April13th...Sunday...61 miles

      A good ride today over a near identical course to yesterday's ride. A totall of 60.66 miles in 3:03:00

for a 20.0 mph avg according to my bike computer. I'm pleased with my performance today as seem to have made a good recovery from the day before. This puts me around 290 miles for the week which is a good start.

      Also good to note, today's Bellfountain/Decker Road route has 2000+ feet of climbing. I had wind. And  I managed to keep my heart rate under 135 bpm for 99% of the ride. And I avg. 20mph which included some bike path time, and very slow stop and go traffic. With those eliminated, my actual avg was closer to 22mph+.

Wheels?

      I'm having second thoughts, though, about running an AeroJacket disc on the rear for the race as suggested by several other well-known cyclists. Reasons:

1. Safety. The sock can be folded up and tucked up in the windscreen during severe cross-wind encounters. The disc cannot. Unless I pull the cogset and throw the disc away...I'm stuck with it.

2. Speed? Under the right conditions, it'll bump my speed up a notch. Under other conditions, depending on the wind direction, it could slow me down slightly. Also, on my infamous coastdown hill, I've managed to go practically just as fast with it off...51mph...as with it on...52mph.

3. Tire changes. Under some situations, if it takes longer to change a tire due to the disc thats time that's hard to make up.

4. The AeroJacket adds a pound...454 grams...to the weight of the bike. Note, by replacing my front 451mm Aerospoke w/a light but strong conventional wheel, and by ditching the Aerojacket, I've just taken two lbs of weight, rotating at that, off the bike. That's nearly a 1000grams.

      Pacing? My pacing/heart-rate was taken up a notch today w/an average HR near 125bpm. It was fine for today's ride but factoring in a lot of variables, I think my body would be much better off with

taking it down to a 110-112 cruising HR and a 125-127 climbing HR for the race. I'm concerned that the higher HR, though sustainable for many hours, would result in too much liver and muscle glycogen depletion making it most difficult the 2nd day. My goal is to clear the Rockies in the top 1/2 of the racers and then use the next thousand miles or so of flats/winds/crosswinds etc. to gradually move up in placement.
      What I need to remember is that some racers will be riding 20hours a day with only 3-4 hours sleep. I can't get discouraged when they're covering 250+ miles a day but must ride my own race.

Tips:

Breaks are minimal. Don't linger in a diner somewhere.

Always keep moving down course

Don't take unnecessary chances.
Don't ride when really sleepy. Exhausted...perhaps. But not sleepy.

Be aware that heavy fatigue makes for bad choices.

Stats:
Distance: 60.6 miles
Time: 3:03:00
Climbing: 2000' +
Avg speed: 20.0mph

April12th...Saturday...65 road miles w/some good climbing.

      Skipped yesterdays ride...two days in a row now....knowing today would be hard. It was at times.

A total of 65.5 miles in the foothills south of Philomath, OR. I count seven climbs where I was punching it pretty hard though the climbs were short running between one to ten minutes each. 

      On the short climbs, and I was riding my myself, I went full-bore totally anaerobic and continued on from the top of each climb, in most cases, without resting, etc. Just pushed on thru the pain.

      On one particular longer climb, I was motivated to push it hard as  I had just passed a rather fit looking lycra clad "twenty something"  young women just ready to launch up the climb behind me. As I went past her at the intersection, I noticed she had a nice looking road bike. The type with a seat post that looks like a wing. And weighs 15lbs. Anyway, she started about a hundred yards behind me and in the first five minutes I lost sight of her in my mirror. I was riding at 148hr which is close to my FTP. I made good time up the climb and felt satisfied with my effort. I'm encouraged. On the downward path, I could only hit 52mph w/Aerojacket and front Aerospoke wheel. I guess I shouldn't complain.

This week?

I've ridden four days for a total of 230 miles. Most of the days this week had some degree of wind. With a stiff crosswind all four days, and today was no exception, I was comfortably cruising along today at 23mph with moderate hr on good pavement. I did the first 55 miles today on 2/3 a water bottle w/Cytomax and felt great. I did stop for coffee and a giant peanut butter cookie at mile 55.

I finally feel like I'm getting into road worthy shape. Finally. The question is, how will I feel tomorrow? Will I have recovered? Hope so;)

Came home and hit the hot tub. Had a protein/maltodextrin shake w/Mango sorbet. Tasty and nutritional.

Cheers,

rocketman

      

April 10th...Wednesday

Took the day off from training and filled out my state/federal taxes instead. Should of gone cycling ;)

Also, mowed the lawns...about a 1/2 acre. 

Back to cycling. I'm writing this early Thursday afternoon battling a bit of fatigue. I felt energized yesterday but my wife, Carol, reminded me that it usually takes about two days for the fatigue to catch up to me. Anyway, I'm not sure about that but will press on nonetheless.

A few items keeping my mind busy:

I need to purchase a new 700c disc/brake rear wheel for the race. Discovered...dah...that my GR is set up for a rear disc. Since I have the BB7 and levers I might as well go in that direction. Come to think about it, I think I mentioned that in a post several days ago.

Also need to think about:

Which front wheel to run. My Aerospoke?

