I have finished my last week of biking training for the Solvang Double Century, which will take place next week. My main focus is on the Devil Mountain Double Century at the end of April, so my training program has been geared to prepare for that. I have doing well on the training, although this week was a bit below plan. I will climb Henry Coe 5 times this week so I am getting a lot of climbing in.

This chart show my weekly miles this year compared with last year and against my plan.

But my climbing is doing well.

See all the charts here.

Categories: Training Program, Ultra Cycling Events
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After getting off to a good start for this year, my cycling too a hit for two weeks. The first week we were out of state to watch the grandkids. We did take our bikes up there but it was cold in Washington State and I didn’t get in that much riding. After I returned to California I did get in a good ride to watch Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California, but after that we had 3 days of straight rain. This week the weather has been great and I am back into fully training mode.

I have been writing an article for the club website on training for a tough double century, called The Big Climb. It is where you combine the long miles of a double century with a lot of climbing, in excess of 15,000 feet. In 2007 I completed such an event last year called the Devil Mountain Double, maybe the most difficult double century in California. Last year it was unusually hot weather and although I finished it was not easy. Having run the Boston Marathon only 12 days early probably did not help either. I am determined to do a better effort at training and have developed a program which I have included in my article.

Part of my training for the DMD is to do the Solvang Double Century 4 week earlier. The following four charts track my training for DMD. For each chart I plot my training for 2008 compared with both my actual for last year and against my training plan. The first two are accumulated miles ridden and feet climbed. Click all charts to view enlarged.

The next two charts show the weekly targets for both the longest ride of the week and the weekly total for climbing. In 2007 the dips from Week 14 to 16 were due to running the Boston Marathon, which made the final training for DMD difficult. That will not be the case this year. Click to enlarge.

Categories: Training Program, Ultra Cycling Events
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The weather is turning noticeably more like fall. Although the days are still warm, the mornings are a bit cooler. I am also closely approaching the major cycling events I have scheduled for the year and am in the final stages of training.

First up is the Everest Challenge. I leave for that in only a week from today. Then less than two weeks later I will be doing the Furnance Creek 508. I had previously read an interesting blog of someone who attempted to do both in the save season. He blew up on the 508. I hope that doesn’t happen to me.

I took it easy today, only ran 6 miles. I will then do some good cycling over the next 3 days, then go into a 3 day recovery period. I hope it all comes together. I have a better handle on training for a marathon where I have worked out more of a detailed training schedule. Both the Everest Challenge and FC 508 are new to me so I am just trying to adapt what I do for marathons to see if it works for ultra distance cycling events.

Categories: Everest Challenge, Furnace Creek 508, Ultra Cycling Events
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Ouch! I mean Ouch!

The Everest Challenge is only 18 days away. Is it too late to cram for the finals? I got in a good week of biking (370 miles last week) but I have not been climbing quite as much as I hoped to with only 24,000 feet last week. I probably need to focus more on climbing now and do some hill repeats.

Their website boldly calls this event:

THE HARDEST TWO DAY U.S.C.F. RACE!!!

“North American Climbers’ Cup”

Here the profiles and descriptions for the two days:

DAY 1 (click graph to enlarge):

Day One starts outside of Bishop at Millpond Park, 4,425′. The first climb is up to Mosquito Flat. At 10,250′ it is the highest paved road in the Sierras. The run in is 11 miles long. The climb is 22 miles, average grade is 5%. Maximum grade lower half 9%, upper half 11%.

Back down to Round Valley for a short climb up Pine Creek to 7,420′ in 8 miles, average grade is 7%, max is 9%, extended sections of 8%.

Then past the start/cars and up Bishop Creek to 9,835′ in 20.4 miles, average grade 6%. While this is not the highest spot or most vertical gain, the last mile has two short sections around 15% grade and will certainly test your strength and endurance and desire to stay on the bike. Bottom half has extended sections of 8-9% grade, max grade 9%. Timing finish will be at the top after the turnoff to the boat ramp. Total climbing for Day One is 15,465′ in 120 miles.

