 mph). Eventually it also flattened out but kept going downhill all the way to Route 12, which held a few more good descents before becoming more rolling for the entry to Packwood, our next control
Grabbed a corn dog and some water, got my card signed, and headed out as quickly as I could. Now we would ride to Randle, and then back to Packwood. The first few miles were into a headwind (just like 2 weeks ago) and were a bit of a struggle until we turned off on a side road that was gently rolling and much more scenic. After completing an info control ("What time is the mail picked up on Friday? See answer on the blue mailbox") I headed south to the return trip on a different side road, Crispus. This was a wonderful ride, full of gentle and short rollers and some flatness as well. Hugging the river and the south side of the Chehalis flood plane, it offered beautiful views to the north of the tree covered foothills and farmlands. When I finally got back on 12 for the 5 mile return to Packwood, I had the tailwind I expected and was flying along at 18 mph, 50% faster than the trip into the headwinds.
Back in Packwood, another corn dog (cheap and delicious) and water. Some saddle interface maintenance in the porta-potty and we are good to go up Skate Creek Road to start the return trip north. Skate Creek is a nice ride - not too steep most of the time, as it's following along a stream. It's got lots of trees shading you from direct sun most of the time, and it's winding keeps you from seeing too far ahead - which, when you're riding a long ways, for me, is a good thing. On a straight road, you don't see the end approaching as you ride along, so it feels like you're not getting anywhere. When the road is curvy, you can SEE your progress as you go, and it feels more like you're really getting somewhere for your effort.
The climb up Skate Creek went a little higher than I expected, but eventually I got up it and enjoyed the descent toward Ashford. Along the way, I ran into Gary from Texas again, and we wound up riding the rest of the way to Issaquah. This was about 7:00 PM or so.
We stopped briefly in Elbe to take care of some personal matters, I ate another rice cake, and then off again. We got into Eatonville just as a faster group was leaving the Mexican Restaurant. They encouraged us to go in "very fast service" -- but we were wanting even faster service, so we hit the Chevron next door. Lots to do here, including bathroom break, get all the cold weather gear back on, night reflectivity -- vests and leg bands, lights. I swapped my shaded eyewear for a clear pair. Gary had some trouble with his helmet light -- it uses a finger swipe to control it -- so I tried a few swipes and managed to get it going. No ready to eat hot food but they had a huge freezer full of food from hamburgers to tacos. I got a two pack of White Castle cheeseburgers, little tiny things on a dinner roll for a bun. One minute and they're done - and surprisingly tasty, too. The "savory food" thing was working for me.
We headed out of Eatonville, destination Enumclaw. Usually I load the route into my Garmin GPS and it prompts me where every turn is. I can see the next three turns, and how far away they are. This time, however, the route was so long and big that when I went to start it, it crashed my GPS so I had to rely on a printed cue sheet. This has all the info on streets to turn, how far from the last one, and so forth, so if you're following it and can tell how far you've gone, you can follow the route. Gary and I each had one. I was working with my 'lap counter' to get the distance from a point to the next point, then I'd say 'OK, 3.7 km from now we turn right'. For some reason, I didn't do this leaving Eatonville, and after going up a hill I said "hey, did we miss a turn?" and it turned out we had, 6 km back. Ugh. OK, we are off to the left on the main road, we were supposed to turn on Oroville road that hugs the shoreline of Lake Ohop. I check my phone to see where we are and where we should be and is there a shortcut to get there. It kind of looks like there IS a road that'll get us there. So we go down that way, and as we enter the housing development see a "No Outlet" sign. Hmm, that's not good. But the map shows a road, let's keep going. We ride down and down and where the turn should be is a gravel road with a chain across it. OK, there's our road, that's why it says 'No outlet'. Hop the chain and keep going - and it's rough rock, so we wind up walking. And then it just ends, into undeveloped land. Yeah, they really meant it. Crap, bad decision. So we turn around, walk up the gravel road, over the chain, and ride out back to the main road, and after quite a descent, get on the road we should have been on. We wasted nearly an hour doing this - but not to get discouraged, just keep going I had expected to arrive back in Issaquah with 2-3 hours in the bank to sleep, and would just have less time. Gary was riding 400k and had tons of time to get there, so he was fine.
We rode a number of miles in silence, along the flats and rollers toward Enumclaw. The night was dark and cool but not COLD like the last 600. As we passed a field, a huge owl silently swooped out, turned across the road in an arc ahead of us and then back into the field. It only took seconds but we both remarked about it. One of the benefits of night riding.
A little bit of confusion along the way. There are LOTS of turns through little towns, and for every one we have to stop, look at the cue sheet, "where do we turn, which way and how far it it from here". Many of the turns are just a mile or two apart, and it's time consuming to keep stopping, but that's al we can do. We miss one turn but it's not fatal and we make up for it quickly.
Into Enumclaw and we have to turn on Farmin road. Our mileage counts are now hosed because of our "bonus miles" so we don't really know where it is. I pull out my phone that has a map on it and we find Farmin road way down at the far end of town. The beauty of this turn is that it is the LAST turn - Issaquah is still 30 miles away but it's all on the same road, it just changes its name a few times.
I'm feeling surprisingly good. I'm keeping up my speed, riding out of the saddle up hills, and except for being a little sleepy earlier (and eating that caffeine GU) I feel on top of things.
At 4:15 the birds started singing, and we could see the sky in the east starting to brighten. We rolled into Issaquah almost 24 hours after we had left, and again there were almost no cars on the roads. Pulled into the Motel 6, got my card signed, and bid Gary goodbye. I was glad to have him along and he helped me out a great deal by waiting for me at the tops of the hills. He's about 50 lbs lighter than me and gets up them a lot faster. A good ride buddy to have along.
Sorry to be so chatty but there's a lot to write about when you're on the road for 24 hours. Read on to day 2 HERE
You may notice there are no pictures on this posting, or day 2. My focus was 100% on finishing the ride, and although there are lots of great pictures to be taken, each one takes from 1-3 minutes, and I didn't want any distractions on this ride. Plus, it would be all Mt. Rainier pics anyway, and we have plenty of those elsewhere.
Before I could roll out on this ride, I had some issues on the last 600k that I needed to fix. Shorts, food, sleepiness and "attitude". The shorts issue: I did some research and got some (expensive) Assos shorts with a little tighter fit so the pad wouldn't move about. I bought some recommended "butt cream" to help when things get damp.
For food, I made some savory sticky rice bars - using a bit too much water, but they turned out OK. Sushi rice, chopped bacon and scrambled eggs, soy sauce and brown sugar. Quite tasty, actually. I wrapped them in foil and brought them in a padded (e.g. insulated) bag with a skinny blue ice block.
Also I bought a 6 pack of Ensure. I'd heard good things about it, and each 8 oz. bottle has 260 calories, enough for an hour of cycling. Finally, I'd had people recommend ginger for stomach upset - either candied ginger, or ginger pills. I found both at Whole Foods and packed some in my bag.
For fatigue, I brought some GU with caffeine. This is a sugary paste in a small pouch, made for quick energy hit.
Mentally, I promised myself that no matter how the ride went, I wasn't riding it to "get" to PBP. Last time, as things got tough, I thought "This isn't any fun. If I'm doing this to go to PBP then forget it." But this time, my mantra was "Just finish this ride." No commitments going forward, just finish the ride. I knew my brain was going to try to trick me into quitting or napping when things got tough, and "Just finish THIS ride" would help.
I even got to bed early (for me) at 10:00 which would get me 5 hours of sleep before the 3:30 AM alarm. 3:30, up, eat, shower, dress, and out of the house by 4:15. Short drive to the start in Issaquah, load the bike, park the van, and get checked in. There's about 25 people here, some doing 600k and some "just" 400k. As we roll out through Issaquah at 05:00, the streets are deserted. Not a single car on Gilman boulevard or Front street.
Early on I rode a ways with Peg, one of the pillars of the Rando community in Seattle and Gary from Texas who is now in TriCities. Once the road tilted up and we hit hills, everyone went their own way, depending on their ability. I can go up hills but not very quickly and if riding with someone else, usually drop back. However, I can descend like a rock and occasionally even catch the person who got up the hill ahead of me.
It was a chilly morning, and I was glad to have three layers on: base layer, wool shirt, and wind vest, arm and leg warmers.
First control is in Enumclaw, and I linked up with Bill Gobie on his Baccetta Recumbent bike to find an open Starbucks, as the Chevron that was to be our control hadn't unlocked the doors yet. I took a bit of time there as carefully as I could to get some bathroom business done, remove leg warmers, refill water bottles and consume a breakfast sandwich. I was going to try to eat as much regular food as I could, avoiding loading up on simple sugars, to see if that would get me by. So far, so good.
