Belated Thanksgiving Thoughts

I had a great ride on Thanksgiving! I did a loop from Eugene to Marcola to Crawfordsville to Harrisburg and back down Coburg Road to Eugene. Jt's a beautiful ride, the kind that I like best - not too flat, not too hilly, not really TRYING to be anything, just the road going where the road needs to go. I can see this loop being part of a great double century. (Watch this space, we don't have enough DCs here in Oregon and I'm on a mission!)

Sunshine for the most part, then a good soaking the last 15 minutes. I was actually grateful that the rain came when it did - gave me the feeling that I'd totally used up my day, as it were.

A four hour ride gives you just enough time to gather your thoughts. I've had a GREAT 2009, and I've got a lot to be thankful for. Working backward...

A dedicated group of friends and supporters who moved heaven and earth to get me to the Borrego Double Ordeal earlier this month. Logistics, financing, equipment loans, dogsitting - I just wouldn't have gotten this done without help. I had a great time, made new friends, and it put me in a great frame of mind for my RAAM training.

My mom successfully finishing treatment for lung cancer. She's currently cancer-free after surgery and chemotherapy.

A great new occasional training partner - John Caton. We get royal support from his wife Lena. I feel totally spoiled whenever I go out with them. I know it's making me faster. And faster is good.

A breakthrough race at Ring of Fire. This is where I mentally became a recumbent racer, not "a girl who rides recumbents sometimes...." I set a pretty high goal for myself, and I exceeded it, despite tough conditions. Expert-level crewing played a role; I was lucky to have Robert along.

An actual bike sponsor! Woo-and-hoo! I've also picked up Honey Stinger as a sponsor. I'll freely admit that I did it for the cherry-dark chocolate protein bars, but their gels rock, too.

A FINISH at RAO. Looking at the starters list, a lot of strong riders didn't figure out how to make a finish this year. I am very thankful that I did figure it out, did finish, and did requalify for RAAM.

The opportunity to chief Team RANS to their ground-breaking victory over all other 4-person teams. We had a great run, I learned a lot, and being there was a big motivator for me.

A great new job at Bike Friday. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that my favorite part of the day is the noon ride - what kid doesn't like recess? - but mainly I'm thankful to have landed in Eugene and that I'm starting to settle in.

A womens' overall, womens' recumbent, and overall recumbent record at the Lewis and Clark Ultra. Oh, yeah - this was my first 24-hour race on a recumbent. Won't someone else PLEASE show up next year??? I set the bar pretty low, not for lack of trying, though.

A (soggy) win at the Davis 24 - the competition included Leslie Horton, who competed in RAW, and Joan Grant, who was smart enough to ditch out after 12 hours...

I'm thankful for good times, good friends, good health, and all the things that we take for granted. Like running water (which I currently don't have; we have a busted water line...but unlike a billion or so people, I know I'll have it again in a day or so).

Have a great week.

What I do

OK - This isn't the best title for this post. I don't make bikes. I sell bikes. But - every bike that we make at Bike Friday starts with a sale. We build 'em one at a time, after a (sometimes lengthy) process of consulting with the new bike owner and specifying every part that's to go on the bike.

This slide show documents the birth of one customer's Bike Friday New World Tourist, which she's named the "Other Trucker", because we matched its geometry to her current favorite touring bike - a Surly Long Haul Trucker.

Some customers are just more fun than others. Apologies if you're one of my current customers and you're reading this and I've NOT made a blog post about the birth of your bike - but Karen and Vinny (Karen's wrench in Vacaville, CA) were very involved in the process.

We likened the process to pregnancy, labor, and delivery of a new bundle of joy. I got frequent emails from Vinny reminding me that he was at home, boiling water, forceps at the ready, etc. I was sorely tempted to send candy cigars along with the bike!

That's all I've got for you - it's Friday (here at Bike Friday) and I'm feeling really good about making a customer happy with a shiny new bike (doesn't hurt that it's my favorite color - Candy Apple Red). I took pictures along the way - much to the amusement of the production staff.



Tailwinds,

Sandy

Sharing The Road

Had a GREAT training ride last Saturday. Lena and John (and Moo) Caton invited me out to John's training ride. He was supposed to ride for 4 hours, and was looking for company. So I got a paced ride on beautiful, scenic Highway 126, with full support.

