Two-Wheeled Revelations: June 2009

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

What Have I Done!?

While Brad and Marja were here in Seattle for the week after my 24-hour race, we had Shannon over for dinner. Shannon is a friend from college that recently moved to Seattle. Shannon had to endure our boring talk about biking, since we are obsessed, and had just returned from my race. Thankfully, she was kind and even pretended to be interested. Later, she said that the conversation had inspired her to get going on some fitness goals of her own.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Shannon is over for dinner again after a walk around Greenlake with Sharon and the kids. As we eat our yummy food from Latona Pub, the talk turns to training goals. Shannon throws it out there that the Seattle Marathon is coming up in November. Shannon and Sharon are talking about doing the half-marathon. Before I know it, we have our hands in the middle of the table and we are making a pact. But I had to open my big mouth and say that if I am going to train for the marathon, then I have to do the full marathon. We had all had a couple beers, so I was hoping the pact would be forgotten or written off due to alchohol-induced bravery (stupidity). No such luck. 26.2 miles, here I come.

So I did some research. Assuming that you have a decent base fitness level, most marathon training regimens appear to be 18 weeks long. The Seattle Marathon is about 22 weeks out. No problem, right?

Sharon has run 4 marathons, and always wanted me to run one with her. I have always told her that I was not cut out to run a marathon. But my limits have been redefined through all of my training and completing two solo 24-hour races. I am excited about the new goal (and a little scared). But also, it feels a little weird to only be running half of it with Sharon and not the whole thing.

I guess Sharon has a new goal now...get back in full marathon form for next year... ;-)

Saturday, June 6, 2009

24-hour Results

The results are finalized from the 24-hour race a couple weeks ago. It is confirmed that I finished in 6th place (out of 23) in the "Solo Male Under 40" class, with 16 laps (240 miles) completed in 25 hours 8 minutes 36 seconds. The rules of this race state that your last lap must start by 23:59:59, but there is no cut-off for when you must finish. That is why my total time is over 24 hours. I started my 16th lap at 23:22:21.

Overall, I am very happy with the results. The goal was to get 16 laps. When I first wrote it down, it scared me. That is 3 more laps (45 more miles) than last year...in the same amount of time. Although I analyzed the data and could see how to get there, it still just sounded tough.

The plan to get there was based on 3 main changes from last year:

1. minimize pit time
2. ride faster
3. no really slow laps (basically, even if I was suffering, I just had to keep pedaling through it)

We succeeded in all three. According to my pit crew, the longest pit was about 7 and-a-half minutes. That was for a clothes change and hot meal. Most pits were more in the 2 minute range.

I rode an average lap time of 1 hour 52 minutes last year. This year, my average lap time was 1 hour 33 minutes. That is almost 20 minutes faster per lap. I would account for at least 15 minutes of that 20 coming out of the riding time and not the pit time.

My slowest lap time this year was 1 hour 51 minutes (still faster than my average from last year). That was a lap that I changed clothes on, so probably 6-7 minutes are pit time. So I'll estimate the riding time at 1 hour 45 minutes. That is 35 minutes faster than my slowest time last year!

So overall, it was a huge success. But of course, I always think that I can do better. Talk about a challenge...if I do it again next year, I will have to ride over 3 minutes faster on every lap. There is no room to shave time out of the pit, as we were about as efficient as we can be. So I will have to be consistently faster on my laps and find about 40 extra minutes. Then I will be able to complete 17 laps. This year, depending on how long it took to complete the 17 laps, that would have been either 2nd or 3rd place. 2nd place finished with 17 laps in 24 hours 18 minutes. That is a little over 1 hour 25 and-a-half minute average.

Last year, the entire concept of being on the podium was not even in my mind. This year, my stretch goal that was in my mind was 17 laps. I knew that had a chance of putting me on the podium. Funny how much things can change in just a year. I still don't really consider myself a real bike racer. Not sure why. But somehow I know that I can podium at one of these races if I really put myself to it.