Bill left before I did. After riding on 410 east for a while, I caught up with Jeff Tilden, with whom I had ridden a good spell on the 300k. Jeff is a very friendly guy and we had a nice ride for a while. We got to Greenwater where we filled up on water and I ate one of my rice bars. Pretty good!
Now the climb up Cayuse Pass. It tops out around 4200 feet. The first 10-15 miles are a shallow 2-3% grade, following the adjacent river, and then it tips up to 6-7% for the last 5 miles. That's just a grind-it-out and keep going grade. I was ahead of Jeff for the shallow part, and then he passed me on the steep part, and I summited alone.
Now for a screaming downhill ride! 5 miles of 6-7% grade had me hitting speeds of 60 kph (37 mph) which was feeling really fast - especially after 2 hours of grinding along at 10 kph (6 mph). Eventually it also flattened out but kept going downhill all the way to Route 12, which held a few more good descents before becoming more rolling for the entry to Packwood, our next control
Grabbed a corn dog and some water, got my card signed, and headed out as quickly as I could. Now we would ride to Randle, and then back to Packwood. The first few miles were into a headwind (just like 2 weeks ago) and were a bit of a struggle until we turned off on a side road that was gently rolling and much more scenic. After completing an info control ("What time is the mail picked up on Friday? See answer on the blue mailbox") I headed south to the return trip on a different side road, Crispus. This was a wonderful ride, full of gentle and short rollers and some flatness as well. Hugging the river and the south side of the Chehalis flood plane, it offered beautiful views to the north of the tree covered foothills and farmlands. When I finally got back on 12 for the 5 mile return to Packwood, I had the tailwind I expected and was flying along at 18 mph, 50% faster than the trip into the headwinds.
Back in Packwood, another corn dog (cheap and delicious) and water. Some saddle interface maintenance in the porta-potty and we are good to go up Skate Creek Road to start the return trip north. Skate Creek is a nice ride - not too steep most of the time, as it's following along a stream. It's got lots of trees shading you from direct sun most of the time, and it's winding keeps you from seeing too far ahead - which, when you're riding a long ways, for me, is a good thing. On a straight road, you don't see the end approaching as you ride along, so it feels like you're not getting anywhere. When the road is curvy, you can SEE your progress as you go, and it feels more like you're really getting somewhere for your effort.
The climb up Skate Creek went a little higher than I expected, but eventually I got up it and enjoyed the descent toward Ashford. Along the way, I ran into Gary from Texas again, and we wound up riding the rest of the way to Issaquah. This was about 7:00 PM or so.
We stopped briefly in Elbe to take care of some personal matters, I ate another rice cake, and then off again. We got into Eatonville just as a faster group was leaving the Mexican Restaurant. They encouraged us to go in "very fast service" -- but we were wanting even faster service, so we hit the Chevron next door. Lots to do here, including bathroom break, get all the cold weather gear back on, night reflectivity -- vests and leg bands, lights. I swapped my shaded eyewear for a clear pair. Gary had some trouble with his helmet light -- it uses a finger swipe to control it -- so I tried a few swipes and managed to get it going. No ready to eat hot food but they had a huge freezer full of food from hamburgers to tacos. I got a two pack of White Castle cheeseburgers, little tiny things on a dinner roll for a bun. One minute and they're done - and surprisingly tasty, too. The "savory food" thing was working for me.
We headed out of Eatonville, destination Enumclaw. Usually I load the route into my Garmin GPS and it prompts me where every turn is. I can see the next three turns, and how far away they are. This time, however, the route was so long and big that when I went to start it, it crashed my GPS so I had to rely on a printed cue sheet. This has all the info on streets to turn, how far from the last one, and so forth, so if you're following it and can tell how far you've gone, you can follow the route. Gary and I each had one. I was working with my 'lap counter' to get the distance from a point to the next point, then I'd say 'OK, 3.7 km from now we turn right'. For some reason, I didn't do this leaving Eatonville, and after going up a hill I said "hey, did we miss a turn?" and it turned out we had, 6 km back. Ugh. OK, we are off to the left on the main road, we were supposed to turn on Oroville road that hugs the shoreline of Lake Ohop. I check my phone to see where we are and where we should be and is there a shortcut to get there. It kind of looks like there IS a road that'll get us there. So we go down that way, and as we enter the housing development see a "No Outlet" sign. Hmm, that's not good. But the map shows a road, let's keep going. We ride down and down and where the turn should be is a gravel road with a chain across it. OK, there's our road, that's why it says 'No outlet'. Hop the chain and keep going - and it's rough rock, so we wind up walking. And then it just ends, into undeveloped land. Yeah, they really meant it. Crap, bad decision. So we turn around, walk up the gravel road, over the chain, and ride out back to the main road, and after quite a descent, get on the road we should have been on. We wasted nearly an hour doing this - but not to get discouraged, just keep going I had expected to arrive back in Issaquah with 2-3 hours in the bank to sleep, and would just have less time. Gary was riding 400k and had tons of time to get there, so he was fine.
We rode a number of miles in silence, along the flats and rollers toward Enumclaw. The night was dark and cool but not COLD like the last 600. As we passed a field, a huge owl silently swooped out, turned across the road in an arc ahead of us and then back into the field. It only took seconds but we both remarked about it. One of the benefits of night riding.
A little bit of confusion along the way. There are LOTS of turns through little towns, and for every one we have to stop, look at the cue sheet, "where do we turn, which way and how far it it from here". Many of the turns are just a mile or two apart, and it's time consuming to keep stopping, but that's al we can do. We miss one turn but it's not fatal and we make up for it quickly.
Into Enumclaw and we have to turn on Farmin road. Our mileage counts are now hosed because of our "bonus miles" so we don't really know where it is. I pull out my phone that has a map on it and we find Farmin road way down at the far end of town. The beauty of this turn is that it is the LAST turn - Issaquah is still 30 miles away but it's all on the same road, it just changes its name a few times.
I'm feeling surprisingly good. I'm keeping up my speed, riding out of the saddle up hills, and except for being a little sleepy earlier (and eating that caffeine GU) I feel on top of things.
At 4:15 the birds started singing, and we could see the sky in the east starting to brighten. We rolled into Issaquah almost 24 hours after we had left, and again there were almost no cars on the roads. Pulled into the Motel 6, got my card signed, and bid Gary goodbye. I was glad to have him along and he helped me out a great deal by waiting for me at the tops of the hills. He's about 50 lbs lighter than me and gets up them a lot faster. A good ride buddy to have along.
Sorry to be so chatty but there's a lot to write about when you're on the road for 24 hours. Read on to day 2 HERE
Sunday, June 14, 2015
The PBP 2015 ending crash
I want to write up the 2nd 600K qualifying ride I did this weekend but it's going to be a long story. Some people know I ended the ride with a crash and I wanted to get the details down while they're fresh.
I was riding south on the Centennial trail just past Arlington, and came up on this trail road crossing. I'm riding from the top to the bottom of the picture with the red line. This is at the intersecion 168th Street NE and 67th Ave NE in Arlington:
As you can see, the two trail ends are not aligned so that a user can just ride across the road - they have to perform a sinuous S or U turn ON the road to get lined up with the other trail end.
This road has loose gravel on the edges that get kicked up onto the road and this is a pretty tight turn. As I attempted the last part of the curve, something happened that caused the tires to lose grip and the bike slid out from under me and I went down hard on my right side.
So what was the cause? Loose gravel? Soft tire? too much speed? Too tight a turn? Some or all of those, whatever - the bike went out from me and I went down hard on my right side. Head bounced off the pavement IN the helmet, but I wasn't wearing body armor and my ribs on the right side took a hard blow. After recovering from the shock of what happened, I pushed around and nothing felt broken, and I was breathing without any coughing up anything, so it almost seemed like I could finish the ride. I started down the trail but it was getting hard to take anything besides a very shallow breath. Any expansion of the chest was very painful, and it was getting worse. I looked up "bruised lung" on my phone and it said it could be fatal and usually got worse during the first 24 hours. I decided trying to finish was foolish, and to get checked out, so I called 911.
It didn't take long for the Fire Department EMT to arrive and they asked a bunch of questions that make sense when you're examining a stranger, did a pulse Ox test (95) and Blood Pressure (normal) and asked if I wanted to be transported to the ER. I said yes. I was taken to the ER where they asked the same questions (any medications? Blood thinners). Doctor listened to my lungs and ordered X rays. In the end, the doctor said I probably bruised the ribs and it should resolve in a week or two.
