Rapha Festive 500 Challenge

Strava is an online scoreboard that uses riders' GPS's to rank cyclists on different sections of roads and trails. They host different "challenges" to drum up activity and exposure with the most recent being the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge. This challenge was to ride 500 kilometers, 310 miles, between December 24th and December 31st.

I decided to participate and go for an overloading week of riding that would accumulate with the most miles I've ever ridden in that time frame. Leading up to it, I overloaded in the weight room taking advantage of a 6 day trial I had to the best gym/club in Memphis. It was going to turn out to be a tough two weeks of base training.

As the 24th approached, I was unsure if I was going to be able to attempt the challenge. Everyone at my house was sick with two people even having the full blown flu and restricted to bed. However, the warmest day in the forecast was on the 24th so I decided if I was going to give it a shot, I had to make the most out of the first day. I knocked out 70 miles that first day which stressed my legs more than expected, must have been all the time in the weight room leading up to it. You know you went hard on the bike when you have to sit down in the shower.

The next day it was raining and 36 degrees: no riding. Snow lined streets and 32 degrees the next day didn't stop me though. I was able to ride everyday except the two days that it was raining in the 30s. That's just crazy. There sure were some bitter cold days out there, but I continued to get out the door and put in the miles. I now stand 76 km, 47 miles, away from finishing the goal. Shouldn't be a problem to complete it this afternoon. So here I go, ending 2012 on a good note after a rough few months. Being in the saddle always makes me happier.

It's a Beautiful Thing

I am smelly, sticky, covered in sweat, and just overall nasty. My hair is sopping wet and sticking up where the vents in my helmet were. There are salt crystals on several different areas of my body. A gnat or two in my eye and more that died in the sweat and forest of chest hair. I'm sore and a few muscles are even cramping. I have the red, slimy gunk at the corners of my mouth from the sugary sports drink I've been consuming. I can look in the mirror and respect what I've just accomplished.

Man, have I missed this. I am back on the bike and it is a beautiful thing. The first time I pedaled it around the apartment complex, I let out a shrill of jubilation. It had been entirely too long. Nothing compares to wind in your face as you soar down the mountain at 48 mph, exploring new roads, overlooking cliffs and mountains, and taking in the beautiful fall colors of the Southeast.
This was the ride today: click here

What might be even more beautiful is the bike itself. Her name is Sabella (Thank you Michaela for your help) and she is magical. The new Red front derailleur is the best shifting derailleur I've ever used. It was definitely worth all the time setting up and not over-hyped. It makes it fun to switch back and forth from the big ring: so crisp, clean, and responsive. I am running a 28 tooth cassette in the rear too which my fat butt is really enjoying on these climbs so far. I will probably even put a 32 tooth on there for some of the big mountain races. I love the higher cadence. Climbing is my biggest weakness and I need all the help I can get. I will be focusing on that aspect of riding over the next 4 months to see what I can change. The Quarq Red powermeter crankset is an amazing new tool I am so eager to start fully utilizing. I have a small grasp of the concept of training with power right now, but am still working my way through the books and discovering how to properly coach myself to top form. The new Garmin Edge is a wonderful thing too. I never new how much more data I could get and analyze from upgrading my computer. I haven't gotten to try out the new wheelset I got with everything else. I'm certain it will be amazing though and complete the ultimate racing machine for this upcoming road season. All the equipment is there, now time to work on getting the engine running again.

The saddle is temporary. Haven't decided what I like.

Because it is majestic when you're in the saddle

The only thing I'm not happy with is the handlebar. The drops are way too flexy. I'm big, but not that big. Trying to sprint with these is a scary thing and I actually think they might break when I really give it all I got. I went aluminum too, but they flex more like aluminum foil. Not impressed with the Zipp service course bars.

There is some squeaking from somewhere in the rear of the bike. I haven't looked into it too terribly hard yet and hope I can figure it out soon and fix it.

Oh, and from the last post about camping, I forgot to mention the tick that attached to me over my clavicle. I didn't find it until Tuesday evening when I was about to shower. I remembering seeing a small speck when I was about to shower Monday night, but didn't worry about it. Since I showered once we got home Sunday night, that means it was at least attached to me for over 48 hours, maybe more. It was definitely sucking my blood and growing in size. I still didn't know what it was when I was grabbing at it Tuesday night. When I finally pulled it out I realized what it was. It was also still alive and crawling on my fingers. Ironic since we had just discussed Lyme disease and STARI in our med/surg course in school. Anyway, I haven't gotten sick that I know of, so I guess it's okay.


