baremnt.mid (Click on this link to hear appropriate music to this report, it's "A Night on Bald Mountain" by Mussoursgky)

2/11/06

       You are probably wondering how I came to be standing in a smoky bar in a small town near the Mexican border on a rainy night with the wind howling and a slightly inebriated woman named Jean asking me if I wanted to play darts as I pondered dropping out of the ride.  Well, it was a long ride so it is a long story.

    True to form I was sick the week before (this makes 3 for three now)  goofing my tapering all up but I did feel good enough Wednesday to go for a night ride which was good as I had some new equipment I wanted to test out (I know I know I commited a cardinal sin in the ultra world by adding equipment the week before the event but it ended up working out,  I did get sore knees though so anyone that wants to say I told you so go ahead).  I found a really good deal on Eggbeater Candy pedals and since they were pretty much the same pedal as my eggbeaters but with more platform I figured the fates of ultra-cycling would forgive this little faux paux.  I also tried a little lower seat position to get a little more aero,  that part ended up not working out though.

    As the week progressed the weather forecast got grimmer and grimmer.  Until we went from a 30% chance of rain on Saturday night to a 70% chance of rain most of the day with sustained 24 mph winds out of the south no less.   This made for a rather interesting ride,  interesting in this case meaning,  a thorough test of ones resolve and willpower.  I faced some of the greatest challenges to date on my bike Yesterday.

    I woke up at 10 to 2 on Saturday morning not even needing my alarm,  I figured if I woke up naturally I must be on the edge of a sleep cycle so it would probably feel better to wake up now than wait for the alarm to wake me in 20 minutes.  Besides I was pretty excited and falling back asleep would be difficult.  So I got up and made my way to Casa Grande scarfing down cinnamon rolls, sobe and banana chips as I went my way.

    Arriving in Casa Grande the first thing I noticed was how cold it was.  This was due mostly to wind chill as it was strong and coming from the direction we would be heading.  I just had enough time to take care of all the particulars and line up when we were off.  That is when I discovered that for some reason my HID light was not wanting to cooperate.  Oh well, thats what I have the good old cateye for and the helmet light (helmet light was to see my bike computer with as my GPS was in the shop).  I only had time to say a quick hi to Bruce and Steve as we took off (wished I would have had more time to chat with them actually but it was to turn into a day when you had to do everything you could to finish which is one reason I left the camera behind).  I was determined to stay with the peloton this morning as I had a feeling that draft would be crucial to finishing and it turned out to be that way as we will see.

    As we made our way down main/2nd/Frontier street the peloton started to form echelons as the wind was not quite directly headon.  I was looking at my computer and it was reading 21 mph.  I figured that was a pretty good speed and then I saw 2 riders break off the front (figure it was Mike Sturgill and maybe Sandiway?) and I thought man those guys are animals!  Not to long after that I discovered that I was in fact looking at the Max speed screen on my computer and that our actual speed was closer to 13 mph but I still have a deep respect for Mike's cycling prowess,  he is just one step below Lance now  ;) .

    The highway patrol didn't like our echelon and asked us to stay to the right side of the lane at one point which we did until we got on the frontage road.  We cruised through a rather deserted Eloy and managed to avoid any trains as we made the jog on milligan over to the frontage road where we were able to resume our echelon in peace all though we were more careful to move right when people called out cars to the rear.   We pulled into the plaza in Picacho just before sunrise which probably put us there just after 6 or so.   This year I had feeling in my hands,  I did happen to be wearing heavier gloves this year too though.   It seems like last year the sun was coming up when we were here to so despite the wind we were actually ahead of my time last year at this point.

    I ended up leaving the control ahead as I figured the group would catch me anyway which they did just as the sun started to peek over the horizon.  I hopped on and took occasional pulls (I feel a little guilty though as the recumbent means that my draft isn't quite as strong as the next guys,  I do try to let the riders on upright bikes pull into the paceline in front of me though after they come off the front so they get a better draft while resting).  Just after Red Rock we had to split into two echelons and I was leading the second one until just before the turn at Marana.  That was when I figured it was time to let the peloton go as I was tiring too quickly.  Interestingly enough this is about where the peloton broke up a bit.  Going around the bend at Marana and Sanders we split into two groups with me leading the second (I figured I was riding my speed anyway and didn't mind breaking a bit of wind for the guys behind me.  Somewhere between Avra and Picture rocks I passed the front group (Glen had pulled off the front on his recumbent, it really was a good day to be on a recumbent with the wind and all).  At picture rocks the group pulled off and I kept on keeping on into the wind alone.     

    After much struggle I topped the hill and was dismayed to discover that descending the otherside meant pedalling hard to go 13 mph as the headwind was 25 mph straight on.  If I had closed my eyes and ignored my legs the roar of the wind would have made me think I was going 40.  Anyway,  it was a long slow climb up mile wide but at least the wind was a crosswind (which made slow climbing a trick  especially on the recumbent which doesn't like slow speeds but fortunately the wind was steady at this point if it wasn't anything else). 

