On My Commute Today-- Wassabi

On my commute today I saw this license plate on a Saab and it reminded me of those Budweiser commercials.  But then I thought why would someone put that on their license plate?  Wouldn't Budweiser be proud?

START TO TRONA (MILE 0 TO MILE 153.8)

TIME SPLITS FROM 508 WEBSITE

PHOTO CREDITS BELOW ARE FROM THE 508 WEBSITE COPYRIGHT ADVENTURECORPS

START TO CALIFORNIA CITY (MILE 0 TO MILE 83.6)

ACTING GOOFY AT BREAKFAST

PITSNAKE AND VIREO

First stage went well. I was on Portia. There is a lot of climbing in the first stage (over 3,000 feet in the first 25 miles) but I find I like it on the P3. My goal for the stage was to be within 5 minutes of my 2008 PR which was 4 hours and 35 minutes. My legs felt good and rested.  I felt fit. It was a good start to a 500 mile race.

SAN FRANCISQUITO CANYON

ROLLING INTO CALIFORNIA CITY 4 hours 41 minutes

CALIFORNIA CITY TO TRONA (MILE 83.6 TO MILE 153.8)

It was on this stage that I had issues with my nutrition. I was drinking the same thing I usually drink. I just added a little something extra  I think that 370 calories an hour was too much. I use CarboPro powder which gives me 224 calories of Maltodextrin without electrolytes, fat, or protein. I then threw in a serving of Fluid, which had 128 calories, some sodium and protein. I think I was taking in too many calories per hour based on my intensity. I eventually got an upset stomach. I spent 15 precious minutes off the bike puking. Brandy and crew were great. I went without calories for a long time. I started feeling better and then gradually started introducing calories again. As time and the miles passed I was back up to full strength in my feedings.

I didn't partake in a burrito from the Trona Time Station like I did last year. I just wasn't up to it. I really wasn't hungry either. But Brandy bought a burrito anyway and painstakingly picked all the onions out of the salsa fresca. I get heartburn from onions even when not riding. Thank you babe but I really wasn't hungry.

What I remember the most of this time station was the damn crosswinds. It was so scary doing some of the descents. In hindsight, I probably should have changed my front wheel from a Zipp 808 to a lower profile wheel -- which I brought with me for just that reason. So why didn't I use it? Because part of me loves the risk and the danger of descending at 55+ mph and getting jostled around.

I got into to Trona at 1534 or 3:34 for you civilian types;) or 8 hours and 34 minutes total elapsed time. I was only 12 minutes off my Personal Record (PR). I didn't think the tailwinds were as strong as they were in 2008. Hence, I was quite pleased with my efforts thus far. And if you factor in the 15 minutes I was stopped with a feeling of malaise then I would have been right on track with my PR. But delays and an occasional upset stomach are all part of Ultras.

MORE TO FOLLOW PLEASE BE PATIENT

Beginnings of a Race Report- The eve and morning of the start

The odyssey began on Friday when dealing with Rent- 4- Less or Blue Oval as they seem to be called now. Colin and I did the cursory inspection of the exterior of the vehicle, got our key and off we went. Once back at the house it is time to remove one of the seats, pack the van, and get on the road to vehicle inspection. On the drive home, Colin notices that the left taillight is out. Minor thing but it is something that we assume will be working, it's unlawful, and will be inspected at vehicle inspection.




We call Blue Oval and they say they will reimburse us for the expense of replacing the bulb. Colin and Julie are up to the task and retrieve a taillight bulb AND a spare. We pack the van and we start our drive north to Santa Clarita. Once inside the van we notice the interior of the van has some issues. The handholds (or OH-SHIT! handles as I like to calll them) are falling off, the passenger's captain chair has one armrest falling off, and we find cigarette burns in various places. But more noticeable than all those things is this annoying shimmy that is shaking the van. We call Blue Oval again and try to arrange a swap of vehicles. May I remind you, we are on the freeway and loaded to the gills with two bikes and all the gear we will need for our 508 adventure. Our phone calls were in vain since we found out that because we had taken one of the seats out of the van that another location would not accept the van to do a swap.