Thanks for reading and your comments are welcomed.

Eatin' Man Food

Since I couldn't ride on the weekends, a few friends and I decided to go camping a couple weeks back. It was a true man's weekend. We cut down trees, made fire, ate dove, cooked over an open fire, killed and ate a frog and a snake, shot slingshots, slept under the stars, and never washed our hands.

Killing the snake on the edge of the pond with a kukri knife at midnight was a pretty awesome experience. It was followed with skinning and cleaning the snake only to watch it continue to writhe in our hands. No head, no skin, no guts and the snake was still swirling around against gravity. I was excited to eat it as I watched it cook over the fire. I had never eaten snake and always wanted to. It ended up tasting a lot better than the frog legs we ate earlier in the day too, not nearly as chewy.

Watch the video of the snake still moving: click here

Cleaned and ready for the fire.

The skin turned inside out. Of course we kept it.

Target practice with the slingshot was for fun, but also in preparation for hunting. Even though we didn't find any mammals to shoot, we still had fun with it. We were pretty good once we got the hang of it.

A few good shots left the balls stuck in the clay

We also found some really cool funnel web spiders. Pretty neat to see them sitting, waiting at the edge of their deep tunnel for some unfortunate insect to land in their web.

I told him we should stick our finger in there. 

 Relaxing in the hammock was nice too. Never knew exactly how my feet got so black in the night. I decided  to sleep here the second night which got a lot colder than the first. The first time I woke up shivering, I went back to the tent and got my sleeping bag. The next time I woke up in the night shivering, I went to my bag, dug out these corduroy pants and my fleece pullover. It was pretty nice for the rest of the night.

After packing up the site on Sunday, we spotted what we initially thought was a squirrel about 14 feet up a tree. Turned out to by a flying squirrel. After we scared it further up the tree, it jumped and glided 35 feet to another tree before latching onto the trunk. One of the coolest things I've ever seen. 

But, my friends, I have all the parts for my new bike now and it is coming along quickly. There will  be no more time for leisure camping. Time to get back on the road and back in shape. March will be here before we know it. Pictures of the new girl and report from the ride to come after the weekend. 

Down Time

I have been meaning to write an update about how surgery went and the rehab was coming for some time now, but just never got motivated to do it. I could always find a reason to put it off. It's amazing how inefficient my life is currently. I am doing very little outside of school which is only half a day Monday through Friday, but I still can't find down time to write a post or study the training book I'm trying to read. Staying busy with training, school, and social life really pushed me to fine tune my time management skills and make the most of my days. Last spring I was in class from 8-5 four days of the week and putting in around 12 hours of training a week. I stayed on top of everything. Where did that motivation, determination, and work ethic go? Down the drain with my activity level I have to assume.

Anyway, surgery went well and recovery is taking an eternity. Not exactly, but being on crutches for 45 days was a long time. I watched as my calf and quads shriveled away as my hands and armpits became calloused. It was so liberating when I could finally walk and be free from my crutches. Then walking made me sore. And I loved it. I am now back in therapy trying to regain my strength. It is a slow process. I have yet to feel any soreness in my thighs because my calf and foot intrinsic muscles are so weak and atrophied that they limit my abilities for higher function. My lower leg and foot tremble after walking long distances or in single leg stance. I like the sense of improvement, but I want more progress in more areas.

In addition to not having the motivation to write, I also was never really sure how much I wanted to divulge when I finally did write something. I definitely struggled there for a while, but I now feel close to the home stretch of being able to resume normal life again. The strength will have to come over the next several months. I cannot expect to just jump back into the form I had. It had taken 5 solid months to get there coming from an able body. It will take a lot longer now. I'm getting excited about buying new equipment, my new bike, and planning for the next race season. I have a lot of unaccomplished goals from this year that will get carried over with a new vengeance. I feel like I got robbed: my bike, my fitness, my strength, my power, my races, my season, my standings, my championships, my jerseys, my glory. And that will have to drive me early in this rehab process to regain my form. I'm just waiting for my foot strength to catch up with the rest of my body in order to proceed to the next level.

Going Under

Well I thought I had it bad at ITU Worlds when I flatted twice and lost my first place standing. It was the worst experience I've had in the sport so far. That is until June 9th. I've waited for a while to write about this for many reasons: it was hard for me to face it for one, I didn't want to write details on the internet before the driver's insurance company accepted responsibility, and I was just feeling down and out about the whole situation without much motivation to do anything.

Most people probably already know about what happened to me, but for those that do not, or don't really know the details, here it is.

