Crotchrocket to Heaven - OR - Natural Selection in Action - OR - Another Road Shrine on the White Spars

Forrest and I decided to ride over the White Spars today.  Nothing intense or fast.  Time for a nice, slow, leisurely Sunday morning bike ride.

On the way back (just south of mile 20) I saw a firetruck, an EMT vehicle, a police car and three motorcycles off on the west side of the road  One of the motorcycle's front end looked like it was made out of clay and had been mangled.  All the motorcycles were of the `crotchrocket' variety.

The EMTs, fire personnel and police were standing deep in a ravine off the side of the road.  Below I noted a person laying on the dirt, on it's back, with a sheet over the top half.

That particular section of the road,(crotchrocket) when traveling south, is a steeply descending switchback.  Apparently one of the `rocketeers' chose to ignore physics and thermodynamics.

I'll Settle.

Tonight I pronounced, thoughtlessly, that I was `happy.'  And I immediately checked myself. 

All my life I've skirted around declaring `happy' about anything.  `Meaningful.'  `Useful.'  `Can't complain.'  But ... happy?  Nope. 

I'm refitting my upright bike so that it works better.  Since I've not used the upright bike for years the components were worn out and pretty much a hodge podge of incompatible parts. 

The right Ultegra shifter is a really banged up 9 speed.  The big ring up front is worn to the nub.  Shifting is sloppy. 

All my newer inventory parts are 10 speed so I bought a new Shimano 105 10 speed right shifter.  Replaced the big ring with a new one.  I've got a dozen nearly new rear 10 speed cassettes in inventory.   

Looking online at rear 10 speed derailleurs meant putting out anywhere from $65 - $110.  So I started digging around my derailleurs bin and found five almost brand new SRAM and Shimano 10 speed rear derailleurs. 

So I `felt' really happy.  I can finish the job tomorrow in half an hour with great drive train and shifting parts. 

It isn't so bad being an `inventory' freak.

HOPE

Maria Parker's determination to raise funds for brain cancer research is chronicled in this incredible feature film.

HOPE

I'm a Slow Learner

The motivation for athletic accomplishment is complex and multifarious.  My own motivation has been fundamentally to stroke my own ego.  There are other motives that are less vain and perhaps more reputable.  Introvert.  Health benefits.  A sense of control over the simple mechanical aspects of bicycles.  Ego.  And ... more ego.

RAAM.  Race Across America.  Several years ago this annual event was sponsored and run by a non-profit organization and then sold to a profit based private party.  Before the sale RAAM was apparently on the ropes because the non-profit organization did not have the resources to pull it off. 

I'm disenchanted with the RAAM organization.  It seems that it is nothing more than a marketing organization that holds a party on two coasts every year. 

I'm not disenchanted with a race across America, though. 

Is the `RAAM organization' worth it?  I don't think so. 

Its sort of like a new religion that sets itself up with rules, rituals, promises and entry fees.  History is littered with examples of people who convince themselves that `nothing' is really `something.'  The RAAM organization is not something that takes place between two coasts.  It takes place between two ears. 

Once the race starts it is literally `out of business.' 

For hundreds and thousands of miles there is no presence of the organization. 

Check points are mostly intersections on a map with nobody there. 

Racers are to call in when they get there ... the honor system. 

The organization has marketing and media teams that take pictures, videos, produce short internet bobbling head youtube videos. 

Data reported to the organization for presentation to the public via internet is late, slow, after the fact, rarely current and often inaccurate. 

So, admittedly, I don't get it. 

At least NOW I don't get it.  Because I was swept up in the race `hoopla' myself.  So that I could publicly scratch my ego. 

I can publicly scratch my ego for a lot less money and with a lot more validity without the organization. 

So ... it's a marketing and media organization.  Except for recording when the racers start and when they stop it throws parties on both coasts and ... is like a cult of true believers. 

I guess bowling is like that, too.  But a lot cheaper and without the hype. 

That's nothing new, though, for me.  I mean, being a `slow learner.' 

Slow, but I usually come around.  Often with a spongy sounding `thud.' 

RAAM - Is There An Adult In The House!

Brilliant!

RAAM Media puts out a 14 minute video clip about how RAAM Officials are out on the road making sure that "safety is our first priority." http://www.ridefarther.com/

And, of course, they film a RAAM Official driving and texting and reading email at the same time while she participates in an interview with the videographer. (6:50 into the June 19th video)

The clip shows two `racers' casually riding 2 x 2 on a two lane road with a passenger vehicle less than 10 feet behind them.

That shit just sickens me.

-----------------------------------

UPDATE:

I JUST WATCHED THE VID AGAIN.  SINCE I BROUGHT ATTENTION TO THIS LAST NIGHT (June 20) AT AROUND 11PM (Pacific Time) THE RAAM MEDIA CREW EDITED OUT THE TWO SECTIONS I NOTED IN MY POST FROM LAST NIGHT. 
 
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IS GUARANTEED TO THOSE WHO OWN ONE. 
 
AN EXAMPLE OF DISHONESTY AND DECEPTION ON THE PART OF THE RAAM ORGANIZATION. 
 
HAVING BEEN A RAW PARTICIPANT, RAAM OFFICIAL AND RAAM CREW CHIEF I CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THAT RAAM (MIS)MANAGEMENT AND INCOMPETENCE IS ONE THING.

DISHONESTY AND DECEPTION, HOWEVER, CHEAPENS THE COURAGE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF ALL RAAM AND RAW PARTICIPANTS.  

DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS. 

Progress With Standard Frame Bike

The two wheeled bike many of us rode as kids goes by many names:

• standard bike
• diamond frame bike (DF)
• upright bike
• road bike
• cross bike
• mountain bike. 

This is an example of a contemporary `standard' bike.

Recumbent bikes tend to not have so many `names.'  But recumbent bikes all share a key feature of allowing the cyclist to `recline,' more or less, on the bike. 

I've been training on my DF Airborne Zeppelin road bike for the past few weeks and am relearning and learning some useful things.

First, I've confirmed that the DF bikes are faster when climbing.
 
Second, my heart rate when climbing on the DF is about 15% higher, in general.  Part of the increase is due to the fact that my heart has to pump blood perpendicular to the road surface.  On a 'bent I'm partially reclined and my heart doesn't have to fight gravity so much.

Third, getting re-acquainted with the hunched over discomfort in the DF position has been difficult.  But I'm surprised that only 12 - 15 hours of training (over several days) has resulted in a dramatic reduction of discomfort.  It's working.

Fourth, now that my heart rate is elevated and my upper body (shoulders, arms, neck) is more intensely used I'm becoming stronger and more fit.  I'm riding faster and with less perceived effort. 

--

I recently read an old thread that keeps coming up in cycling email forums about `best way to pedal.'  This is an area that is very unique and different for each cyclist.  So your experience may be different than mine. 

But I find that my cadence is faster, and that I'm much more quickly enlisting the entire leg (thigh, calf, shin and ankle) when I turn the crank.  And my cadence with strength and power is much faster. 

--

I'm really enjoying the DF and I'm even more pleased that my body is `learning fast.'  

Using Both Recumbent and Standard (diamond frame) Bike in a Race

In 2008 I completed an 8 day 900 mile trip through southern and central Indiana on my Airborne Ti Zeppelin standard (diamond frame) bike.  Having found meaning and expression in cycling all my life I was pretty shaken at the end of those 8 days: it was physical and emotional torture.  More pain (saddle sores, shoulder, arm, wrist, neck) than I could `rationalize.'   

Cycling had become a way for me to push back (be tough!) against the kinds of limits that life presents to us all: age, job, responsibility to find meaning, relationships.  But in 2008, when cycling went `flat' on me I was presented with a growing sense of worry, mild dysphoria.   Was my `tough' self defeated? 

What would I do with myself?   

We are all confronted with the `problem / opportunity' of making meaning in our life.  A need to express our self in ways that we consider useful, good, productive.   Sometimes we're able to do that in an abiding way.  A struggle, perhaps, but `worth it.'  Sometimes we're not so `able' to do that and wind up being frustrated and feeling empty inside.  Like "What's the point!" 

A friend suggested that I try riding a recumbent bicycle.  My reaction to his suggestion was: “A recumbent?  Why?  I don’t have any physical problems?  I’m not fat.”  But, I gave it a try and found it a very demanding athletic challenge.  (Bacchetta Ti Aero high racer). 

The recumbent bike has been one of the key methods by which I have been able to express myself in a useful (healthy) and productive way these past several years. 

--

I'm fortunate to have survived many of life’s adversities.   That is, the stupid stuff I've done hasn't had such crushing consequences that I couldn't recover.  (Just dumb luck!)

I live in what is called the `central highlands’ of Arizona.  The Bradshaw Mountains.  Nary a flat stretch of road for miles and miles.  Great training location for cycling.   But, for recumbent cyclists it can be a solitary experience. 

Recumbent bikes don’t climb as fast as standard bikes.  They are typically faster on descents and the flats than standard bikes.  There are no other recumbent cyclists out here.  It is just too damned hilly. 

The result is that when I ride with a group they are all on standard bikes.  They wait for me at the top of hills.  I wait for them at the bottom of hills.  Kind of herky-jerky.  Takes lots of the socializing and fun out of group rides. 

So I’ve done almost all of my cycling alone.  A guy can be `solitary’ just so much.  It’s good to have friends, acquaintances, shared activities, etc.  

--

A (very) long story short: I’ve taken up riding my standard bike again.   One day I ride the recumbent bike.  The next day I ride the standard bike. 

In fact, I went on a small group ride on my standard bike just a few days ago.  Met a new person and had the pleasure of the company of a few cycling friends. 

But I really, really suck on the standard bike!  It’s painful.

I’ve been off it so long that I don’t have the capacity to deal with even a few hours of the discomfort standard bikes require (hunching over the handlebars; shoulder, neck, arm, wrist fatigue; saddle sores).  But … I think I can reduce the discomfort with consistent and progressive training on the standard bike.  Enough so that I participate in group rides with the locals. 

--

Herewith enters the `tough guy.

I want to do a race using both the standard bike and the recumbent bike. 

Climb with the standard bike.  And descend and do the flats with the recumbent bike.  Best of both cycling `platforms.’ 

I do know of cyclists who are `good’ on both kinds of bikes.  But there are no `races’ that permit, allow, the racer to interchange bikes during the race.  (That I know of).

There are, however, cycling events that are challenging, recreational and don’t restrict the cyclist to any one platform.  The event that I’m giving some thought to is the Skull Valley Loop Challenge
http://www.prescottbikeped.org/prescottcycling/loopchallenge/.  It is an annual (September) open invitational cycling event in Prescott, Arizona. 