On the first day, it hurt to breathe deeply, cough, or bend down like to tie shoes. Sitting still and breathing normally is not painful at all. On day 2, it still hurt but started to get a little better through the day. I took a sick day and just sat around all day, and that helped.
I don't have any room in my schedule for another 600, so this is the end of PBP 2015 for me. The ride reports both days are posted. Thanks to everyone for your support - I was killing it -- until I wasn't.
I was riding south on the Centennial trail just past Arlington, and came up on this trail road crossing. I'm riding from the top to the bottom of the picture with the red line. This is at the intersecion 168th Street NE and 67th Ave NE in Arlington:
This road has loose gravel on the edges that get kicked up onto the road and this is a pretty tight turn. As I attempted the last part of the curve, something happened that caused the tires to lose grip and the bike slid out from under me and I went down hard on my right side.
So what was the cause? Loose gravel? Soft tire? too much speed? Too tight a turn? Some or all of those, whatever - the bike went out from me and I went down hard on my right side. Head bounced off the pavement IN the helmet, but I wasn't wearing body armor and my ribs on the right side took a hard blow. After recovering from the shock of what happened, I pushed around and nothing felt broken, and I was breathing without any coughing up anything, so it almost seemed like I could finish the ride. I started down the trail but it was getting hard to take anything besides a very shallow breath. Any expansion of the chest was very painful, and it was getting worse. I looked up "bruised lung" on my phone and it said it could be fatal and usually got worse during the first 24 hours. I decided trying to finish was foolish, and to get checked out, so I called 911.
It didn't take long for the Fire Department EMT to arrive and they asked a bunch of questions that make sense when you're examining a stranger, did a pulse Ox test (95) and Blood Pressure (normal) and asked if I wanted to be transported to the ER. I said yes. I was taken to the ER where they asked the same questions (any medications? Blood thinners). Doctor listened to my lungs and ordered X rays. In the end, the doctor said I probably bruised the ribs and it should resolve in a week or two.
On the first day, it hurt to breathe deeply, cough, or bend down like to tie shoes. Sitting still and breathing normally is not painful at all. On day 2, it still hurt but started to get a little better through the day. I took a sick day and just sat around all day, and that helped.
I don't have any room in my schedule for another 600, so this is the end of PBP 2015 for me. The ride reports both days are posted. Thanks to everyone for your support - I was killing it -- until I wasn't.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
2nd Chance 600k: Game on
Last post I said I was not likely going to Paris this year, 2015. "I didn't finish the 600k qualifier," I said, and "it's not likely I will get a 600k done in time. There are too many other things in my schedule."
Well, what a difference a week makes.
Further consideration of all the factors involved, as well as some discussions with experienced riders had initially led me to be pretty comfortable with the idea that the ride I've been working toward for 15 months wouldn't be happening this August as expected.
Yet, I kept getting people encouraging me to give it another think. And one thought I had was that I needed to remove all external factors from my decision. No blaming it on "the schedule" if it could be re-arranged. If I was going to decide not to go, then it was going to be MY decision and I'd take full responsibility for it. My head was swimming with pro and con lists, reflections on my late night decision and visualizations of how I'd feel if I went -- or if I didn't go.
I had a great conversation with another experienced rider, Susan Otcenas. She pointed out that I needed to be a better manager of my time and my energy. Not start too fast, and keep the controls short. And speaking of short, get some new shorts. There are always new things to do and try.
There were a couple of other things that influenced my decision to move forward. One was that I had been thinking "Well, if I don't go to Paris in 2015, there's always 2019." Then yesterday, we heard the sad news that one of our friends in Eugene had unexpectedly passed away on the operating table. This reminded me of my own mortality and that the future is uncertain.
Second, my 1st grade Sunday School kids had been asking for Spongebob Squarepants (we watch short Bible Story videos every week). Well, I got a Spongebob DVD and found one cartoon that was suitable for Sunday School. The topice was awards and trophies. And the verse I found for it was James 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. Perseverance is the watchword of Rando riding and I will need to keep that word in front of me, especially at 2:00 AM Sunday morning when I'm tempted to stop for whatever reason my body and mind can tempt me with.
I worked out the details of my schedule, and I am now free next weekend. There's no reason not to ride, so it's GAME ON for the 2nd chance 600 next week. I must finish this to go to Paris, there really is no third chance. Will I finish? If I finish, then what? I guess we'll all have to wait and see.
Ride starts from Issaquah at 0500 on June 13.
Well, what a difference a week makes.
Further consideration of all the factors involved, as well as some discussions with experienced riders had initially led me to be pretty comfortable with the idea that the ride I've been working toward for 15 months wouldn't be happening this August as expected.
Yet, I kept getting people encouraging me to give it another think. And one thought I had was that I needed to remove all external factors from my decision. No blaming it on "the schedule" if it could be re-arranged. If I was going to decide not to go, then it was going to be MY decision and I'd take full responsibility for it. My head was swimming with pro and con lists, reflections on my late night decision and visualizations of how I'd feel if I went -- or if I didn't go.
I had a great conversation with another experienced rider, Susan Otcenas. She pointed out that I needed to be a better manager of my time and my energy. Not start too fast, and keep the controls short. And speaking of short, get some new shorts. There are always new things to do and try.
There were a couple of other things that influenced my decision to move forward. One was that I had been thinking "Well, if I don't go to Paris in 2015, there's always 2019." Then yesterday, we heard the sad news that one of our friends in Eugene had unexpectedly passed away on the operating table. This reminded me of my own mortality and that the future is uncertain.
Second, my 1st grade Sunday School kids had been asking for Spongebob Squarepants (we watch short Bible Story videos every week). Well, I got a Spongebob DVD and found one cartoon that was suitable for Sunday School. The topice was awards and trophies. And the verse I found for it was James 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. Perseverance is the watchword of Rando riding and I will need to keep that word in front of me, especially at 2:00 AM Sunday morning when I'm tempted to stop for whatever reason my body and mind can tempt me with.
I worked out the details of my schedule, and I am now free next weekend. There's no reason not to ride, so it's GAME ON for the 2nd chance 600 next week. I must finish this to go to Paris, there really is no third chance. Will I finish? If I finish, then what? I guess we'll all have to wait and see.
Ride starts from Issaquah at 0500 on June 13.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
600k - DNF and a decision
The final PBP qualifier was held on Saturday, May 30. This is a 600k ride - 371 km on day 1 and 233k on day2. Day 2 has 100km of serious, steep, unrelenting hills at the end.
Up at 4:20 AM, breakfast, and then I drove over to the old Paper Zone on 1st and Holgate, arriving around 5:30 AM for a 6:00 AM start. Parked next to the fence by the tracks. That's my big white van, and you can see Starbucks HQ in the background:
The weather was a bit overcast but promised to burn off to a nice day.
As soon as we took off up Holgate, we found a train blocking the road. A dozen riders (including myself) too a U turn, went up 1st Ave, over the tracks at Edgar Martinez way by the new stadium, and then back down 4th to continue on Holgate. This had one consequence of adding two "bonus" kilometers to the ride on the GPS, so that none of my numbers were matching the cue sheet any more.
At any rate, up steep Holgate, onto the Mountains to Sound greenway, over I-90, across Mercer Island, and down the Coal Creek rollers.
I was still hanging with a faster group, and when we hit a huge descent I took off, meaning to put my new "momentum preservation skills" to use on the uphill side. As I started to head up I heard yelling behind me, and realized that I had missed the turn to May Valley Road. By the time I reversed direction and made the turn, the group was about 500 meters ahead. I stood on the pedals and managed to catch up.
At this point, I'm feeling good. Feeling frisky. Maintaining a good pace, and not worrying too much about it one way or the other.
Riding on, and then south to Enumclaw, views of Mount Rainier started to dominate the landscape.
Here's the first peek-a-boo view - see if you can pick out the snowy peak (might need to click on the picture to enlarge).
After hitting 410 west of Enumclaw, we had our first control at Buckley. I was still feeling pretty good. I had such a negative experience with food on the 400 I decided to switch to "regular food" and brought some cookies, boiled eggs, and boiled potatoes in a bag with some ice in a tub. Here I found my tub had leaked into the bag holding everything but the water was contained, and eggs and potatoes are waterproof. No harm done. I ate one of the potatoes and it went down nicely.
Back on the road to Eatonville. Still pretty flat, with moderate rollers. 50k later, we are in Eatonville. Mt. Rainier still dominating the landscape.