DAY 2 (click graph to enlarge):

Day Two starts outside Big Pine with a climb up towards the Palisade Glacier. Starting elevation 3,940′ finishing elevation 7,800′. The actual climb is 9 miles with an average grade of almost 8% (max is 11%). There are extended portions of 9-10%. Then riders head back across the valley past the original start. Next we head up the Death Valley Road/Waucoba Canyon to 6,545′ in 8.5 miles, average grade 5% (max just touches 12% in the roller in the “narrows”, 11% in one corner before that).

Back down to the cars/start and then up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest at 10,100′ in 21 miles, average grade 6% (max in the lower half is just touches 14%, max in the upper half just touches 17%). There are dozens of 9-12% rollers in the bottom third. The last 3 miles averages 10% grade. Timing finish will be at the high point a half mile before the Visitors Center. Total climbing for Day Two is 13,570′ in 86 miles. This brings the two day total to 29,035′ (the elevation of Mount Everest) in 206 miles.

In late September when we climb to over 10,000 feet, we may well encounter snow. But down in the valley it could be warm. So I expect a wide swing in the temperatures, making this ordeal even more challenging.

I was also checking the gearing recommended: pro 39/25-27, CAT 1-2 39/27-30, CAT 3 34-39/34, CAT 4-5 30-34/34, Public 26-30/34. If you are a great climber you may get away with higher gears. If you aren’t a good climber go LOWER.

Gee they are recommending mountain bike gearing for me. That is silly, but I am wondering if I should take my older Trek bike with the triple crankshaft. I would prefer to use my new bike because it is lighter and descends and climbs better. I will have to think it over.

Categories: Everest Challenge, Ultra Cycling Events
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Yesterday I was one of the three ride leaders for the club’s UDT (Ultra Distance Traning) rides. These are geared for training to ride in Ultra Distance events. I lead the fastest paced group and was joined by Gary F. and Joe F. at the start. I have refered to the three of us as the 3 F’s. Later on the Page Mill climb we were joined by Brian C. I am not sure, but yesterday’s club ride seemed like the fastest I ever did, with that amount of climbing.

Here are the stats for the ride:

114.5 miles
8,880 feet of climbing
16.6 mph average speed
Total Time: 7:44
Rolling Time: 6:53:39
Average HR: 140 (165 maximum)

Here is the heart rate curve compared with the altitude (click graph to enlarge).

Looking at the curve, I was not in the so called “red zone” that much, but I was sure pushing hard to keep up with Gary and Joe. The average speed of 16.6 mph shows we were really moving, considering that we climbed so much over the course of the ride. I guess my legs are the limiting factor at this point.

We kind of played a game also to see if we could come in under 7 hours for the first 100 miles. We reached that mileage with a total time (including stopping) of 6:58:55, and had climbed all but 400 feet of the total for the day. We almost missed this target because of the stoplights on Foothill.

After the ride I felt that I was in good enough shape to do the Everest Challenge so I signed up. This is the USCF California/Nevada State Climbing Championship that involves climbing 29,035 feet over a two day race, on 9/22-23. I still have some time for some intense training. See my prior blog entry on an attempt to estimate my performance for the Everest Challenge.

Categories: Cycling Group Rides, Ultra Cycling Events
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I am trying to figure out how long for each day for the Everest Challenge. Day 1 has 120 miles with 15,465 feet of climb and Day 2 has 86 miles with 13,570 feet of climbing. However the actual racing distance (excluding neutralized start and neutralized last descent after timing finish) is 92 miles for Day 1 and 61 miles for Day 2, or a total of 153 miles.

I found this on the website:How long will it take you? A rough guide is – you should be able to do Day Two in 15 to 20% less than your Death Valley to Mount Whitney time, or 35 to 40% less than your Markleeville Death Ride time. Day One should take you 10-15% longer than your Death Valley to Mount Whitney time, or 10-20% less than your Markleeville Death Ride time.