The SVLC is a 52 mile loop through the Bradshaw Mountains.  Lots of climbing and descending (about 4,500 ft).  I’ve `raced’ this event three times in the past three years.  I know of no two wheeled recumbents ever doing this event.  (But Mike Cash raced his Ice Trike at the Skull Valley Loop Challenge last year.  Riding trikes in this terrain is even more uncommon than two wheeled recumbents). 

With a vehicle and a crew of one or two I’d switch bikes (standard to recumbent to standard) about three or four times.  There are two long ascents and two long descents with very little flat to rolling terrain. 

My best time is 2:49:00 (2012) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/223495272.  At this point I wouldn’t venture a `goal’ finishing time.  But I could guess that I could take 25 minutes off of that PB. 

 

Multiple Bike Types in Cross Country Race

Wouldn't it be cool to do a raam style event (without the glitz, hype, "charity" charades, etc) allowing for recumbents, cross bikes, mountain bikes and DFs available to the racer.

Some off-road / mountain bike / gravel race routes could be included, too.

I think it is essential to have support vehicles (two) for a cross country event.

However, I don't think it necessary to have the same crewmembers all the way across the country.   Two `core' crewmembers would do the whole trip.  The other crewmembers would start and stop every 300 - 500 miles.  Different crewmembers. 

Maybe the crew would use their own vehicles, and `relay' bikes and provisions to the next crew and vehicle.  Even use mountain / cross bikes `borrowed' and left behind. 

A few dry runs for shorter distances (1,000 miles) and safer routes would work out some logistics and offer productive lessons.

I  might do it.

"So I just laid down on the road."

I was driving back home after a long solo bike ride on a stretch of empty, desolate, desert road in the middle of scorching Arizona.  On a turnoff into more empty, desolate, desert road I came across a school bus is stopped in the middle of the road.  No bus lights were flashing.  And there wasn't a kid in sight.  But the car in front of had stopped as well.  We're waiting for the kids to be discharged, etc.  

Nothing is happening.  No kids visible, neither in the bus nor out of the bus.  But the school bus is half on/off the road. 

After 5 minutes the car in front of me slowly drives to the left of the school bus and stops.  I watch as the driver rolls her window down.  A fellow steps out from in front of the school bus and is talking to the driver.  A minute later the driver's window goes up and she drives off leaving the fellow still standing there in the road.

I slowly drive to the left of the school bus and stop.  Same guy in front of the bus.  I roll down the window.  The guy has his shoe in his hand, gestures in 3 - 4 directions, explaining something.  He says something about the police being called.  I assume there is mechanical problem with the bus.  Then the guy asks for ride to Congress (15 more empty miles ahead) where he'll meet police.  

Sure. 

So the shoeless guy gets in the car and continue on to Congress.  He is clearly tense, nervous, hyperverbal - and smelly.  He says he has been `on the road' for a few days.  He "tried" to get a ride at the last intersection but nobody would stop.  He says: "I'm tired, hungry, thirsty and my feet are killing me.".  

Then he said he just got frustrated and decided to just lie down in the middle of the road to "make the bus stop."  

I'm curious.  Alert for danger, etc.  But there didn't seem to be a hint of danger.  

I'm trying to think of some kind of conversation for the next 15 miles to Congress that won't result in an `episode.'

----------------

ME: "So. Um. How was the road? Warm?"

HIM: "Yeah. Not bad. Hard. But o.k."  "I'm going to the Hillside church because I live in Yava." 

ME: "Yava?"  (Yava is a barely a faded bent up road sign next to a cattle guard on another desolate road in a desert canyon).

HIM: "Yeah. Yava."

ME: "Couldn't be more than 3 people in Yava."

HIM: "Twelve of us, actually." 

I get to the gas station at Congress, drop him off, wave goodbye.  

The `West' IS wild. 

RAAM '14: Sedona to Flagstaff Forest Fire - Possible Bypass Routes

Today they opened 89A from Sedona to Flagstaff to residents and business owners about 3 hours ago. But utilities, etc, are patchy at best and Fire Service, utility (electric, gas, etc) vehicles, ADOT and construction vehicles crowd the road.

The Forest Service plan is to allow the fire to continue to burn through non-residential areas until it reaches an area they have cleared with fire breaks. This is the smart play for the forest fire folks because it would use up the dry brush and tinder and eliminate the risk of future fires in this area for decades. Also, it puts no lives or property at risk.  

 ---

There are 10 days til RAAM starts and probably 12-13 before solo racers get past Jerome into Cottonwood. 

IF the road is opened to RAAM racers and traffic by that time it will be even more crowded and dangerous than in the past. You'll be breathing ash. Direct Follow may not be allowed. Leap Frogging will require you to compete for pullouts with the vehicles I described above.
 
The Boethlings will probably want the route to go through Jerome, as in the past. Once you're down from Jerome, though, there is really only one `decent' bypass. This should / would likely be it:

Cottonwood - 260 - I17 - Flag. http://ridewithgps.com/routes/4869893

The other roads would be through Cornville to I-17 or from Sedona on 179 to I-17.

The Cornville road is not much more than a strip of oiled dirt with no shoulder, heavily travelled by trucks, haywagons and horsewagons.

179, once you get past the Village of Oak Creek is very dicey. Narrow, two lanes, fast moving vehicles (trucks, commuters), one foot shoulders, twisty and densely traveled.

I'm Ever Learning From Joe Friel (And So Many Others)

Basic Questions About Power Meters

600K Brevet - Exhaustion beats Suffering Every Time

DNF'd on the 600K AZ Brevet over the weekend.

