3/26/05

400k Brevet

    Hmm, where to begin.  I managed to prepare a little better for this ride in the week leading up to this ride.   My only problem was I was nursing a knee problem caused by an earlier ride so I made sure not to ride the week before.  I also made it a point to get a good nights sleep the week before and I must admit it worked out a lot better than the 300k.  

    I woke up at 2:00 on Saturday morning so I could get to the start line by 3:30.   There were thirteen people there getting read y to start in the parking lot.  It always seems I am hurried to get ready but I managed to get my bike set and everything ready to go before the pre-ride briefing started.  Susan led us out of the parking lot at 4:00 with special instructions to follow her this time so no one would get lost.    This route out of town was a little simpler than past Brevet's though.  

    I hung out at the back of the line this time as we rode down Jimmie Kerr boulevard.   Not only was I acting on my resolution to start slower but I was afraid of the tendon in my knee acting up again.  We all rode behind Susan for the first few miles and then the fast group took off the front.  In back there was a group of 6 of us that stuck together for quite awhile.    Being at the back it was kind of cool to see all the taillights flashing up ahead.  

    We managed to make it to the first control at Dairy Queen just before dawn.  It was about this time that I found a neat feature about my new GPS.  The backlight turns on just as you hit waypoints or turns.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that useful feature.  I sure enjoyed the GPS throughout the day as I had downloaded the route into it and it made it so I didn't have to keep digging out the cue sheet.  It was also a moral booster to see its vertical speed function as I often get on roads that are really climbing but it is not apparent that they are doing so and I get discouraged  as I am going so slow for seemingly no reason.

    From Dairy Queen it was a quick trip down to the Circle K in Marana where Glenn and I stopped for a facilities break.  When we came out the group had moved on.  Glenn and I worked together over the next 2 miles to pull them back in until we caught up.  I was babying my knee and I really wanted to stay with that group to make the going easier by drafting.  The climb up to Saguaro National Monument went fairly quickly and before we knew it we were climbing Mile Wide road.  At this point I was at the front with another person.  He had to stop quickly so told me to go on which I did.  Everyone else stopped with him.  I kept climbing and supremely enjoyed the downhill on the other side.   It wasn't too far before I ran into Susan waving at me to stop at the "Secret Control" so I pulled in and got my card signed and filled up my platypus.  I wasn't intending to fill up this soon but it was only 5 miles before my intended refill location so I figured it wouldn't matter,  which it turns out it did.

    I wasn't there very long before Glenn showed up, followed by the others.  Glenn and I took off fairly quickly again but he dropped me as his Recumbent gives him a definite Aero advantage going down the hills.  The descent was fairly long and enjoyable except for a knee twinge near the bottom.  It was several miles before the the others caught me.  I was slogging up mission road towards Helmet Peak when they passed me.  I would have latched on but I just couldn't generate any more steam at that point and I was not going to push things this early in the ride.  Anyway,  it was around here I noticed that my Bottom Bracket was clicking every time I stood up.  I made a decision to check the cranks at the top of the hill but having the mind of a worrier I kept imagining the crank popping off as I went to stand so I stopped and tightened the cranks but they were tight.  I guess it might be time to switch out the cheap bottom bracket I bought from Nashbar.  It does have 6 or 7 thousand miles  on it so that is next on my maintenance list along with a new chain.

   Mission road just seemed to be going up and up and up.  I was in my granny gear and spinning away enjoying the beautiful weather and wondering when the top of the hill would happen.  Not to long after passing the mine I reached the top and shot down Helmet peak road at a speed I hadn't seen for a few hours.  It was at this time that I started cramping up in the weirdest places.  I had charlie horses all over.   I popped a few endurolytes and hoped they would work quickly which they did.  I kept a good speed into Green Valley and out the other side.  Somewhere in here I passed the other guys as they had stopped at McDonalds unbeknownst to me.   All along this stretch I kept thinking of how good the solid food would taste when I got to the turn to Arivaca.

    It was at the turn to Arivaca that I made a disturbing discovery.  I had no wallet.  I had left it in the car in my shorts.   I had been intending to refill my bottle here and was disturbed to realize I needed to cover the next 23 generally uphill miles on what little was left in my Platypus.  I estimated I had a little less than a liter in there.  If I had known the other guys were behind me I would have waited but thinking I was in last I didn't have a lot of options so off I went.

