The results were educational, if nothing else. I was debating whether I'd ride a) my road bike recently sized for me, and then clip-on my aerobars or b) try Susie's Triathlon bike even though I've never ridden it and it's not sized for me.
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| Susie's Cervelo P2C tri bike |
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| Chris' Fuji Profession road bike |
With all the travel this week, I fell off the raw food wagon somewhat. I've been averaging 80% raw since August. Lots of ups and downs, learning to get enough calories. Ripening fruit in stages truly takes artistic mastery, which I sucked at it this week, so I supplemented with a lot rice and beans and steamed veggies, and unfortunately a bit too much of the ol' "grain drain". When I got back into town Thursday night, it was like I struck gold on Christmas morning-- all my 'naners were ripened to perfection. So I approached my Friday diet as a bit of a cleanse--a partial layover in "Banana Island". It consisted in the following:
Breakfast1= 1 cantaloupe
Breakfast2= 15 banana smoothie with 1 Tbsp of raw almond butter and 1/2 handful of coconut
Lunch1=15 banana smoothie
Lunch2= 20 dates (world's best organic dates)
Snack= 2 bananas
Dinner= 6 banana + 1/2 lb of spinach smoothie
Snack= juice of 1 celery heart
Water consumption= 2.5 liters (not enough)
(38 bananas, baby!)
When I came home from Dayton on Friday evening, I went for a late swim, post-poning dinner till 10pm-- whoops. I also got to bed later than I wanted to, but I really wanted to spend some quality time with my lovely, whom I hadn't seen in days.
I set my alarm for 6:30am hoping to finish breakfast 3 hours before the 10am race; felt sugared-out by the late dinner and antsy because of reduced workouts this week, so I moved from the marital bed to the floor. "Okay, no problem. Roll with it, Chris."
4am, cats' butt holes in face trying to get me to feed them. 6:30am, ALARM...hit snooze. 7am, Susie tries to wake me up before she heads off to Studio S. 7:30am, I get up naturally, totally psyched up. Is it because I'm excited about ripe fruit for breakfast or for the first race of the season? It feels like a win-win! I had a dream Peter Wimberg catches pneumonia and the race field is suddenly wide open.
Step one-- did my #2 duty (earlier than normal). Then, drank a liter of water; blended 10 banana smoothie, hoping to finish it 2 hrs before the race begins. Pulled soaking dates out of the fridge and blended them into a frothy date-o-rade just in case I need a sugar rush during the ride. Did my #2 duty again (Normal time. Sorry to be so graphic, but any valuable race report of a raw-ish vegan needs to mention this). Went on the hunt for the appropriate race gear (shoe covers, odometer, bib shorts, tightest jersey I own). I'm forced to fold a mountain of laundry, delaying my breakfast. Dang! Put bike on carrier and drive to starting point in Ft. Thomas, KY, arriving one hour early (that's a first). Perfect time to register, schmooze, warm up and pee before the starting order is announced.
A few guys have arrived. "Are you the booky?" I ask the official-looking man with the clip board.
"I am."
"Then, my bet goes on Pete Wimberg," as the state champion looks on, perched atop his veiny calves of granite.
"Along with everyone else's bet, as usual."
"Yeah, well this time, I'm taking his ass DOWN," I kid with Pete. He chuckles. Clipboard man says he likes my spirit. (I swear, one day, I'm going to pass Pete while pedaling with one leg unclipped).
I tried to barter with Pete last year to have him coach me in exchange for an infrared inspection. It turns out, he's an ol' fashioned "cash-only man", so I am saving my pennies and look forward to the day when I can afford his services. He's the real deal.
I estimate it will take me about 1:00:00 to ride the flat, rolling, out-and-back course, along the Ohio River. Based on this estimated finish time, the director has me starting 30th out of ~37 riders, mostly dudes. They release riders every 1 minute, so, I have over 30 minutes of additional warm up. While warming up, I can already tell that the angle of my hips is too close to my torso. I'm taking too much effort in my quads and not enough in my hamstrings. The seat post needs to come up, saddle needs to tilt down, and the aerobars/stem should be extended about an each forward so my elbows don't hit my knees. I don't make ANY adjustments, because I actually want to know what this geometry feels like over the long haul. Since Susie is being professionally fitted soon, she will have a digital record of this exact geometry and her new geometry, thanks to Brett at Element Cycles and his Retul fitting process.