22.5 hours in the saddle brought another CA2 rider and I into Bisbee (230 miles and 12,000 ft of climbing) at 3:40AM. I don't know for sure but the SSW winds gusting to 30+mph probably forced half of the riders to miss the cutoff times at control points well before 100 miles.

Had I continued on I would have had to get only 2 hours sleep and then pushed straight into a growing (25-30 mph) wind for another 145 miles. I've been exhausted after a cycling event before but this one is among the top five. It was a smart move to pack it in.

In terms of `suffering' it was a 3 out of 10.  In terms of what it would have taken out of me to finish (exhaustion) it would have been a 12 out of 10.  In my book, at this time, the exhaustion would not have been worth it, i.e., wise. 

Quality v Junk

Yesterday I had planned to ride 55 miles with 5,200 feet of climbing. 

That's a lot of climbing. 

I didn't do it. 

About 10 miles into the training I found myself loathing the thought of spending 6 or more hours on the bike, by myself. 

A week earlier I had served as a `domestique / crew' for a good friend who was attempting to do 200 miles in 12 hours.  We started riding at 6:30am on good road, cool temps and almost no wind.  By 8:AM the wind was howling.  Sand, dust, tumbleweeds flying across the road and into our face. 

I saw it my duty to serve as a windbreak for her.  First `paceline' style.  Then `echelon' style.  After 6 hours of on again off again riding, getting water, fluid, food, etc. I decided to `pack it in' and leapfrog her from my car. 

I managed to cover 97 miles during that 6 hours.  For all practical purposes it was both fast tempo and interval training the entire time. Though I was pretty beat by the end I felt really great about the `quality' of the training. 

My `domestique' experience pulled the rug out from under my excuses for avoiding `quality' training. 

So, yesterday I decided to cut my training ride short by doing a fast 35 miles with 3,600 ft of climbing: 3:00:00.  35 minutes faster than I usually do that route.  It wasn't as `painful' as I had expected. 


GETTING INTO A JUNK MILES RUT:

Laziness (and a few aspects of my temperament) has had  me doing long hours and distances on the bike for the past few years.  Here are some of the weak excuses I made for doing `junk' miles:

• the desert is mystical, beautiful and I love the solitude;
• if I exert too much energy on the hills I'll `blow up' and bonk;
• the 15 or 20 lbs of weight I'm carrying needs to come off before I do any serious training;
• my friends, associates and neighbors know me as a long-distance junkie and that appeals to my ego;
• I'm afraid that I push to hard at my age I'll injure myself. 

This is just so much bullshit! 

These are the real reasons I do junk miles:

• laziness. 
• avoidance: anxiety about having to decide to invest myself in other things that may frustrate me, not be satisfying, at which I may be average;
• worry that I'll not find anything I `like' and will be knocking around doing pointless `busy' work;
• ego;
• ego;
• ego.  

TRAINING FOR QUALITY:

• Every other day I'll train. 
• My training will be `smart,' intense and not go on and on for hours and hours. 
• I know I rebel against following a strict calendar plan (e.g., Tuesday, intervals, 60 minutes, etc; Wednesday, 90 minutes of tempo, etc).  So I won't set myself for predictable failure;
• Intensity over long Zone 1 and Zone 2 slogging.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• Less (and better) time on the bike will confront me with more time on my hands;
• I will invest more time in social interaction with friends, coworkers and acquaintances;
• I will no longer be `special,' i.e., that guy who is a long-distance junkie;
• I will experience failure more often as I work to improve my times; 
• Failure scares me and I `catastrophize' that I will be ... not fast.  (No!  I fear that other's will be faster than me and I'll be average).
• ego;
• ego;
• ego.

Blood Alley: RAAM Time Station # 10 (Tuba City, AZ)

Despite numerous incidents of RAAM cyclists getting hit by cars and trucks on AZ 160 near Tuba City (RAAM Time Station # 10) the RAAM Race owners (Fred and Rick Boethling) continue to ignore the urgent need to change this section of the RAAM route.

Family Killed in Traffic Accident near Tuba City AZ

The Importance of Getting it Wrong

Yesterday I was scheduled to ride for 3 + hours.  Up here in the Bradshaw Mountains my training courses are limited to lots of climbing, descending and tight switchbacks.

We had continuous strong winds in the range of 25 - 30 mph.  Funnel those winds into mountain cuts, cliffs and ravines and you get frequent gusts in the 40+ mph range.  So I drove about 40 miles south and 3,500 feet lower in elevation to train on a flatter, less dangerous surface. 

The plan was to do a 50 mile out and back on Eagle Eye Road from Aguila on US 60 to Salome Road.  The road quality is excellent.  And there is virtually no traffic.  At worst, a vehicle comes by every 30 - 45 minutes. 

50 Miles Of Eagle Eye Road

I used my Bacchetta Ti Aero recumbent bike, as I typically do for training rides.  As well, I recently bought a rear Zipp wheel with a Power Tap. 

On the return leg of the training ride, with 12 miles to go, I noticed the rear tire getting `soft.'  A very slow leak.  I'm guessing it was a `pinch flat' as I crossed a particularly rough cattle guard early on. 

Here is how I discovered what I had done wrong. 

Zipp wheels are notorious for being hard for mounting tires.  Worse, wire beaded tires are harder to mount on a wheel than `foldable' tires.  Even worse, Conti wire bead Hard Shell Gatorskin tires mounted on a Zipp wheel ... you're lookin' for trouble if you get a flat.