From Eatonville, the road tilts up - there's a long climb out of town - the start of it is visible in the picture above. 10 miles later, I was in Ashford, the last services before Mt. Rainier National park. I stopped for some water and a Starbucks Bottled Frappuccino. While I drank it, I had a nice visit with the store owner, who was examining my bike and all the things on it - he said he was working on a "Rail trail" bike. I told him about the front light, back light, pump, tires - and why I thought they were good to have. He wrote down all the model names on his hand, and later on a piece of paper. We talked while I downed the Starbucks.
Then off to Skate Creek road. This is a moderate pitch climb about 10 miles long.
The road is alternately straight and curving. Here's one of the straight parts:
On one side of the road is a deep dark forest and on the other side are great views of Mt. Rainier:
After climbing for what felt like forever, we were treated to a speed descent over pavement of varied quality. Occasional bumps and holes as well as pure gravel repairs needed a high degree of alertness. The road finally ended at Packwood, our next control.
In Packwood, I met up with a few riders, had a 6" turkey sub that was really good, and then got back on the road. Now we were heading east, right into a rather stiff headwind. Yeah, we're going in the other direction that flag is blowing.
I was riding alone at this point, and stopped here and there for a picture. I want to eat at this place sometime:
As I swung around later to get a picture of a flower bed in the middle of nowhere, a group of 8 cyclists came up the road - our riders in a paceline. I forgot about the picture and joined up. Each person was taking a 2-3 minute "pull" at the front and then rotating to the back. This way, only one of 8 riders had to cut the wind, and we could roll faster and/or with less effort than if we were riding individually.
I took this a few places back from the front:
The sun was getting lower in the sky, and we rolled into Morton at the end of "The big valley" laid in by the Chehalis River. The valley is 3 miles wide in places.
I partnered up with a couple different people and groups out of Morton, but for various reasons broke off until I was riding alone. One thing they do down here is grow Christmas Trees
Shortly after this, I connected with Jason, and we rode together up the ever popular Centralia-Alpha road, which has a number of steep pitches up followed by descents that are longer than the climb. Jason and I have ridden together before, and we had a pleasant no-stress ride for about a half hour, at at relaxed pace, chatting about this and that. This is one of the fun parts of Randonneuring, if you're not too pressed for time, and the road is suitable for side-by-side riding with little or no traffic. And that's exactly what we had going. Narayan caught up with us and the three of us rode into Centralia together, arriving around 11:00 PM.
Stopped at a Gas station/mini mart and now my stomach was starting to act up again, just like it had on the 400k 4 weeks ago. Little burps, and no desire to eat anything. That is NOT good for a long distance ride, you HAVE to keep eating or you'll stop. Also, my shorts had been moving about and I had some serious chafing issues that were quite painful - and nothing to be done about it.
We all kind of felt like this: (this is Narayan)
But what can you do, you gotta keep going. So we rolled out of town. I spotted a Safeway, and hoping to find some Desitin to calm my posterior, I said I needed 5 minutes. Jason and Narayan continued on, rolling slowly. I could catch up if I wanted to. No worries, go on ahead.
No Desitin at the Safeway (!?) but I did get something that didn't do much good.
Now I'm rolling along, it's late, I'm really tired, and what I want now is a nap. I have a space blanket for just this purpose, and apparently it's a popular thing to do on the PBP, so I found a spot, rolled it out, and took a 20 minute power nap. Well, I never fell asleep, so I took another one. Now all I have do to is ride 50 km to Elma for the overnight. I'm hoping to get an hour or two sleep and then have some time in the bank (leaving ahead of the deadline) to attack the brutal Tahuya hills later in the day. But I'm not rolling to fast, barely 20km/hr (just over 12 mph). While this is acceptable brevet speed late in the day, it's not going to get me to Elma very soon. The road is flat, the night is dark, I'm tired, my butt hurts, and there are hours of this to go.
And then it hits me: I don't really like this part of it. I don't like my upset tummy, feeling tired, feeling sleepy, and in pain. And despite my 4 layers on my body, I'm also cold. And I think "If I don't even like doing this for one night, why would I subject myself to three nights of this in France?"
I've heard it said that you learn different things about yourself as rides get longer, from 200 to 300 to 400 to 600k, and what I learned on this ride was that I don't care for all-night riding. And especially when your shorts are digging a hole deeper and deeper in your skin with every pedal stroke.
I got to Elma at 4:20 AM, wanting to leave by 6:00 AM. I ate a bit, went up to the the assigned room, scheduled my phone timer for a 45 minute nap, and then extended it twice. Finally I came down to the meeting room and asked "If I wanted to quit right here, would there be a way to get me back to Seattle?" Of course nobody likes to see anyone quit, but it's an individual decision. One fellow said he could take me.
I briefly considered going anyway, packed up my bike, and as I got out the door - it started raining! Not hard, not much, but who knows? So I brought the bike back in, with my tired legs, fatigue, and sore bottom and declared myself DNF. I wasn't about to subject myself to more pain and suffering if I didn't have to.
What does this mean for PBP? It means unless I change my mind now and try for the make-up 600k, I'm not going. And right now, I'm fine with that. I've achieved a lot, and there are still rides to ride and RUSA awards to collect - I'm just 2 100k rides short of my P-12 - so I'll continue to ride, but the landscape for the future will be different.
I'm not even too disappointed - I admire those who will go and do the ride, but I'm glad now I know how I feel about night riding, how my body reacts to long rides, and really glad to not have found this out too late.
Postscript: Wednesday, 6/3
It's now 4 days later (3 from Sunday) and I've been mulling all this over and over. Lots of things to consider, including a change of direction for the summer schedule big time, what my riding goals are now going to look like, and if I should keep trying for and do PBP or not. One thing I do know: the chafing on my leg is still healing up, it was actually pretty bad and if I had kept riding, I don't want to think what I'd be facing now. So although I wish I had finished, I don't regret quitting when I did.
Up at 4:20 AM, breakfast, and then I drove over to the old Paper Zone on 1st and Holgate, arriving around 5:30 AM for a 6:00 AM start. Parked next to the fence by the tracks. That's my big white van, and you can see Starbucks HQ in the background:
The weather was a bit overcast but promised to burn off to a nice day.
As soon as we took off up Holgate, we found a train blocking the road. A dozen riders (including myself) too a U turn, went up 1st Ave, over the tracks at Edgar Martinez way by the new stadium, and then back down 4th to continue on Holgate. This had one consequence of adding two "bonus" kilometers to the ride on the GPS, so that none of my numbers were matching the cue sheet any more.
At any rate, up steep Holgate, onto the Mountains to Sound greenway, over I-90, across Mercer Island, and down the Coal Creek rollers.
I was still hanging with a faster group, and when we hit a huge descent I took off, meaning to put my new "momentum preservation skills" to use on the uphill side. As I started to head up I heard yelling behind me, and realized that I had missed the turn to May Valley Road. By the time I reversed direction and made the turn, the group was about 500 meters ahead. I stood on the pedals and managed to catch up.
At this point, I'm feeling good. Feeling frisky. Maintaining a good pace, and not worrying too much about it one way or the other.
Riding on, and then south to Enumclaw, views of Mount Rainier started to dominate the landscape.
Here's the first peek-a-boo view - see if you can pick out the snowy peak (might need to click on the picture to enlarge).
Back on the road to Eatonville. Still pretty flat, with moderate rollers. 50k later, we are in Eatonville. Mt. Rainier still dominating the landscape.
Then off to Skate Creek road. This is a moderate pitch climb about 10 miles long.
On one side of the road is a deep dark forest and on the other side are great views of Mt. Rainier:
After climbing for what felt like forever, we were treated to a speed descent over pavement of varied quality. Occasional bumps and holes as well as pure gravel repairs needed a high degree of alertness. The road finally ended at Packwood, our next control.
In Packwood, I met up with a few riders, had a 6" turkey sub that was really good, and then got back on the road. Now we were heading east, right into a rather stiff headwind. Yeah, we're going in the other direction that flag is blowing.
I was riding alone at this point, and stopped here and there for a picture. I want to eat at this place sometime:
As I swung around later to get a picture of a flower bed in the middle of nowhere, a group of 8 cyclists came up the road - our riders in a paceline. I forgot about the picture and joined up. Each person was taking a 2-3 minute "pull" at the front and then rotating to the back. This way, only one of 8 riders had to cut the wind, and we could roll faster and/or with less effort than if we were riding individually.
I took this a few places back from the front:
The sun was getting lower in the sky, and we rolled into Morton at the end of "The big valley" laid in by the Chehalis River. The valley is 3 miles wide in places.
