My First Brevet - Fresno 200k - Sat/ Mar. 20 2016
As my first event of 2016 came closer, i wondered if i was really ready. I’d spent Nov. - Feb. enjoying trail running again, and cycling had been back-burnered. I’d just done my longest ride a week earlier, a solo 100 - and it felt great! So…off to Turlock to spend the night with my 2016 Hammer Teammate, Karin Weller! We ate healthy veggies and tuna and mapped out our race plans for the season. We are both going LONGER this year…into the Land of Ultras! Can’t wait! And tomorrow’s 200k would be my first brevet - a group ride with a mp and cue sheets, but no sag support, no marks on the road…carry with you what you need and stop at checkpoints to prove yo rode the whole course. Not a race, but who wants to lallygag !?
So off to bed, and up at 4am for a 2 hour drive. I cant help but think that i could just ride 125 miles from my front door and avoid all this drive time - but here I am, and I know I will enjoy the experience! Not far into the drive, we see the biggest, most amazingly bight meteor/falling star I've ever seen - EVER!! Beautiful! A good sign for the start of a bright day!
We arrive in Foggy Fresno - cheeze - I did not see that when I checked the weather (30 times!) Since there is no support, what you wear in the first mile , you have with you the whole ride, and since I would be using my Nathan hydration pack, I’d have a small amount of storage. Yes, there are several places to buy water on the ride, and in fact, they are called checkpoints, where riders must buy something and get a receipt to prove they were on course. But I want to have plenty of water, and I’ll drink more from my straw than I will for my bottles. We checked in and headed out on the course with about fifteen others, some of whom Karin knew, so it was a nice, friendly group, with a comfortable pace. Unlike USAC races, there was chit chat, not full-on race mode. It was a chilly 38 for the longest time! Why had i just packed away my toe covers and winter gloves? As we approached the lovely been foothills, there was a flat, and the group stopped. I wanted to ride on, as stopping now would just mean warming up all over again. Karin was torn, leaving friends behind, but i begged ride on an assured her we;d be able to fix a flat, should it occur. Brevets are friendly rides, so I guess my desire to continue might have been against protocol…but it was going to be a log day, and i had a 3-hour drive after. Off we rode. The rolling hills were Disney-green, with the purest blue sky…golden flowers (not poppies) covering entire hillsides. Beautiful! And warmer! Suddenly, my headlight flew off my bike! Well, that;s odd, but i picked it up and as I tried to remount, realized the whole mount had also broken off! We looked around for awhile (how hard can it be to find some odd looking pace of plastic lying nearby?!), but ultimately left without it…it was now imperative that we finish before dark! That seemed entirely resonable, bur Karin said that brevet checkpoints can be time sharks, and you just never know what might happen out there. We pressed on to checkpoint one at 25 miles, and i stripped off my windbreaker and leg warmers, leaving my long sleeve jersey and knee warmers - perfect! We had a lot of climbing to come (nearly 6,000’), so we Hammered up (hourly Anti Fatigue Caps, Race Caps, Endurolytes, and Endurance Amino, all of which are crucial in a long event. How do I know this? I do not get leg cramps and I can still ride comfortably the next day! Although endurance rides cause body fatigue, my legs are still happy!
I was quite pleased to be able to mostly keep up with Karin, as she is not only younger, but much fitter than I am right now. As we came to turns, I would be only 30 -60 seconds behind. Karin and I took this opportunity to get to know each other better, and to cement our plans for the Silver State 508, where we will be true Hammer Teammates! We will also enter several other races this season - so looking forward to all this! AS we rode, I kept us informed of our turns by checking the cue sheet and Karin had dowloaded the route on her garmin, which cued her right before a turn, and if we missed it, it would alert her. Cool! I really enjoyed breaking this ride into bits, sometimes 10 miles or so until the next turn, and as the ride ended, the segments became only a mile or two. Although it was my long ride of the year, it never seemed like I was riding that far because of upcoming checkpoints or turns. It was also nice to realize that i had NO issues out there - no saddle issues, no contacts irritation (since I’ve switched to Rudy Boyz Fluos, my contact no longer flutters!), no sore neck!, hands and wrists were fine! I was diligent on eating every 45 minutes to an hour - 1-2 Perpeteum tabs, espresso gel, and Hammer Bars. At 75 miles, I ate my pbj , which i make on flat round bread - it was a great mid-way snack for a medium paced ride. We had finished climbing and set our minds on finishing by 4pm and with a rolling time of 8 1/2 hours (9 elapsed), so off went, and since Karin is the stronger one, she took long pulls and i relieved her with shorter pulls. We had caught up to two groups, and and we entered the last checkpoint, a selection of stores presented themselves as receipt opportunities! The boys all headed to a McDonalds, while we found a dollar store, where Karin picked up two Smartees for a buck, and we had our two receipts! We flew off, leaving the boys behind. With just ten to go, I was looking forward to getting it done, and the boys caught us. Perfect - they were locals who knew all the turns (we were in city traffic now) and so we felt chaperoned in! The last two miles - and I looked at my computer and realized e had to hurry - all these red light could cost us a 4 pm finish! So we hustled! And we rolled in at 4:00:40! (4 pm and 40 sec!) And we were done! What a great ride! A few photos, Hammer Recovery drink, and a Subway chicken sandwich topped off with a Star Bucks frappe and we hit the road to home. So grateful for Karin’s support and company on this longest ride of the year, and my second longest ride ever. She made it fun and easy, and entertaining!