Will I (not podium, but "really put myself to it")? Not sure. It is a big burden on the family when I train for one of these races. We'll see.

For now, I'm actually enjoying just riding my bike and not worrying about how many miles I'm doing or how fast I'm riding. There's plenty of time to think about the 2010 race. Plus, there's Cyclocross season to start obsessing about ;-)

Here are my lap times from last year and this year:
(this year there was no pit stop on lap 1 & 2, last year just lap 1)

This Year Last Year
1. 1:12:33 1:19:58
2. 1:14:10 1:24:09
3. 1:18:27 1:31:02
4. 1:25:26 1:40:32
5. 1:25:36 1:52:27
6. 1:33:35 1:56:28
7. 1:32:17 1:58:22
8. 1:40:02 2:08:08
9. 1:41:40 2:16:12
10. 1:34:33 2:09:47
11. 1:48:25 2:20:46
12. 1:51:29 1:54:36
13. 1:39:40 1:53:35
14. 1:50:59 -
15. 1:33:22 -
16. 1:46:14 -

Monday, June 1, 2009

Round and Round...Again.

Once again, I must apologize for a long overdue post. I have many excuses, so let me list a few. There were timing issues at the race, so I was reluctant to post a race summary until I knew how things ended up. Also, my friends Brad and Marja that supported me, spent the week following the race with us in Seattle. And I was off of work that week. I think that should cover me, but I have more if anyone wants to hear.

First of all, the race was again a huge success this year. But only a small part of the credit is due to me. My wife Sharon deserves the lion's share of the credit for dealing with everything that goes along with me training for a 24-hour race (basically her being constantly left alone with our 3 kids while I am out on my bike training). And for dragging the whole family out again to cheer for me.

Another huge portion of the credit goes to Brad and Marja. This year, I think Marja gets a bit more than Brad (sorry Brad). Marja gave up her spot in line for her DeSalvo frame. Trust me, I do not underestimate the value of this gesture. Without her sacrifice, I would not have been riding my new custom-built frame and who knows how the race would have turned out. I really believe that the new bike was a big psychological advantage for me this year. I did pay for Marja's fork for her new DeSalvo cyclocross bike in return for her kindness. But as someone who waited very impatiently for my bike, I know that does not really ease the pain she is in right now.

Now we come to Brad. He is the reason I ever even got involved in this craziness. You might think that I would be cursing him and not thanking him. Actually, I owe him the greatest thanks of all. Not to sound overly dramatic, but my life has changed since the weekend 2 years ago that I went to Brad's 24-hour race in Monterey, Ca. I am 30 pounds lighter, and much more confident both on and off the bike. I know that I can push myself WAY beyond what I thought was possible. On top of all this, he makes sure I have everything that I need when I race, that my bike is in working order, and that I have the proper motivation.

Then there are many other people in the periphery that are important as well. People like Joe Martin, who organizes training rides and provides lots of encouragement.

And finally, there is me. I did work hard in preparing for this race. So I deserve a little credit. And I did work really hard to fight the nature of who I am and not think during the race. "Don't think...Focus!" was what Brad said to me every lap. I would start thinking...how do you focus without thinking? That would generally keep me busy long enough to distract me from the fact that I was going out on yet another lap around the 15 mile course. I was very successful in this endeavor to not think until about 6:00 AM. Then I asked for details on where I stood. Big mistake. I hold Brad partially responsible for actually listening to me and telling me what I asked for. (I can't wait to see the aftermath of this comment..if it's anything like his reaction when I asked in the timing tent if anyone could tell me how many laps I had done, it should be fun). The news that I still had 4 laps to do was not the light at the end of the tunnel I was looking for.

Enough praise, now for the race details. The race begins with a 'LeMans' start, which means everyone's bikes are lined up on racks and we run (about 600 yds) on foot to the bikes and then start riding. This helps to spread out the field so that it is not too much of a traffic jam on the course. The first lap is still a little hectic with everyone packed in, but it's not too bad. Sicne I am a solo racer, I am not too worried about running really fast to get to my bike. I did try a bit harder this year because I took it really slow last year and got caught in a lot of traffic.