I partnered up with a couple different people and groups out of Morton, but for various reasons broke off until I was riding alone. One thing they do down here is grow Christmas Trees
Shortly after this, I connected with Jason, and we rode together up the ever popular Centralia-Alpha road, which has a number of steep pitches up followed by descents that are longer than the climb. Jason and I have ridden together before, and we had a pleasant no-stress ride for about a half hour, at at relaxed pace, chatting about this and that. This is one of the fun parts of Randonneuring, if you're not too pressed for time, and the road is suitable for side-by-side riding with little or no traffic. And that's exactly what we had going. Narayan caught up with us and the three of us rode into Centralia together, arriving around 11:00 PM.
Stopped at a Gas station/mini mart and now my stomach was starting to act up again, just like it had on the 400k 4 weeks ago. Little burps, and no desire to eat anything. That is NOT good for a long distance ride, you HAVE to keep eating or you'll stop. Also, my shorts had been moving about and I had some serious chafing issues that were quite painful - and nothing to be done about it.
We all kind of felt like this: (this is Narayan)
No Desitin at the Safeway (!?) but I did get something that didn't do much good.
Now I'm rolling along, it's late, I'm really tired, and what I want now is a nap. I have a space blanket for just this purpose, and apparently it's a popular thing to do on the PBP, so I found a spot, rolled it out, and took a 20 minute power nap. Well, I never fell asleep, so I took another one. Now all I have do to is ride 50 km to Elma for the overnight. I'm hoping to get an hour or two sleep and then have some time in the bank (leaving ahead of the deadline) to attack the brutal Tahuya hills later in the day. But I'm not rolling to fast, barely 20km/hr (just over 12 mph). While this is acceptable brevet speed late in the day, it's not going to get me to Elma very soon. The road is flat, the night is dark, I'm tired, my butt hurts, and there are hours of this to go.
And then it hits me: I don't really like this part of it. I don't like my upset tummy, feeling tired, feeling sleepy, and in pain. And despite my 4 layers on my body, I'm also cold. And I think "If I don't even like doing this for one night, why would I subject myself to three nights of this in France?"
I've heard it said that you learn different things about yourself as rides get longer, from 200 to 300 to 400 to 600k, and what I learned on this ride was that I don't care for all-night riding. And especially when your shorts are digging a hole deeper and deeper in your skin with every pedal stroke.
I got to Elma at 4:20 AM, wanting to leave by 6:00 AM. I ate a bit, went up to the the assigned room, scheduled my phone timer for a 45 minute nap, and then extended it twice. Finally I came down to the meeting room and asked "If I wanted to quit right here, would there be a way to get me back to Seattle?" Of course nobody likes to see anyone quit, but it's an individual decision. One fellow said he could take me.
I briefly considered going anyway, packed up my bike, and as I got out the door - it started raining! Not hard, not much, but who knows? So I brought the bike back in, with my tired legs, fatigue, and sore bottom and declared myself DNF. I wasn't about to subject myself to more pain and suffering if I didn't have to.
What does this mean for PBP? It means unless I change my mind now and try for the make-up 600k, I'm not going. And right now, I'm fine with that. I've achieved a lot, and there are still rides to ride and RUSA awards to collect - I'm just 2 100k rides short of my P-12 - so I'll continue to ride, but the landscape for the future will be different.
I'm not even too disappointed - I admire those who will go and do the ride, but I'm glad now I know how I feel about night riding, how my body reacts to long rides, and really glad to not have found this out too late.
Postscript: Wednesday, 6/3
It's now 4 days later (3 from Sunday) and I've been mulling all this over and over. Lots of things to consider, including a change of direction for the summer schedule big time, what my riding goals are now going to look like, and if I should keep trying for and do PBP or not. One thing I do know: the chafing on my leg is still healing up, it was actually pretty bad and if I had kept riding, I don't want to think what I'd be facing now. So although I wish I had finished, I don't regret quitting when I did.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Bike to work day 2015 - best ever!
Bike to Work Day in Seattle is awesome. F5 network gear and Cascade Bicycle club team up to put "Commute Stations" all over the trails and routes. Stations have a variety of food, drink and swag items.
Now we are cruising down at 50 kph toward Redmond and the Sammamish River trail. A few miles down the trail, and we come upon another station by the soccer fields:
I met Cyndi Geislink (our transportation coordinator) here, and had a nice discussion about the Tour De Redmond T-shirts (which are the softest T-shirts ever).
Further up the SRT and we get to Wilmot Gateway Park where Woodinville Bicycle has sponsored a station:
Pushing on, take a right turn after the bridge and head north to the Cascadia Community college/UW Bothell campus where we hit the final station of the day:
Had a half cup of coffee here and picked up a danish for later.
And then another 15 minutes and we arrive at work, 2 1/4 hrs after leaving home. Normally I can do it in just over 1 1/4 hrs, so all the stops and 4 bonus miles added an hour to the trip. Here's all the stuff I picked up:
But wait, bike fun is not over! On the way home, we have the Redmond Bike Bash! Lots of bikes and food booths where you can get Zeeks Pizza, bacon wrapped jalapeno, Thai fried rice, and lots more, all for free. Beer and wine, $5.00.
Yes, this isn't directly related to PBP but it's a big part of the Seattle bicycling scene, and I managed to get 40 miles in round trip today.
My goal is to hit as many stations as I can on the way to work, and today I stopped at 9 and passed by 10.
Left the house at 6:30 AM and just 5 minutes later, I'm at the first stop at the beginning of the I-90 trail.
Put on by T-Mobile, I scored a banana and a tube-fabric thing that can be a buff, a towel, a beanie, or a head covering. Very nice.
The clouds were parting and promising a decent day:
5 minutes later I'm at the U-turn by the east channel bridge on the I-90 trail at the second station of the day:
From here it's uphill as I head north on 108th toward downtown. 10 minutes later, I'm at the third station at the Marriott. Yes, when I got there nobody was at the table, they were busy putting out their sign. I got some more food and a luggage tag.
A mile more, up steep 2nd Street, and then we are at the 4th stop at the Bellevue Transit Center:
This was the best one of ALL of them, with lots of good food (got me an old fashioned donut), a wheel to spin for a prize, and generally a great vibe.
I had to get going, and wound my way to the 5th stop, a "DIY" station put on by a salon. Businesses can put on their own stops to spread the bike love and also advertise their services. This was put on by two engaging women:
I had some hot chocolate here, and picked up a little food pack with a juice box and some brownie bites.
Now a bit of a longer haul up to the 520 trail including some steepish hills, and after a bit of a ride, we are at a stop near Microsoft:
I got a nice assortment of energy bars here. As you can see, we have some serious cyclists participating today.
I didn't expect to see another stop on the 520 bike trail but there WAS another one "Kick Kids Cancer". I took a picture but didn't stop:
Now we are cruising down at 50 kph toward Redmond and the Sammamish River trail. A few miles down the trail, and we come upon another station by the soccer fields:
I met Cyndi Geislink (our transportation coordinator) here, and had a nice discussion about the Tour De Redmond T-shirts (which are the softest T-shirts ever).
Further up the SRT and we get to Wilmot Gateway Park where Woodinville Bicycle has sponsored a station:
Pushing on, take a right turn after the bridge and head north to the Cascadia Community college/UW Bothell campus where we hit the final station of the day:
And then another 15 minutes and we arrive at work, 2 1/4 hrs after leaving home. Normally I can do it in just over 1 1/4 hrs, so all the stops and 4 bonus miles added an hour to the trip. Here's all the stuff I picked up:
But wait, bike fun is not over! On the way home, we have the Redmond Bike Bash! Lots of bikes and food booths where you can get Zeeks Pizza, bacon wrapped jalapeno, Thai fried rice, and lots more, all for free. Beer and wine, $5.00.
Bike Parking:
The bash:
The food:
And then a regular ride home on the 520 trail / 140th. A great Bike to Work day!
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Sunny 100k on a perfect day
Eat to ride, or ride to eat. Yeah, you gotta keep stoking the fires to keep riding but how you do it is up to you. You can drink powdered energy food hour after hour, or you can indulge in some things that would normally be off the menu, or very occasional treats. Today was both: eat to ride, and enjoy every bite.
I started the day off at Tulley's on Mercer Island with Narayan. I had a fritter, and he had a maple bar:
Sorry, I ate the fritter before I took a picture of it. But hey, who doesn't like maple bars?
We rode in the cool of the day up to the hills of Kirkland, and then on the bike trails to Woodinville and Redmond, crossing to East Lake Sammamish boulevard through Marymoor park where the temperature had hit a very comfortable 70 degrees just after noon:
Then it was short work on some light duty rollers to Issaquah, where we stopped for frosty drinks at Starbucks. I had a Mocha Chip Frappacino:
Finally, up Newport way and down the other side, around the bottom of Mercer Island, to finish up at the Roanoke Tavern for some well earned IPA and nachos in just a touch over 5 and a half hours.