For the recent Death Ride my total time was 9:22 and a rolling time of 8:40. I doubt I can do any better, especially since the Everest Challenge is two days back to back. Using the 9:22 total time, less 10% less for Day 1 and 35% less for day 2, I calculate what I consider the very best possible time I could ever do as:

Day 1 8:25 (average 10.9 mph total time)
Day 2 6:05 (average 10.0 mph total time)
Total: 14:30

But looking at Gary’s time last year makes me think that I can not possibly do it in 14:30, maybe 15:30 is more likely.

For 2006, the time for my age group range from 12:40 (1st) to 18:04 (7th place). The best time in 2005 for my age group (55+) was 12:55. The slowest of the four entries was 17:33. For 2003, it is similar. The 55+ category that year ranged from 13:42 to 17:43.

So if I place, it will be only because there are no more than 2 other people in the 55+ grouping.

I am about ready to register for the event. I just need to decide if I should enter it as a race or tourist class.

Categories: Everest Challenge, Ultra Cycling Events
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For sometime I had wanted to do the popular “Death Ride”, what appeared to be a challenging 125 mile, 15,000 feet of climbing, ride in the Sierra mountains. Because this ride is so popular they have used a lottery system to select the 3,000 riders that are allowed in. This year I was selected and decided to do it along with several other club members. It was my first experience with the Death Ride, it may also be the last time I will do it. I found it 1) over hyped, 2) over crowed, 3) too many inexperienced cyclists (along with many good cyclists). I now know the term “Death Ride” applies to the number of cyclists for the roads and not to the course.

I was lucky that another club member was willing to let us use the campsite she had reserved. I drove up with Gary F. while Joe F. was driving himself after work. Yes, the three of us are the three “Fs” that set out to do the Solvang Double under 11 hours (which we all did). It was a great campsite and a real treat that there were five other club members in the campsite next to ours so we had a great time chatting that evening and the next day after the ride.

The three of us decided to start at 6:00 am and bike directly from the campsite, which was 4.5 miles from the town. That is where I started my Polar heart rate monitor, which also provides cycling functions. It was rather cool that morning, around 45 degrees, but I only took arm warmers because I didn’t want to carry a jacket or vest with me. I figured we would be climbing soon and would warm up.

It was downhill or flat to Markleeville where we turned right and headed toward Monitor, the first of the five passes. The three of us stayed together until we started to climb. I went ahead of the other two as I tried to make my way up the hill, winding around the mass of riders. It was fun at first passing so many riders but later in the day it was a chore. I did like coming up upon many friends. I probably should have slowed down and chatted more with them but I was thinking more about keeping up the pace. I skipped the first rest stop because it was way to crowded and I didn’t need any water anyway. In fact I kept skipping rest stops until mile 62, although I did take on more water at a rolling water stop on the way up the back side of Monitor. I ended up stopping at only four of the rest stops all day, mostly to get water and a little food, keeping each stop to less than 10 minutes.

It was beautiful country, and the hills were great. The support was outstanding. I loved the climbs and found the whole event to be not that difficult for me, but still some challenge to do all five passes. I did buy the 5 pass jersey because it is cool looking, unlike the DMD jersey that I don’t care for and didn’t buy. Look at the back of the jersey and you can see “Five Pass Finisher” vertically in red.

You were not allowed to buy this particular jersey until after you finished and showed the pin you received at the top of the fifth pass.

Overall I just felt the Death Ride to be too dangerous because of the number of riders. Because three of us started at 6 am, I must have passed 2,000 riders on the climbs and found I had to keep crossing the center line because of cyclists who were wandering all over the place. I hated to do that because cyclists were coming down the hills at the same time.

I suppose that because you can do only one pass and still ride in the event that it brings out a wider range of people. But I would think most any cyclist that could climb one of the hills would think that maybe someone might want to pass them and they should stay to the right a bit more and not climb near the center line, or wander back and forth. I don’t want to infer that this is a description of most of the cyclists, just enough of them to be an issue for me.

