May 30th...Friday. Important links at bottom of page and...everything's on track.

Still sorting out odds and ends equipment wise on the bike but I'm 90% there.

Waiting for Easy Racer carbon fiber fairing to arrive as well as my new patriotic body sock.

The good news is, if they don't come in, I can run with what I've got and still be efficient and competitive in my own right w/o it messing with my mind. 

Remeber the 'turtle and the hare' race? My race strategy is exactly that. Time in the saddle...or T.I.T.S. for short. The norm for me is to always keep moving. Note worthy to help me accomplish that... I have some 'aircraft grade quality' back saver foam arriving next Monday that's reported to absorb 90% of the impacts. It's thin and it's very expensive. It'll go on my seat and wrap aways up my lower back. I decided to remove the cobra seat and am now running the heavier, less performance oriented Kool Back seat with the reason being comfort. 15-18 hours/day in the saddle? Comfort trumps everything.

I'm no longer going to focus on ' mileage for the day' but rather hours in the saddle. So regardless of conditions and my speed, providing I haven't bonked or am dangerously tired and confused or injured, I'll just keep pedaling. I can eat and pee without ever having to get off the bike though I prefer to stop when I pee ;) 

The theory is, come around day six or so, a lot of the racers will be battling the saddle sores, achy hands, neck, back etc and, being the turtle, I hope to just keep on cruising in my very efficient and comfortable machine and start to reel them in. At least that's the theory. Coming off the Rockies, I hope to start reeling in some of the racers. I know there's going to be a fight during the first 36 hours to see who's out in front and my hope is there's going to be a lot of tough and strong racers who overdo it a bit with the adrenalin stuff. We'll see.

As to the bike:

In the cockpit area, I'll have the following:

Easily accessible one gallon feeding trough

Four water bottles w/another one in the panniers though will run with minimum amount of fluids, weight wise, through the Rockies for obvious reasons.

iPhone handlebar mounted w/a quick disconnect

Headlight system

speedometer

Like it or not, have been off the bike this week but getting plenty of leg muscle stimulation by pushing, shoving, walking, climbing around our property with the uneven terrain we have. I don't feel I'm losing anything 'bike wise' though the next three days will work in some easy rides.

This weekend, I start my bike packing going with the minimum hopefuly. Goal is under 60lbs. w/lighter being better.

Btw, had a nice long talk yesterday with my race consultant, Robert johnson.  Robert, along with his wife Adrienne, are truly seasoned ultra-racing coaches and crew chiefs with many RAAM races under their belt. Robert was also our crew chief on our two very successful Race Across Oregon Recumbent Team victories. They're both my only "go to" contacts during the race at any time...any day...any stress going on at the time. Very level headed. Like I said, they're both experts in coaching high level competitors to the finish line across the US and I'm fortunate to be able to call them both my friends and coach. 

Did I mention there's going to be a full length documentary about the race?

Here's a link to get you started.

http://www.bikingbis.com/2014/05/28/ride-the-divide-film-crew-returns-for-trans-am-bike-race/

With the link below, you can follow my actual real-time progress during the race

http://trackleaders.com/transam14

With this link, you can listen in on my actual "call-ins"...voice mail...during the race.

http://mtbcast.com/site2/

May 25th...Sunday...I found some more speed...

I'm writing this Monday evening sitting in my lounge chair contemplating my day. Had a good productive day and felt physically good for most of the day though my back is hurting right now.

Carol is still in L.A. so I'm a bachelor for a few more days. Since I rode my intervals yesterday, today was an easy day. Actually, I stayed off the bike but was out and about digging and hauling in the garden for the better part of a day so I did give the legs a rest as well as some exercise. AYK, we live on a hill with a great view but everytime I go to the garden from our house/garage it's a drop/climb of 15-20'. All good exercise. Btw...from now until race day, June 7th, I'm in the maintain mode. Keep the legs loosened up, nothing too long, too intense, avoid sick people, top off my glycogen stores, and relax and work on strategy, planning, etc.

Quick review of yesterday's ride.