I was coming off a terrible race at Roan Groan and knew that I needed more practice at climbing, especially at the end of a race. I wanted to do well at River Gorge later in August, so I set out on Saturday June 9th, from my apartment in East Brainerd. I had mapped out a course that would take me over Missionary Ridge and the toe of Lookout before jumping into the River Gorge RR course. Things were going well and I was having fun playing out in my mind how the race would turn out this year and how things happened last year. I climbed Raccoon, stopping at the overlook to refill my bottles, eat some snacks, and take in the scenery. I started my descent from the mountain to head back home to get ready to head out to River Bend that night. Once I got off the steep slopes of Raccoon and made the hard 90 degree left hand turn, I saw a truck stopped at a stop sign on a side street to my right. He began to pull out to make a left hand turn and come up the mountain towards me. I was getting nervous and applying the brakes. As the truck got further out into the intersection, I was horrified to realize he was carrying a boat. His truck and boat were covering the entire intersection leaving me no place to go. I am grabbing as much brake as I can by this point. My wheels begin to lock up and my rear wheel starts fishtailing out from under me to the left. I was in shock and utter disbelief as I covered those last 3 meters before contact. I couldn't believe this was really about to happen. Skidding out placed me in a more parallel position to the boat so that my left shoulder and knee hit the boat first. I bounced off and swung around the back of the boat as the driver continued to pull away. I hit the ground and my bike went bouncing. I rolled around on the ground in intense pain in my left knee. It wouldn't straighten out and I knew I was injured pretty badly.

The driver and passenger got out of the truck after they pulled over to the shoulder. I laid in the middle of the intersection as they called 911 and asked if I was okay. I think the screaming and writhing in pain should have indicated I was not. Thankfully, I had just seen fellow teammate Jim Farmer at the top of Raccoon. He was packing his bike up and was about to come down. He drove up on the scene shortly after the accident happened. Another woman who had been running on Raccoon also stopped on her way down. These folks helped out a ton (Chattanooga obviously has an amazing outdoor community that cares for each other). My teammate was able to collect my bike and belongings and the other lady was able to call my parents back to let them know what was going on. The paramedics and fire truck arrived a little while later. They put me on the board and we were headed off for Erlanger ER.

Several radiographs and a CT scan later, they determined I had no broken bones and would have to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon the following week. The first visit with the surgeon was terrifying. The laxity in knee from the clinical examination pointed to several tears and disruptions in the tissue. The MRI ruled some of them out, but I was still going to need surgery. Thankfully, I didn't need immediate surgery which would have caused me to miss my first clinical rotation and be forced to sit out of the PT program for one year. Glad I avoided that disaster.

After much hassle with the police report, the driver, and the driver's insurance company, his insurance company finally accepted fault. They are collecting my medical bills and already reimbursed me for my bike minus depreciation.

I've had ups and downs over this time period. Times I would feel super energized about training for next season and all I will be able to do. Other times I was depressed and could only think about all the stuff I was missing out on and how hard it would be to come back after surgery. I missed several races including the Crit State Championship, which I was favored to win, the rest of the TBRA races, which now means I lost my Best Area Rider qualification, two Xterra races, which means I will probably lose my regional champion status and bid to nationals, as well as the Georgia Gran Prix stage race, the Huntsville race weekend, and two more crits in Atlanta. No defending my crit title at River Gorge this year. I also feel bad about letting my team down. This is the first time I've ever raced for a team and it ended with a terrible showing for myself. I wanted to do well to validate my spot on the team. I will have to settle for next year.

I got robbed, and I hate it. I've been so angry. But this is just the year I've been having with several broken pieces of equipment that required replacing and the bad finish at ITU. I have great plans for coming back next year with a more focused training plan, better knowledge of how to train, better equipment to train with, and a burning desire to come back strong and dominate the Cat 4 field. I'm trying to construct a detailed training plan without the help from a coach since I can't afford one. That being said, I would gladly take advice or suggestions from people out there that have had coaches or might be coaches just to make sure I am going in the right direction and I am interpreting my data correctly.

Surgery was yesterday (I meant to write this earlier in the week), so I have started the path to recovery and my journey back to sport. However, I guess I underestimated this surgery because of how easy my last surgery was on my right knee in 2007. I had my ACL reconstructed with a cadaver graft that time and I was able to get a full quad contraction the morning following surgery and was up ambulating without much pain at all the next day. That is not how this surgery has gone so far. I am in a lot more pain than I remembered or expected. I hope that it subsides before classes begin on the 20th. The first day of physical therapy as a patient on Monday the 13th. Should be a good experience. Just have to organize a way to get all my stuff moved to my new apartment while on crutches.

