Tuesday, April 24, 2007

I took last weekend off the bike, mostly a time issue.
Janine and I were in Boulder for a WFA course. (stepping up on soapbox) Anyone who spends anytime in the backcountry should have this certification (stepping off soapbox). We planned on taking the tandem out last night after work on La Tierra loop, but it was not to be. The weather in SF has turned. I got up early this morning to again attempt a ride, but was turned around due to cold and snow. I figured I could wait until after work when the weather improves, but as I sit here, it is windy, on and off raining, nasty out. I will have to bite the bullet and ride tonight, J9 has dibs on the trainer so I will probably take the single speed out on DB.
I ordered the enlightenment, although it will not be in til Jun or July... yikes. Definitely planning on riding it on the LT100 and maybe the silver rush also.
s

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Dawn to Dusk - Gallup

Dawn to Dusk started cold… very cold. After spending a chill night in the tent, I knew I was overdressed right before the start so I took off a layer. It was the right choice, other than numb hands for the first lap, I was dressed perfectly. The course was fast.
The Race was run a little differently than last year, eliminating the crossovers and running the initial climb in the opposite direction. I found it to be a lot faster on the climbs and was putting in much faster laps.
I was self supporting this race. And this is related to my only complaint about the race. The promoters attempted to make everyone camp and park away from the course. At least that was what was intended with signage and rumors that they would move you if you were to close. What this did for self supporting soloist is create a lot of work and hassle in the morning. I needed to shuttle everything from camp, to a support area near the transitions. It took three trips and about 20 minutes. It was a huge hassle.
I rode a solid race. I stopped after every 2 laps to grab a quick bite to eat and grab a new bottle. Early morning I was only drinking ½ a bottle a lap, when it warmed up, I was drinking 2 bottles a lap.
I really had no idea how I was doing the whole race. My goal was to ride 9 laps. The 9 lap goal came from wanting to improve by 2 laps over my last years race. I finally started to crack on lap 8. It will be interesting to see what happens to my lap times in laps 8 and 9. Lap 9 was the most difficult. I could not eat or drink without feeling like I was going to hurl. Luckily, I caught up with Deb, a fellow Santa Fean, about ½ way through lap 9 and, unbeknownst to her, she paced me in with encouraging words and offers of food. Deb went on to place 2nd in the solo women.
I finished at 6:34 and left it all on the track. I had to take a quick shower and crawl into my sleeping bag for a couple of hours. I was sure that I was going to throw up at anytime. I was able to revive myself after a couple of hours and eat. I slept well that night.
D to D was a good race. I ended up 7th in the geared solo field.

Lessons learned.
self support sucks
need to get the Nausea issue figured out
Cliff block hurt your teeth.
need water in addition to Cytomax

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Test Blog

A first blog posting...
upcoming event... dawn to dusk this weekend.