All I had to do was - keep up with John. Not an insignificant task, but I was really motivated. Moo barked EVERY time the support car came past. Lena says that he only barks for John, but I could tell he was starting to bark for me, too...

The weather was pretty nice - I'd hesitate to say "perfect" but it was really QUITE nice - almost 60, almost sunny, very little wind. Riding along the McKenzie was scenic, there weren't very many cars, and the kinder, gentler rollers were a nice change of pace from the Wolf Creek training loop (if you're ever in town, that's probably where I'll take you riding first...).

The two hours out was rolling upwards ever so slightly - I really pounded it out on the uphills (check out this picture of my big-ring climbing!):



I also got to show off my smiling skills - remember, smiling makes for faster racing! - for the camera. Lena took an amazing number of pictures, and an even more amazing number of them turned out well. I'd have to take a whole lot of pictures to come up with 143 winners. (How many? We may never know....)



I know I rode harder than I would've if I'd been riding on my own - it's easy to let yourself off the hook when you're not being pushed to ride steadily. I'm pretty sure that John felt like he pushed a little bit, too - makes for great training.

Afterward, we spent some time talking about this and that, trading stories and tips. John has some great motorcycle goggles that have prevented the dry eye syndrome that plagued Mark at Furnace Creek a few years back. We talked RAAM, RAW, and Texas Hill Country.

Add it all up, and it's clear that I've been riding by myself waaaaay too much. So - if I hit you up to ride with me sometime soon, don't be too surprised.

Tailwinds,
Sandy

Happy Blog Action Day - Climate Change and Cycling

Hi Gang -

Bloggers around the world are blogging about climate change today. To see more about what folks have to say on the topic, please visit here:

http://www.blogactionday.org

Cycling and (mitigating) climate change go together like (fair trade) coffee and (locally-sourced) scones. Or hands and gloves. Or pink and racing.
Bike commuting just makes sense! Exercise, base miles, save wear and tear on the car, and save the planet, one mile (or a few) at a time.

I've got to admit that sometimes I feel like an eco-slouch. RAAM certainly isn't about saving the planet! But in the long run, I'm hoping it more than balances out.

Here's a good way to keep track: http://worldcommute.com/entries/myImpactResults

Have a great day! Lights - raingear - action!

Sandy

Blown Away

Sorry it took so long to post after Furnace Creek. We were...tired.
Here's the long - and the short - of it: Greg Olson, Oregon Sasquatch, finished the Furnace Creek 508. He was DFL. Not shabby - half of the field were DNF's. We arrived in Santa Clarita early Friday afternoon and sailed through h the inspection process. I got to meet/greet/hug about half of the race (it seemed). Good to see everybody!

Del was successfully inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday evening at the shortest Furnace Creek pre-race meeting in race history, and we got to the hotel in plenty of time to get rest. We didn't - we got an all-night party of Magic Mountain-goers rattling the walls instead - but we had great intentions.

The morning was a little crisp, but lovely, and punctuated by tailwinds. We were making great progress! Greg rode like a champ and took care of business. He was in 25th-30th place most of the race.

As it should be, the trip up Townes' Pass was difficult. The trip down to Furnace Creek started accumulating the winds that would be the undoing of many racers (and their crews). Between Furnace Creek and Asford Mills, the winds were horrific - steady 40MPH headwinds with significant gusts. Greg was making steady 5 mph progress through much of this stretch. We went several hours without seeing anyone. After Asford Mills, things calmed down, and the climb to Salsbury Pass (normally the bane of riders) was a huge, warm, sunny relief! We went back and forth with several solos and 2-person teams here, and everyone was in a great mood.

Clothing change and a nice breakfast in Shoshone, then on to Baker. "Light" headwinds punctuated the rest of the trip. We made decent time in this stretch and were calculating a finish around midnight to 2AM.

Del got Greg a milkshake in Baker, which perked him up quite a bit! So far, the nutrition plan had been a mix of Sustained Energy and HEED, with occasional gels, cup-o-noodles, and the omnipresent York Peppermint Patties. For the record, we also successfully tossed in a few Boost energy drinks, a couple of sandwiches, and the like....overall I thought that Greg ate barely enough (especially considering the hard work in the wind) but because he's diabetic I wasn't wanting to tinker too much. We were using about 50 mg of caffeine per hour in the latter parts of the race (Kelso on).