With my tires changed out to Ultremos at both ends, and with my new tear-dropped shaped Bell Javelin TT helmet, I set out to ride Decker Road which is a 43 mile round trip ride from the house depending on which exact route I take. " Riding Decker" has a littllle bit of everything thrown in. Some valley floor riding, some rolling hills, some -1% fast highway riding, and a blazingly fast .3 mile 6-7% downhill that I've used for equipment testing the past 25 years. It also has about a mile long climb that varies from 4-7% just long enough to get into a good cadence and hold it for awhile.

I didn't aggressively tackle the climb anywhere on the course but climbed at more or less race pace.I didn't notice much of a bump in speed for much of the ride 'out' due to the wind more or less in my face. What I did ride aggressively, though, was charging the downhill, as usual, trying to eke out every last bit of available speed. 

History: On Tuesday's descent on this hill, I couldn't get it pass 50mph. Nada. For the record, my best ever w/socked GR AND Aerojacket rear disc cover was an accurate 52mph. I'd have to say my average max descent speed on that hill is right at 51mph. Rarely do I ever hit 52.

Today was different, though. With my speedo accurately recalibrated to account for the Ultremo's slightly smaller tire diameter...yes, I did a roll out with paint in the garage...I hit an amazing 56mph!!

It blew me away. The only changes made between this run and the many others preceding it were the tires and the helmet.That's it. That's a huge improvement that I wasn't expecting. Thank you, Lord :)

Also, coming back down the highway hammering, I set PR's for various stretches of the highway I'm so familiar with. It was a rocketship! Keep in mind that the speed increase was WITHOUT my Aerojacket disc cover and WITH my saddlebags empty though they were. I'm very pleased with the improvement to say the least.

Analyzing my helmet, which I believe was the main contributor to the increase, it almost looks to be a perfect teardrop all the way from the front lens to over and around my head in a very aero flow. AYK, my fat head sticking up in the airstream, with it's multi-vented helmet design, acts like a parachute when compared with the design of the  Bell Javelin TT helmet.

OK...what about the tires? The rear tire swap out from the Kojac to the Ultremo saved 6 ounces  of rotating weight...tube/tire combination... when compared with the Kojac. I could feel the difference. The bike, though only 1/2lb lighter, felt very snappy in it's acceleration. It was fun!

Future upgrades expected this week?

1.Carbon fiber "Double Bubble" fairing...reportedl to be noticeably faster than what I'm running now.

2. New Patriotic body sock

3. Will install Aerojacket wheel cover as, having done several hours of qualitative analysis, came to the  conclusion it's going to give me some free watts during the race. My fear of it being dangerous during strong cross winds/truck traffic will be solved by pulling over, coming to q complete stop, and quicky removing the body sock tucking it up under the front fairing. What's cool is I don't even have to get off the bike to do it.

Here's a link to a tire/speed calculator I found very interesting. It took me a few  minutes to get familiar with it but once I did, I found it extremely informative. Enjoy...

http://www.cyclingpowerlab.com/componentaerodynamics.aspx

May 21st...

Was supposed to be a quick ride down and back to Coburg at 75 miles for the round trip.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, flated again on new Durano on the front. Less than 90 miles on the tire, on good pavement, a pin hole leak in the tube though it immediately began to "hiss", but the side wall and tread ahad a resultant tear 1/3" long. Totally unacceptable quality especially for a $40 tire which seems to be the acerage price these days. Anyway, but a boot in the tire and road back against a nasty headwind for almost the next two hours. Did I say I couldn't run more than 30psi due to fear of the the tire casing ripping.

Well...my order from TerraCycle came in today and the new tires/tube look fantastic. Willl need to order another Ultremo 451 as backup though. Thanks TC!

Also, my new Javelin aerohelmet from Performance came in. Looks wild...fits good an comfortable.

Btw...while I was down in Coburg, just north iof Eugene eight miles or so, I made a reservation at the RV Park...$18 for the night of June 7th. This means I'm planning on completing the full 233 miles the first day and will have a shower waiting for me. Also, Mc Donald's is close by...great $1 menue...as well as a nice 24 hr truck stop restaurant. So I'm comitted for at least 233 miles God willing. God Willing is how I look at this whole race thing as we have absolutely no guarantee we'll even be here tomorrow. None. Read the news and you'll see what I mean. No guarantee. Everyday is a gift from God. Period.

