Extreme Momentum

Monday’s always suck after a good race or weekend of training.  Not only do your muscles hurt, but you have an endorphin/neurotransmitter crash.  The change in weather didn’t help either.  OK, time to pick out an antidpressant or just get back to training. I find workouts help more with this type of disorder…;)

MATTS Team Apache 40K TT
June 27, 2009 – Paw Paw, IL
Masters 30+ – 1st – 57.20.15
256 watts – 25.3 MPH

After being sick the past 2 weeks and missing a couple of races (and a lot of training), I was anxious to get back at it. Of course, the next race on the calendar wasn’t a 20K or 30K, but a 40K.  And it was a hilly 40K.  Could it get any better?  How about nice, muggy summer conditions with dewpoints in the 60s.  Oh, boy, this was going to be fun!

I had done the Team Apache 40K TT twice before and I knew it wasn’t an easy course (though the roads are in great shape). The race starts just outside of Paw Paw, IL, which is about 2 hours west of Chicago. Paw Paw has only 800 residents, which is a plus when the race has moved to the other side of town and you didn’t know that.  Just follow the weirdos in aero gear, since there is a strong likelihood they’re not local.

The Apache TT course heads SW out of town with a nice downhill the first 10K.  It then turns W with several rolling hills, before turning N amongst a new wind farm prior to the turnaround.  Yep, there’s a reason they built a wind farm out here.  Don’t count on any wind protection.  I was happy the the winds were mostly SSE, because that gave me a slight tailwind on the way home. I knew that the best wheel for these conditions would be the Hed 3C considering the different yaw angles I would be exposed to during the race.

Registration and the warm-up were the usual.  Nothing exciting.  I kept warming up until about 3 minutes before my start. 5-4-3-2-1. Go. It’s amazing how you much you need to remind yourself to calm down the first mile or so even if you’ve done dozens of TTs.  Looking at my power readings, I was telling myself “back off, this is a 40K, not a 10K”. Having a slight downhill into wind is always a plus.  I felt pretty good going out and kept myself well hydrated (see below for how I did this).  I knew things were getting bad about a third of the way into the race.  My legs felt good and I kept working on the riders in front of me, but I felt like I was at my limit.  I focused on my return trip, breaking things into segments.  I find this works really well.  “OK, now we’re going east with the hills, steady up, rest going down.” “Tailwind for the last 10K, just keep pushing.”  This helps make the last half of a race go much quicker, especially if you begin to mentally unravel.  I put in a strong finish and was totally wiped.  I knew I left everything on the course. I did a 10 mile cool down on my road bike and just wanted to crawl under a shade tree and nap.

Looking at my Powertap data after the race confirmed why I was feeling this was.  My speed was respectable, but still slower than the 26 MPH average I’ve been averaging lately in races. My average power was about 10-15% lower than my last few races, yet my heart rate was 10% higher. In fact, I was near my max heart rate the last 10K. Yikes. No wonder I was wiped. It might have been a combination of the heat or still getting over a virus, but it makes me even happier with my result.

I ended up winning the Masters 30+ and my time was respectable vs the competition.  Even though my power was low and I might have gone faster otherwise, every other racer had to deal with the same course and conditions.  I noticed that some folks were significantly slower than they had been in previous race.  40K TTs really are a race of truth and the heat makes the distance even more challenging.

I was glad I opted to use my Camelbak Racebak.  This model is specifically designed for aerodynamics (to be worn under a jersey or skinsuit), but some racers have used bulkier models in the past.  I normally don’t take water with me on TTs under 30K, unless it’s very hot.  I’ve used bottles before in the 40K and just found that they broken up my momentum.  I still need to get the hose routing worked out, but having about 500 mL of water on back helped keep my hydrated in today’s race conditions. Next time, I’m going to try adding ice…:)

Overall, a great race that I recommend to anyone for the future.  Wonderful course, great marshaling, and a challenge if you’re looking for good one.