Coroplast rear fairing and front storage unit

Fenders?

Front rotator fairing lay up and mounts

Minimal clothing

Minimal tools

An ultra-light tent/bevy bag setup

lights...probably Magic shine knockoffs

Tires? 

Rear: Probably the new Conti 4000s VII(28mm) w/folding 28mm Durano as a spare

Front: Ultremo 451mm w/current 451 Durano as spare?

Health wise? Ok Still nagged by more or less stomach pains all the time but it's probably just nerves that will settle out once the race begins.

On another note: 

Peter Heal, long time ultra-racer and world record holder for racing across/around Australia,has had to withdraw from the TransAm race for personal reasons. We all wish him the best in his future racing endeavors along with God's speed and safety on whichever continent he's racing on.

Unless I'm mistaken, yours truly is the only recumbent rider in the field of 100 international racers.

However, Harald Mickelburg out of Germany, will be running a velomobile. That will be most interesting and fun to follow no doubt. We wish him well.

That's it. Planning a short ride tomorrow(Thursday) and then a long one on Saturday.

Cheers

This is the look I'm after but with a "DiscJacket" on the rear.

April 8th...Tuesday. Am I senile? Doctor says yes. Read below for details.q

Another ride up and over DeckerRidge today. Had a stomach ache for most of the day so had to sweet talk myself into going for a ride. Same route as yesterday...48 miles...with a fair amount of wind this time. Discovered that my handlebar setup is very uncomfortable. Right now, the body part that hurts the most when riding is my right wrist. That...I can fix.

I tried something a little different on today's ride in that I really kept the pace down and did very little speed work. On my "Go to" coastdown hill where I hit 52mph pedaling like crazy yesterday? Well today, being lazy, I hit 48mph coasting w/o pedaling. During the race, if it looks like I can coast over 35mph I'll do just that. Coast and conserve my energy.

Also, went to the skin doctor today with a spot on my hand that looked suspeciously like melonoma.

Thank God it wasn't. Are you ready for this? This particulara type of spot is called "senile bruising". Don't ask!

I'm thankful it wasn't serious or anything to worry about.

Only meaningful stat today is I think my 110-115 HR cruising/race speed, in a perfect world with good pavement and no wind, will be in the 21.5-22mph range. That's good as my climbing speed, especially with all my gear, will be toward the bottom of the spectrum especially if I limit myself to a 125 HR for the climbs.

Only meaningful data to keep track of was today's ride was a hilly and windy 48 miles run at a modest heart rate. No average speed as I messed up the computer mid ride.

April 7th...Monday...Back to training on the road!

As my friend Greg Thomas reminded my today via email, I have exactly two months 'till race day...the day I put on my 'game face' and all of my training and planning materialize with success. In this context, success is racing smart, riding my game plan, being prepared for most anything reasonable, and using good judgment and maturity in the decision making process. I have a beautiful wife, children,  friends, and home awaiting my return. My success is not taking myself so seriously that I jeopardize my health and safety of those qualities I hold so dear. 

Today was my first ride on my rebuilt socked GoldRush. In a word it exceeded my expectations especially in light of this being my first ride on this platform in nearly three months. As recumbent riders have known for quite sometime, moving from one bent to another usually requires a period of adjustment to acquaint the muscles, and their firing sequence, to the new change in position. It's like hiking up a steep trail vs hiking down a steep trail. Same movement, same muscles, but hiking down usually gets the muscles more sore than hiking up the hill. Bents are no different.

For the record, I've trained for nearly two months only on my high bottom bracket Carbent. The bent I rode today features the low BB position. I did well considering all things.

I'm under the belief that to do well at bent ultra distance riding you don't need to wear yourself out during the training phase. Getting use to the "saddle" is not the issue like road bikes in general. Today, I found myself cruising on flat smooth road at 21.5 mph at a HR of 110-112... my race pace. Obviously, heart-rate drift and fatigue will sit in, so in reality,  this may or may not be the case.

It may not be the case because I have two more months of training and, if this ride(race) proves to similar to my last TransAm back in 2002, I became stronger, not weaker, as the days progressed.

I had very little training prior to the start of that 2900 mile ride w/a rolling weight of nearly 260 lbs. and still managed to cover the distance in 23 riding days. Of course I'm twelve years older now which will have some impact on my recovery rate no doubt.

Anyway, today I was much faster on the socked GR than my Carbent. Noticeably faster on all except the 6-8% climbs. Could of used it at the LCVMG last weekend and would of probably finished out in front of most of the velos overall with the exception of Greg and Steve ;)

The GR and the build?

Bent is three pounds lighter than before.

Carbon fork works miracles on chip seal

58 tooth big ring helps maintain speeds delaying 'run-out'

I'm personally 10-12 lbs lighter since January 1st.

I'm definitely stronger aerobically and in power production evident in my climbing speed and recovery heart-rate.

Note:

I didn't run my rear disc cover today, nor did I tuck my head inside my sock when I hit the 52mph on my coastdown hill  though it was about 12 degrees warmer which helps. Last January 10th, IIRC, I hit 53mph w/disc and head tucked in fairing so I need to go back and visit it again.