75 miles for the afternnon ride and a hard 38 miles on the way back home due to poor road surface, for the most part, strong headwinds, and 30psi in a 100psi tire. It's alll good :)

Here's a pic of the helmet below. I got solid white to reflect the heat and to attract driver's attention perhaps a bit more with the shininess. I'll try it out to see how comfortable it is on a hot day. Will possibly carry two helmets though prefer not to. Also, the helmet should prevent sunburn on my baldhead through the otherwise cooling vents. Anyway, it sure looks fast.

May 20th....a quick post

Have riding with intensity the past week...40-60 miles in the hills and pushing the flats  in some cases.

Feels good to be training for 'power' and feel my leg strength quickly renewing. 

Have been experimenting with different bike foods, race strategies, efficiency on the bike, studying my maps every night, planning out overnight stops, restaurants, mini marts, campgrounds...not super detailed but am now getting into this part of the planning stage.

Will take a hard look at getting an iPhone today.

Noteworthy: 

I crashed Sunday afternoon. Was riding only 15mph or so on the bike path when the front tube blew out thru the side wall of my Durano. Was in a slight turn and immediately was down and sliding for 10-15 feet. Had just a few nicks...nothing serious.

What I learned: Check bike pad alignment before every ride. Have tire boot material handy. I didn't.

Realize that losing a front blow out could be a dnf or worse depending on circumstances. 

Guard, check, and recheck tires before every ride.

Btw...I was on my way out to the course to check my DH speed when I decided to turn back early and cancel the test. It of saved my life. Thank you Jesus.

Other than that...all's OK and on track to make the start Lord willing.

Btw...this is not my final configuration. 

Coming:

New carbon fiber double bubble fairing

New Patriotic sock

Possibly running disc in rear.

New aero helmet to try

May 12th, 13th....Monday Tuesday. 110 miles total.

Not much to report other than an 88 miler at race pace...easy does it... with wind and hills yesterday(Monday). My elecrolytes were way up but my speed was way down. Purchased and used a bottle of Extreme Endurolytes and they seemed to help out my effort in yesterday's modest pace.

Like I said, geared way down and didn't push any of the climbs like I normally would if I was out with the Saturday morning fast guys. My fast guy average speed would be knocking on the door of 20mph average. Yesterday's was 17.2 avg. 

Changes to the bike? No rear disc, heavier rear wheel/tire, rack, panniers, etc. but still only 41lbs rolling out the door. It was rather warm as well. Here's the problem I'm having: I don't do well eating on the bike. I frequently have stomach aches and hence am not into eating and that goes, generally speaking, off the hike as well.

Example: Had a large breakfast around 10am. Hit the road around 12:30pm for the five hour ride.

My total food consumed? 

1/3 cup assorted nuts at most

one 6oz can tomato juice

one small Reser's bean burrito...Maybe 200cal. Very small and plain.

32oz Cytomax

Nearly a quart of water

4-5 Endurolytes

For nearly a century ride...it hardly seems like enough. Not sure what to do at this point diet wise though Carol is picking up a box of Payday candy bars for me to try on tomorrow's ride.

Then there's today. An easy 22 miles tommeet "Startle" for coffee at Starbuck's today. Took it easy.

Total for Monday/Tuesday:

110 miles at around a17-18mph avg.

May10th...Saturday...being lazy bones

      A lot of things going on the past three days...all positive...in regards to training/resting/ and equipment

Let me get this out of the way first: I'm fully recovered from any training from the prior week and am chomping at the bit for a long training ride at around race pace. In other words, long but not difficult heartrate wise. 

      And speaking of heartrate. I don't know if it was the afternoon "Five-Hour Energy" I consummed early Thursday afternoon or what, but later that evenning my heartrate/bp was going skyward at an alarming rate. On random checks w/Blood pressure cuff I was seeing sitting Tachycardia rates in the 120 bpm range. Sometimes twice in a minute's time. That is, when I could fire up the cuff in time...20 sec delay...to get a reading. This was after sitting at the kitchen table very quietlly for at least an hour. It continued on until I went to bed around 2am occuring  every few minutes. I haven't had a "Five Hour" drink since and it hasn't been a problem. Perhaps too much potassium/salt in my diet as of late?  I don't think so. I've quit worrying about it although yesterday I decided to go back on my bp meds to see what effect,  if any, they'll have. I'll probably go back off of the meds for the race, though.