Our conversation with the rental office did provide some comical moments such as:



Rental clerk: "Why didn't you tell me you were taking the seat out?"

Me: "I was not sure when I rented the vehicle but decided afterwards when we were packing the van that we would have more room without it. I was not aware I needed to tell you what I was going to do with the seats."



or



Rental Clerk: "Wait you're racing the van? You didn't tell me you were racing the van."

Me: "No I'm not racing the van in Death Valley.  I'm going TO a race in Death Valley.  They need to inspect the van as my follow vehicle.  Nevermind.  Look, it's against the law to not have a taillight anyway."



This year's pre-race meeting was one hour earlier which condensed the the vehicle inspection and general BS'ing time. Also the pre-race meeting was held at the host hotel which made matters so much easier than driving cross-town like years past. During the meeting the Hall of Fame class of 2009 was announced. I still have that as my goal. I sat there thinking I just need to get through this one and I have four finishes. Little did I know how difficult it would be to finish the 2009 edition.



After the meeting we were off to our hotel just a couple of blocks away. The usual routine on the eve of racing is Brandy and crew gets the perishable groceries and the other items sorted out in the van. I was fortunate enough to lay down and relax earlier than usual. It was before 9:30pm. I tried to find the local weather but what I found were conflicting reports of wind speed.  I put down the Blackberry, closed my eyes and went through my visualizing exercises.  As I said in a previous post, I had an unusual calm this year.

RACE DAY

Before I even started the race I was riding with pain. On my way to breakfast I rode my P3, Portia, to the the host hotel. As I was going through the Denny's parking lot I felt the chill of the morning. I took my hands off the bars and zipped up my vest. All of a sudden I see a pick-up truck rounding the corner. I get back down to reach the bars to swerve away from the truck and I TOTALLY miss my base bars. You see I hadn't ridden Portia since June 27-28th when I did the Grand Tour 300 miler. 

I had gotten so accustomed to my road bike and road position that I miscalculated where the base bars were and endo'd right there in the Denny's parking lot. I hit the deck really hard. My right thigh, and both wrists were in pain from the fall. That fall was the cause of much discomfort and by day two it was just damn painful to ride my road bike because my wrists hurt so damn much.   Today is the 12th of October 9 days after the race and my right wrist still hurts. 

I had scrambled eggs, 2 pancakes, and a small bowl of runny oatmeal for breakfast. I really hate runny oatmeal.  It was nice mingling before the race with my friends. 
 
 

Here with Great Dane and Jeroba

 
 
 
 

Francis Piccachu Ignacio, Vireo and Timmer

 
 

 
 
Off to the start line. Putting on my MOEBEN arm coolers.  Thank you Nathan Sports for the reflective gear on my Cervelo P3.  And yes I am almost covered from head to to in SKINS  COMPRESSION garments.  The Skins Bib Tights are fantastic.  I trust them with my undercarriage for my Ultras. 
 
MORE TO FOLLOW

A FEW MORE RACE PHOTOS FROM FURNACE CREEK 508

BEGIN KELSO CLIMB

(just a century to go)

BEGIN FINAL STAGE

(Thank you Prolong--58 miles to go)

AT THE FINISH

VIREO AND SNOOPY

VIREO AND DAVE "DONKEY" JONES 

I have enormous respect for Donkey. The man is 63 years old and is hard as nails.

 

CHRIS KOSTMAN RACE DIRECTOR

My FOURTH SOLO finish.  One of my toughest, most gratifying and well earned SOLOS! 

I am working on a race report so please be patient.

