1. If I had to do it again I'd use the lightest velomobile I could afford. An XS carbon Quest comes to mind though that's at the far end of what I could afford. Would also take a hard look at the Milan GT.
2. Low weight almost trumps everything though an ultra-light Mtn Bike, for example, would not be fun across the plains.
3. Comfort is critical. My socked GR was just that.
4. I wore a wrestling singlet w/top straps cut off and an elastic waistband sewn in by Carol(wife)
Reason? Seams are only on the side, not front or back. Comfortable though revealing so have to be aware of that an either wear a long jersey or throw over some ultra-light running shorts.
5. Socked GR was difficult to work from. Too time consumming. Every stop...change out clothing, grab something out of panniers, run into 7/11 to grab a bite. Every type of transition took too long, race wise, with the socked bike. With a velomobile, you just hop in or hop out. No problem especially w/o cover on.
6. Fairing/sock on GR helped with cold weather but not as much as I thought it would.
7. Half the time during the race it seemed I was cold and, hence, made a lot of time consuming changes of clothing back and forth.
8.Handling at low speeds required a lot of concentration...energy...on the GR at speeds under 6mph especially when fatigued and at night. Especially at night!
Specific:
1.Milan GT or Quest XS
2. Keep gear to absolute min.
3. Keep weight to absolute min. 5-10lbs. less will make a difference, energy wise, in the
mtns particularly.
4. One change of cycling apparel
5. Wool jerseys worked well. Never smelled
6. Sleeping system a must...goose down bag/blanket, mattress, bivvy
With a velo, and I don't recommend it necessarily, you could probably sleep in it w/a tarp throw
over your head if raining and a down blanket for warmth.
7. Pace? Went too hard first few days...500 miles in 2.5 days in the mountains w/70lbs. If I did it again, I'd probably take it a bit easier. The push overnight into Baker City took a lot out of me. IIRC, I went 43 hours on three hours of sleep.
8. Next time would take McKenzie Pass alternate route. 14 miles further but easier gradient
to deal with. McKenzie Pass really trashed my body.
9. Listen to your body. Take care of it. Down run yourself into the ground.
10. Setting aside my 'thrush' infection, my antibiotic ordeal, and my heart issue, I felt good overall during 75% of the race. I was initially concerned w/recovery each day but I surprised myself.
11. I cannibalized my body too much. Two weeks later I'm still my 'high school' skinny weight of 150lbs. Lost nearly ten pounds of non-water weight. Though I know I lost muscle mass I was confirmed what I always suspected...I'm good at 'fat burning'.
12. A trike platform would solve low-speed handling issues on climbs yet would still be fast on descents. 3x20", though maybe slight slower on the flats or rough pavement than a 20x26" setup, would be my choice.
Note:
Day two... had climbed McKenzie Pass and was heading to Redmond or Prinville for the night. I was beat! Some tailwind and genenerally flat to rolling w/granny gear climbing on some. As I left the town of Sisters, a man on a trike along the side of the road yellled 'Go Rocketman'. Fast forward three minutes, I'm cruising at 28-32 mph and I look in my mirror and he's on my tail! Unbelievable!
Over the next 8 miles or so, he drops me on the first 3min. climb and puts 3/4 mile on me over the next 20 minutes. I can never catch him. 'Paul' pulls over, a real nice lean man of my age, riding an ICE tricked out light trike. I find out later from a good friend, who knows Paul well, said he's one of the fittest and strongest riders anywhere and he climbs like a scalded cat. Anyway, Paul was a good example of what can be done with a very strong rider on a light trike. It makes me reconsider a trike for the TransAm as long as I could run bright flag/strobe on a streamlined mast.
13. Rumble strips, w/poor shoulder, would be a challenge on some two-lane roads w/frequent semi traffic. Would have err on side of safety and thread your way thru that section.
14.Easy access to food on bike.I used a one gallon plastic milk jug zip-tied to handlebar w/a large cutout. Worked well.
15. Hydration? Would continue using water bottles over hydration unit. Had four/24oz bottles on handlebars. Could refill w/different drinks. Easy to clean. Btw...found out real soon that warm/hot water-bottle water is real difficullt to get down.
16. Which liquids worked well?
Discovered too late but McD's sweet tea goes down warm or cold. Could fill up 4-24oz water bottlles for a buck. Coke worked well when diluted w/ice. Contains more phosporous/magnesium over most beverages.
Ice cold 4% milk, not chocolate, worked well one day as, at that point in the race, chewing, with thresh infection...was coming more of an issue. That one day I consumed 4 quarts.
17. Food? Would take a hard look at JV's Infinit liquid fuels . I know Willie swears by them. If they worked out well would ship resupplies down course General Delivery or to motels/hostels along the way. Would call motels ahead of time to set it up. Would supplement w/hot meals as well.
18. Motels? A hot shower, etc, at the end of the day was a welcome relief. Camping out wasn't bad either as long as showers were available. I could of used a hot shower, though, when I had to spend the night on the top of Lolo Pass.
19. Carbent? I have one sitting in the garage. What I don't like about it is 'hard crank' interference when adjusted for my inseam. Though a great climber, I know the crank interference during the race would become an issue, due to low speed climbing, fatigue, etc.
20. Lights? I should of run a front generator. Don't know if it's a possibility on a trike. Would have been
easier than what I had. Reason for not? Another $400. Might light system, that was trouble free, would run up to 7hours. Cost? $17 from Amazon.