Since Rose and I were going to be in southwestern Wisconsin for Father’s Day, I decided to look for a century or other noncompetitive event for both us to ride together.  I found a new event being held in Montfort called the Panther Dash.  It featured a true road race (part of the WISport series) and a noncompetitive fun ride.  There were several courses to choose from, but Rose and I opted for the 30 mile “flat” route. This would be her first time on the open road with her new bike and my legs were fried from the day before.

After reading about WISport events, I was expecting about 200 riders. Well, I guess Father’s Day put a damper on participation.  There were less than 100 riders for all of the events.  I felt bad for the organizers, since they went out of their way to create a big event.  Plus, the weather was great for riding.  Upper 70s, overcast, and a few sprinkles. The staging area was nice with plenty of parking and there were lots of great volunteers. Here’s Rose before the ride.

The fun ride started about 10 minutes after the race. It was kind of funny at the beginning since none of us knew the route through town.  Thankfully, Montfort only has about 500 residents, so it only took about 3 blocks before we found the route out of town.  Although this was a “flat” course, we immediately realized that this wasn’t Chicago “flat”.  There was a good 200 foot climb within the first few miles.  Well, we didn’t need to climb it.  Genius here got over excited and followed the riders ahead.  Yep, those were “racers”, not “riders”.  Here’s a photo of Rose on the climb.  She didn’t care we made a wrong turn, because she was having fun.

The hills never seemed to end, but at least they weren’t long.  Here’s Rose (still smiling at the top of another hill). The scenery was wonderful. We got a few sprinkles, but were enjoying the lush green countryside.

The route took us around the Alliant Energy wind farm between Cobb and Montfort.

Here’s the welcome sign outside of Montfort just before the finish.

The overall route was about 30 miles.  We had about 3000 feet of total climbing. Rose was pretty exhausted at  the end, since this was her longest bike ride.  I don’t blame her.  It’s amazing how you get used to the wind and flats and think you’re in shape, then tackle the rolling terrain of Wisconsin. We were both really enjoyed the ride and made for a fun Father’s Day weekend.

Panther Dash Ride at EveryTrail

Rose and I went to southwestern Wisconsin for Father’s Day weekend.  We wanted to meet my folks for lunch on Sunday and decided to make it a mini-vacation, rather than a day trip.  We stayed in Mineral Point, which is one of the oldest communities in WI.  It was a hub during the lead mining days of the early 1800s. Now, it’s a very nice arts and antiques town in the rolling hills of this part of the state.

Yep, “rolling” hills.  We brought our bikes along to do a local fun ride on Sunday in nearby Montfort.  I decided to get in a longer 50 mile ride on Saturday, since I’ve been taking it easy while sick.  I knew the hills around here would be tough, but I also forgot that summer was finally here.  Duh! Temps were in the mid-80s with heat indexes in the 90s.  I’m glad I grew up in this climate, otherwise this would have killed me.  It was still a shock considering the horrible spring weather we’ve had in Chicago. I drank a good deal of water over 3 hours, but I didn’t dehydrate!

Here’s map of my ride and the elevation profile.  Over 5,000 feet of climbing. Yikes! I didn’t feel too tired at the end and was pleasantly surprised by my power values when I got back.  I’m still a little sick, but starting to get better.  the route was awesome and I based it on a route from the Cycle Southwest Wisconsin organization.  If I had the time, I would definitely bike up here more.

As you can see by the temperature chart below, we’ve barely made it above 70 degrees F the past month. Yeah, I live by the lake, but even this is way below “normal”.  I’ve also been sick the past week and a half, so I’ve curtailed my training and didn’t race.  I guess it’s better to be sick when the weather sucks, rather than when’s nice outside.  I’ve already given up on the MATTS series.  I’ve missed too many races to be in the running for points.  Ah, to just get back to “normal” with training and racing.  I keep reminding myself it’s only June, even though it feels like April.