Sort of a lazy ride today – the wife is in Yakima all weekend for her Masters classes, and crew chief Brandon had a school-related commitment at 11:00, so I had to be available to ferry him downtown for that.
I ended up just swirling around locally, trying to find as many hills as I could while still getting my full “century” in. The weather was fantastic – first time this year I have been too warm while riding. Anyways I ended up finding enough hills to climb to get a mile of vertical in.
So I read the weather report for Sunday and Monday, and, weird – all it said was carpe diem.
So I decided to go find a forest to look at for a while. When you live in the TriCities, you have automatically committed yourself to a double century if you feel like visiting a forest. But that seemed ok, and I headed outbound before sunrise on Sunday. The bank thermometer said 34, but I soon found out that that was a lie – water bottles and camelbak tube froze solid by 6:00am. Well, anyways, the sun came out as predicted and i pushed on through Yakima.
The forest I was heading for was only a few thousand feet of climbing away, so I fueled up at a Starbucks and headed up-valley. The climb over White Pass is actually quite nice westbound, lots of great views and nothing too difficult. I stopped on top to refill some bottles, and a couple of snowboarders grilled me on what the hell I was doing up there on a bike – but it all turned out good when they kindly lent me a phone so I could check in with Sammi.
And that’s when the fun started. I decided that I had worked hard enough to get to the forest, maybe I should take a little time and enjoy it as well. After clearing the move with the boss, I returned the phone, told the kid to put some ice on the knee, and plunged over the edge to the west side of the state.
No boring details here, just a really long ride out to the I-5 corridor then a short jaunt north to Centralia, arriving in time at the Mcmennamins pub/hotel for a room and a plate of halibut.
Day two was quite a bit more … trying. After 15 hours on the bike Sunday, and no real restful sleep, 4:30 found me lying in bed wondering what to do for 2 hours until I could find some coffee. The hotel wouldn’t open until 7, so I couldn’t check out until then, and I was starting to realize I was a bit short on fuel.
I got dressed in a pair of clean riding shorts and some clean socks, then layered on yesterday’s shirts, jackets, gloves, hat, snot-covered face mask, and pants. (Oh, interesting side note here: somewhere in Yakima on Sunday I snagged my over-pants on my saddle and ripped a big flap out of the ass. Which I never found until I went to use them to go to dinner. So, I guess half of Yakima now gets to talk about the guy on the bike with the torn pants.)
I rolled out to the grocery store that Sammi used to work at, a lifetime ago, found some bread, peanut butter and honey – and a free cup of coffee. I stuffed all the supplies in my pack, went back to the hotel, made sandwiches, and found another complimentary cup of coffee.
I retrospect, I was worried about getting such a late start – what I really should have done is stayed another half hour to eat a good breakfast. Seems that day two - with zero stored glycogen, makes for a really, really tough day. Add in the extra weight in the pack – can of peanut butter, can of honey, can of hummus, loaf of bread, 2 litres of water – and my forward speed was really low. My energy levels would plummet till the sandwich kicked in, then drop off again until I could muster the courage to eat another one. This went on for 4 or 5 hours until I finally got far enough ahead on my intake to stabilize my power output. Really a miserable way to ride – you don’t feel much like a racer. But at least the weather was good and the scenery was better than scrub grass and sagebrush.
I arrived in Packwood after 70 miles and 3000′ of climbing, bought a turkey wrap which I washed down with a red bull, and headed for the pass. Eastbound to White Pass is quite a bit more difficult – it’s 20 miles and 3500′ - all with an extra 12 pounds in the pack. I suppose I didn’t climb quite as fast as a tour rider – but of course I hadn’t been towed to the base of the climb by the peloton either.
Anyways I made it over the top, manage to relight the system out on Rimrock Lake, and was feeling pretty good by the time Sammi met me at the Saloon in Naches … Total two day mileage – enough to make next week’s hill climbing work memorable.
Flying a slight tailwind down the intertie on my loaner Bianchi at 4:30 in the morning, feet starting to get cold, I had to remind myself spring will be here soon. The weather broke a bit last week – the fog lifted after 3 months of constant grey, and no rain. Unfortunately this also brought some colder temps in the mornings, thus the cold toes again.
Feb. has been a tough month of training – I’ve been able to hold on to the weekly mileage increase – but only just barely. I should be taking Sats. off as a rest day, but so far have had to do some make-up rides to hit my goals. This is typically due to an inability to ride after work. It has proven to be supremely difficult to come home from a day at work and turn right around and stack on a few layers of riding clothes and power through an hour or so of hill work.