It was a bitch getting the tire off the wheel.  Because the rear wheel is a Zipp I use tubes with 80 mm valve stems.  I carried two extra tubes.  I punctured both tubes trying to get them on the Zipp wheel, under the Conti Gatorskin.

There I was.  4pm in the middle of the desolate Arizona desert with a flat that could not be fixed, 12 miles of empty desert from anybody or anything.

I wound up stuffing desert shrubbery (twicks, sticks, grass, dried out cattle dung) into the tire.  That gave me sufficient `filler' in the tire to limp back at 9 - 10 mph.

The Lessons:

1. Don't ride the empty desert with fancy wheels;
2. Don't use fancy wire bead tires on the Zipp;
3. Think this stuff through before blithely heading off into a location with no resources.

While I was `limping' home on my spongey rear tire a total of 3 vehicles passed me.  My life wasn't at risk but I placed myself in great risk of discomfort. 

Part of the interest I have in cycling `out here' has to do with the challenge of difficult situations. 

I'm fortunate to find meaning in adversity and problems.  But I have to do more thinking.



 

The `Almost' Perfect Course for DF / Recumbent Competition

DF (diamond frame) / upright / standard bikes are faster than recumbent bikes when climbing. 

(Sellers of recumbent bikes will differ in the same way Pope Urban VIII differed with Galileo in the 17th century about whether or not the sun revolved around the earth.  So be it.)

All things being equal (bike weight, cyclist weight and fitness) physics favors DF bikes in climbing. 

DF cyclists are advantaged over recumbent cyclists in climbing for one simple reason: they can get out of the saddle, drop (dead weight plus gravity) their entire weight on each pedal stroke, pull up on the handlebar.  This allows them to gain wattage / power at less physical cost. 

Recumbent cyclists are disadvantaged over DF cyclists in climbing because they can't drop dead weight onto the pedal.  All forward motion is generated exclusively by physical muscle, with no help from gravity.

---

On the `right' course a recumbent cyclist would be able to sustain continuous muscle power on a climb for a short enough time so that depletion, exhaustion and fatigue do not fully occur. 

On the `right' course the steep climbs (5% +) are short in distance.  (Without the advantage of dropping dead weight on a pedal the steeper the climb the slower the recumbent: fact).

On the `right' course the steep descents (6% +) are short enough so that simple aerodynamics don't favor recumbents, i.e., a skilled DF rider can descend as fast (or, almost as fast) as a recumbent.  (The steeper the descent the more the recumbent is advantaged by simple aerodynamics). 

On the `right' course there are limited `flat' miles where the aerodynamic advantage of recumbents is unquestioned.  (`Unquestioned,' at least by those who are not 17th century `faith-based' cyclists or sellers of recumbent bikes). 

---

This is the `almost' perfect course for DF / recumbent competition: 

The Skull Valley Loop Challenge

But I doubt that there will ever be an apples to apples DF / recumbent competition on this course. 

Why? 

• Because recumbent cyclists don't train for fast competition on hills. 
• Because DF cyclists do train for fast competition on hills. 

---

Why do I say `almost?' 

• Because ... DF cyclists are advantaged over recumbent cyclists for one simple reason.  (See above).

My First `Double Century': Joshua Tree 2014

This was my first formal `double century’ and I was curious how this might be different from brevets and other ultra events. So far as I can tell the difference must be in the number of people (164 for the JTDC14) and the many, many SAG stops (9).

Anny Beck, the event organizer, warned us many times in emails to be prepared for anything. So: a 3-liter camelback under the seat; two 24 oz bottles of liquid fuel; spare foldable tire; two tubes; cartridges, pump, tools; arm warmers and wind vest. A veritable `ton’ of weight.

Also, typically recumbents don’t form pacelines or echelons … because there usually aren’t enough of us in any event to do so.

I don’t mind taking pulls on an upright paceline but, as most uprights admit, they don’t get much draft from a recumbent. And I refuse to draft behind a paceline if I can’t `pay my way’ with pulling.

So … I rode the JTDC14 entirely alone. Didn’t recognize a soul.

Brutal wind. So many times as I was cranking uphill (2-5% grade) for hour after mile after hour I recalled what a fellow cyclist said at dinner the night before: “The worst for me is long, straight, 2% grades without any letup.” And I was thinking: “Jim must be hating this!”

It is exactly 27 miles of unrelenting 2-5% uphill grades from Desert City to Sag 7, 144.7 miles into 200 mile ride. North into a stiff 15-20 mph headwind. Midday. Intense, cloudless sky, beating sun.

Climbing doesn’t bother me, living in Prescott, AZ, as I do. I had done an out and back 90 miles from Prescott to Congress and back two days earlier. About 8,500 feet of climbing. And the tame 3%’ers put me into my usual `grind and bear it’ mode. 650,000 feet of climbing on a recumbent every year has a way of preparing you for hills.

All the upright / standard cyclists had formed protective pacelines of 5 – 9 riders, reducing the intense force of the wind. I felt sorry for myself. And … ANGRY, too. That 27 mile section is where I wasted myself (“burned all my matches”), becoming empty and hopeless by the time I got to SAG 7.

I was ANGRY that I was being passed by so many packs of upright cyclists! Anger got the better part of me and I decided to chase down every rider ahead of me and watch them getting smaller and smaller behind me in my mirror.

There is a `wind’ advantage to the recumbents. And as long as the grade is in the 2-3% range a fairly fit bent rider can hold his/her own. By the time I got to SAG 7 … I was barely able to walk straight.