The last pass was not closed to traffic and with no bike lane and heavy traffic it was an effort for each person I passed on the climb, waiting for a break in the traffic and then shooting by them to minimize my time cycling where the cars were driving. On this pass I didn’t find the erratic cyclists as I did earlier on, it was just the road/traffic issue. We did have a lot hotter weather by now (high 80′s) and a head wind, but I still felt fine during that climb. After getting an ice cream treat at the top of the last climb, it was a real fun decent back to Turtle Rock finish. I let my speed get a bit on the fast side for me when a strong cross wind gust hit me. I was a bit spooked but handled it okay.

I ended up finishing the 5 passes with a total time of 9:22 and a rolling time of 8:40. The data from my Polar heart rate monitor shows:

Start Time: 6:01 AM
Duration: 9:21:23
Distance: 125.2 miles
Heart Rate Average: 140
Heart Rate Maximum: 178
Speed Average: 14.5
Speed Maximum: 45.6
Cadence Average: 37
Cadence Maximum: 120
Total Climb: 14,459 feet

The heart rate and altitude graphs looks like this. The time scale is total time so you can see where I actually stopped at the rest stops, the first one being 62 miles and 4.5 hours into the ride. Click to enlarge.

If I do this ride again I am going to start much earlier just to avoid some of the crowds.

I am now thinking of doing the Everest Challenge (206 miles, 29,000 feet in two days) on September 23/24. You can do either as a USCF race or as a non-timed tourist/randonneur. It is only 2 weeks before the 508, so I am still not 100% sure I will do it.

Categories: Ultra Cycling Events
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With the Death ride approaching on July 14th, last Thursday I was looking for some ride on the weekend that would be good training. There was not a long enough ride on Saturday and the one good ride list in the club on Sunday conflicted with a club meeting I had that afternoon. So I thought, what the heck, why not do the Climb to Kaiser ride instead.

I checked the website and they still had registration open until 11 pm that evening, so I signed up and swallowed the higher fee for late registration. I then contacted Paul (who will do the 508 with me) who was looking to share a ride and room. He told me he had already matched up with Gary (who will be camping with me for the Death Ride). So I contacted Gary and asked to sleep in the same room and I would bring my pad and sleeping bag and sleep on the floor.

My next decision was which bike to take. My new bike is lighter and I feel more secure descending on it, but it has only a double crankshaft so not nearly as low of a gear as my older Trek. The Climb to Kaiser has 13,500 feet of climbing (and 155 miles) so I was wondering if I could do it with a double. I decided that I could and ended up taking the new bike.

We all stayed at the Best Western motel in Clovis, which is the town that adjoins Fresno. We decided to get up at 4;15 am, but somehow everyone started to get up at 4. It was still dark as we drove the car over to the high school for the start of the ride but by the time the ride was ready to start at 5:30 am, it was light enough to not use lights.

The mass start was a lot of fun, maybe about 400 cyclists all riding together following a police escort through the city streets, with no need to stop at the stop lights or stop signs. The pace was fast, ranging from 22 to 27 mph. I was surprised that much of the group stayed together at that pace, but I think we had a tailwind and when you are in a big pack (peleton) you kind of get sucked alone. I had entered the mass start toward the back so I was working my way up toward the front. After 25 miles we started to reach some rollers so I knew I needed to move up closer to near the front since the good climbers would be there. As we started to do a little climbing it was easy to pass people and the group started to really spread out.

I felt good as we more or less climbed for the next 55 mile, with a few downhills and some flatter sections. It was not long before I found myself around the same people. Climbing really separates people out. It was a beautiful course and the weather was wonderful. I had heard bad things about this ride but found it to be a lot of fun. Some grades were up to 20% but I was able to do fine with my double. As we turned off to go up Kaiser Pass we were already at 7,000 feet so I was feeling the effect of less oxygen. The road narrowed down to a single lane and the air got thinner as we climbed up a rather steep section to the summit at 9,100 feet. My legs were fine but I was breathing hard to get enough air. When I arrived I was greeted by some cheering volunteers and some horn blasts signaling finally reaching the top. Since this part of the course was an out and back, I had seen about 6 riders coming down as I was still climbing and I saw about the same at the top, so I knew I was near the front. I asked and was told I was the 12th guy to reach the summit, which I felt good about.