Glorious weather, sun, a touch of wind here and there, and lots and lots of people out on bikes, scooters, parents pushing kids in strollers, people walking, jogging. It was the kind of day that makes you really glad you live in Seattle.
This was my P-10 ride - 10th consecutive month of a 100k ride. Two more and I earn the coveted P-12 award.
Next up, if the weather and schedule holds: 200k Southworth-Tahuya Hills for some hill training next week.
I started the day off at Tulley's on Mercer Island with Narayan. I had a fritter, and he had a maple bar:
Sorry, I ate the fritter before I took a picture of it. But hey, who doesn't like maple bars?
We rode in the cool of the day up to the hills of Kirkland, and then on the bike trails to Woodinville and Redmond, crossing to East Lake Sammamish boulevard through Marymoor park where the temperature had hit a very comfortable 70 degrees just after noon:
Then it was short work on some light duty rollers to Issaquah, where we stopped for frosty drinks at Starbucks. I had a Mocha Chip Frappacino:
Finally, up Newport way and down the other side, around the bottom of Mercer Island, to finish up at the Roanoke Tavern for some well earned IPA and nachos in just a touch over 5 and a half hours.
Glorious weather, sun, a touch of wind here and there, and lots and lots of people out on bikes, scooters, parents pushing kids in strollers, people walking, jogging. It was the kind of day that makes you really glad you live in Seattle.
This was my P-10 ride - 10th consecutive month of a 100k ride. Two more and I earn the coveted P-12 award.
Next up, if the weather and schedule holds: 200k Southworth-Tahuya Hills for some hill training next week.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Zen and the art of Bicycle Maintenance - on a chilly 400k
If you've ever read "Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance" you have to recall the part about shims. Two guys talking about a bike one of them owns that has a loose part. The other says "you need a thin shim to firm that up. A piece of a beer can would be perfect." The other one refuses, saying "I will not have a beer can as part of my bike, I want the factory shim installed." Never mind there may not even BE a factory shim, the cost in time and money is ridiculous.
Any way, that will come up later in this ride report.
So, we are riding the Baker Lake 400k brevet on May 2, 2015, the third of the 4 qualifying rides for PBP. This is a challenging route, with hills at the beginning, middle, and end of the ride, and longer flat sections in between.
We start from Mark Thomas's house up high in the hills of Woodinville:
Over 90 people were registered - some had pre-ridden the course, and there were some no-shows and late-comers, so it was closer to 80 people that actually attempted the ride.
Fearing nowhere to park, I chose a wide gravel patch at the bottom of the hill and rode up, arriving about 15 minutes prior to the 6:00 start. A bit of socializing, pick up the brevet card, a bite to eat, and time for a pre-ride selfie with my loaded bike:
6:00 AM sharp and we are rolling! And there are hills right off the bat. The pack stays together in groups of 4-5 until we get to a spot where a road ends, connecting to the road on the other side only for bikes and people via a gap in the barrier - one bike wide. This really stretches out the group.
I'm not riding "with" anyone at this point, just keeping up a pace I think I can tolerate. My heart-rate monitor is in the 150 range, which I was able to do for a 100k last week (about 5 hours). We'll see how long that can keep up.
82 km and about 4 hours later, I hit the first real control, the Shell station in Granite falls. I'm on a pace for a 5 hour 100k, which is pretty good for ME. I ran into a number of people filling up water bottles including Narayan Krishnamoorthy, who I rode a 300k and Fleche ride last year:
He knows everyone who rides, and practically every turn of every course, and also who rode what courses when. A rando encyclopedia!
In fact, riding on the highway after Arlington, we met up and rode together for a while. Sadly, there was too much traffic to ride side-by-side and talk much. But at one point, all of a sudden some bug (a bee?) flew into my lip at high speed, and at first I was worried I had been stung, because although that isn't life threatening, the area around the sting WILL swell and look bad. It felt sore but not horrible and I think whatever part of a bee is "sharp" had just scratched me. Aggh! So many little unforseen things can derail a good plan, right?
There was plenty see on the way to Concrete, including a bucolic farm with a great view:
Also, some roadside geology. Look at all the layers of loose rock and sandstone on this exposed hillside:
And finally, they pulled some really big timber out of here years ago, including this chunk of wood:
I finally made it to Concrete, just shy of halfway. This wasn't a control but there was a convenience store, and I needed water. Fortunately I found the jug left by randos who had been there before me:
Water by the gallon is only a little over a dollar, vs. single bottles 1/4 the size for the same price. I took advantage of a number of these along the route and had the ability to buy and leave one as well.
Oh, and also in Concrete, something rando's know how to look for:
When you gotta go, you gotta go, and these are a welcome sight!
I had been having dreams of a 10 hour 200k but what I didn't realize that Burpee Hill road came around kilometer 193. This is a 2 mile long hill that is so steep sometimes you're inclined to just get off and walk, or zig zag back and forth to cut the grade a bit. And speed that might have been 20-25 kph slows to 6-7 kph (24 kph = 15 mph and 5 kph = 3 mph). The 10 hour 200k is not happening.
See if you can spot Burpee Hill Road on this elevation profile (hint: the scale is in miles):
Also, note that even once you get up to the "top" there are a LOT of lumps before you get down again. These aren't even what you could call "rollers" where your momentum from one hill gets you over the next. No, these are climbs 1/2 to 1 km long at 5-8% (obnoxious to challenging).
About half way, I noticed a pull out and figured there was a scenic view. A short walk down a trail did not disappoint:
And to make it even worse, the route is an "out and back" and there's a food stop along the way - but the control is down the road another 6 miles (with hills) and you need to ride down there, count the number of zip ties on the message board, report back at the food stop to get your card signed and get some food. Here are a couple of the guys I rode with for a while, enjoying their food:
I was getting tired, hungry and had a feeling like I wanted to cry. No particular reason why, just feeling really challenged by all the hills. But I slugged it out, missed the campground, rode an extra 2km to the end of the road, and then turned around, still could not find the zip ties, so took a selfie in front of the campground sign as proof and made it back to the food stop.
The ride was not without its rewards, including some great views: (photo credit: William B Willaford)
Most everyone else had already eaten and departed, I was at the end of the pack, but that didn't stop me from having a ham and cheese wrap, some chips, a Starbucks frappacino and a few peanut M&Ms. I also took advantage of the restroom, and put on all my cold weather gear: tights, arm warmers, and fuzzy gloves, as it was nearly 8 PM and it had been getting colder and would be dark soon. Little did I know how under-prepared I was.
I got over the hills on the way out and finally, FINALLY hit the 7 mile descent to Highway 20. The moon was rising over the hills to the east, Venus was shining in the western sky, and I could NOT get a decent picture. Sorry, it was really sublime.
The route flattened out a bit going through farmlands to get to the Haggen's market in Mount Vernon. Mt. Vernon itself is not farmland, and after a pleasurable ride, we started getting into more hills again. I had to be at Haggens by 1:48 AM, and arrived about 11:15. As I was getting organized, two riders, Fatima and Dick showed up. We decided to ride together, and time was spent using the bathroom ("Could you please unlock the bathrooms?", buying food, getting cards signed and then I proposed a 20 minute "Power nap". Research has shown the best nap times are either 20 or 90 minutes. Everyone else agreed, so we gathered in the now-deserted Cafe in the store and laid down on the floor by the fireplace for a 20 min nap. And that worked pretty well, too.
After that, a few more housekeeping tasks, another bathroom visit, and we rolled out of the Haggens and on our way to the flat Centennial trail, 15 miles away. These 15 miles had some hills but we finally got some rollers as we went past Big Lake and Lake McMurray. The fact is, roads adjacent to lakes are hardly ever flat and most alway "rolling". They can't go too high because this is the road people who live at lake-level use, but they have to adapt to the terrain, too.
It was getting colder as we rode, and when we hit the Centennial trail, it was really chilly - around 40 degrees, and then we had the wind chill of riding, too. What I wish I had had was my fleece vest and ear warmers, and even my balaclava (read: ski mask commonly used by people robbing banks). My face was freezing. My Garmin later reported it had gotten down to 35 degrees, and that's without the wind chill.
Halfway down the trail we stopped at a 7-11 for some coffee, tea and hot-water. My stomach was not a happy camper. I had been drinking my Perpetuem long-distance drink mix, but somehow I was feeling like I was going to toss my cookies if I ate anything else. I had heard of this phenomenon on long rides and this was the first time it had happened to me - just can't eat or keep anything down. It can be a ride ender, depending on when it hits. I think the Perpetuem was keeping me going but I wondered if I'd have any other symptoms, Every time I drank some (or even water) I'd get a burp, my stomach would shrink. I chewed up a Tums as we left. We were about half way down the trail to Snohomish.