21. Beleive it or not, I never really had digestive issues on the bike...no stomach pains,diarrhea, etc in spite of the antibiotics I was on for most of race.
22. Tires? Glad I went with 28mm Ultremos. Would run 'em again.
23. Panniers? Under one pound. Worked great though, knowing what I know now, would of used my rear rack for mounting them.
24. XTR rear derailleur, grip shifters, Ultegra front derailleur...drive train in general...worked beautifully.
25. Rear 29er rear wheel w/BB7 worked flawlessly. Glad I had it. Had one nasty 3-5 mile twisty 13% downgrade that I was glad I had them! I've never been on a gradient that steep for that long.
26. Dura Ace front hub w/18 spokes on light rim. Tire/wheel combination rediculously light. Performed flawlessly. no issues.
27. Handlebar cell phone mount. Quick and easy to connect/disconnect. Secure.
28.Fairing? Glad I went w/CF Easy Racer fairing as bike fell over for various reasons once smack dab across a boulder. Lexan on fairing would of cracked.
29. Gearing? Went w/58/42/26 and 11/32XT cogs. Worked well though the 11X34 would of allowed me to spin slightly more. 58 tooth worked better than I thought.
30. Downhill speed? I don't think I ever hit over 52mph w/sock at 7000'. In many cases, running without sock would of been faster evn at the top in w/headed tucked down IMHO.
31. Tailwinds? Socked GR is faster w/out sock as there's nothing in the back dor the wind to push against.
32. Sock? Excels in the 15-50mph speed range, on moderating temps, quartering winds, flat cruising, and carrying speed on run-outs. Would save 3lbs., however, w/o...mast/sock.
33. Mirror? Wouldn't ride w/o one.
34. Heart-rate minitor. Chose to ride w/o. Rode by perceived effort. Would do it again.
35. $$ Two credit cards, ID, medical issurance card, and $500 cash to start out. Would do it again.
36. Baggage? Worked out to about 20lbs...clothing,electrical items, lights, med supplies,hygiene,extra tire/tunes, tools, etc. Not a lot I could whittle down allowing for contingencies.
37. Tried to carry an extra 1000 calories on the bike at all times. Saved my neck on numerous occasions. Preferred food...large Payday candy bars...3-4 at 500 calories each, small packages of
cream-filled Orioles, Performance Powerblocs chewables at 33 callories each.
38. Cold weather gear? Had it shipped to Hamilton, MT, P.O. General Delivery for use in the Rockies.
At times, I was riding with a wool sweater, wool jersey, long-sleeve lycra jersey, and rain/wind jacket, knee warmers and was still cold. Like I said, my body has a low cold tolerance. In Hamilton, I picked up thick rain rights, long sleeve wool jersey, water proof socks and was still cold especially on the ride into W. Yelllowstone w/socked bike.
39. Navigation? Was OK going w/maps...about a pound. Maybe gps if a next time.
40. Communication? Handlebar mounted iPhone. Saved my bacon numerous times w/making arrangements, navigation, etc. Wouldn't ride w/o one.
41. Seat time? Yeah...too little. It was more attributed to fatigue than comfort.
42. Would consider using two bents.
A light-weight comfy trike for the first 2000 miles...to Pueblo, CO...and then change over to the GR or mid-racer, or ? to the end. Or, ship the trike to Kentucky for the start of the Appalachians. However, would prefer doing it on one bike.
43. Trike? Perhaps a tail-faired trike would work well across middle America
44. I'm dollowing Allan closely on the development of his "Bullet" velomobile body. We email. It's light and inexpensive and made of kevlar for toughness. Doesn't look all that much different to the DF velo that's been recently released though I know there's a world of difference across the design spectrum.
45. Spousal support? In my case...imperative. Often my wife got me through the day via iPhone messages and arrangements.
46. Would of used General Delivery more than I did and was planning to once I reached Pueblo, CO, where the coast headed eastward off the Rockies.
47. Competitiveness? With the weight I was carrying I was fortunate enough to be around 18th out of 42 riders though many of those were probably not racing. 30lbs off my bike and onto the bikes of my nearest competitors probably would of allowed me to move up a bit ;)
48. Gold Rush kickstand: I was able to trim down the kickstand llegs and still keep it functional.
At 1.25 lbs...indispensible. Woulldn't ride w/o it due to convenience ecery single time I stopped.
49. I had a very good and extremelly knowledgeable friend as my long distance coach. We kept in contact daily. His advice and encouragement indispensible. We had our disagreements as expected.
I learned a great deall from him and his support team, Unfortunately, I didn't akways follow it or could follow it for various reasons. Btw, we're still close friends.
50. To wrap it up if I were to do it again?
Take a long hard look at three wheels especially a light velomobile w/speed, weather protection, and easier handling on the long climbs.
Take far less than I need. You can always buy items on the road
Stay in the saddle longer
Use of hub generator if possible
Learn how to stay warm on the bike
Keep it as light as possible. Five pounds does make a difference fatigue wise on climbs
Would plan my days/layovers/pace more carefully and would err on the side of 'too easy' for the first 3-5 days.
That's it. Feel free to post questions not answered. I normally proof read before posting but not this time. Tired now though have a cord of wood to move down the hill so...
Cheers and thanks for reading...
john