My bike got a little jacked, technically speaking

The culprits 

No big deal

No clue what this leg hit to get bruised 

Race Report: Johnson City Omnium

Well, I had high hopes for Roan Groan, but I think in the back of my mind I was skeptical all along. And when we hit the climb, it became clear to me that I am still weak. And very slow going up.

The peloton approached the climb together with no breaks. As we started ascending, I was sitting 3^rd wheel behind Hicks pulling and Nathaniel 2^nd wheel. Couldn’t have asked for it any better position wise. I shifted down to keep a high cadence, but never really fell into a rhythm. My heart rate shot up to over 180 and stayed there. About 2 or so miles into the climb it became clear I was not going to be able to hang when Hicks accelerated again and a huge group came around me to stay on his wheel as I went back through the field. It was a huge group and very demoralizing. I was spinning a high cadence, but I just couldn’t go any faster. My heart was pounding and it was all I could do to keep on pushing the same pace I’d been going. The climb was relentless too. Around every turn was just another long rise. There were some great views though. I yo-yoed with some other riders for a while as we pressed on. I wish we had finished at Carver’s gap because that’s about where my body started to really hurt and wanted to quit. But no, we took a right hand turn and continued on for another 1.75 miles. At this point we were climbing into the clouds that covered the road limiting sight of the ever-rising road. The temperature was dropping and the wind was strong. This section of the climb really seemed to go on and on and I never knew where the finish was supposed to come. My computer already read over the stated mileage of the race. Then all of a sudden out of the clouds there were some volunteers telling us to stay to the left as we made a right turn. Weird to be on the left. Then there was the finish. The monstrous climb was finally concurred. The wind and 40 degree temperature on top of the mountain made it very chilly up top while we were standing around. Thankfully, I got a ride from a teammate so I didn’t have to bike the course backwards to get back to my car.

After a short rest and some lunch, I was back at it warming up for the TT. It was supposed to be a 3.2 mile straight course with a one mile climb and a 6.7% descent on the backside. At the start line, I got some advice from last year’s RR champion which I think really helped: attack the hill hard and do what you can for the rest of the race. Well, I hit it hard and caught my 30 second guy at the top of the hill which was definitely less than a mile. The descent was definitely not 6.7% so I didn’t get to recover much from redlining it on the climb. I pushed on, but began to run out of gas and struggle as the finish line was nowhere in sight. On the flat straight I continued to give it as much as I could until I saw some cars including a cop car up a slight rise blocking the road off. I figured this was the finish so I backed off a bit in preparation for the rise. About this time, I saw the true finish where the officials were. So I ran out of gas, but I think attacking the hill was still the better thing to do. Finished in 8:26 good enough for 3^rd, 7 seconds behind 1^st and 5 behind 2^nd.

Sunday’s crit started out very fast. I think we probably dropped half our field in the first 5 to 7 laps. It got the HR up and going and made me shift up to the big ring; something I don’t usually do until late into the race. At some point, a small kid went off the front at which I told myself not to worry about him because I didn’t think he was strong enough to stay off for the next 10 or so laps. I don’t know when or how it actually happened (wish I had seen it and gone with him), but a BPC rider bridged the gap up to the solo leader. No one in the peloton wanted to work with Will and me so our efforts to pull the two leaders back were futile. The group was going to be sprinting for 3^rd place. I knew where I wanted to jump and then launch my sprint since I had scouted the course earlier in the day between some other races. What I hadn’t planned on was leading the entire last lap. However, it was working out just fine. I had a strong pull and accelerated on the rise preventing anyone from attacking me. I came through the last corner in first and shifted into the appropriate gear. I gave another acceleration and still no one was beside me. It was beginning to look like I was going to take the sprint without ever actually sprinting. Then about 25 meters from the finish line, the announcer said one lap to go. I was confused. I was pretty sure that they rang the bell last time around, but the laps-to-go had seemed to be jumping around and we had only been riding 35 minutes in a 40 minute race. I sat up at which point two racers passed me before the line. Ended up that was actually the last lap and I took 5^th.  I was pissed. I tried to talk to the announcer after I finished my cool down lap, but it was obvious he was an idiot and didn’t know what he was doing. It was too difficult and frustrating trying to talk to him so I just left and did another lap.

Good things about the race were that it was a really fun course with two sections of narrow alley way and tight corners combined with wide sweeping ones right after. I also took the first prime of the race away from Will as we were coming through the last corner. Then for the second prime, I passed Will in the corner and then beat another rider about 10 meters from the line. It felt good to snatch those away. I also have to consider it a positive that my legs were feeling good, I timed and planned the move right, and I was outriding my competitors. Really wish I had gotten those 7 more BAR points and 20 more dollars though.