Despite everyone's best efforts, the wheels fell off 40 miles from the end. Greg had ridden extremely well to this point, but not without a cost: his left shoulder was weakened by the constant quartering winds, and his back had tightened up. Having to switch away from his favorite bike (the Trek Y Foil) did not help. He was noticeably crooked on the bike, and having troubles maintaining a straight line.

We took a quick break for downtime when he veered off the road and fell. He was pretty groggy - he'd been riding for 39 hours at this point - and we thought that a very quick power nap might help. He stayed down for about 10 minutes, then popped up wanting to ride.

The rest of the ride was very hard - the climb up Sheephole is not nice under good circumstances, and these were not good circumstances. By the time we were on the last stretch, Greg needed constant reminders to pedal. So as Del drove, I leaned out the car window and hollered "Pedal! Pedal!..." to keep him from coasting. It was a little disturbing to realize that the only thing keeping him pedalling was some deep, lizard-like reflex that heard my voice and reacted to it.

But - we made it. We got passed about a mile before the finish - actually a relief because it made it easier to show Greg the way in. His wife was waiting for us - she'd been waiting for some time, of course, and was worried, but was being a very good sport about it.

I was SO proud of Greg! He never considered quitting, never did less than his best, never complained (though he did mention, once or twice, that his shoulder hurt...), and out-performed riders who are serious legends in ultracycling.

Here's my slide show! I didn't have much time to take pictures, as you see...

Once More Into the Furnace

Well, the season wasn't supposed to end this way - I was supposed to be crewing for Del and Greg as a 2-man team down in Death Valley this weekend. Unfortunately, Del had a pretty bad crash, and his shoulder is broken.

We had a tough few days waiting for the news - would he be able to go down at ALL to accept his accolades? He's being inducted into the Furnace Creek Hall of Fame - the hard way - 5 solo efforts, no DNF's - AND a Death Valley Cup to his name. In other words - tough as nails. Fortunately his orthopedist gave him clearance to travel (but not ride).

That leaves - Greg. A pretty tough guy in his own right. So - we're switching gears, going to get him a solo finish. His totem is Oregon Sasquatch. Be looking for us out there. We'll be looking for you.

I always look forward to the 508 - it's usually the last stop on my annual tour (Davis 24, RAO, Furnace Creek). If I've not run into you at one of these events - do come next year.

I positively enjoy crewing! Hey - I got royally crewed at not one but FOUR events this year: Davis, Lewis and Clark, RAO, and Ring of Fire. Payback is sweet! Problem-solving, getting into your racer's head, staying ahead of time, weather, and terrain - a worthy challenge.

This will be my last weekend off of serious training for a while; The Season starts in earnest as soon as I get back. I've been kinda-sorta loafing since the Ring of Fire - bike commuting, a couple of unstructured fitness rides a week, and the occasional trip to the gym...the last being heavily slanted toward sinking into the sauna.

Now it's time to turn my attention toward structured workouts, strength training, intervals, and the like. Nineteen weeks to Sebring. Which is sixteen weeks before RAAM. When you break it down, the time goes FAST.

And - if you're going to be racing down in the Furnace, and you think it will make you ride faster, I *will* show you my tattoo. Probably. Mention you saw it on my blog...

Ciao bella,
Sandy

Better than perfect?

Great day at the races! So many of my fellow racers had bad days - heat exhaustion, cramping, vomiting, worse - that it's almost embarrassing to admit that I had a PR on the course. By...quite a bit.

In 100 degree heat.
On a recumbent.
With something like 14k' of climbing.

My race support was excellent - I was well fed, well hydrated, and my core temperature never got close to redline. Thanks Robert (and Zoe and Cog - my all-star canine cheering squad - they were the GOOD dogs who didn't run away...unlike our pal Harlem, who made the Great Escape from the Team 2LiveCrew support vehicle).

