About my next ride...

In less than two weeks, I will be riding in my second attmpt in finishing the Central Coast Double. Last year, I pulled out at 164 miles. I was exhausted and could go no futher.

This was a big disapointment for me. I really wanted to finish, but I could not. But what it did do was to teach me what I need to do to finish this ride. I have lost weight and I have become faster on the hills.

I also have one advantage over last year. This year, I know the route (at least the frist 164 miles). I know where the big hills are. I know where the rest stops are. I just do not know the last 45 miles of the route.

So, I have spent some time in DeLorme v6 creating a map of the route. You will note that the big climb of the day is at the end of the first century, so at the bottem, the legs will be fresh, but at the top, the legs could be dead. So, I lowered my gearning just for this ride. Last year, I used a 30x27 to climb the hill. I did it, but I could bearly turn over the pedals on the steepest parts (12%). This year, I will use 26x27 gearning. This will be about a 15% lower gear. Bring on that hill!

On another note...

Here is a picture of Martin, my gym partner, and his bike. Looks fast!

Posted 8:02 PM by John Henry

More Thoughts on the 300K

The Oregon Randonneurs have a nice write-up on the 300K that mentions Mark's and my help at the end of the ride. We drove the course backward on our way home and called in a report to the finish line.

In reading the write-up, learned about a woman who flew in from New York State just for the ride! You can read about her experiences here. She had two bad run-in with some locals. One threw a watermelon at her and the other buzzed her with his motorcycle. Sigh.

I am off of the bike for the next weeks, at least for any long rides. Next week is my club's Monster Cookie Metric Century which I coordinate this year. Then, the weekend after the cookie, we move. Finally, on the following weekend, I travel down to Paso Robles for the Central Coast Double. This will be my second attempt. Last year I DNFed at 164 miles due to exhaustion. I am in better shape this year and I am confident that I will finish. I am actually looking forward to the ride.

Posted 9:39 PM by John Henry

Three Capes 300K Brevet

Yesterday, Mark and I did the Three Capes 300K Brevet as presented by the Oregon Randonneurs. We finished 187 miles in 11:32 with about 90 minutes off of the bikes.

The ride started at 6:00 am with over fifty riders. First, we did 17 miles around Forest Grove before heading out toward Tillamook. But to get there, we had to cross the Coast Range. The pass was over 1,600 feet and I worked hard and managed to stay with the lead group! From there, we descended to the coast, traveled the Three Capes Loop and returned to the Willamette Valley via Highway the Little Nestucca River Road and then the Hebo Highway. In the afternoon, we fought a strong, North headwind back to Forest Grove. None the less, we finished 14th and 15th.

The weather was fantastic, even for April in Oregon. While the morning was quite cool (40° F), it soon warmed up and the temperature may have reached 70°!

I felt good, for the first 50 miles. After a stop in Amity, I had some stomach issues and my pace suffered. I thank Mark for staying with me a shepherding me back to Forest Grove. My contact points (hands, feet and butt) all were sore, but nothing too painful.

One issue was my Forerunner 201. While I had enough battery life for the entire ride, I did not have enough memory for all of the waypoints it collected. As such, it retained the last 132 miles of the ride, dropping the first 55 miles including the first and largest climb of the day.

Final Stats as per my HAC4:

DST: 186.64 miles
AVG: 16.2 mph
MAX: 41.4 mph
ATM: 11:32:09
Time Started: 6:00 am
Time Finished: 7:53 pm

Posted 9:47 AM by John Henry

Not Quite a Saturday Century

The alarm woke me up at 5:30 am and I was out of the house by 6:00 am on my way to Hagg Lake. My coach designed a training ride for me - "I honestly think you'll be doing yourself a favor doing the Hagg Lake Torture ride." The plan was to ride around the lake 11 times, using three different levels of excursion - easy or below my event pace, at my event pace and above my event pace. The idea is to "...move efficiently from at pace to above pace, to stimulate an adaptive response." It sounded like fun.

But, we did not take into account the weather. It was raining as I drove to the Lake. I heard on the radio that it had already rained 1/2 inch since midnight and the storm was not expected to fully hit until sometime during my ride. Fun.

After paying my $5.00 entry fee, I parked the van at Boat Ramp C and listen to the rain hitting the roof of the van as I got ready for the ride. I mixed up my liquid food and attached the computers to the bike. Oh yeah, I put on the rain gear that I brought. Fun.

I started my first lap at 7:40 am in the rain. But to be honest, it was not that bad. True, my fingers we cold, in fact very cold. But I knew they would warm up eventually. Fun.