I managed to hang onto the BAR leader spot but just barely. Things have been shaken and I need some good performances at the next few races if I want to pull it out. Time to get back to training. 

Some photos I took of the Cat 3 race. 

Race Report: State Time Trial and MOAB Crit

I just got flat out beat in the time trial. Hicks is a strong rider and a very fast time-trialist. However, given better conditions, I think I would have put up a much better fight to make the race closer. I never got into a comfortable position on the bike. Early on my head and shoulders felt very heavy and were a strain on my arms just to hold my body upright. I should have spent more time on the TT bike to make sure I had my position dialed in. I hadn’t been on it for over 20 minutes since preparing for a road tri last April. I also forgot to grease up and the new skinsuit and I did not mesh very well at the saddle interface. Let’s just say I’m a little scabbed over currently. That aside, I’m still disappointed in my legs. I’m not sure if I never recovered from ITU or I was just really having a bad day, but my legs felt like junk for most of the ride. I assessed my form a few times on the course and I couldn’t pin down what my limiting factor was. My legs weren’t burning and screaming at me to stop, but I also wasn’t panting for air. They just didn’t show up ready to go when I hit it at the start line. I finally got into some rhythm over the last 10K. All the hills were gone and I was motoring. I would estimate I averaged 28 mph over those last 6 miles. I’m glad I pushed hard and thought I still had some chance of winning because if not, I would have been way down in the standings incurring no points.

Sunday I’d be given another chance for success. The Cat 4 start time was 12:35. It was going to be a hot day with a course completely in the sun. I did a little warm up on some back roads while the 3’s were still racing and only got one lap in before we were lining up for our start. The field was looking big. A lot bigger than the online registration was showing. I was starting towards the back of the pack and had no buddies in the race with me. I remained calm and new I would be able to make my way up. That ended up being the motto for the whole race: remain calm and wait. I gradually moved forward and was quickly sitting in the top 10 wheels and stayed there for most of the race with a good time spent as 4^th wheel. Harpeth cycling put in a good amount of work and did a good job protecting their rider Will Montgomery. I never could figure out what BPC was trying to do. They would send one guy off the front but never more than 100 meters. And every time we came to the 120° turn before the slight uphill, one of their guys would charge to the front which would lead to us bringing the front guy back on the incline every time. I guess the charging guy might have been trying to get to the front and slow the peloton down, but that sure wasn’t working. We immediately engulfed him and pulled everything back together. Going into 2 laps to go, I decided it was time to shift up to the big ring and get ready to do some work. I edged forward still trying to save as much as I could but by this time we were booking it around the course. 

(So to explain the course, the 120° turn led to 150 meters of flat road before a slight rise in the road 100 meters long, then a 90° left hand turn that bottle necked the riders before the open 100 meter flat straight to the finish.)

Approaching the rise, I was sitting 4^th wheel with two Harpeth guys in front of me. As we reached the top and started through the curve, Will jumped off the front and several others went to the right of me and one guy to my left. I waited until I was completely through the corner before I really started mashing on the pedals. Will’s early jump gave him a big lead once we were in the finish line straight and it didn't seem like I would be able to catch him. I still saw two maybe three guys to my right that were in front of me. I continued my sprint but couldn't really tell where the finish line was with the white lines from the intersection on the ground. I was gaining on the Nashville Cyclist guy and began overtaking him in the last 20 meters. Ten meters out we made contact. I pulled off, gave my last kick, and lunged for the line. Steven, the Nashville Cyclist guy, lost control and crossed the finish line in 3^rd in midair before he slammed into the ground and slid for several meters. As the rest of the group came flying in, Marco didn’t manage to change course and t-boned Steven in the back and flipped over his bike landing on his head. Crazy crashes and finish in Murfreesboro.  

At the line, I think I had pulled Will back to only a bike length from me. I know I am faster than him and I hate that I lost to him again. This is the second time it’s happened because he made the same early move at Aaron Shafer Road Race for the win leaving me with second. I have to trust my legs more, go early, and go hard. I’ll be doing some practice work before the crit state championships. That race is mine. 

Now it's time to rest. Legs need to recover and this upcoming weekend is the only race with an HC (hors categorie, beyond categorization) climb finish on the east coast. The Roan Groan finishes with a 9.5 mile climb at an average 6.4% gradient with 4639 feet of climbing in the race.