Lap 1 was uneventful and felt pretty fast. We had planned in advance for me not to stop after Lap1. I had enough GU and food for 2 laps, so I just signaled to Brad that I needed both water bottles replaced and threw them on the ground as I approached our pit. I slowed and picked up new bottles as he jogged along side. Smooth transition and off on lap 2.

I won't bore you with a summary of each lap. I don't think I could tell you anything about most of them anyway. They all sort of blur together. Remember, I wasn't thinking out there...most of the time.

The highlights are as follows. Just about everything went smoothly through the first part of the race. At one point, Brad incorrectly informed me that the racer one place behind me was on my tail. So I "dropped the hammer" and the result was Lap #15 finished in 1hr 33min. But it is important to note that comparing lap times is difficult because of the varying time spent in the pit. The previous lap was 1hr 50min, but I think I changed clothes on that lap, so I may have had a 6-10min pit stop. But let me tell you, that 1hr 33min lap hurt, and it was A LOT faster than the previous. Then I learned that Brad had been misinformed due to the issues they were having in the timing tent and I was not actually in jeopardy of getting passed by the racer behind me. It was interesting to see what I could really do if I had to at that point in the race.

Bottom line is, I completed 16 laps for a total of 240 miles. That is 3 laps (or 45 miles) more than last year, in about the same elapsed time. That was the goal that was put down on paper. Put a check mark in box #1.

Another great highlight of the race was that Jacob and Zachary got to take part in the kids race. Sadly, I could not watch because I was busy racing myself. But they had a great time.

Post-race analysis:
Lap 1 was 1hr 12min. That is almost 8 minutes faster than last year on the same exact course. There are still ongoing issues with the results, but it appears that I averaged just under 1hr 34min per lap. The goal "on paper" for the race was 16 laps. I stated earlier that the race was a huge success. That is based on the fact that I achieved that goal. And I am happy, but...

There is always a "but..." In a 24-hour race, you cannot get ahead of yourself, too many things can happen. But I felt that barring any major castastrophes, I would be able to attain the goal of 16 laps. I am a much stronger rider than I was last year. With a season of cyclocross under my belt and all of the interval training that I did, I was certian I would be faster. With the experience from last year's race, I felt confident that I could push myself harder and fight the instinct to conserve for the hours ahead. Combined with Brad's plan for limiting the time spent in the pit, it seemed inevitible that I would find the extra time needed to get in 3 more laps than last year.

BUT, I was thinking about 17 laps. This would be enough to possibly put me on the podium. A lofty goal, but if there is one thing that I have learned through the process of training for and competing in bike races, it is to never sell yourself short. Anything is possible...if you make it happen. but you can't make it happen if you don't think you can do it. So I was dreaming of 17 laps and a spot on the podium. I even did the math. Since the Spokane race lets you start a lap as late as 23hrs 59min 59sec and finish it at any time, all I had to do was complete 16 laps within 23:59:59. Then I could take as long as I needed to get the 17th done. (This is what we think to make it sound easier, but in reality you never really let up on the last lap. If anything, you go faster because the end is in sight).

According to the race data, I completed my 15th lap at a total elapsed time of 23 hours 22 minutes. This only left 38 minutes to complete the 16th lap before the cutoff. I would need at least another 30 minutes to make it feasible. So I missed the chance for 17 laps by the margin of about 30 minutes, over the course of 23 hours 59 minutes. I have a hard time believing that I could not shave off 30 minutes at the current weight and fitness level today. So what would it take to shave off another hour+ to make 17 laps by the cutoff and complete a total of 18 laps if I am lighter and more fit in the future...?

Welcome to the inner workings of my deranged, bike-obsessed mind. Where will I be on Memorial Day 2010? Not sure yet, but you might try Riverside Park in Spokane...sorry Sharon.

Our Pit Area - well decorated with DeSalvos (Brad's & mine)