What a ride!

First, thanks to Susan Plonsky for putting on a great brevet. She was out there in the dark and cold directing traffic at all the important turns to keep riders on the route, prepared a great route and had things very organized. For example, she condensed the cue sheet to one piece of paper, and printed it on narrow paper that would fit into bicycle map holder instead of printing it on 8.5x11. It was a nice touch. Also, the second check point was hosted by a couple who provided sandwiches, cookies, chips, a real bathroom, and other luxuries. I try not to eat prepared food during long rides because my stomach complains but I couldn't resist the oatmeal raisin cookies. So glad I partook, because they were awesome. Again, thanks to the organizers.

I started out thinking that a good goal for the ride would be 15 hours. It was 190 miles, which is a double century +/- 5 miles. In the three doubles I've done before (all of them were last year), I finished in 17:24, 17:05, and 17:19. So a 15 hour double would be a nice finish for me. My riding partner, Dennis, and I clocked in at 14:17, which is about 3 full hours less than my average for a double. The PowerCranks training continues to pay off.

The ride started out at 5:00AM, which is pretty standard for a double. But this time of year Arizona is an hour ahead of San Diego, so it's like starting at 4:00AM. On top of that I had to ride my bike 3.5 miles to the start. So I got up at 3:30 local time - or 2:30AM my time - for the ride. When we left the hotel, it had to have been in the high 30s. Cold and tired is not the best way to start a ride.

Dennis and I gave ourselves plenty of time to ride to the start, which may have been a mistake because we stood around in our cycling clothing in freezing weather for about 25 minutes. Normally when I start out rides in the cold and I know that it's going to warm up, I'll suffer a little bit with the cold knowing that I won't have to lug around a parka the rest of the day. This means wearing arm warmers, thermal vest, thermal gloves, and knee warmers, instead of full thermal pants and a thermal jacket. I had no idea how much suffering I would endure that morning. I really didn't know that in the desert when the sun is down in the winter, the heat goes with it. For two plus hours at the start I was miserably cold. I think my teeth were chattering for a half hour. My fingers were tingling for an hour, and I wore my balaclava until about 10:00AM. Dennis and I arrived at the La Palma Market about 10 minutes before sunset. After we got our cards signed, our bottles topped off and phone calls made, The sun had just set. I swear that the temperature dropped 5-10 degrees while we were there. I rode into the CP with my vest unzipped and with my regular gloves, and left with my thermal gloves on, my balaclava back on, and my arm warmers all the way back up. I guess it really helps to know the weather patterns and peculiarities of the route.

Right at the start of the ride, we passed a couple of cattle yards. Cows produce manure. And lots of cows produce lots of manure. The most unnatural odor imaginable. And the odors were distinctly different. You could tell one from another. Because the stockyards are so big, you have no choice but to endure it. I can't recall a more noxious smell ever in my life. I suppose it made me ride a little faster. I also thought that there could be no worse time ever to get a flat. Freezing cold, total darkness, next to a stockyard. I'm so very glad I put on new tires for the ride.

I think I've been to Phoenix for conferences, and that's about it. I have to say that Arizona is a beautiful state. Picturesque views, sunrises, sunsets, mountains, cacti forest. It was really nice to take in all that scenery all day long.

In addition to the natural scenery, the bicycle scenery was also very nice. It seems that the longer the ride, the greater variety of bikes that are used. There are vintage Schwinns, old Treks, bikes with hub generators, time trial bikes, bikes with stainless steel fenders. I rode a while with a couple guys, one of whom had a Seattle Randonneurs jersey on – his bike was really quite something. The whole fender design was very artistic and sensible at the same time. It's fun for me to see what people are riding on these brevets.

This ride was huge for another reason. I made a huge leap forward in a my fueling system. During the 200K I used whey protein supplements, and was advised to use soy protein during rides and whey protein after rides. Anyway, for the ride I took individual packets of Sustained Energy and planned on consuming 1 packet at each check point. Then, during the ride, I would have 5 oz flasks of hammer gels, Thermolytes, and water. The highs and lows of hunger and energy smoothed out considerably. There were 4 check points on the course, so I took 6 packets in case I underestimated my consumption rate. I also took 5 full flasks of hammer gel. I chose the flasks because you have more control over how much gel you dispense and the flasks is easier to deal with than individual packets. At the end of the ride, I found that I used only 2.5 flasks and only 4 of the packets. The reason this is great is that I now know I can take onboard enough packets and flasks for the 400K brevet next month.

Which reminds me, I have a training ride tomorrow.