Looking forward to a Super Fun Hammer Season!
As my first event of 2016 came closer, i wondered if i was really ready. I’d spent Nov. - Feb. enjoying trail running again, and cycling had been back-burnered. I’d just done my longest ride a week earlier, a solo 100 - and it felt great! So…off to Turlock to spend the night with my 2016 Hammer Teammate, Karin Weller! We ate healthy veggies and tuna and mapped out our race plans for the season. We are both going LONGER this year…into the Land of Ultras! Can’t wait! And tomorrow’s 200k would be my first brevet - a group ride with a mp and cue sheets, but no sag support, no marks on the road…carry with you what you need and stop at checkpoints to prove yo rode the whole course. Not a race, but who wants to lallygag !?
So off to bed, and up at 4am for a 2 hour drive. I cant help but think that i could just ride 125 miles from my front door and avoid all this drive time - but here I am, and I know I will enjoy the experience! Not far into the drive, we see the biggest, most amazingly bight meteor/falling star I've ever seen - EVER!! Beautiful! A good sign for the start of a bright day!
We arrive in Foggy Fresno - cheeze - I did not see that when I checked the weather (30 times!) Since there is no support, what you wear in the first mile , you have with you the whole ride, and since I would be using my Nathan hydration pack, I’d have a small amount of storage. Yes, there are several places to buy water on the ride, and in fact, they are called checkpoints, where riders must buy something and get a receipt to prove they were on course. But I want to have plenty of water, and I’ll drink more from my straw than I will for my bottles. We checked in and headed out on the course with about fifteen others, some of whom Karin knew, so it was a nice, friendly group, with a comfortable pace. Unlike USAC races, there was chit chat, not full-on race mode. It was a chilly 38 for the longest time! Why had i just packed away my toe covers and winter gloves? As we approached the lovely been foothills, there was a flat, and the group stopped. I wanted to ride on, as stopping now would just mean warming up all over again. Karin was torn, leaving friends behind, but i begged ride on an assured her we;d be able to fix a flat, should it occur. Brevets are friendly rides, so I guess my desire to continue might have been against protocol…but it was going to be a log day, and i had a 3-hour drive after. Off we rode. The rolling hills were Disney-green, with the purest blue sky…golden flowers (not poppies) covering entire hillsides. Beautiful! And warmer! Suddenly, my headlight flew off my bike! Well, that;s odd, but i picked it up and as I tried to remount, realized the whole mount had also broken off! We looked around for awhile (how hard can it be to find some odd looking pace of plastic lying nearby?!), but ultimately left without it…it was now imperative that we finish before dark! That seemed entirely resonable, bur Karin said that brevet checkpoints can be time sharks, and you just never know what might happen out there. We pressed on to checkpoint one at 25 miles, and i stripped off my windbreaker and leg warmers, leaving my long sleeve jersey and knee warmers - perfect! We had a lot of climbing to come (nearly 6,000’), so we Hammered up (hourly Anti Fatigue Caps, Race Caps, Endurolytes, and Endurance Amino, all of which are crucial in a long event. How do I know this? I do not get leg cramps and I can still ride comfortably the next day! Although endurance rides cause body fatigue, my legs are still happy!
I was quite pleased to be able to mostly keep up with Karin, as she is not only younger, but much fitter than I am right now. As we came to turns, I would be only 30 -60 seconds behind. Karin and I took this opportunity to get to know each other better, and to cement our plans for the Silver State 508, where we will be true Hammer Teammates! We will also enter several other races this season - so looking forward to all this! AS we rode, I kept us informed of our turns by checking the cue sheet and Karin had dowloaded the route on her garmin, which cued her right before a turn, and if we missed it, it would alert her. Cool! I really enjoyed breaking this ride into bits, sometimes 10 miles or so until the next turn, and as the ride ended, the segments became only a mile or two. Although it was my long ride of the year, it never seemed like I was riding that far because of upcoming checkpoints or turns. It was also nice to realize that i had NO issues out there - no saddle issues, no contacts irritation (since I’ve switched to Rudy Boyz Fluos, my contact no longer flutters!), no sore neck!, hands and wrists were fine! I was diligent on eating every 45 minutes to an hour - 1-2 Perpeteum tabs, espresso gel, and Hammer Bars. At 75 miles, I ate my pbj , which i make on flat round bread - it was a great mid-way snack for a medium paced ride. We had finished climbing and set our minds on finishing by 4pm and with a rolling time of 8 1/2 hours (9 elapsed), so off went, and since Karin is the stronger one, she took long pulls and i relieved her with shorter pulls. We had caught up to two groups, and and we entered the last checkpoint, a selection of stores presented themselves as receipt opportunities! The boys all headed to a McDonalds, while we found a dollar store, where Karin picked up two Smartees for a buck, and we had our two receipts! We flew off, leaving the boys behind. With just ten to go, I was looking forward to getting it done, and the boys caught us. Perfect - they were locals who knew all the turns (we were in city traffic now) and so we felt chaperoned in! The last two miles - and I looked at my computer and realized e had to hurry - all these red light could cost us a 4 pm finish! So we hustled! And we rolled in at 4:00:40! (4 pm and 40 sec!) And we were done! What a great ride! A few photos, Hammer Recovery drink, and a Subway chicken sandwich topped off with a Star Bucks frappe and we hit the road to home. So grateful for Karin’s support and company on this longest ride of the year, and my second longest ride ever. She made it fun and easy, and entertaining!
Looking forward to a Super Fun Hammer Season!