The road around Hagg Lake is not flat. I was either climbing or descending for each ten mile loop. Only one short hill was steep but none were very long. The descends were short and went quickly. The plan was to do an easy loop, a medium loop and then a hard loop. I was allowed to take breaks only after a hard loop. Fun.

Even though it hard rained the entire time, the series of laps went well. I met the time goal set by my coach, and picked up the pace on the second lap and again met my time goal. On the third lap I worked hard and came very close to the time goal. By then, I was ready for a break. I took refuge in the van and watched the rain through the windshield. Fun.

After a short break, I head out for the next series of four loops. For the first time, I saw other cyclists - two women who going the opposite direction. The first time I saw them, they were separated by 100 yards or so. They were together the second time I saw them, and on my third encounter, one was riding alone. She called out to me and since I was on an "easy" lap the turned around and joined her for a short time. Her riding partner was suffering from the weather - her hands were very painful from the cold. They were calling it quits for the day. I continued on, riding in the rain. Fun.

After four more loops around the lake, I took a longer break. I ate a turkey wrap, I should say I inhaled a turkey wrap and a bottled smoothie. Looking out of the windshield, I saw that both the wind and the rain had increased. I was tired and did not want to go back out in the weather, but I knew that if I wanted to accomplish my goals, I must venture out once more and suffer in the rain. Fun.

This time, my hands were very cold, almost too painful to bear. But, I just peddled harder knowing that they would warm up. Also, my legs were much more tired. I found it difficult to ride at the same pace as I had before. I was definitely slowing down. Fun.

On my second loop, I saw a runner who I had seen before. A quick mental calculation told me that he was on his second loop around the lake. This would mean a twenty mile training run in the rain! I slowed as asked "How many times are you running around this lake?" He smiled and said two. I congratulated him and pick up speed to continue my "hard" loop. Just fifty yards up the road, I flatted. I pulled over and got off the bike. I was on top of the dam and it was cold, wet and windy. By then, the runner came by and I yelled out "At least your shoes don't flat!" Laughing, he passed my by. I turned back to the bike and the thought of what it would do to my cold hands to fix the flat was intimating. So, at 88.5 miles, I called it a day and a nice man with a pickup truck took me back to my van. I thanked him and all he could say was "Nine times around the lake in this weather!" Yes, I suppose it was fun.

Shivering, I changed out of the wet clothes in the van. My fingers did not want to move and it was very difficult taking off my booties, cycling shoes and socks. Finally, once I got some dry clothes on, I began to warm up.

I finished the day with 88.5 miles. My average was 14.7 mph. I do not know what the elevation gain was as my HAC4 malfunctioned. None the less, here is the graph from my HAC4. The markers indicate each lap.

While I did not finish the intended ride, I do feel that it was a good ride. It rained the entire time and to be honest, I was miserable the majority of the time. But I got in some good miles and this should help me accomplish my goals. It better.

Links:
Hagg Lake Park
Elevation Graph
HAC4 Output
Google Maps View

Posted 9:11 AM by John Henry

Cherry of a Ride

Joanne, Sal and I rode the 2006 Cherry of a Ride out of The Dalles on Sunday. All I can say is wow, what a ride.

The scenery is fantastic. We rode through green valleys, over high ridges and along the Columbia River. The weather was very nice, mosty sunny with a bit of a Spring Chill in the air in the morning. We tasted just one, short shower in the afternoon, but it cleared off for the major climbs of the day.

I have two views of the ride; the graph from my HAC4 and a Google Maps View.

You will notice that there was one steep and long hill in the second half of the ride.

Posted 12:22 AM by John Henry

I thought I would share the following...

The Next Saturday Century will be on Sunday, April 9. We will be doing The Cherry of a Ride in the The Dallas, Oregon.

On Saturday, April 15, I will be training for The Central Coast Double at Hagg Lake. My coach wants me to ride around the lake for 12 hours. If you have no common sense (like me) you are welcome to join me. Coach says if the ride gets boring, I can turn around and ride around the lake in the other direction.

On Saturday, April 22, I will join the Oregon Randonneurs on their Three Capes 300K Brevet.

On Saturday, April 29, I will not be riding as I will be preparing for the 2006 Monster Cookie Metric Century.

On Saturday, May 6, I will be resting for the 2006 Central Coast Double, among doing other things. I signed up for the Vancouver Bicycle Club's Ride Around Clark County, but it looks like I will not be able to ride it this year.

On Saturday, May 13, I will be riding The Central Coast Double.

On Saturday, May 20, I will be riding but I do not know what. This is the Reach the Beach date so I may do that. None the less, what ever I do, I will be recovering so this may be a good weekend to come out and go long!

Posted 2:15 PM by John Henry