Peach of a Century

Quick Stats
Distance: 103.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,195 feet
Average Moving Speed: 16.2 mph

Cool fall morning! Sun didn't come out in earnest until well after half way. And it was still fairly cool even then. Didn't really warm up until the last 25 miles.

A very nice ride. Great roads, low traffic. Lots of dead skunks though... weird.

Well supported, with lots of food at the 3 rest stops.

The one negative was the elevation gain. Both the ride web site and trimble outdoors say the route has 2,200 feet of elevation gain. Seemed like much more than that! The first 50 miles or so were very flat. But the third quarter of the ride was extremely hilly. Maybe it just seems like more than it was due to a slight headwind for much of the ride. That combined with riding 50 miles before doing the hills probably made the hills seem harder than normal.

All in all a very nice ride. Definitely on the "do again" list.

Racing for Ultra Fitness

I know myself, and if I don't have some kind of goals for next year then much of the fitness progress I've made this summer will be squandered away over the winter.  Gotta have that carrot dangling out there.  And that is a particularly fine analogy with my eating habits lately!  Putting some goals in a public post just means I'll be more motivated to achieve them... hopefully.

I thoroughly enjoyed competing in the Ring of Fire, in spite of the heat, nausea, and early finish. So I would like to race more. And if I am going to race more, I would like to actually be competitive.  Call me crazy.

The 12-hour Time Trial format seems like it will be just about right for next year.  It was a stretch in the Ring of Fire this year, but I think I would have been okay without the heat and/or food intake issues.  I should improve considerably next year with more training and experience under my belt.  And I think Amy will enjoy this length of race as well.

If we can both do 12-hour solo rides then I think it is within reason for us to be able to complete a 500 mile ride as a relay team.  Taking turns as often as we'd like (or need) will be much easier on the system than riding the whole thing by yourself.  Not to say that 500 miles for 2 people will be easy, but it should be doable.  So I would like to do the Race Across Oregon as a 2-person team.

What follows is our preliminary list of races for 2010.  Those actually scheduled by the organizers have the complete date, the others only show the months based on when they occurred this year. As soon as I know the actual dates I will try to update them. EDIT: All dates are now confirmed.

Davis 12/24 Hour Challenge
April 3-4, 2010
This is quite a ways to the south of us in Davis, California, so it is doubtful that we will do this race.  But since it is possible I decided to list it, particularly since it is part of the Western 12/24 Triple Challenge.  The main loop is 162.5 miles and 8,000 feet of climbing.  The small loop is apparently flat.

Deschutes River Valley Time Trial Festival
April 24-25, 2010
Put on by the Race Across Oregon folks, this event consists of three separate time trials over two days.  Stage 1 is a morning race of a 25 mile loop with 2,200 feet of climbing.  Stage 2 is that same day in the afternoon, completing a one-way 8-mile ride of 1,880 feet of constant grade climbing up Hwy 197.  Stage 3 is the next day and is an "out and back" ride on Bakeoven Road of 50 miles and 3,800 feet of climbing.  This kind of relatively short distance racing isn't really up our alley, but it might be good for training purposes.  Not sure.  Will try to do some rides on comparable local routes (similar distance and elevation profile) and see what our average speed looks like compared to the actual racing results.

Lewis & Clark Ultra 12/24
May 29-30, 2010
This one is right in our proverbial back yard (Hockinson) so it is a must.  It is also part of the Western 12/24 Triple Challenge.  Plus, even though it is right here in our county we haven't ridden the race route, which looks to be a great ride!  The initial big loop consists of 140 miles and 5,700 feet of climbing that starts by heading out to Carson, then north to Swift Reservoir and Yale Lake, and back to Hockinson through Amboy and Yacolt.  Should be some incredible views on the way (Columbia Gorge, Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens off the top of my head).  The small loop is 9.6 miles and 420 feet of elevation gain.

Race Across Oregon
July 24-25, 2010
As already mentioned I think we can do this as a 2-person relay team.  It is over 500 miles and 40,000 feet of climbing.  In order to qualify as official finishers we'll have to complete the entire race within 46 hours.  We will definitely need a support crew on this one (I think it is required!).  We've never ridden at night so we'll need to set our bikes up with lights and extra reflectors, not to mention all the stuff for a support vehicle (amber lights, caution triangle, signs, music PA system, etc).  Would probably makes sense to get the rig set up and do a really long trial ride or two beforehand, both for training purposes but also to learn more about how to equip the rig and what to have on hand.

