I’ve been tossing and turning since 4am. I’m up up now. The plan? Host hotel has a buffet breakfast at 530am. I’ll let my crew sleep in a little more. Should be nice to see more of my friends in a relaxed setting before the race.
Brandy (faithful crew chief) here, reporting from Santa Clarita. After some hurdles with our rental hoopty, err…I mean minivan, we made it to Santa Clarita for the racer check in and inspections. Like last year, I followed Mama Duck Cindy around like a little duckling until it was our turn to be inspected. We passed with flying colors!
We just checked into our hotel and we’re about to head to the pre-race meeting, which thankfully, is much earlier this year and begins at 5:00 p.m. After that we’ll grab some dinner and last minute groceries and then it’s off to bed for a good night’s sleep before the adventure truly begins.
As always, it’s so nice to see familiar faces out here, whether they are racing or crewing. Good luck to all of the teams!
Jeret Peterson stopped by the shop today. I got him hooked-up on a spanking new 2010 Cannondale CAAD9 1. Jeret is going to be in town for about a month. He will be at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista working on strength training. Of course with his new steed he’ll also be working on his cardio!
Don’t know Jeret Peterson? Well I didn’t either..until TODAY. He is a two-time Olympian Aerial competitor. He’s a real chill guy and you’d never guess he’s a bad-ass trickster. Check out this video and his fan page! Let’s wish him lots of luck at Vancouver!!
Let’s talk about 2007. During the off-season of 2006-2007 I had this crazy idea of doing something epic on a fixed gear. My long range goal was to do the Furnace Creek 508 fixed gear. So I built my second fixed gear bike and started experimenting with longer distances. I started with brevets (unsupported events) and then progressed onto supported Double Centuries. My form was progressing nicely in March and then I was thrown a curve ball.
So the lesson learned was too much training with too much sleep deprivation. Another lesson learned was DO NOT MESS WITH YOUR SADDLE HEIGHT! I raised my saddle about a 1cm a week before the event. I had to move the saddle forward so I also raised it and the combination of those two things wreaked havoc on my left knee in the event. I think I also choose the wrong gear. I was gearing for the flats and the downhills (35,000 feet of climbing means a lot of descending lol!) but some of the climbs Towne Pass in particular really hurt. Towne Pass, which comes at mile 199 and after 11k of climbing, is a 13 mile climb with a 6 mile section that averages 9% ouch! My nutrition was good this time and the only sleep problems we had was the crew couldn’t stay awake through Death Valley so we had to stop in Badwater much to my chagrin. It took me 45:12:45 to finish “the toughest 48 hours in sport”.
San Diego 200km
Fixed Gear 121 miles and 6600 feet of gain
Butterfield Double Century
Fixed Gear 204.5 Miles and 8300 feet of climbing
Solvang Double Century
Fixed Gear 194 miles and 7200 feet of climbing
Mullholland Double Century
203.7 miles with 17,000 of climbing
Breathless Agony
5:40 72 miles 11,000 feet of climbing
Heartbreak Double Century
Heartbreak Double Century 202 Miles and 17,000 feet
Race Across America
2-Person
Furnace Creek 508
Fixed Gear
Serving Size: 1/2 cup (110g)
——————————————————————————–
Amount per Serving
——————————————————————————–
Calories 260 Calories from Fat 130
——————————————————————————–
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 14g 22%
Saturated Fat 8g 40%
Cholesterol 60mg 20%
Sodium 45mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 30g 10%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 24g
Protein 3g 6%
——————————————————————————–
Vitamin A 8%
Vitamin C 10%
Calcium 10%
Iron 2%
——————————————————————————–
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 48.5% Carbs 46.2%
Protein 4.6%
The Furnace Creek 508 is 10 days away. I have an unusual calm as the days tick away. I am usually a lot more stressed out about my gear or nutrition. But this year being the fourth year racing the “toughest 48 hours in sport” I feel ready and healthy. Over the next few posts I will recap my experiences from my previous three races. For new readers it will give you a chance to see that I’ve probably made every mistake in the book 😉
In 2006, I had incredible form. I had had a good full season of Ultras. I had done fast doubles, climbing doubles and climbing centuries and unsupported brevets. I even had a great month of August training in the mountains with 1650 miles and 124,000 feet of climbing.
January San Diego 200km Brevet 125 miles 6,500 feet
February I was hit by a car.
February Palm Springs Century weekend 340 miles 20,000 feet
March San Diego 300km Brevet 186 miles 11,400 feet
Hemet Double Century 202 miles 6,000 feet
Mullholand Double Century 202 Miles with 16,500 feet
Breathless Agony 11,000 feet in under 75 miles
Heartbreak Double Century 200 miles 16,500 feet
Death Ride 129 miles 15,000 feet
Everest Challenge 29,000 feet in 2 days
Death Valley Northern Route 196 Miles 10,500 feet of climbing
So where did I go wrong?
My breakfast was a bit too heavy (Moons over my Hammy with a stack of pancakes) too close to the start of the event. Then too many calories over the first five (5) hours. I was putting in over 350 calories an hour and I hadn’t trained with that much intake. As many of you know, when you are out training alone you conserve your calories because you either don’t want to stop or the services are few and far in between. I fall victim to both scenarios because my training routes are very remote. Well this totally locked up my stomach and my intensity had to drop significantly. I puked many times on the side of the road until finally my stomach was back in good shape but I was very fatigued.Are you asking yourself why was I taking in so many calories? Because I was intimidated by the event. The 508 miles the 35,000 feet of climbing. I thought I would really fuel up this time. I would really take in the calories to make sure I wouldn’t falter on the course. But that was a big mistake and I paid for it for miles miles and miles and hours and hours of poor performance.