I felt good from the get-go - I am SO glad that we pre-rode the course two weeks ago; it made a huge difference in my confidence level. I passed my 1:00 before the top of the climb at mile 3 - upright guy, full-on TT bike.

We kept it simple: I rode the bike, Robert did everything else. He didn't totally discourage me from thinking - if I had an idea, he would listen - but he did make it clear that I hadn't been hired for my brains, at least not that day.

The ride went on without incident; there were definitely times I wished for a bigger gear. We put an 11-28 cassette on the bike that morning, replacing the 12-26 that was there. Dumb move, Earl! For reasons we didn't have time to explore, I couldn't hold the 11T cog. So I had a 12-28. Still not a bad upgrade; I made AMPLE use of the 28.

One cramping moment of any consequence - on one of the steeper bits of FR44, just as the temperatures were starting to soar. We ramped the electrolytes a bit (actually just accelerated the next scheduled dose), upped the water, and went into core-temperature relief mode...much ice dumped in the jersey. I discovered one MORE benefit of riding a 'bent - you can dump ice down your shirt, have it totally exposed to moving air, and you don't have to worry so much if your shorts get wet - you're not likely to chafe as you would be on an upright.

Spent much of the descent into Dufur (OK, Robert, there's the Hunter S Thompson title for you: Descent Into Dufur....) totally spun out. Bummer - that's always been a working descent on the upright, and I've always had a blast pushing, pushing, pushing. I guess that coasting, coasting, coasting is okay, especially if you're catching racers.

The climb on Dufur Gap was okay! It was my undoing last year (on the upright!). After that, it was party time again, down Hwy 197 at breakneck speeds (disclaimer: no actual necks were broken in the setting of this course record, not to let the cat out of the bag...) and around to Hwy 216 (freshly chip-sealed, thanks). We saw Linda Bott quite a bit about then - it was fun and motivating to race her through this stretch.

Robert had been giving me periodic time/speed updates; I'd always been close to my goal, but, say, 1 or 2 miles short (55 miles at 4 hours instead of 56, for instance). Now he asked me, "Tell me again how many miles you want?" "ONE HUNDRED SIXTY EIGHT!" "OK, how many MORE do you want?" Oh - my. This was the first time I'd gotten that news - that I might actually be gaining on my goal pace. So I refocused yet again on best-pacing.

We finished the day loop in 8:01 - essentially 14.0 mph - so all I had to do to keep on track for 168 was to finish 2 short loops, then do two "bonus" miles before time expired. Naturally, those two miles would be straight up, so the more time I could give myself, the better.

We did a sub 1:00 pit, me picking up two bottles of fluids, a couple hundred calories of solids, and as much cold water as Robert could dump on me in :30. I was bone-dry by the top of the climb, but it had done its job: I wasn't cooked, and I got to cool off a little on the descent.

Somewhere around the 12-mile point on my first loop, I saw...Chris ("Tater.") Heron - Team Huffin Herons (brother and sister Chris and Carly Heron) were two members of my support crew from RAO. Their mom and dad were out on the course cheering. Jan had been my support person for my very first ultra race. Full circle! Woo-hoo!. Chris didn't take to being caught, especially by me, so when I hollered, "TATER!", he looked back and took off. I caught him in the flat section along River Road - we were both flying; I was just flying...faster.

Came in on the first loop in 1:45 - woo-hoo! An even shorter pit this time - Adrienne was along for the ride - 2LiveCrew was out on their first night loop, too, so she dumped water while Robert did ice, bottles, and food. Took on a Monster Energy shot - 200mg caffeine - did the trick.

Second lap: 1:46 - I had :33 left to get as far as I could. I made 5 miles. I tried SO hard to get something more going on those steepest two miles - just couldn't get myself to go above steady-state. Decided not to push it. Got to 3: 9 minutes left. From 3 to 4 - barely climbing...4 minutes left. To 5 - almost a minute on the clock, but I was NOT going to get to 6. So I sat there and watched time expire, just took it in.

And then I headed down. No particular rush. Literally rode into the sunset. Shower, burger, root beer float, join the night shift to support the 24-hour racers. A day well spent.

I'd figured if everything went perfectly, I'd do 168 miles, beating the womens' course record of 130 by enough to be respectable. I did 171. "Better than perfect" is a great way to end the season.