I wear sandals / SPDs so hotfoot hasn’t been an issue for me for years.

When I got to SAG 7 I tried to quit. There was a SAG van with several bikes on top and their riders inside. I asked: “Is there any room for me?” The driver (Andy) said he’d “drop off” this “load” and come back from 29 Palms to get me in about “2 hours.”

I am constitutionally unable to “wait” for anything. I told him that I’d just take off up that series of godawful hills, into the wind and into the setting sun, taking up each of the remaining 52 miles, one at a time. And if he saw me on his way back … well, honk or something.

Slow, painful grind. Mile after mile. Reaching the summit after ten miles only to find it to be a false flat, followed by another slow grind.

Started at 4:30am.  Finished at 10:30pm.  18 hours at TwentyNine Palms, CA.

Unforgettable.

The final `finish’ report noted that 1 out of 4 riders starting didn’t finish.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2352851

Post Exercise Drop in Blood Pressure, Carbonated Water and Heart Rate, and peristalsis

POST EXERCISE HYPOTENSION:

"It is likely that a complex matrix of blood pressure regulating factors including both central and peripheral mechanisms are responsible for PEH. Given the many factors regulating blood pressure, the interaction between such factors and the redundancies built in to the blood pressure control system, it may prove difficult to identify a single causal mechanism for PEH."

Potential causes, mechanisms, and implications of post exercise hypotension

J R MacDonald

Departments of Medicine and Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Correspondence to: J R MacDonald, McMaster University Medical Centre, Room 4U18, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada. ttp://www.nature.com/jhh/journal/v16/n4/full/1001377a.html     In other words ... don't nobody know why it happens but ... it happens.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CARBONATED WATER AND HEART RATE:     "A significantly higher HR was found following consumption of CW as opposed to W. Multiple regression analysis revealed that increased HR was a significant variable contributing to the variances in fullness after ingestion of CW at 40 min. Our data suggest that CW may induce a short-term, but significant, satiating effect through enhanced postprandial gastric and cardiac activities due possibly to the increased sympathetic activity and/or withdrawal of parasympathetic activity."Tof carbonated wa activities and fullness in thy young women. Wakisaka S1, Nagai H, Mura E, Matsumoto T, Moritani T, Nagai NJ Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2012;58(5):333-8..   In other words ... don't nobody know why it happens but ... it happens.   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PERISTALSIS (exercise induced pooping):     "Exercise decreases splanchnic bloodflow. Therefore exercise may induce alterations in gastrointestinal (GI) function. Ten healthy well-trained male subjects underwent a rest-cycling-rest, and a rest-rest-rest protocol (60-90-210 min). ... Neither gastric emptying nor OCTT showed differences between rest and cycling.... Cycling at 70% Wmax does not lead to differences in reflux, gastric pH or gastrointestinal transit in healthy trained individuals."   The effect of physical exercise on parameters of gastrointestinal function. van Nieuwenhoven MA1, Brouns F, Brummer RJ.   "Jump up and down."   http://digestion.ygoy.com/2012/12/14/5-exercises-that-can-help-with-bowel-movement/   In other words ... move around a lot.

Darwin Award Entries

A stunningly beautiful day for a ride in the Prescott National Forest.  Cool but not cold.  Calm shadows of the pines.  Brilliant sun on the mountain side.  Breathtaking cliffside vistas. 

Time to review all the reasons I should be dead by now. 

Morbid musing notwithstanding, a parade of near fatal cycling disasters passed before my (imagination's) eyes today.

The Spectacular: 

On my standard bike.  Slowing from 25 mph to make a sharp right turn.  Front wheel meets a slick as ice sewer cover.  Brakes seize up the front wheel.  Front wheel reaches the concrete road surface after sliding across the sewer cover.  Me and the bike `pivot' at point of wheel-road recontact.  360 degree endover. 

I come down on my left foot, calf, buttocks, arm and shoulder.  I take the concrete full-on, the back of my head hitting the road like a whiplash. 

Motion stops.  I am frozen in place.  I realize I'm conscious.  I do a mental checklist of parts and functions.  ...  Nothing.  No problems.  No pain.  No blood.  No broken parts. 

Not even my head?! 

Nope.  The helmet absorbed the full impact.  The plastic cover and Styrofoam helmet had a thin crack at the point of contact.  But for the helmet I would today be dead or a vegetable.  (Maybe I am a vegetable.  Twenty years in a coma.)

The Embarrassing:

First time I wore cleats with clipless pedals.  I came to a busy 6 corner intersection.  I had the red.  I stopped.  And fell over.  About 300 people present.  I'm CERTAIN that they all saw me, quietly laughed and considered me an idiot.  CERTAIN!

The Bloody:

I was descending a mountain switchback with a posted speed limit of 20 mph.  I was doing 35 mph.  I slid out.  Ten yards of road surface mixed with road shoulder dirt and gravel.  Left glute skin shaved off raw.  Various elbows, arms, shoulders, equally denuded to the muscle.  Somehow my right hand got into the mix and I now have three knuckles that look mildly Frankenstein-ish. 

The car behind me stops to offer assistance.  Lady gets out.  I'm standing, bloody but unbowed.  She offers help and I ask her to call my wife to come get me.  Neither of us can really communicate because of the frenzy.  She hands me her cellphone.  I call my wife to come get me.  I hand her back the cellphone, dripping with blood. 

Worst part is ... I feel I was thoughtless in not wiping off the blood on the cellphone. 