So what's happened the past few days?

      Bought a roll of Tyvek and picked up using a sewing machine today. I cut out and sewed up a Tyvek bivy for my 1lb. down bag complete w/pillow. Total weight was 9 ounces! Plus it's big enough for me to completely cover up during a rainstorm. This was prototype # 2. All seams were sewn w/machine by yours truly. Prototype #3 will be configured slightly different and will have a side 30" zipper. I sewed the bivies with print-side out and then turned the bag inside out so they're totally white. Final bivy bag will be sewn with heavy duty thread with seams sealed. Carol volunteered to sew the zipper in as my machine sewing skills are primitive.

      To answer Randy's comment, I do plan to "bushwack" my way across the country grabbing a motel room when "extremes" are encountered. Extremes? Extreme weather. Extreme hardship. Extreme mental anguish/fatigue. Extreme dirt where I need a good shower. What I'd like to do is time my riding where I could roll into a campground with showers and food nearby, such as a KOA's around 7-8pm, recharge myself, get to bed by dusk, and then get up around 2-3am and start my day. I've posted this before but I'd prefer moteling it when in bear country. I'm not opposed, btw, of pulling off the side of the road in some obscure location, and crawling into my bivy.

Eating on the road? I've managed to find an ultralight 'pocket on a belt' that will ride on my left hip and provide easy access to 'pocket' food. In addition, I cut the top off a one gallon plastic milk jug and it nestles nicely between my front water bottles providing once again easy access to finger food.

What else is going on?

      One item that was stressing me out was I had promised a Rwandan friend that I'd help her fund raise for a Rwandan waterwell project. That would've required me to set up/develop a web page "4Rwanda" with donations/storylines, etc. which is definitely not me. I'm not tech savy. Fortunately for us both, Julie emailed me yesterday to say the money is coming in and my fundraising efforts, though still welcome, are not necessary after all. Whew! God bless Julie and her donors.

      Sleeping? My complete sleeping system will be coming in under three pounds including the bivy, bag, and air mattress. It'll provide plush sleeping w/2.5" of air comfort enough to sleep on my side without bottoming out.

What else has been happening?

      My good friends at TerraCycle are putting together some fast but sturdy tires/tubes combinations from Schwalbe for me.I'll be running a 451mm Ultremo up front with a Durano as spare as well as a 700x28mm Ultremo in the back w/another one as a spare. I orginally wanted to run a rear Durano but there's none in the country in the 28X700 size. With a little research, it appears the fastest performance tire, best handling, and toughest available in a 700x28mm out there is the Ultremo.

      The Conti 4000S ii...700x28mm would be my top choice as well but there's none in the country. Zero. Not until mid-late summer. 

      I'm also getting a rack to hold 5 water bottles on the handlebars as well as small piece of lexan to add to my CF fairing to streamline the airflow over my head.

      Bought a speedo extension kit for my Cateye.

      Ordered a pair of recumbent shorts...Kucharik bent shorts...as well as a seamless wrestling singlet though would need to carry an ultralight pair of shorts whenever I walkied around in public.

      Ordered a mummy style "Big Agnes" air pad. I mistakenly bought the regular size mattress pad locally and had to return it. Too big.

      Also ordered a 120 count bottle of Hammer's "Endurolytes Extreme" that's now on kitchen table.

      Ordered yesterday a new Patriotic bodysock for the race. Melanie does nice work at a fair price.

      That's about it. It looks like the next week, starting tomorrow, will find us in a dry and warm atmospheric bubble between 70-87 as the high building during the week. I'm planning on a good workout for Sunday, Monday, rest Tuesday, and then at least a double century on Wednesday. That's the plan anyway.

Cheers

Here's a pic of my old friend Rand w/a very simillar setup to what I'll be running during the race.