Hopefully it will get easier in March when there is more light in the afternoons. For now though, one more week in this block, then a short rest break, and another increase in weekly mileage. I heard from Steve that the Infinitos are supposed to be shipping next week, so I am hopeful to be back on some carbon next weekend. Not that my aluminum loaner is a bad bike – it’s actually a great riding bike for just kicking around with no worries – but I am anxious to have my arsenal available for the real training to come.
Not sure where I will ride to tommorrow, I suppose if the weather holds up ok I should go tackle Heppner again. It would be great to ride down there without any rain.
Spent 13 hours on the bike on Sunday, taking a nice tour up the river to Mattawa, Vantage, then the short climb up to Ellensburg. I consoled myself on my low speed by reminding myself I was carrying a bunch of extra weight – clothing food and water. Ellensburg brought a welcome break in the all-day sandwich eating experiment – Taco Del Mar. Probably should have skipped the fresh salsa, as the uncooked onions proved to be a bit hard on the stomach, but other than that, a mondo burrito provides enough power to take the interstate to Yakima. Once, again, I decided my slow speed could have many causes. Probably by this time, though, I really was going kind of slow on the climbs.
I called home around dark o’clock, and soon picked up the vibe that I would be getting a ride home from Prosser, as Sammi and Brandon had spent the entire day prepping a homemade Chinese feast. That’s the food, not the people.
I backed the play by actually making it out on Monday morning before daybreak, physically feeling pretty good, but mentally exhausted from Sunday’s ride. Part of Sunday was all about riding when it’s not fun: it had rained for a few hours, and I was intentionally riding on a fairly uncomfortable saddle – trying to train my brain to ride well no matter what else is going on.
So Monday found me deciding to call 20 miles enough, and spending the rest of the day with the family. And of course cleaning up Steve’s loaner bike. But hey, you loan an ultracyclist a bike, it’s gonna get a few miles on it.
Spent the first part of my birthday at the dentist’s office, so the end result was riding for a couple hours with my cheek flapping uselessly in the breeze until the novacane wore off.
Other than that it was a good ride. I stopped at Scott’s in Hermiston to see what the head honcho was up to, then headed a bit further south to Echo.
Been working on making the food adjustments that Michele Larson recommended, and so far she seems to know her stuff. Whether or not some of these foods will be available on a race across the country is another question altogether. Anyways, there is always the Spiz to fall back on – which I had to do for a couple hours on this ride, so I wouldn’t chew any holes in my lip.
Had the pleasure of taking the new Bianchi Infinito for a test ride today, and here is what I think:
I’ll preface my remarks with a couple notes: I’m an ultracyclist, and spend my days riding farther than most. Today was no exception – by the time I arrived back home to give the Infinito a whirl, I already had 110 miles in the legs. So I do believe I will be accurately reporting what this bike is like.
Second, if you are looking for some negative points to use to talk yourself or your spouse out of a new bike, you won’t find any here.
I’ve always thought Bianchi makes a great bike, and the Infinito is no exception. I usually ride a 928 Sl – and the Infinito shares many of it’s finer traits. The bike is very stable, with no speed wobble issues at all. With hands off the bars I was comfortable descending at 20plus. I tried to induce a little instability, but it tracked perfectly straight. Bianchis love to go fast, and the faster the Infinito goes, the more stable it feels.
Handling is superb. Give the bike a trajectory change to follow and it does so immediately. It never leaves you wishing you had turned a bit harder, nor does it ever cause you to believe you should have gone straight instead of diving into the Starbucks driveway.
Performance is where this bike really shines. You are left with the feeling that every watt of power you put into the bike is being translated into forward motion. Powering out of the aboved mentioned turns, the bike instantly accelerates back to your chosen speed. More than that, though, the bike seems to ask you to give it your best. Pesky little rollers are conquered by simply spinning faster, maintaining speed on long flat pulls is easier, and the bike wants to accelerate while climbing. It carries power deep into the pedal stroke – there is very little feel of a dead spot at the top and bottom of the stroke.
The new geometry works well. The higher headtube brings your shoulders and head up and back, which allows you to find a balanced feel on the bike. I can’t speak for the other changes – longer wheelbase and slightly different seatpost angle, but they all add up to a very stable, comfortable ride.
Certainly this bike is built for long days in the saddle – less power is wasted fighting the frame, while comfort and bike behaviour leave you free to enjoy the day.
Sort of a grueling experiment on Sunday:
Got up just as it turned Sunday, and amazingly, was out the door and riding by 1:00am. Plan was to do a White Pass out and return – the weather was forcast for some patchy fog, but otherwise mostly sunny. Sounded great to climb up into a forest and enjoy a bit of sun for a change.
Somewhere out near Prosser I blithely rode into a pack of about 6 squabbling dogs – but fortunately they were intent on beating the stuffing out of each other before they realized I had come and gone. I think it was good this happened so close to the dairy – the smell must have masked my arrival.