You?

Carrying A Spare Tire

Most of my riding is in very remote locations, often 40+ miles from the nearest store, gas station, or even cell phone range.  Though the roads are often good to normal (no traffic!) I do have a concern about getting a tire trashed by a cattle guard or errant piece of sharp metal.

Over the years I've found myself needing to drill holes in the Bacchetta Carbon Hard Shell Seat.  Using the ADEM Aerodon Headrest requires drilling a few holes at the top.  The bottle holders on both sides, the same. 

When I bought Dana Lieberman's Bent Up Cycles CA2 I noted that he had wrapped a rubber ridge around the circumference of the CFHS seat and fastened using small zip ties inserted through tiny holes drilled into the edge of t he CFHS.  THAT was a good idea that protected the edge of the CFHS seat from the inevitable fall overs.

I have several different seat bags in which to carry almost every conceivable tool and clothing (esp now when winter can mean a 40 degree difference in temperature when descending or ascending).  I need all the room in the seat bag for these things.

So, I now drill 4 little holes in the CFHS for a spare foldable tire.  Two up top and two more 6 inches lower.  I thread cable ties through the holes and around the spare tire.  These holes are less than a few millimeters in diameter and don't impact the CFHS seat.

This Was Just Great!

Another few examples of simple courtesy while on that Vulture Mine route a few weeks ago. Both are notable and one was a little odd.

I was riding my Bacchetta Ti Aero and came to the turnaround point of an 80 mile solo ride through the utterly and completely empty desert ( http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2038355 ). It was a truck stop off I-10 in Tonopah, AZ. Busy place with nothing but 18 wheelers, big vehicles pulling horse trailers and hay wagons. Gnarly guys who seemed happy to stop for a while and interact with folks.

I rode up to the place and wanted a sandwich and something to drink. Didn't want to leave the Bacchetta Ti Aero outside so I went in and asked the cashier if I could park the bike just inside the door. "Sure." He looked at me for a while because you don't see many guys with road kits and helmets.

I went outside to get the bike and was about to navigate getting the bike inside two double doors. Next thing I know a lime green (looked like it was painted with a brush) early '90's Ford Escort `Taxi' pulls up and out gets a very smiley dark black fellow. Really dark brown skin. Beautiful, deep brown skin. Smiles with brilliant white teeth and rushes to hold the doors open for me. Thanking him he energetically responded "You're very welcome" with what seemed like a Nigerian (I taught lots of Nigerian students) accent.

I get my sandwich and drink and head the bike toward the two sets of double doors again. This time a fairly attractive middle aged woman opens the outer door, again, with a very smiley face. I thank her and after the door closes she says: "You want to come home for lunch with me?"

I was caught completely off-guard and (believe it) speechless. Not out of fear or worry, but mostly out of shyness or nervousness I responded "Thank you but I've got to get back" while motioning in the general direction of north. If I were less of an uptight, anxious guy I might have developed a conversation with her. And who knows about lunch?

It was just another of many great experiences I have riding out here. Not to mention a few of the drivers who were friendly, one complimenting me, saying: "Oh, you're that hot rod we passed up the road."

That's probably one of the reasons I give a wave to passing vehicles out on these empty roads. You never know.

"So I Just Laid Down on the Road."

Last time I did this route Vulture Mine Road, I was driving back to home.  On the way back a school bus is stopped in the middle of the road.  Car in front of me stops, of course.  We're waiting for the kids to be discharged, etc.  

Nothing happens.  Bus is half on/off the road. 

After 5 mins the car in front of me slowly drives to the left of the school bus.  I watch as the driver stops, window rolls down and a fellow in front of the school bus is talking to the driver.  A minute and the driver window goes up and the car drives off.  

I slowly drive to the left of the school bus.  Same guy in front of the bus.  I roll down the window.  Guy has his shoe in his hand, gestures in 3 - 4 directions, explaining something.  Says something about  the police being called.  I assume there is mechanical problem with the bus.  Guy asks for ride to Congress where he'll meet police.  

Sure. 

Guy gets in the car, we're driving.  He is tense, nervous, hyperverbal.  Says he has been `on the road' for a few days.  He "tried" to get a ride at the last intersection but nobody would stop.  Hungry.  Thirsty.  Feet hurt.  (Shoe).  

Then he said he just decided he was going to just lie down in the middle of the road to "make the bus stop."  

I'm curious.  Alert for danger, etc.  No hint of danger.  

I'm trying to think of some kind of conversation for the next 15 miles to Congress that won't result in `episode.' .

ME: "So.  How was the road?  Warm?"

HIM: "Yeah.  Not bad.  Hard.  But o.k.."   "I'm going to the Hillside church because I live in Yava." 

ME: "Yava?"  (Yava is a road sign next to a cattle guard on a desolate road in desert canyon).

HIM: "Yeah.  Yava."

ME: "Couldn't be more than 3 people in Yava."

HIM: "Twelve of us, actually." 

Get to the gas station at Congress, drop him off, wave goodbye. 

The `West' IS wild. 

Surprise and Reprieve

Back in April of this year I read that a very talented ultra racer had delayed some dental work until he had completed the Race Across America (RAAM) in June.  He didn't go into his reasons but I made the practical assumption that the impact of the dental work would reduce his readiness for such a manifest physical demand as RAAM.  And I remarked to myself `me too.'