He was extremely fast in this set up. wish I had his power

 

 

May 7th...a rest day

Worked around the house...

Btw...my one pound goose down sleeping bag arrived!

Will order Tyvek today to make a bivy sack.

Also, my "Rocketman" embroidered 100% Merino wool short/llong sleeve jerseys arrived.

Chances are I'll be shipping home the long sleeve jersey once I'm done with the Rockies.

My weight is down more than 10lbs since Christmas and holding steady at 158lbs. which, incidentally is the lowest I've been since 1971. Fortunately, most of my mass is in my leg muscles;)

I'd work out the upper body but everytime I do I start packing on the weight so, for now, I'll deal with a slight upper body which is a far cry from my 335 lb. bench pressing days of college.

  

   

Tuesday...May 6th...A totally different day. Thanks Randy!

     I received an email from my internet friend, Randy, who's been around the block a few times when it comes to recumbent racing, training, and nutrition. He's one of the few guys I listen to these days on training advice. Thanks my friend:)

In a nutshell:

      From Randy's perspective I've come to this decision. 

I suspect I've been running low on electrolyte levels much of my training time. Why? Unexplained tachycardia, high level of fatigue after a training ride, slow recovery, poor 'electrolyte' nutrition and awareness, etc. 

      My last long ride...this past Wednesday...found me riding 225 miles in heat w/little electrolyte replacement. So, yesterday, taking Randy's suggestion to look at good potassium rich foods, my wife and I made a trip to Costco and picked up a case of V8 mini cans, bananas, apricots, etc.

      So began my quick journey to 'recharge' my low potassium stores via V8's, apricots, bananas, fried potatoes w/beans(last night's dinner), plus other choices.

      Today's ride found me meeting Dave Miller..."Startle"... at Starbucks around 2:30pm. We do that about once a week. Anyway, around 4pm we headed out toward his house in the foothills of the coast range. About 1/2 mile from his home, I broke off and continued on to the community of Bellfountain. The only way to get to Bellfountain is via a lot of climbing. The longest climb today was about ten minutes in the 4-6%

range. Anyway, lots of climbing with some intervals thrown in the mix. I have to say, I felt amazingly strong especially considering I was on a 37lb. bent.

      I did reset my speedo at the turnaround...Bellfountain...and recorded an avg speed of 20mph for 24 miles. I say 24 miles because that's when I flated. Fortunately, it was a slow leak and I was able to limp home having only to pump it up twice. Had only 25psi whenI arrived   home. Surprisingly, it didn't feel that much slower.

     Tires? I'm re-evaluating which tires to run for the race. After changing out the rear flat, I realized that with my rear rim being what it is that it's a real bear to pull/replace the tire! I can see it easily taking 20 minutes on the road which is impossible to make up within the day's riding. BTW...I hate changing tires. Then again, who doesn't.

      I'm taking a good look at running Duranos front and back. I'm running one on the front...451mm... right now and will probably run it during the race. I'm going to pick up a folding 700x28 Durano real soon and give it a go. 

Stats:

69.1 miles

Avg speed: 20mph when sampled for 24 miles. Includes roughly 20 minutes of climbing in the 11mph range.

Energy level: high

Recovery: Excellent! Btw, I'm writing this Wednesday morning.

Weeks mileage round up?

339 miles in past seven days.

May 5th...Monday...another low-energy day.

Looking back on yesterday...I'm writing this Tuesday morning...was extremely low on energy. Racing heart-rate still an issue happening quite often. Early afternoon, I walked down the hill in our backyard and headed out to the edge of our garden to take a rest in our garden chairs. Felt so good to recline in the warmth of the sun! After about a 1/2 hour, headed up to the house and up the stairs and was wiped out taking far more effort than I can remember. I found a comfortable place to lie down on the floor in the family room racing heart and all. No ride today. My hope is for a good night sleep and a better day tomorrow. 

Here's a pic of our garden area from last year. It's already looking better this year being the clover we planted has filled in all the brown areas around the raised beds. The Gazebo is off camera to the right.

Here's our "girls" enjoying time out of their coup.

May 4th...Sunday

No riding today. All is ok though can't quite put my finger on why my heart...pulse...keeps acting goofy.