    Dropping down Kinney I kept thinking I had passed the control as I seem to remember it being just over the hill last year and just as I was going to stop and check the cue sheet I ran into Susan and Glen at the turn to Gates Pass (Glenn had re-passed me on the last bit of climbing on Kinney I guess he stopped at Picture Rocks too).  Anyway I filled up the water tank and grabbed some energy bars and gels.  I debated taking off my full fingered thinsulate gloves but somebody made a comment about winter and I decide to leave them on.  Whoever made the comment about winter thank you thank you thank you thank you!

    Between the control and Tucson the group passed me and I followed them at a distance over Irvington and onto Mission road.  Mission road,  I don't think I have ever struggled so hard for so little.   I was in the small ring from Tucson to the top and even then it was the bottom three gears of the small ring.  9 mph was my fasted speed on this stretch and most of it stayed between 7 or 8 and much of the last hour of it was at 5 mph in the rain.  I had fears of missing the next control time in this section and my mind played tricks on me making me think it was later than it was but I figured sometimes you just never say die and as long as you aren't in any danger you just keep pushing on.  After the rain started I came onto a cattle guard in one of the steeper sections and figuring going 5 mph in the rain on a recumbent crossing it would spell disaster as my back wheel would likely peel out so I dismounted and walked it.  Walking gave my legs just enough change to get reinvigorated and I was off at a scorching 6 mph for a bit.  I figure my legs had been constantly churning for several hours in this stretch and a short walk was a really good thing, might have to remember that in the future)

    I eventually reached the top (and there was much rejoicing) and turned onto Helmet peak road where I got my top speed for the day of 35 mph.  My whole mission in life now was to find that McDonalds I had heard rumors about last year.  All the way down La Canada road I looked hopefully but never found it.  I did however find a KFC on Continental which I stopped at and had a very delicious chicken sandwich, fries and a lemonade which really hit the spot and are probably the secret to my success on the Arivaca stretch.

    At the turn to Arivaca with memories of having no wallet here last year I strode into the store and bought 2 bottles of gatorade to fill my tank and get me to Arivaca.  The next stretch was long and hair raising.   3 or 4 miles down the road I was passed by a border patrol car and then about 3 minutes after that I see a car coming at me in my lane moving really fast.  I know he saw me but he didn't care so I hugged the right edge of the pavement hard and was ready to ditch but he cleared me and his friend behind him did too with a few inches to spare.  I figured they were probably Coyotes (smugglers).  In any case they were either that or Morons,  neither one is particularly pleasant to meet out on the open road.

    This section of road was really nice in one way as the trees on the side of the road created a wind break for the first 8 miles or so and I enjoyed the break.  Remembering this stretch to be long last year I hunkered down and enjoyed the beauty of the scenery as my legs and heart toiled away.   As I climbed higher the winds built and the gusts got stronger until as I neared the summit above Arivaca they started to remind me of Hurricane winds from when I lived in Okinawa.   I figured it was gusting in the upper 40's.  One of the gusts blew me right off the road.  Anyway,  pretty quickly after that I started my careful descent into Arivaca and didn't see Susan so I got my card signed in the general store and asked about a bathroom and taking a page out of Bruce Chandlers book asked for a garbage bag (oh,  I forgot to mention the driving rain over the last 10 miles didn't I,  well there was driving rain,  the gale force winds must have distracted me!).  She directed me to the bar across the street for the bathrooms and warmth and gave me a kitchen sized garbage bag (small and white) which turned out to fit snug enough to not flap and turned out really well once I got it on.

    After using the facilities I stepped into the bar (A cold wet and tired randonneur walks into a bar........like you need a punchline after that).  The bartender was really nice and directed me over to the gas heater.   This was less a bar than it was the local community gathering spot with alcohol actually as there were kids in there and lots of locals just relaxing and listening to the howling wind and storm.  I stood in a stupor by the heater for a bit and then I thought I may as well try to dry off my jacket (nextec may be highly water resistant but wearing it on a day like this is like bringing a knife to a gun fight).  It was about this time that Jean started talking with me and we talked about what I was doing and they were pretty impressed,  and she asked me to a game of darts which I had to decline due to my shivering and need to dry my clothes.

    About this time Susan pops in the door (I figured she was long gone so it was a bit of a shock).  Anyway,  she brought food from the car and also some things from my bike out front which I am very grateful she did as it was cold outside!  Everytime someone opened the door I would start shivering again.   After hearing about conditions up on the hill Susan figured she'd go out and check on the others,  I told her I would wait as I didn't really want to ride back alone if I didn't have to.  So I hung out and got most of my stuff dry.  When she got back we moved over to the post office and everyone there had called for rides.  Hmmm,  Susan gave me a few words of encouragement and they were just enough to push me off the fence and I pulled on my arm warmers,  long sleeve jersey, rain jacket,  Garbage bag,  Goretex helmet cover, O2 Rain pants (they were flipping awesome),  and my drenched thinsulate gloves (all this added to the usual cycling gear and tights.  With the faint echoes of the words of the frozen biker who walked into the bar about snow in the forecast I headed off down the road with sore knees.