More Race Photos from 2009 Furnace Creek 508

MORE SUFFER FACE

FEELING BETTER

SALSBURY AN HONEST 8 MILE CLIMB (9.5 MILES TOTAL)

BRANDY THE CONSUMMATE CREW MEMBER

cloth dipped in ice cold water from cooler

"SECOND" WIND TEMPO CLIMBING ON KELBAKER (21 MILE CLIMB)

CAUGHT BY DAVID GOGGINS MY FRIEND AND ULTRA ATHLETE

MUTUAL RESPECT FOR WHAT WE'VE ENDURED THE LAST 400 MILES

 

THIS ONE CRACKS ME UP EVERY YEAR

More race photos from the Furnace Creek 508

ON THE WINDMILLS CLIMB

JOSHUA TREE READ MORE HERE

They really take a long time to grow. 

UPSET STOMACH BEFORE TRONA

HAVE A COKE AND A STICK...MASSAGE

BRANDY CALLS THIS MY "SUFFER FACE"

Climbing Jubilee Pass 1293 feet the first of two climbs out of Death Valley on the southern end.  This is the morning after the windstorm that came through Death Valley.  This picture was taken at 8:21 am more than 25 hours into the race and only 310 miles or so into it.  The windstorm was about 25 mph steady winds with gusts up to 70 mph. 

STILL CLIMBING JULBILEE PASS 1293 FT

Power Charts from Training Peaks

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT CHART

First up is the Performance Management Chart.  Notice how my Blue line is declining, my Pink line is declining and my Yellow line is rising.  In laymen terms this is what this chart should look like before a major or goal event.  Blue line is my Chronic Load or my level of fatigue for the last 6 weeks.  The Pink line is the amount of stress that I am putting on my body on a weekly basis.  And the Yellow line is the amount of rest or the balance between the stress and the rest -- or adaption to that stress.  It gets more technical than that but you would like to see the Yellow line rising with the Blue line declining so that you are fit and rested for your goal event. 

2009 FURNACE CREEK 508 PART 1

Next up is the first 29 hours and 50 minutes of my Power Tap download into TraningPeaks software.  The CPU memory is only 30 hours so I have to use two CPU's.  I guess they don't expect Ultracyclists to be using power meters for more than 30 hours;)  Well maybe someday I'll get faster at the 508 and won't need to CPU's.  You'll see modest numbers because I had to conserve a lot of energy going through Death Valley not knowing what was looming for the next 200 miles of the course. 

2009 FURNACE CREEK 508 PART 2

And now Part 2.  The remaining 7 hours and 42 mins.  More modest numbers because heck I'm getting tired now;) 

But what about this number 15,758 kjs-- yeah that's huge!

kjs are like calories and significantly more accurate measurement of energy expenditure when taken from your power meter than when taken from your heartrate monitor calorie calculator.  My guess is those looking at their heartrate data might have as much as 20,000 calories on their watch.

More Race Photos from Furnace Creek 508

3 miles from the summit of a climb Brandy with a cute drawing made me smile.  I was having digestive issues and any little thing can help your spirits.  Notice the slow hand jive between Brandy and I.  Brandy has a way of always knowing when I'm not feeling well and she always finds a way to make me feel better.

Somewhere between California City (mile 82) and Trona (mile 152)

Climbing to Randsburg and Jo'burg

How do you communicate with your rider?  Well like Colin is doing here run next to him, feed him, motivate him and tell him you are there to help.  That's the dedication that keeps the rider in the race. Note the view in the background as well.

I love the open roads of the 508.  Here I'm heading to Trona (mile 152)

Brandy relaying a mesage from a Facebook post. 

Thank you Rick for taking the time to post messages.  They were relayed to me and they kept me motivated.  DNF'ing is much more a remote possibility when you have a strong support group at home cheering you on!

                   More open roads.

A successful hand-up is done on a climb-- thank you Julie!

Another successful hand-up.  Nice photography work Julie/Colin

I love this shot!

Heading to Towne Pass