My strategy is to ride the first 20k with my heart rate at 162 bpm. I don't have a power meter, but this HR is usually a really comfortable output for me, that I know leaves plenty of gas in the tank. Once I hit the turn-around point, I will aim for about 170 bpm. Start temp is about 55 degreesF which feels cool without a jacket but will make a for a PERFECT short sleeve racing temp...as long as it doesn't rain. While waiting in line, everyone is oogling each other's bikes and calves and butts. It's kinda funny. But it's really not a very good predictor of performance.
There are tons of potholes from such a rough, long winter. And I think that's just Kentucky. About 4 miles in the road it's newly paved and I get excited, so of course the HR goes up to 167 which is about 85% of my max HR. Even when the potholes return, I'm still going harder than is my plan. I decide to roll with it and just let it be an anaerobic day. Nevertheless, I feel way too fetal with my position.
About 15k in, my mouth is getting dry, so I take a swig of my celery juice. Stupidly, I mixed my date-o-rade with the celery juice in order to consolidate water bottles. No sense in riding with extra weight, right? Right as I take a sip, I get passed by my 1 minute man. Not like I'm standing still, but more slowly like a tease that has me wanting to pick up my pace and shadow him (no drafting allowed, of course). "Dont' do it, Chris. Race your race." I let him go, convinced that I will pass him on the return leg (which I don't). At 19k, my three minute man passes me! He's ridiculously fast. The sound of his disk wheels haunts me still. I haven't passed anyone even as I arrive at the turn-around. My neck is really sore and I feel I'm in a dangerously low position, such that I'm forced to stare almost directly down at the road, rather than up ahead toward the oncoming potholes.
I jump out of the saddle to recover my speed as I make the 180degree turn in the middle of the two-lane road. It feels good to relieve the butt muscles and stretch the calves. When I lift my neck up for the turn, I feel dizzy and make a mental note to adjust this position if I ever ride on this bike again. But I gotta GET GOING!
If there's anything left to give, this is where I HAVE to give it. My heart rate jumps higher. I'm north of 174 bpm the whole return leg. My quads are really feeling the burn and my right calf is starting to taunt me. I don't want them to cramp, so I make a conscious effort to focus the effort into my hammies, not let my HR drift upward on the up-hills (as I am prone to do), and get some celery juice in me--awesome electrolytes. Yeah... well... mixed with gewy dates it doesn't go down so smooth, and I ended up barfing a little at 30k. That's about where Pete Wimberg blows by me. He knows he's going to smash his course PR from last month by about 3 minutes. Then it starts to drizzle.
At :52:00, I stop enjoying the ride and can't wait for it to be over. Drizzle turns to outright rain and lightning. Having never ridden the course, and not being able to look up, I have no concept of how much remains. I'm doubting I'll be able to meet my 1:00:00 goal time. "Come on, Chris! Embrace the pain. Not much left. You can do this. Pass at least one darn guy." My left and right calves are cramping. My ass is sore in a place where I never get sore. If I go any harder in the legs, I will certainly cramp to the point where I'd have to fall off the bike and stretch. So, I drop to a lower gear and increase my cadence, trying to shift the burden to my heart, rather than the legs. It works! and I ride the last 5k at my fastest pace yet, but unfortunately, there's not enough course left for me to get that morale booster by passing someone...anyone. Another day, I guess.
As soon as I come out of my aero tuck, I'm overwhelmed with another wave of dizziness and my butt cramps hard. I almost crash. PHEW! I'm totally spent.
SUMMARY
Distance: 39.6kilometers (24.6 miles)
Time: 1:02:32
Average speed: 23.58 mph
Average HR: 170
Max HR: 185
Calories burnt: 833
Place: 16th overall
LESSONS LEARNED
1) Ride my own bike and fit it for time trialing, erring on the side of being able to SEE THE ROAD
2) Don't drink celery juice with date-o-rade when I'm anaerobic
3) Eat dinner before 8pm and only snack after 9pm
4) Get to bed before 10pm and wake up at 6am in order to finish breakfast and not have it slosh around in belly
EPILOGUE
I didn't exactly get the results I was expecting, but I'm actually pretty proud of this performance given the pains with a bike that doesn't fit. Fitness wise, it felt good to visit the pain cave-- money in the bank. Tomorrow I ride 60-70 miles with my buddy Russ and can hopefully undo some of this butt cramping.
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