We had not stopped very long at any of the rest stops, usually just long enough to fill the water bottles and stuff some food in the jersey pockets so eat while riding. But up at the top I did take a few extra minutes to drink a soft drink, which tasted mighty fine.

Gary reach the summit very shortly after I did and so we started down together. We reached back to the main road and were not sure which way to go, but Jeff, another club member, who was just coming up and told gave us the directions before I could get my route sheet out of my pocket to check. We met two other riders that we kind of grouped with. I could go a bit a head of them on the climb over the rollers, but would lose them on the downhills. After awhile it was all downhill and I lost the pack. I rode the rest of the ride solo, except for maybe about 8 miles where I had come upon a younger guy would was real tired, so I pulled him. He gave a few pulls but was clearly worn down. The last 20 miles were flat, hot and a headwind. It is not fun ridding solo like that, but I thought it was good 508 training.

I finished back at the start at 3:45, for a total time of 10 hours 15 minutes. When I checked the results the next day I was 24th overall. Gary had come in 19th. I was real happy with how I did considering it was my first Climb to Kaiser and I decided at the last minute to do the ride. It is clearly a ride I want to do again.

Categories: Ultra Cycling Events
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I feel a bit like in college burning the midnight oil cramming for the final exams. With the Devil Mountain Double (DMD) fast approaching and being mostly not riding for 3 weeks due to the marathon taper and post marathon recovery, I did get in some good miles this week with 75 on Tuesday and 62 today. But just like staying up late to study for an exam, I am wondering if this is going to help or hinder me come Saturday. The body does take some time to repair itself after a work out and without getting through that repair time, I suppose you do more damage that good. I guess I will take it easy today and tomorrow.

I am planning on doing the 5 am start. The start location is over an hour from my house so that means getting up at 3:15 am and out the door in 30 minutes. I am not expecting to finish until past 10:30 pm. That who period will be on the bike except only about an hour total at the rest stops. It is going to be some day. I only wish I had another week to get ready for it. It would have been much better to do the Mt. Hamilton Challenge this Saturday and the DMD the following, but they fall on the same day. I did the Mt. Hamilton Challenge a couple of times before and recall seeing the DMD riders going the opposite direction on Mines Rd. and thinking how stupid could anyone be to do that ride!

To put this in perspective, this is what they say on the DMD website: “THIS SHOULD NOT BE YOUR FIRST DOUBLE! This is a VERY TOUGH RIDE. On average, riders who have done the Terrible Two say the DMD takes two hours longer. The staff will do all they can to pamper you at the rest stops but THE COURSE WILL SHOW NO MERCY! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!”

Ouch!

Categories: Devil Mountain Double, Ultra Cycling Events
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What was I thinking when I decided to do the Devil Mountain Double this Saturday. It is one of the most difficult one day bike events in California with 206 miles and 20,000 feet of climbing. My original plan was do the Mt. Hamilton Challenge this Saturday which is tough enough with 125 miles and 9,000 feet climbing, but the DMD is like twice as hard. I am not sure I am in shape so I did a 70 mile bike ride today, biking from home and then doing the Metcalf Mauler. I tested out a light system I borrowed for Saturday because unlike the Solvang Double Century, I WILL be riding in the dark. I anticipate starting at 5 am and not finishing for 17-18 hours, which means past 10 pm. Some people I ride with did not finish until 11:30 pm last year.

Normally I would not even do this ride if I had trained specifically for it, but I have not been on the bike that much lately because of the Boston Marathon. I just must be crazy!

Categories: Devil Mountain Double, Ultra Cycling Events
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