Tachycardia? Pulse is all over the place and frequently speeds itself up enough...120ish...while sitting still that it gets my attention. I've had this type of thing before and they did the whole nine yards of testing...treadmill, echocardiogram, etc. They could never find a cause. Is probably anxiety.

john

May 3rd...Saturday

A spirited workout with the club today across the valley floor into an intense head wind. I got a great work out because I stayed off the back of the pack...no drafting...while the rest of the riders ran a paceline into the 20mph head wind. Stopped at the Mennonite Bakery out on Peoria Road and I refueled with two small maple bars. Tasty!

Headed back my myself w/the nice tailwind and saw cruising speeds typically between 28-32mph.

Unfortunately, the way my bike is setup w/tailsock, etc...it doesn't get as much "push" from the wind as the upright bikes do. 

The average speed is low but misleading as the first 32 miles involved slow in-town riding with 14 miles of that directly into the wind. At the turnaround, my avg speed was something like 17.8mph with the final 14 mile down wind run bringing it up to 20.0 mph

Like I said, I felt strong on the bike today and got in some good interval training runs on the way home.

Stats:

Distance: 46  miles

Time: 2:18:00

Avg: 20:00mph

April 30th...Wednesday...225 mile day.

      I don't know where this 'summer thing' came from but it was definitely  on the toasty side for this guy. Mid to upper 80's around 4pm or so.

Anyway, left the house around 5:45 am this morning and rolled back in at 8:00pm. A long day on the bike at least for this guy. My destination was Clear Lake about 100 miles east of here. I did have my fair share of heat to battle in the afternoon and the last 38 miles found me battling strong headwinds coming across the valley floor. What normally would take less than three hours riding time...Walterville to home...took four hours yesterday. 

Stats:

Distance: 363 kms(225 miles)

Rolling time: 12:13:49

Rolling avg: 29.6 kph(18.4mph)

Total time: 14:20:00

Observations:

       A saddle sore. Can't have it during the race as too painful and figety on bike seat. Need to explore options as definitely a deal breaker if I can' resolve it. Will order new bike shorts today and maybe consider a lambs wool seat pad.

       Bike felt sluggish today perhaps because it weighed 48 lbs fueled up going out the door. 

       The rear disc was so quiet I didn't notice it was back there but, to save a pound and prevent crosswind issues, will try running  without it. 

        My feeding tray was too far out of reach to make it easily accesible so will remove from water bottle cages and fabricate a new one today out of coroplast. It will replace the bottle cages currently there.

      Headlight worked fine shining thru fairing. Tail light was on all day. I like that.

      Route: Same as ACA and TransAm route for the most part. Once I left the valley floor I followed the McKenzie River Hwy which, although not hilly, had it's share of ups and downs not to mention some serious truck traffic. In addition to gradually heading 'up', I frequently found myself with a headwind and/or crosswind for approximately 50 miles. On the return, at least to Walterville, it was appreciated.

      Like I mentioned above, it took 4 hours to make the final 58 mile run home which included a beverage stop and time off the bike 8 miles from home in a county park. It seemed my chest was tight and breathing not particulary easy so laid down on a park picnic table for a while. Took off my HR  chest strap which helped a bit as well.

Food?

I know I didn't eat/drink enough and am still down 5lbs from yesterday morning. My "goto" food source was actually milk. A quart of chocolate and a nearly a quart of whole milk.

Solid food?

Two small $1 bean/cheese burritos deep fried about 125 miles into the ride.

A handful of Fig Newtons

About two ounces of Lay's potato chips

One small cup pudding...100 calories

One soft drink w/lots of ice

One bottle of ice cold tomatoe juice

One  "5 Hour Energy" bottle

One large can of carbonated grape juice which I didn't like.

I'm writing this Thursday morning and have only had milk, and a milk shake, to drink since yesterday.

I have no appetite which is not good for riding longer distances.

I actuallly think my body...stomach...does much better on less food rather than more food. Other than feeling a bit fatigued today, and a sore bum, it was a good day. Btw...this was the furthest I'd ever cycled non-supported by myself...ever.