So in short, I had great fitness but my nutrition made for a horrible first 152 miles. Sleep deprivation also was a major problem through the first night and I was still in Death Valley (about 300 miles) by daybreak. I learned a lot from my first Furnace Creek. But as you’ll see I still had a lot more to learn in the next couple of years.
Brandy and I did a casual 3 hour ride yesterday. We visited her new place of employment. We got a feel for the route she might use on her commute. I’m a little worried because it has a few sketchy areas. People driving to work are always in a hurry and multi-tasking i.e. cell phones, texting, shaving, applying make up, and I’ve even seen people brushing their teeth.
On our way home we took Back Bay and merged into a memorial ride for a Steve Hedrick. Steve was a competitive cyclist, among other things. The turnout was impressive. There were many riders wearing their team kit shorts with a Steve Hedrick memorial T-shirt. My condolensces to the Hedrick family.
Today I did the Como Street ride. I get dropped everytime I do the ride but I keep hoping that one day I’ll stay in. I usually get dropped going through Santiago Canyon near Modjeska Grade/Canyon. I tried to stay on Jason Bausch’s andJamie Paolinetti’s wheel. I was successful for a while but eventually I got shelled. When I popped I was averaging 191 bpm for at least 2 minutes. According to my Power Tap download on Training Peaks Software I avg 189 bpm for 5 minutes before I popped. I was only 700 feet from reaching the crest of a roller where I could have recovered slightly.
My pacing was good, my positioning could have been better but I have to be happy with my performance. I’ve been doing Ultras for so long that doing rides with this type of intensity is not my forte. And of course there is the question of genetics. Do I even have the genetics to stay with these guys and girls? After the ride I rode home with Jason and he offered a couple of tips. I told him I would be doing less Ultras next year and possibly some USCF racing. I may focus more on Double Centuries next year and leave things like 400km, 600kms and 300 milers on the table. I did the long events this year and I believe they led to my burnout. Besides I have a goal to run more next year.
After my ride my recovery consisted of Fluid Recovery Drink and my Skins Recovery Tights. I am evaluating Fluid Recovery Drink. I like their simple formula, low calories for faster absorbtion, high levels of L-Glutamine, Lactose free Whey Protien Isolates, and heck it even taste great. Read all about Fluid Recovery Drink I think you will be impressed how they differ.
Stats of the ride.
Total mileage —58.4 miles
Duration——— 3 hours 9 mins
Total Elevation–1,900
Avg Speed—— 19.2 mph
Avg Power—— 163 watts
Normalized Power- 207 watts
Total Kjs———- 1784 kjs
Stats for just Como Street
Mileage———— 33 miles
Duration———– 1 hour 35 mins
Elevation———— 1600 feet
Avg Speed———- 21.4 mph
Avg Power———- 181 watts
Normalized Power— 231 watts
Total Kjs————- 1007 kjs
I’d like to give a shout-out to Rudy Project! I had two frames that were broken and I was dragging my feet returning them because I thought the warranty process would be a hassle and take too long. I thought for sure I would not get them back before the Furnace Creek 508 on October 3rd. Well I’m here to tell you it was hassle-free and very fast turnaround time.
First I filled out the warranty form.
Then sent the sunglasses via Fed Ex ground so I would have a tracking number.
I shipped them off on Friday 9/11
on Wednesday 9/16 I received two new sunglasses. Even with a weekend in between I got my glasses back in less than 1 week!
That is just awesome service thank you Rudy Project you continue to confirm the reasons why I choose Rudy!!!
By the way, since I need prescription glasses Rudy Project will be my first choice for Rx sunglasses!!
Below you will find the two frames I submitted for warranty.
THE SPORTMASK
Furnace Creek 508 2007 Solo Fixed Gear the Red Eyed Vireo wearing the Ekynox
T- 17 days until Furnace Creek 508 2009. I go into this event burnt-out from a full year of ultra racing. My season began with the San Diego 200km Brevet back in Jan 3rd and will end with FC508 on Oct 3rd, a full 10 months! Follow labels such as Race Reports, races, Brevets, or training, mountains, high intensity to read up all the races and training leading up to the Furnace Creek 508, my goal event of the year.
On my website, http://www.epictrain.com/follow the link “Race Reports”. There you will find 2006, 2007 and 2008 Furnace Creek 508 Race Reports. Or you could “skip the book and see the movie” here in my video gallery.
Subscribe to my blog!!!
I went for a run today. Every other weekend I have my son. I make it a point not to ride my bike so that I can spend time with him. So today’s run we did together while he was riding his little BMX bike and me on foot. Ollie our black Lab mix is slowing building up his base miles. I did the first six miles with my son and Ollie and then dropped them off at the house and ran around the block for an additional two miles.
My left achilles started to hurt at mile 4.1 and my right didn’t start to hurt until mile 6.5. Overall I felt good, but Brandy is urging me to take this running thing easily until after Furnace Creek 508.
Total run was 8.2 miles in an 1:19
9:13 pace with a max of 6:58
George's Epic Adventures 