Now the ride was getting really hard for me. I was very cold, and started desiring to take a break but there was no way that was happening. If I broke off from my co-riders, I took a big risk of not finishing, and that wasn't acceptable. I'd have to do ANOTHER 400k to get to Paris, and I couldn't imagine that. Plus here is where "A never say die" attitude comes into play. So I kept going.
We were going through one set of bollards after another, and at one point, a couple of times I "hallucinated" them into something else and at the last second realized what they were. I needed a break We saw a trailside restroom but the doors were locked. We were not far from Snohomish, so we powered ahead, hoping to find a coffee shop to sit down in.
Sadly, nothing in Snohomish is open at 5:45 AM on a Sunday! No restaurants, bakeries or coffee shops. We round block after block (including one 8% climb) and finally find what is open: 7-11! I say "OK, I want a 10 minute nap and then we gotta get going." And my ride buddies agreed, so that's what we did, rolling out of there just after 6 AM. It's still nearly 20 miles to the end, we have just under 3 hours and there are lots of hills between here and there. Refer back to the route profile above, or see this expanded view:
Yeah, hills after hills including a three stage climb with a dip that went right into another two stage climb. I was feeling more normal by this point and we just kept plugging away, hill after hill. We could smell the barn and there was no stopping us.
We rolled into the garage at the end point right at 8:00 AM, a full hour to spare! I declined to eat, and needed to get home, so I turned in my card and rode down - DOWN!! to the van, loaded up and got going.
And when I got home, my stomach finally decided to get rid of what ever was bothering it. And a few "sessions" later, I got rid of some small amounts of sweet-ish fluid -- all I could think of was the tums! And then I felt better, more normal.
I showered, and then climbed into bed, still freezing and shivering, a full hour after getting off the bike. I didn't take my temperature, but I suspect some degree of hypothermia.
But hey, it's all about persevering and solving problems, right? And I did manage to finish, thanks to the support and help of the people of SIR and the various people I rode with along the way. The three of us finished in 26 hrs, and were in fact "lantern rouge" or the last ones to finish. I had finished the 300k a month before with 3 hrs to spare, so in my planning for this ride, I thought 22 hrs was a great time, 23 hrs a good time, 24 hrs an OK time, 25 hrs an acceptable time, 26 hrs was unthinkable. (27 hrs was the max time allowed). Actually finishing in 26 hrs was fine with me, especially after all we had dealt with through the night. And reviewing the results a week later showed that although we were the last that finished, there were 7 riders "DNF" (did not finish) for any variety of reasons: health, fitness, mechanical, weather. Compared to that, finishing in 26 hrs is wonderful!
Next ride: Tahuya Hills, in 4 weeks - 600km with an overnight in Elma. Over 15,000 feet of climbing, compared with 10,000 feet on this ride, so about the same level of torture. I have 4 weeks to train for it. And train I must, if I expect to get any sleep at all on the P-B-P.
Oh, wait: What about the Maintenance part? Well, my bike has fenders and the front fenders have a "quick release" mechanism so that anything that gets sucked up by the wheel will knock the fender supports out of their holders, so the front tire won't lock up. They are bent wire that fits into a little plastic support - snap in, in fact, and they have been rattling a lot, especially on chip-seal roads. Well, I had had enough of this, so I pulled off, found an empty aluminum Dr. Pepper can (that didn't take long, there are cans everywhere) and cut two small strips to fit around the supports to fill the gaps. Shoved them back in and presto! No more rattles. I probably should have thought a little more about using my valuable brevet time this way, but it was very satisfying to get that rattle fixed, and it took less than 10 minutes. Aluminum can shims rock!
Any way, that will come up later in this ride report.
So, we are riding the Baker Lake 400k brevet on May 2, 2015, the third of the 4 qualifying rides for PBP. This is a challenging route, with hills at the beginning, middle, and end of the ride, and longer flat sections in between.
We start from Mark Thomas's house up high in the hills of Woodinville:
Fearing nowhere to park, I chose a wide gravel patch at the bottom of the hill and rode up, arriving about 15 minutes prior to the 6:00 start. A bit of socializing, pick up the brevet card, a bite to eat, and time for a pre-ride selfie with my loaded bike:
I'm not riding "with" anyone at this point, just keeping up a pace I think I can tolerate. My heart-rate monitor is in the 150 range, which I was able to do for a 100k last week (about 5 hours). We'll see how long that can keep up.
82 km and about 4 hours later, I hit the first real control, the Shell station in Granite falls. I'm on a pace for a 5 hour 100k, which is pretty good for ME. I ran into a number of people filling up water bottles including Narayan Krishnamoorthy, who I rode a 300k and Fleche ride last year:
In fact, riding on the highway after Arlington, we met up and rode together for a while. Sadly, there was too much traffic to ride side-by-side and talk much. But at one point, all of a sudden some bug (a bee?) flew into my lip at high speed, and at first I was worried I had been stung, because although that isn't life threatening, the area around the sting WILL swell and look bad. It felt sore but not horrible and I think whatever part of a bee is "sharp" had just scratched me. Aggh! So many little unforseen things can derail a good plan, right?
There was plenty see on the way to Concrete, including a bucolic farm with a great view:
Also, some roadside geology. Look at all the layers of loose rock and sandstone on this exposed hillside:
And finally, they pulled some really big timber out of here years ago, including this chunk of wood:
I finally made it to Concrete, just shy of halfway. This wasn't a control but there was a convenience store, and I needed water. Fortunately I found the jug left by randos who had been there before me:
Oh, and also in Concrete, something rando's know how to look for:
I had been having dreams of a 10 hour 200k but what I didn't realize that Burpee Hill road came around kilometer 193. This is a 2 mile long hill that is so steep sometimes you're inclined to just get off and walk, or zig zag back and forth to cut the grade a bit. And speed that might have been 20-25 kph slows to 6-7 kph (24 kph = 15 mph and 5 kph = 3 mph). The 10 hour 200k is not happening.
See if you can spot Burpee Hill Road on this elevation profile (hint: the scale is in miles):
About half way, I noticed a pull out and figured there was a scenic view. A short walk down a trail did not disappoint:
And to make it even worse, the route is an "out and back" and there's a food stop along the way - but the control is down the road another 6 miles (with hills) and you need to ride down there, count the number of zip ties on the message board, report back at the food stop to get your card signed and get some food. Here are a couple of the guys I rode with for a while, enjoying their food:
I was getting tired, hungry and had a feeling like I wanted to cry. No particular reason why, just feeling really challenged by all the hills. But I slugged it out, missed the campground, rode an extra 2km to the end of the road, and then turned around, still could not find the zip ties, so took a selfie in front of the campground sign as proof and made it back to the food stop.
The ride was not without its rewards, including some great views: (photo credit: William B Willaford)
Most everyone else had already eaten and departed, I was at the end of the pack, but that didn't stop me from having a ham and cheese wrap, some chips, a Starbucks frappacino and a few peanut M&Ms. I also took advantage of the restroom, and put on all my cold weather gear: tights, arm warmers, and fuzzy gloves, as it was nearly 8 PM and it had been getting colder and would be dark soon. Little did I know how under-prepared I was.
I got over the hills on the way out and finally, FINALLY hit the 7 mile descent to Highway 20. The moon was rising over the hills to the east, Venus was shining in the western sky, and I could NOT get a decent picture. Sorry, it was really sublime.
The route flattened out a bit going through farmlands to get to the Haggen's market in Mount Vernon. Mt. Vernon itself is not farmland, and after a pleasurable ride, we started getting into more hills again. I had to be at Haggens by 1:48 AM, and arrived about 11:15. As I was getting organized, two riders, Fatima and Dick showed up. We decided to ride together, and time was spent using the bathroom ("Could you please unlock the bathrooms?", buying food, getting cards signed and then I proposed a 20 minute "Power nap". Research has shown the best nap times are either 20 or 90 minutes. Everyone else agreed, so we gathered in the now-deserted Cafe in the store and laid down on the floor by the fireplace for a 20 min nap. And that worked pretty well, too.
After that, a few more housekeeping tasks, another bathroom visit, and we rolled out of the Haggens and on our way to the flat Centennial trail, 15 miles away. These 15 miles had some hills but we finally got some rollers as we went past Big Lake and Lake McMurray. The fact is, roads adjacent to lakes are hardly ever flat and most alway "rolling". They can't go too high because this is the road people who live at lake-level use, but they have to adapt to the terrain, too.