A few miles later and I stumbled on a much more welcome scene – young kid in the company of a couple of sheriffs doing some drunk-test work. Way to go guys!
Unfortunately, the weather forcast turned out to be really wrong, again. The light mist turned into light rain, which turned into medium rain. Believing the weather reports had left me with a backpack full of food, but no rain gear. I rode on for a few more miles, trying to decide if a real RAAM racer wouldn’t just finish the ride – until I hit on a great solution: I could turn around and go back to the TRi-Cities where in all likelihood it was not raining!
I got a little groggy on the return leg but took a page out of Larry’s play book and stopped for a few minutes in Prosser at the Starbucks. Breakfast sandwich and coffee.
I pushed back through dog-central with no problems, and arrived in Tri-Cities smirking at the Sunday morning clubs heading out for their ride. I already had more miles than they might see all week.
Finished the day out with a few laps around the bridges.
Started Feb. with a decent upward progression in mileage gains – Thanks to some slowly moderating temperatures and a blessed lack of moisture. It did rain yesterday morning, but I was far enough ahead on the week that I could afford the luxury of sleeping in. If the cats wouldn’t have woken me up. Later this afternoon I will be having my session with Michele Larson of Origin Nutrition in Park City, UT. I am hopeful to come out of it with a lot of good suggestions on how to get my stomach race ready.
I was hoping to end January with something more spectacular, but what I ended up with was a new personal best AVF/mile. That’s average flats per mile. One flat per every 12 miles to be exact.
I had convinced Mom and Dad, who were over visiting for some birthday cheer, to come out and play on Sunday the 31st., so Sammi and Brandon naturally wanted to come along. I left home at 7:00am in a light drizzle, which was supposed to be a smiley sun with sunglasses hiding behind some puffy white clouds. The rain was light enough to just keep the road damp – but damp enough to sling mud all over me. Within 10 miles I was covered in the winter’s layer of de-icer and gravel – the Spiz bottles were a grime covered mess, and even the camelbak feed tube was gritty.
So, I got my first flat about 30 miles out, which I repaired and continued on. Soon enough, the minivan passes me up, driven by Mom. I wave them on then realize that the newly repaired tire is now getting low again. So I stop and pump it back up again, only to be caught loafing by Sammi and Brandon in the Volvo. I smile and wave them on.
And about three miles further on and I”m flat again. Both ends this time. I finally arrive in Walla Walla with four tubes with holes in them, and only 5 patches left in the patch kit.
We regrouped and got ready to go riding for real: Sammi and Mom took off for the nearest winery, while Dad and Brandon slid into close follow mode to check out both our new array of electronics as well as Brandon’s driving skills. And I got another flat. And it was still raining. We patched it up and continued up the road towards Starbuck.
The rain finally let up, but not the flats. We were now down to cutting up one of the remaining tubes and making patches out of it to try and hold together the remaining tubes -which worked well until the monster climb just out of Lyons Ferry. They caught me walking up the hill and we threw in one last attempt at saving the ride.
By now I was resigned to setting another new personal record: slowest century ever. Well, we were having fun, I guess. I motored through to Kahlotus, took the turn towards Pasco and headed towards the river. It was now almost dark enough to switch into nighttime support mode – which I had been waiting all day for. I was hoping for a chance to check out the headlight adjustment – strictly for the rider of course. Who cares what the driver can see at night, all that matters is whether or not the lights are adjusted to illuminate all the rocks and debris just in front of the racer.
But it was not to be. Another flat, and I was done. May as well head home and make sure no one broke into the fridge.
Today – Mon, the 1st., brought a new challenge: the next increase in the training load. I’ll go from 1 long day, day off, 3 short hard days, day off, recovery day, to the next level: Day off, day off, day off. Just kidding. 12-18 hour Sundays (unless I get more than 3 flats in one day, then I’m done.) 6-8 hour Mondays, day off, three days of 2 hours am/2 hours pm, day off. Basically adding in a long day on Mondays when I am already worn down, plus riding longer miles after work.
So today I climbed on the bike and headed out into a dense fog bank and headed north looking for some sun. Never found any, but at least the fog lifted up off the surface after a while. Actually felt really strong for the whole ride today, which is good to be able to put in a fast century after yesterday’s ride.
What’s the hardest part of it all? Staying motivated when it is foggy and cold? Installing the huge layer of clothes necessary this time of year? Keeping tires full of air? No. Eating enough! My weight is already hovering around race premium – and it is only February. 3 breakfasts, lunch at 10, then again at 12, and hungry again by 3. Sometimes two dinners. Get up, lather rinse repeat. Sammi keeps wondering if I am getting tired of baked potatoes – hell, I’ll be eating four a day if this keeps up.