Ring of Fire 12/24 Hour Time Trial
September 11, 2010
The final component of the Western 12/24 Triple Challenge, I definitely want to do this race again, and I want to CRUSH my previous result!  The main loop is 112 miles and 9,600 feet of climbing (based on trimbleoutdoors.com since I can't read the number on the RAO website).  The small loop (same as Stage 1 of the Deschutes Time Trial Festival) is 25 miles and 2,200 feet of climbing.

So what should be our primary race(s)?  From what I've read we should organize our training so that we're peaking for our major event.  Should we focus on the Race Across Oregon or the three races of the Western 12/24 Triple Challenge?  I think the races on our list are spaced enough that we may be able to train so that we peak for each one as it comes, with the following possible exceptions.  The Deschutes Valley TT may be too close to the Davis race, assuming we elect to even do the Davis race.  And the Davis and Lewis & Clark races could end up being a bit too close to each other as well.  If we need to drop a race it looks like Davis is a good candidate, which is nice since it is quite a long drive down there!  We will have to reexamine the spacing of these events when the official dates are published.

I've already learned that a support crew would be invaluable on a 12-hour race, and of course it is a necessity for a 500-mile race.  So we will be needing some help!  On the other hand, it would be fairly simple for Amy and I to act as our own support crew on a 12-hour race if we competed as a relay team instead of solo.  As a team we could then even decide to switch to the 24-hour format instead.  The only problem with competing as a team is that the Western 12/24 Triple Challenge is for solo competitors, not teams.  That really is the only problem though.  Competing as a team has all kinds of advantages (lots of rest time, half the distance, competing together, able to provide our own support for all but 500-mile RAO), and only the one negative.  Well, I suppose "half the distance" could be considered a negative!

If we end up doing 12-hour solo races it would be pretty easy for a support vehicle to provide support for both of us as we probably wouldn't be too far away from each other on the initial big loop of each race.  Then for the repeating small loops they usually don't allow support vehicles anyway, requiring the team to make their swap at the beginning of a lap.

I guess I haven't really listed goals so much as a bunch of races.  The races will act as motivators to improve my overall fitness, particularly as it pertains to ultracycling.  My generalized bicycling/fitness goals for next year are threefold:

1. Improve both my overall strength/power as it relates to maintaining a higher average speed.  This will require some work in the weight room.
2. Continue to improve my overall cardio fitness so that I can go faster on sustained climbs. This will require either winter riding or indoor spinning, and for some reason I loathe the latter.  Perhaps one of those indoor trainers with the ride simulator on a PC would do the trick?  Could also do other sports (e.g. skiing) but whatever I do needs to be often.  Skiing is expensive (in terms of both $$ and effort to get up to the mountain).  I already have a gym membership, and the gym is very close!
3. Continue to add endurance to pedal strong on longer rides.  Ride simulator would be nice here too.  Can't let the bum get out of bike-seat-shape...

Lots of things to think about, and do, over the winter...

Larch Mountain (Oregon) Again

Quick Stats
Distance: 101 miles
Elevation Gain: 4518 feet
Average Moving Speed: 14.12 mph

We really enjoyed this ride earlier in the summer so we decided to do it again while we still could. The ride started out great, and even had a little tailwind on Marine Drive until we got to I-205. From there it switched to a headwind and grew to be rather severe, to the point that we struggled to maintain 10 mph at times. Perhaps 20 to 30 mph gusts? Not sure. But we made it to the Women's Forum (water stop and a picture) and almost decided to turn around and go home.

But we continued on, hoping that the wind direction along the river would hold for our return trip, and also hoping the tree canopy on Larch Mountain road would shelter us from the wind. And it did. We made it to the top, although our legs were already used up a bit from the earlier laboring in the nasty headwind. But it was worth it. It was actually quite cool up there. We had a nice PBJ with V8 lunch on a sunny picnic table. :)

For the return trip we put our jackets back on to keep warm while descending. As we emerged from the trees we discovered that the wind was still quite strong. For the first time on a big ride we had a GLORIOUS tailwind! Pretty much the whole way home we had either descending elevation helping us or a tailwind helping us. It was truly awesome. It was hot (our thermometer says 95 at home) but we were moving so fast it didn't matter.

I also experimented with Hammer Nutrition products as recommended by my good triathlete friend Neil and also the Race Across Oregon folks. I went with 2 Endurolytes per hour (give or take), one Hammer Gel per hour, and I used 3 Perpetuem packets. I was in good shape most of the time. Getting closer to home I slowed down the rate of intake and noticed that I definitely got sluggish. Could've also been the heat.

The raspberry and apple/cinnamon were my favorite gels. The latte flavored Perpetuem was awesome.

