bike – Page 8 – fourwhitefeet

First 1000k

I don’t have much to say about the St Vrain-Ft Morgan-Estes Park 1000k. Maybe I’m just too exhausted. I’ve written before about the ride up St Vrain Canyon to Peak-to-Peak Hwy. I love the beautiful scenery from Lyons with long, not too steep climbs, and the fast, windy descent to Fishcreek Road in Estes Park, and the Devil’s Gulch Switchbacks to Glen Haven. I really enjoyed the ride to Estes Park up 34 on Monday. I hadn’t ridden or driven that road from Drake before. There was a tailwind most of the way and it’s sort of a rolling ascent so it didn’t feel like the road was going up much. I was ecstatic to find a Taco Bell near the checkpoint at Estes Park! It was open when I arrived since I’d gotten a late start due to weather. As for Ft Morgan on Sunday, there were some scenic miles along the river on 144, but I will avoid committing to that 205 mile route in the future.

Although I signed up because I thought I SHOULD do a 1000k, in retrospect I’m glad I rode this before attempting my first 1200k in July. For me it was very different from riding a 600k and I had a few newbie observations which may or may not prove to be true with more experience:

Having “dead” legs the first day or two is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it’s probably not a bad thing to ride as if you have “dead” legs at the start of a long multi-day ride no matter how you feel. Feeling sluggish on day one and two limited my effort. By day three, within the context of heading out for 174 miles after having ridden 450 in the two days preceding, I felt pretty good.
It’s impossible not to have some calorie deficit each day. As the days progress it gets harder to get enough calories. I’ve heard more experienced randonneurs talk about “topping off” or “staying on top” of calorie intake. I think it’s increasingly vital to one’s success to stay ahead of nutrition and hydration the more days you’ll be out. (My guess is this would be even more of a problem for people with extremely low body fat. A problem I don’t have.) I was eating well from the start, about an hour ahead of my calorie per hour goal and was also well hydrated. So hydrated that halfway through the last day I stopped drinking so much because I was tired of stopping for pee breaks.
Although weather forecasting and access to weather information is excellent now compared to 30, or even 5 years ago, and one can be pretty confident of weather forecasts one and usually two days out, the weather forecast for three days out can change dramatically. For multi-day rides it’s best to prepare, at least for the later days, as if the weather is an unknown.

Next up Sangre de Cristo 600k. Hopefully I will complete that and my third SR series for 2011. Then only High Country 1200k and HooDoo Voyager. I feel like things are winding down, though there will be many hard training days before August 26.

Valles Caldera 2011

A video blog for 2011 (14:21)-
Link to 2x version for those with only 7:10.
Link to 4x version for those who want to see it in 3:35.

Valles Caldera 200k Brevet from Cathy Cramer on Vimeo.

A beautiful day for a ride in the Jemez Mountains. 125 miles, 11,000 ft of climbing. The ride starts at Overlook Park in White Rock, NM, goes thru Bandelier National Monument, by Fenton Lake and turns around at Jemez Springs. For more information about the route see nmbrevets.com/id48.html

Ride with GPS route and profile-

A few images pulled from the sequence in the video-

2010 Valles Caldera blog post

More information about this brevet at nmbrevets.com.

Hill Country 600k: A Year Later

Hill Country 600k was a different experience for me in 2011. First, I’d decided to reduce expenses this year by only racing events that don’t require a crew so I entered Hill Country’s “Lone Star” (unsupported) division. Second, I’d really needed a break from riding and training this winter. In contrast to last winter’s day-long roller sessions, my longest indoor training ride in 2011 has been only two hours. But, for a little insurance, I rode 300k and 400k brevets in February.

Because I was riding without a follow crew, I started two hours earlier than the other solo riders. That had some advantages. I paced myself better in the first section, arriving at Medina a few minutes slower than 2010. I enjoyed the climbs on the way to Leakey accompanied by much less motorcycle traffic. I’d kept my stops brief, and though I made a big error by not refilling water bottles at Camp Wood, my time to Rock Springs was a little faster than 2010, and I’d gotten through the hottest part of the route before the day’s high temperature hit.

After Rock Springs, stopping to resupply at time stations, as compared to my super-efficient 2010 crew, started really affecting my time. I was gradually, but unalterably, falling behind last year’s pace.

I’d planned to stop for a sleep break at Llano to make sure I was awake enough to continue alone, and was off my bike there for a total of 4 hours. I felt good for the windy, 30-mile, ascent to Fredericksburg and kept up a decent pace on the bike. The sun rose soon after I turned onto Old San Antonio Road and it was nice to see the scenery I’d missed riding this section in the dark last year.

The climbs to Kendalia seemed much easier; probably due as much as anything to knowing the route and expecting rollers all the way to the end. Edge Falls Road was a peaceful respite before 17 miles of heavy traffic on 3551.

I loved the hills and luxuriously, smooth pavement on Cross Mountain Road. Once at the top, I emptied the tank and pedaled hard on the last few miles to the finish.

As always, George Thomas, hosted a fun, well-organized event. Hill Country 600 is a nice spring ride and a good way to start the season!

My favorite rides: Hill Country 600k

The Hill Country 600k is an ultracycling race put on by RAO and RAAM race director, George Thomas in March. The start is in Helotes, TX, west of San Antonio. All but a few miles are on quiet, rural roads with beautiful scenery. There’s a shocking (for those not familiar with the Texas Hill Country) amount of climbing. Best of all you can still get in on the fun for 2011.

Dist: 375 mi / 600 km
Ascent: 13422 ft / 4081 m

Pros: