What Happened?

It's been a long time since my last post. Very busy with quarter end at work and all of the sudden it is July 17th. Holy shit!

We I have been riding, although the training has not been as frequent. The first 2 weeks after Big Bear, I logged about 3-4 hours per week. Then the last two week I had about 8 hours per week, although frequency was not so good and most of the volume consisted of long rides (4-6) hours.

Then last Sunday I raced in the 6 Hours of Power in NY. Good race, so so performance. Here is a write up I sent to my coach:

Brent,

Decent race this weekend. Not happy with the result, but it was good training. Ended up 16th of 64 overall in solo and 8th in age group (30-39) of 32. It was a good reality check for Wilderness 101 on July 29th.

I rode near my maximum for the first 3 hours during which time my HR was 165-175. Three hours into the race during my 4th lap my right hamstring cramped badly. Had to get off and walk and then soft pedal for a while. I rode a slow 4th lap (67 minutes) and ate some enduralytes and it got better. Cramping would come back after prolonged efforts over 158 hr. Could ride at or below 155 with no problem.

The cramping had me somewhat puzzled, I attribute to one or more of the following:
1. Rode very hard for first 3 hours
2. Did not have Heed which I used for Big Bear and training. I ate lots of Endurayltes and I think my fluid intake was adequate.
3. It was hot, but perceived was not too bad.
4. Lots of climbing at 1,600 feet per lap (9,600 total). Much of the climbing was on first 2 miles of the lap.
5. Lack of hours or quality training the last 2 weeks
6. I was about 8-9 pounds heavier (189 vs. 180) than Big Bear. Now at 185 on way back to 175-180.
7. Stayed up late Saturday night entertaining and got 5 hours sleep leaving for Ellicottville Sunday at 6am.

Here are the lap times in minutes:
54, 57, 61, 67, 65, 63

You can see the slow 4th lap. Interesting that 5th and 6th laps were progressively faster.

I finished my 6th lap in 6 hours 7 minutes, so I missed cutoff my 7 minutes.

The top 11 overall did 7 laps while 12th through 39th place did 6 laps. 11th place was over an hour behind 1st place. Interesting to look at lap times for the 4 guys that finished just ahead of me that also only did 6 laps. 12th Place-72 minutes, 13th place-70 minutes, 14th place-66 minutes, 15th place-66 minutes. Good news is I was going faster than some of the competition at the end but bad news is I was not fast enough earlier in the race.

I also passed three solo class guys on the last lap, which is cool. The last guy I passed, I was going mach 1 on a FAST downhill and he nearly shit himself.

My legs are really sore. I think I will spin them out.

Later,

Brett

Anyway it took a few days to recover from that effort. I rode Wednesday of last week and then on Sunday Ross, Jeff and I did the Death Ride. Here is a map. It was about 85 miles with 6,000 feet of climbing.

Getting ready for Wilderness 101 on July 29. Ross and I are driving there on Friday before the race. Goal is for a top 20, I was 49th last year in 9:40. This week will be 12 hours with around 8 the week of the race. Trying to drop a few punds before then, to get down below 180. Losing a few pounds will make a big difference with the 12,000 feet of climbing.

Later, BRD