Ring of Fire, 12-hour Time Trial

Distance: 112 miles
Elevation Gain: 9,520 feet
Average Moving Speed: 12.95 mph

Well, I had a lot of fun for the first 6 or 7 hours. So my first goal (Have Fun!) was met. Not so much fun to end the ride though. I learned that I need to deal with the heat differently on a really long hot ride. Nausea is particularly no fun when you are in the middle of nowhere...

Even in bad shape though I was able to finish the big loop, so I accomplished the second goal as well.

We won't discuss goals any further... ahem. ;)

The day started out gloriously. The drive from Madras to Maupin allowed me to watch the sunrise - food for the soul! I arrived in plenty of time to get ready to go, but not too much to twiddle my thumbs and work up some race anxiety, so the day really couldn't have started any better.

Once I started riding up out of Maupin my heart rate jumped to the top end of my target climbing range. The route to Mt. Hood is nearly all climbing, so I had it basically pegged there the whole morning. It was more than I had intended, but in the end I think it was okay, since that is what those zones are for. The problem is when I started descending it was getting hot, and I hadn't been eating enough, and things started to deteriorate.

I had read up on riding in extreme heat beforehand, but I didn't want to try something totally new on an actual race. I had ridden in the heat before and been okay. But I hadn't ever ridden this hard in the heat, nor this long. Our RAPSody ride weather was 50s, 60s and 70s all day, not 90s like that last few hours today. Live and learn.

Rode a bit with John Henry Maurice, whom Amy and I had met at RAPSody. Great guy! We were riding up the hill toward Tygh Ridge Summit and he and his support vehicle offered me a ziploc bag of ice to put on my back under my jersey. It was awesome - Thanks John Henry! Another valuable lesson learned...

Wind wasn't bad. There was a little stretch of headwind from Tygh Valley to Sherars Bridge that was pretty tough, but that was mostly tough due to heat/nausea. At the 100-mile point on this stretch my total time was a minute or two over 8 hours. I wasn't excited about the milestone at the time, but in retrospect, what with all the climbing, going 12.5 mph overall to that point was a nice achievement.

I'm pretty sure the nausea issue I was having is related to not being able to eat enough food while riding. That will be solved on future rides, hopefully. But today, it was ironically during and after the descents when I had nausea. The climbs were okay. My theory is that my stomach only had liquids in it, and the 25 to 40 mph descent speeds was enough to bump and vibrate my tummy into a very upset state.

My time-off-the-bike was minimized fairly well at the 3 rest stops. That all blew up when I had to stop at Sherars Bridge and recover from nausea for about 20 minutes. I needed cold water badly. My water was hot. No fun. Only 9 miles and it may as well have been 90 in the state I was in. Thankfully the WSU-Vancouver relay team was there. Little did they know they would be the fourth SAG stop of the day! They offered water to the pathetic schmuck who needed it very badly. And it was cool water. A major, major improvement over my hot cytomax water - makes me want to puke just writing it!

The nausea subsided so I decided I could make it another 9 miles. The WSU guys said it was flat and with a tailwind - and there'd be ice water in Maupin - SOLD! Maybe they were running short on their own water? ;)

I made it to Maupin and contemplated trying to recover and attempt a small lap, but after a few minutes I realized that was not likely to happen. At least not to the level that I'd be comfortable risking being nauseous again. Seriously not a fun thing to experience! So I thanked George and Terri, George gave me my "Ring of Fire Finisher" cap, and I called it a day.

Another learned item: a personal support vehicle on a ride like this would sure be nice. Although if I had a PSV today it wouldn't have solved my main problem - that's all on me. But the ride would have been much more enjoyable with immediate access to cold water (among other things) at all times during the race...

All in all, lots of positives in terms of lessons learned, and that was the main reason I did this race this year - so I could learn all that much more about racing if we decide to do it next year. The only question is, will we do any racing next year? Only time will tell. :)

EDIT: With further reflection I am confident that the much higher than usual physical effort for the first 6 or 7 hours, the lack of fuel intake (I tried but just couldn't ingest as much as I knew I needed), and excess heat were interrelated and as a whole are what caused my nausea-induced early finish.

Ring of Fire, Weather and Goals

The weather looks to be quite nice, maybe even a little too nice.  Most of the climbing will happen in the cool of the morning.  The afternoon/evening heat just means I will need to stay ahead of my water needs.  Thankfully the wind doesn't look too bad.