There were numerous places along my ride where I hit PRs w/the GR when compared with my best in my Quest and I'm not talking climbing. I didn't realize until I got back on relatively light bents how much of my energy it took to accelerate the Quest up to speed.

Most of my training today was like most of my training I've done throughout the last 10 years. 

Challenge a hill...not all hills, though; sprint coming off a hill for 30-60 secs. Push some flats...hard.

Recover. What I try to do most , not all, workouts is to have fun on the bike. T least 5-6 hard, hard pulls of 20 secs to three minutes and sometimes longer.

My stats:

48 miles

Max speed. 52 mph /no disc

Avg:17+mph

Intervals: 8

Body weight after riding and eating: 156.5 lbs.

I'm too tired to proof-read this an am going to give my legs something to work on over night...

a protein smoothy w/about 35 grams of protein.

Note: A quick trip to the skin doctor tomorrow for a suspicious spot on my hand. It's probably nothing but my good friend, "Startle" said it looks like textbook melanoma. I was alarmed this morning as it had noticeably grown  over night. I trust in the Lord so...no worries, at least not yet ;)

April 2nd...Wednesday...a visit to the doctor

A random picture, and nothing to do with cycling, of my son and I at the gravesite of Dian Fossey of "Gorilla's in the Mist" fame. My son, Tim, and I had hiked about three hours to reach this spot at an altitude of nearly 10,000'. Yet, being practically on the top of the equator, it was rather cool to say the least. In my ride across the U.S., I'll be running a fund raising banner to finish up a well project bringing fresh clean water to a small village. FWIW, I spent a full month in Rwanda during October 2012 where it left a big impact on me.

Cyclying? 

I'm sounding like a really old man as I'm reporting on my visit to the GP for my general level of fatigue. I felt good amidst all the excitement at LCVMG this past weekend so go figure ;)

Doctor said he'd run a blood test for low ferritin(iron) and check for low hemocrit, RBC's, and hemoglobin levels. Btw...I'm writing this Thursday afternoon as I waited for the test results to show up.

Got the results online this morning and everything looks good, blood wise, so suspect, and the doc agrees, that  I'm feeling the residual effects of tapering off/quitting my pain meds this past week or so. AYK, I had rotator cuff surgery on January 16th of this year and they say it's a rather painful ordeal to go through though nothing like cancer treament and beyond. Anyway, I was on pain meds for a bit and they are difficult to quit.

So here's what the doctor thinks based on his experience. The pain meds were "masking" the fatigue I was experiencing throughout my High Intensity Training starting on February 1st.  I dug a 'deep fatigue hole' that's going to take a while for me to climb out of. And that's where I'm at at this point. So light riding the rest of this week, trainer or otherwise, and then hopefully back at it next week full tilt! Time will tell.

Back to Africa:

Here's a pic...below...of where Tim and I spent several nights while in Musanze, Rwanda. It's Team Rwanda's national training facility run by the famous Jock Boyer...winner of RAAM and the first American to ride in the Tour de France. We got to know Jock as I brought over with me three repaired carbon frames from Craig Calfee to return to Team Rwanda. The view? The volcano in the background is where the above photo was taken. It's home to the Mountain Gorillas. It's an amazing place and even more beautiful in person.

A pic from last weekend's rally.

March 26th thru April 1st. Not much training but....

A short post today as not much to report other than a great weekend at the Left Coast Velomobile Gathering in Los Osos, California. Craig and Vicky Johnson were once again great host with a real gift of hospitality extended to all. I was fortunate enough to be a guest in their lovely home for three days/nights. Talk about making you feel welcome. They're the best!

No stats to report other than a combined total of 100 miles of riding with 17 velomobiles on the beautiful California Coast. I spent the better part of each day giving chase on my Carbent to Greg, Steve, Craig, John Abbey, Taylor, as well as many new friends. My style was to charge the climbs and try to stay in contact on the descents and across the flats. I say "try". With some riders/velo combinations, it was impossible. With others, I held my own. A great workout!

Was it worth the 1600 miles of driving to ride two days? In a word, yes. It was particularly rewarding in the renewing of old friendships that I'd made during ROAM in 2011. I'm thinking of life-long type of friendships when I say that. Too much fun as well as a few serious moments and discussions. Good stuff going on.

The last seven days?

Sunday: Dog dies. Wife leaves one hour later for San Francisco

Monday: 40 mile ride. Two flats. Tired and a little down

Tuesday: Brother and his wife arrive for visit on way down from Seattle. Spend the night.

Wednesday: Mid day...Ian Hoffman arrives for three hour visit on his way down south. Clean house as

around 5pm my wife is expected to arrive from San Francisco. 

Thursday: Out of country company, Steve, arrives from Vancouver, B.C. in the afternoon. Preparations made for trip south. Got to bed real early.

Friday: 2am, Steve and I leave for Los Osos, California, and drive 800 miles arriving at 4pm

Saturday/Sunday: I ride 60 and 40 miles respectively in the velomobile rally

Monday: Leave Los Osos at 4am and drive the 800 miles home arriving at 8pm. I'm tired.

A few pics...