    I rode very conservatively on this stretch resting on all downhills and using smaller than usual gears to climb.   This section seemed to take forever but had some beautiful portions with the wild flowers covering the green hills with purple, blue, and yellow.  This part of the ride reminded me a lot of the country around Patagonia.  If it weren't for all the rollers it would be perfect, and truth be told the rollers wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been worried about my energy stores.  I eventually ran out of drink about 3 miles outside of Arivaca but since that last portion is a big hill it wasn't critical.

    As I pulled into the control I was surprised to see Sandiway as he is usually far ahead of me (we're talking hours here).   It turns out he was having a worse ride than I was and couldn't continue.  Incidentally my knee problems went away somewhere in the last stretch instead of getting worse.  Resting at the stop I started to get charlie horses again and took some endurolytes and ate some chips to get some salt in my body.  Also surprising was seeing Glen at the rest stop as I thought I was a long ways behind him.   The biggest surprise was finding out that the rest of the group was behind me!

    I was very pleased to hear that the next stretch was a gentle downhill almost all the way to Tucson.  I was not pleased to see the flag blowing straight out in a southerly direction.   The headwind wasn't too bad until we made the turn north and then it was debilitation and frustration for the next 30 miles.  It was hard to keep up 13 mph through this stretch.  As the sun moved lower on the horizon the 20 mph wind finally died down to a breeze and I was pleased to see my speed rise to 15+ mph.  Even so this section seemed to last forever.  My goal was to hit Robles Jct. before sunset and I succeeded.

    After refilling my bottle and eating some amazingly tasty fig newtons and Strawberry quick milk I took off right after Bruce and the group behind me pulled in.  I wasn't too far down the road before the lights went on and the windbreaker came out.  It is amazing how quickly the temperature drops once the sun goes down.  The turn onto Sandario road came up quickly and the ride down Sandario was a long slog.  The funny thing was is I was past Saguaro National Monument before I realized it due to reading the GPS wrong.  It was a pleasant surprise though to find myself shooting down the other side past Picture rocks road when I still thought the majority of the climbing was ahead of me.

    The trip around the Marana Airport went quickly but I think the group of people on Sanders road had a thing for dogs as I saw 4 of them in the space of a few miles.  I think I freaked out a farmer in his house with my yelling at the dogs.  Riding with Rich on the last Brevet he told me his friend always yells "Get off the couch!" to get dogs to stop.  I tried this and it didn't seem to work any differently than just yelling.  I did see a few lights go on in the house though.

    I was happy to see Circle K at last.  After waiting in line only to discover one of the restrooms had been open all I along,  I purchased some water and a banana milk.  The cashiers seemed to be excited to sign my card and amazingly enough,  the store actually had a stamp!  I discussed our route with the clerk who had kept an eye on my bike as we finished the transaction and then I was out getting the bike ready again.  About the time I finished my preparations,  you guessed it,  Bruce and his group rode up.  They must have been riding just as fast as me or very close.  I would have waited and proceeded with them but I started to shiver violently and determined that I had stopped too long.  I gave Bruce my extra water that I hadn't used and headed out on to the road.

    This next section is always a hard one for me as it seems like Picacho Peak never gets any closer as you ride towards it.  I figured since it was dark I wouldn't be able to see it but the moon was bright enough I could see the mountains on both sides of the freeway.  It was nice through this section to be able to consult the map on the GPS and see my progress as I rode.  During this section I started to really not want to drink anymore cytomax.  In fact it was almost like I was going to throw up if I did.  I figured it was just my body saying it had almost had enough.   As I approached a dark and closed Dairy Queen I passed the two marathon runners I had seen that morning.  They didn't look as chipper anymore as they had been running all day. 

    The last hour between Picacho/Eloy and Casa Grande were fairly non-descript except for the fact that being on the bike was really starting to hurt.  I still had energy though which is something I did not have at the end of the 300k last month.   The section between Eloy and where the road goes under I-10 was particulary brutal as it passed slowly.  After passing under I-10 I knew I was close and eagerly anticipated once again joining civilization.  Threading my way through the empty streets of Casa Grande I passed the Police Station and make my turn onto Florence and then into from the Heart Yoga to finish at twenty after midnight.   It took me a minute to find Susan as she wasn't by her car.  I finally spotted a door open around the corner and wandered into the theatre where she was chatting with the theatre manager.

    To compare my fatigue after the 300k and this one,  I only had to stop for 1 sleep break after this one but on the 300k I needed 3 stops to get home so I think a good sleep the week before makes a huge difference.  Anyway,  it was a good ride.  Lots of beautiful scenery,  and I still can't believe I covered that much territory on a bike!