    Susan caught me stopped down the road to re-adjust my seat to try and ease the knee soreness,  I also had to plug in my HID light whose battery problem I had figured out.  Soon after I was off again and Susan's taillights disappeared into the slightly less blustery night but every bit as rainy.   I have to say thank you Bruce for mentioning the garbage bag trick in your 600k last year as it was working really good and I was pretty toasty for the next 40 miles or so.  Throughout the night I remember wondering about thinsulate supposed to be able to insulate when wet.   What I didn't realize is that with snow in the forecast that means the air temperature is pretty cold and even if it was a really good insulator when wet it would still be cold.

    Rounding the turn towards Three Points was like turning on the afterburners.  I turned on the HID and kept it between 25 and 30 all the way to the Robles Jct..  I was passed by a convoy of 6 border patrol cars and not to long after started to see the lights of the junction up ahead.  I had made such good time I determined not to stop as it would only make me think of stopping permanently and I was in good shape on food so I turned and headed off to Sandario rd..  I still had some bars and gels in my pocket from this morning so I ate those and let the wind blow me over Saguaro National Monument.   Around Picture rocks the tailwind died down a bit and I pushed a little harder to keep the speed up.   With the end of the tailwind the rain let up too fortunately.

    I had another hair raising moment going down Sanders,  I was just tooling along after keeping an eye out for that dog on the right that came after me last year and just as I felt safe and past the danger I see something come at me out of the shadows to the left and see a huge white dog go for my back wheel but he missed luckily.  I know he was serious because he didn't even bark.  Anyway maybe I had a little nighttime exageration going on but he seemed to be a pretty big dog at the time and a little extra adrenelin spiked the pace up to Marana where I ran into the group ahead of me just leaving.  I figure I must have really been booking to catch up to them.  Anyway,  Susan was there and signed my card and I went in and bought some chocolate milk (another thing that really hits the spot for me late in a brevet) and some chocolate doughnuts and sped off into the night by the light of my cateye (helmet cover wouldn't allow a helmet light and my HID was dead after 4 hours of bitter cold riding but it had done what it had had to do which was let me ride fast in high tailwinds).   So it was a bit slower going down the frontage road.

     The frontage road!  It was a bit of adventure in itself as it seemed every mile brought a flooding stream crossing the pavement and the excitement was trying to guess whether or not it was only an inch deep or a foot!  Along this stretch I was pleasantly surprised to find the recumbent put me in a really nice position for avoiding the splash of the tires.  Somewhere in here I went into Buddhist mantra mode.  This is were things take a turn to the Zen side as you just plug along and think about one thing over and over which could be a song or something else.  In my case I was unfortunately stuck in a meditation of the "I ran over the taco bell dog"  song which I now resolve to never listen too again in the hopes that  it will drop out of the grey matter at some point and never plague me again.

    Passing the plaza in Picacho I noticed some riders sheltering there from the rain that had resumed awhile back.  I knew if I stopped I would freeze so I didn't stop and stepped up the pace a notch as my fingers were numb.   Several lives of the taco bell dog later I was at the turn and had to wait for a train.   A few more lives of the taco bell dog later I had to wait for another train on Milligan,  this one was stopped though.  It started to move after a short bit so I just hung out and waited for it.   I was at Eloy before the taco bell dog got ran over too many more times.   Between Picacho and the I-10 Crossing I got to where I could hardly see the fog line anymore so I stopped under a light and changed my batteries and finished the rainy journey.

    The stretch from the freeway to the finish is always refreshing and for me this is where the taco bell dog or whatever else is stuck in my head stops and I enjoy the last bits of the ride.  Tonight was no different,  except I wound up at "From the Heart Yoga" by force of habit and had to go around the corner to the new finish line (although it really isn't that new anymore really). 

    All told, there was carnage all over the route in the form of people dropping out and for good reason.  I was riding along the edge towards the end and I had a lot of gear.  It was one of those rides where the conditions meant if you happened to have enough stuff you could do it but it wasn't forgiving enough if you didn't.  All told we had 2 inches of rain and more wind that you could shake a stick at without having it blow out of your hand and hit someone.  This one ranks right up there with my 300k permanent I rode last year but thankfully I avoided the flats this time around (I would have been sunk as I was ok as long as I was moving).

    On the way home I stopped at a rest stop to sleep and woke up at dawn with a extremely Toasty Jeep and a bottle full of hot gatorade and I was almost dry.  My gas tank was on empty though,  I managed to make it to Wild Horse Casino and refill though luckily and as I cruised back to Mesa my accomplishment sunk in as I saw snow covering the Superstitions with an amazingly low snow level.