Hourly Forecast
By Approximate Location During Race
(source: weather.com)

Time

Condition

Feels Like

Chance Precip

Humidity

Wind

Saturday, September 12

7 am (Maupin)

53°F
Sunny

53°F

0%

66%

From NNW
3 mph

8 am
(Tygh Valley)

55°F
Sunny

55°F

0%

64%

From NNW
2 mph

9 am
(Tygh Valley)

59°F
Sunny

59°F

0%

57%

From N
3 mph

10 am
(Govt. Camp)

60°F
Sunny

60°F

0%

55%

From NW
2 mph

11 am
(Govt. Camp)

64°F
Sunny

64°F

0%

48%

From NW
3 mph

12 pm
(Govt. Camp)

67°F
Sunny

67°F

0%

48%

From NW
3 mph

1 pm
(Dufur)

82°F
Sunny

79°F

0%

25%

From N
5 mph

2 pm
(Dufur)

86°F
Sunny

82°F

0%

21%

From N
6 mph

3 pm
(Tygh Valley)

89°F
Sunny

85°F

0%

19%

From N
7 mph

4 pm
(Tygh Valley)

90°F
Sunny

86°F

0%

18%

From N
8 mph

5 pm
(Maupin)

89°F
Sunny

85°F

0%

19%

From NNW
9 mph

6 pm
(Maupin)

85°F
Sunny

82°F

0%

23%

From NNW
9 mph

7 pm
(Maupin)

80°F
Sunny

78°F

0%

29%

From NNW
8 mph

The Ring of Fire Results page has start times, and possibly updated data during the race, and of course post-race results.

Goals

1. Have Fun!

2. Finish the big loop of 114 miles and over 9,500 feet of elevation gain.

3. Ride as many of the 12 hours as possible, including up until the clock stops.

4. Finish as many small loops (26 miles, 2000 feet elevation gain) as possible.  One lap is reasonable.  Two laps is possible.  More than two? That would be awesome!

5. Don't be last!!!

Eagle Crest to Smith Rock to Madras

Distance: 51.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1958 feet
Average Moving Speed: 16.38 mph

It was a sad morning. Our last day at Eagle Crest! :(

But it was not that sad since we got to start our trip home with a 52 mile ride. No, we didn't strap the car nor the luggage onto the bikes: the car was shuttled by family. There is something a little more rewarding about the rides that are one-way trips as opposed to the loops. A purpose maybe? :)

Saw several deer along the way: right out of the gate at Eagle Crest, then some more before Terrebonne, and then I apparently spooked a little buck who subsequently spooked me when he bolted from just a few feet away.

Smith rock was beautiful, as expected.

Traffic? Sunday morning of Labor Day weekend. It was actually very light. Even the few sections along Highway 97 weren't too bad.

Rain? Just a tad right before we arrived at my parent's house in Madras.

Wind? Yup, and quite a bit of it. Thankfully it was mostly a tailwind up until about the last 5 miles.

All in all a very pleasant ride.

Eagle Crest - Sisters - Tumalo

Distance: 68.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 2189 feet
Average Moving Speed: 17.01 mph

Well, I got in trouble on this one. We went on a portion of the Tour des Chutes route, and while I knew some of that ride was very bumpy, I was hoping today's route was a "bump free" portion, but I was wrong. So it was very hard riding with freeze-thaw pavement cracks every 10 or 20 yards on quite a few of the miles today. Amy's version of a good scolding: "Didn't we ride on some great roads earlier this week?" Translation: "Why in the world did you take me on these roads?"

If any roadie ever reads this (including me! ;) avoid Lower River Road, Holmes, Fryrear, Innes Market Road, and for that matter Elm Street from Sisters toward Three Creek was pretty cruddy too. Basically we've learned that the Old Bend-Redmond Highway and Cline Falls Highway are excellent biking routes, and we will likely use them almost exclusively for future stays at Eagle Crest.

I was hoping to ride up to Three Creeks from Sisters but the road didn't have a shoulder AND there was a lot of traffic (since it is Labor Day weekend). We could handle one or the other, but not both. The fact that the road was also bumpy made it a no-brainer to turn around after about a mile, instead of doing the whole 13 mile grade.

We did get in some good miles though, at a decent moving speed, so all is not lost. :)

Ride Around Mt. Bachelor

Distance: 52.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 2978 feet
Average Moving Speed: 15.02 mph

Drove the bikes up toward the mountain and decided to start our ride with the climb and get it over with.

Riding at an altitude of 4,500 to 6,500 feet is sure a lot different than riding at sea level!

The various lakes on the ride were sure beautiful to see along the way. We got a couple pictures. The cross winds at times were tough to deal with. Amy had a harder time than me since she's a lot lighter. We made it though, and are glad we did it.