Briefly, I had some health issues when I was a kid that required a great deal of dental work.  Over the course of my life I've had to be vigilant and very attentive to maintaining good dental health.  I had a good deal of the `dental engineering' performed and hardware installed and it was beginning to wear out.  It became time to overhaul my entire `dental system.'  A big investment of time, energy and money. 

I put off the `overhaul' until the end of the cycling season this year (Nov 3rd).  I cleared the decks of any physically demanding activity and resigned myself to about two months of exhaustive and draining dental work and recuperation.  I girded myself and became very stoic, expressing to my dentist "I'm up for numerous sequential 10 hour days in the chair so just consider me your sole source of income for that time." 

It hasn't turned out that way. 

My memories of the major dental work done a few decades ago were not repeated these past few weeks.  Dental technology has improved dramatically.  I wince at the recollection of the countless 3 hour torture sessions in the dental chair, with rubber dams, noisy, slow and smelly grinding, use of painful picks and frequent `refreshing' of injected anesthetics.  Close to 4 months of twice weekly suffer fests in 1980. 

Not these days, though.  A 3 hour root canal in 1980 (performed using crude `mining' tools) took a total of 20 painless minutes in the chair two weeks ago.  Yesterday's one hour forty minute dental appointment would have taken 4 weeks of grim gore in 1980.  Instead, when it was over yesterday I was amazed that it was completely painless.  The dentist and his assistant and I were cracking jokes the entire time. 

I am now on the `down slope' of the dreaded dental experience.  The hard and scary work is over -- without it being hard.  I'm almost disappointed!  I had girded myself for so much suffering. 

There remains significant dental work to be completed but it is really not much more than `wrap-up' and `housekeeping.'  Let some time pass.  The next one is scheduled to take ten (10 - count'em - 10) minutes!

This is a `reprieve' for me.  My cycling training plan has to be revised to recognize that "I'm back!" 

Cycling, Ultra cycling, Ultra racing, Motives and Wisdom

I've only considered myself involved with `ultra cycling' since 2008, when I first bought the Bacchetta Ti Aero recumbent bike.  The Ti Aero allowed me to ride without all the pain and suffering associated with DFs (`traditional,' upright bikes).  This excited me and I  began to push the limit on time and distance.  Ultra cycling was an obvious `open door' for me.

However, after setting a few UMCA state crossing records and participating extensively in too many ultra events to count (24 hour races, 200 mile races, RAW racer, RAAM Official, RAAM Crew Chief) I've learned quite a bit. 

The two most important learnings I've gained from ultra cycling have to do with:

1. the psychological component (`Why am I doing this?  What is my motive?'); 
2. the risk v. benefit component.

Having been raised in family whose religious tenets required `suffering' as payment for entrance into an eternity of bliss ... and survived both that family and those religious tenets ... I'm alert to delusional thinking. 

It took me some time, a lot of angst and even more money, but I am wiser and more informed as to the `why' aspect of ultra cycling.  And that has caused me to step back from it significantly, to appreciate my capacity for objective evaluation of ultra cycling events, and to be productively and constructively appreciative and critical of the ultra cycling events.

RAAM and RAW, in my opinion, is a repository of person's efforts to work through their mortality and gain self-respect.  Both admirable factors in the development of wisdom and a healthy personality. That's a `good' thing about ultra cycling.

What is the definition of a fanatic?  A fanatic is a person who redoubles his efforts as soon as he loses sight of the objective.  Much of this permeates RAAM/RAW.  As well, much of this permeates a good deal of our lives (religion, politics, sports, jobs). That's a `bad' thing about ultra cycling.

I'm personally drawn to ultra cyclists because they do no harm to others in the pursuit of their extreme goals.  Drawn both emotionally and intellectually.  And, these days, the `intellectual' element dominates.  I've seen good people doing hard work with the best of intentions.  And I see how sometimes that crosses the threshold of healthy expression to an irrational obsession.

Withdrawing as Maria Parker's RAAM Crew Chief last June after the near tragic accident (RAAM - 2013 Close Call) I concluded that I was not going to be the one to tell her parents (or her sister with terminal cancer for whom she was doing RAAM solo) that she was killed or critically injured by a texting or impaired driver.  To continue the race, in my opinion, bordered on the fanatical.

The turf skirmishes (bent v DF, sleep v no sleep, etc) that currently occupy the politics of the world of RAAM/RAW amount to moving the deck chairs on a vessel too small to have deck chairs.

I love cycling.  It is one of the most complex and rewarding and `harmless' endeavors I've ever done.  It has been a release for me at times.  And it has been a form of exquisite existential expression.  But my cycling is not fanatical.  And I am committed to pointing out the benefits, dangers, risks and, frankly, exploitation when I see it. 

Why Is That?

I have slips of paper with my scribblings on them on every surface and in every corner of the house.

• "What did the dentist mean when he said `... some goopy stuff'?"
• "What is it about wool that makes it so good in cold weather cycling?"
• "Really! Why is it so hard to get my heart rate higher on a recumbent?  What is involved?"
• "When is the last time I ate due to real hunger?  Why do I eat?"
• "Should I train with weight or just try to reach a heart rate threshold?"
• "Edgy when off the bike for more than a few days.  Why?"
• "Moods.  When I'm exhausted from training or a cycling event is that a good thing?"
• "Get a mountain bike so I can ride off-road to some of the remote old mining sites."

I wish my intelligence matched my curiosity.  Or maybe it's just that I need more discipline.  But I doubt that!

If you have lingering questions about cycling related things that you need `researched' shoot me a few.  I'll see if I can scratch that itch.