It was getting colder as we rode, and when we hit the Centennial trail, it was really chilly - around 40 degrees, and then we had the wind chill of riding, too. What I wish I had had was my fleece vest and ear warmers, and even my balaclava (read: ski mask commonly used by people robbing banks). My face was freezing. My Garmin later reported it had gotten down to 35 degrees, and that's without the wind chill.
Halfway down the trail we stopped at a 7-11 for some coffee, tea and hot-water. My stomach was not a happy camper. I had been drinking my Perpetuem long-distance drink mix, but somehow I was feeling like I was going to toss my cookies if I ate anything else. I had heard of this phenomenon on long rides and this was the first time it had happened to me - just can't eat or keep anything down. It can be a ride ender, depending on when it hits. I think the Perpetuem was keeping me going but I wondered if I'd have any other symptoms, Every time I drank some (or even water) I'd get a burp, my stomach would shrink. I chewed up a Tums as we left. We were about half way down the trail to Snohomish.
Now the ride was getting really hard for me. I was very cold, and started desiring to take a break but there was no way that was happening. If I broke off from my co-riders, I took a big risk of not finishing, and that wasn't acceptable. I'd have to do ANOTHER 400k to get to Paris, and I couldn't imagine that. Plus here is where "A never say die" attitude comes into play. So I kept going.
We were going through one set of bollards after another, and at one point, a couple of times I "hallucinated" them into something else and at the last second realized what they were. I needed a break We saw a trailside restroom but the doors were locked. We were not far from Snohomish, so we powered ahead, hoping to find a coffee shop to sit down in.
Sadly, nothing in Snohomish is open at 5:45 AM on a Sunday! No restaurants, bakeries or coffee shops. We round block after block (including one 8% climb) and finally find what is open: 7-11! I say "OK, I want a 10 minute nap and then we gotta get going." And my ride buddies agreed, so that's what we did, rolling out of there just after 6 AM. It's still nearly 20 miles to the end, we have just under 3 hours and there are lots of hills between here and there. Refer back to the route profile above, or see this expanded view:
Yeah, hills after hills including a three stage climb with a dip that went right into another two stage climb. I was feeling more normal by this point and we just kept plugging away, hill after hill. We could smell the barn and there was no stopping us.
We rolled into the garage at the end point right at 8:00 AM, a full hour to spare! I declined to eat, and needed to get home, so I turned in my card and rode down - DOWN!! to the van, loaded up and got going.
And when I got home, my stomach finally decided to get rid of what ever was bothering it. And a few "sessions" later, I got rid of some small amounts of sweet-ish fluid -- all I could think of was the tums! And then I felt better, more normal.
I showered, and then climbed into bed, still freezing and shivering, a full hour after getting off the bike. I didn't take my temperature, but I suspect some degree of hypothermia.
But hey, it's all about persevering and solving problems, right? And I did manage to finish, thanks to the support and help of the people of SIR and the various people I rode with along the way. The three of us finished in 26 hrs, and were in fact "lantern rouge" or the last ones to finish. I had finished the 300k a month before with 3 hrs to spare, so in my planning for this ride, I thought 22 hrs was a great time, 23 hrs a good time, 24 hrs an OK time, 25 hrs an acceptable time, 26 hrs was unthinkable. (27 hrs was the max time allowed). Actually finishing in 26 hrs was fine with me, especially after all we had dealt with through the night. And reviewing the results a week later showed that although we were the last that finished, there were 7 riders "DNF" (did not finish) for any variety of reasons: health, fitness, mechanical, weather. Compared to that, finishing in 26 hrs is wonderful!
Next ride: Tahuya Hills, in 4 weeks - 600km with an overnight in Elma. Over 15,000 feet of climbing, compared with 10,000 feet on this ride, so about the same level of torture. I have 4 weeks to train for it. And train I must, if I expect to get any sleep at all on the P-B-P.
Oh, wait: What about the Maintenance part? Well, my bike has fenders and the front fenders have a "quick release" mechanism so that anything that gets sucked up by the wheel will knock the fender supports out of their holders, so the front tire won't lock up. They are bent wire that fits into a little plastic support - snap in, in fact, and they have been rattling a lot, especially on chip-seal roads. Well, I had had enough of this, so I pulled off, found an empty aluminum Dr. Pepper can (that didn't take long, there are cans everywhere) and cut two small strips to fit around the supports to fill the gaps. Shoved them back in and presto! No more rattles. I probably should have thought a little more about using my valuable brevet time this way, but it was very satisfying to get that rattle fixed, and it took less than 10 minutes. Aluminum can shims rock!
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
P-9 100k ride: The ride that almost didn't happen
The P-12 ride (actually 9th in a row) that was scheduled for yesterday almost didn't happen. I had scheduled it last week to ride the flat easy route 757 that I've done a few times to ride after work on Monday, but on Sunday afternoon, something went out in my back and I had low-back spasms and significant pain and mobility impact. I had to sit in my lounger with an ice pack the whole afternoon and some part of the evening, and riding the next day was seriously in doubt. I was able to sleep in the bed overnight as it had improved somewhat, and then sat in the chair again in the AM with the ice, and it was getting better and better until by noon, I felt nearly normal and was able to work at my stand-up desk with virtually no pain at all. I tried a few "strengthen the back" exercises and was able to do them with little or no discomfort, and since the weather was just fantastic (70's, sun, and light wind) with rain forecasted the rest of the week, I REALLY wanted to get out and ride.
So I did. Packed the bike into the van at 4:00 and headed over to the start at Peet's in Redmond in the van. Got 1/4 mile from home and realized I had forgotten my shoes! Glad to have not gone too far, I turned back and got them. By the time I left the start line, I was about 15 minutes past the 4:30 "official start" but that was fine. I bought a cookie at Peets for $1.79 (plus tax) and threw the 8 cents change into the tip jar.
I noticed my legs and butt were complaining for the first 20 minutes of the ride, which was a little disconcerting since I had just ridden to work and back last Friday. However, they sorted themselves out and soon I was feeling just fine.
It's time to get serious about training for PBP now, so had I put on the heart rate monitor strap. I've heard, and I think I agree, that what's important about long distance riding is maintaining an even effort, and aside from expensive power monitoring equipment, a heart rate monitor is the best way to measure effort.
I started easy, HR in the 130's and 140's and by the time I was in Issaquah (15 km away) I was feeling good and got my Heart Rate (HR) up to about 150, and that's where it would stay the rest of the ride, give or take. I got an apple juice for my receipt at McDonalds for $1.00 - 80 calories and some hydration.
There was not much traffic or congestion on any of the Multi-use trails, surprisingly since the weather was so perfect. Must have been the late hour, it was now 5:30 PM-ish.
About 3 miles south of Woodinville, I was passed by a rider who had a really even pace, and let him pace me. We were making great time, pushing along at 28 kph (a little over 17 mph) and just zipping along - and as we rounded the curve at Wilmot Gateway park I realized almost too late that I had a control at the AM/PM market! With regrets I had to split off and head over to the market to get a receipt. I got a single chocolate chip cookie for 49 cents, and ate it outside before continuing.
Wilmot Gateway Park:
From here, it's 22 km to the next control, the QFC at U-Village, all on multi-use trails. just before Kenmore, I was still feeling frisky and just powered down the trail at the same pace, reaching the QFC around 7:30 PM, 2/3 of the way through the ride now. I bought a banana for 23 cents for my receipt.
Now it was starting to get a little cool in the shade but still comfortable. There's a short climb on the trail out of the QFC and then a couple miles of gentle downhill grade, so I was able to keep up a 28 kph pace even this late in the ride.
Stopped at Wilmot Gateway park to put on my nylon vest against the cold and get a few sips of water before the final push to the finish. Now it wasn't just dusk, it was getting dark. My headlight was doing its best to light the way, and it does OK as long at there aren't any other lights in the area, but it's poor at showing texture and obstacles in the road. I believe I'll have to get some more lighting for the 400k coming up in just under 2 weeks.
One great thing about night rides is seeing the moon and stars. Last night was no exception; the thin crescent moon was hanging in the deep blue western sky, and Venus was sitting right above it, shining brightly. Here's someone else's picture of what it looked like as I rode south on the Sammamish River parkway:
I rolled into the Whole Foods at the finish just before 9:15 PM, and bought 4 grapes for 10 cents for my final receipt. I had managed to approximately halve each purchase 4 times ($2.00, $1.00, 50 cents, 25 cents, 10 cents). Yeah, it's kinda dumb but once I got going I felt the urge to finish.
All in all, a great ride with great weather, best rolling speed ever (avg moving speed 25 kph) and I'm feeling really good about my progress. And it's just April, still 4 more training months to the big event in August
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