HD300 - Analytics

• How much climbing is there on this course?
• Where does the climbing take place?
• Is the climbing bunched up in only a few miles or is it spaced out?
• Descending: where, how much, when?
• Should my training be heavily weighted on climbing?  Descending skills?  Long hours of steady riding?
• What kind of lights should I have?
• Cold weather, rain?
• Sweating makes for wet clothes.  What kind and how many?
• Hydration?
• Nutrition?
• Cramping?
• Where should I expect to lose / gain time? 
• What will the long stretch of climbing do to my average MPH?

These are a few of the questions that need answers so that proper training and accomplishment can take place. 

CLIMBING:

• There are 16,800 feet of climbing over the entire 300 mile course.
• 80% (13,700 feet) of the climbing occurs within the first 191 miles. 
• Though there is a `shock' climb of 13% grade at mile 13 of the HD300 it is only 3/4 miles long. Thereafter the climbing is more moderate.  Until mile 156. 
• At mile 156 the grades become more steep (4% to 9%) and continue on that way for 31 miles.  An increase in elevation by 4,500 feet (to a top elevation of 10,600 feet).

So the most challenging part of the climbing starts at the halfway point of the event. 

DESCENDING:

• In the last 95 miles of the event end there are 10,250 feet of descending. 
• More than half (5,300 feet) of the descent takes place in the short distance of 26.7 miles (immediately after reaching the highest elevation).
• The last 95 miles will take place in the dark of night, on empty and desolate roads.
• Ambient temperatures will be in the 40F range.  When descending at speeds of 20 - 40 mph the windchill will drop that another 15F - 25F degrees.
• Within this 95 miles there are another 3,100 feet of climbing. 

 STRATEGY:

From `the neck up' it is easier to do twelve 25 mile stages than to do one 300 mile stage.  

 

 TACTIC:

Two bikes.  One for climbing and one for descending and the flats. 

CLIMBING BIKE: 

• Bacchetta Ti Aero
• front double rings: 50/34t
• Rear cassette: 36/11t
• Railgun carbon fiber hard shell seat (Kent Polk)
• Tiller and Zipp/SRAM R2C levers on a mini-bullhorn handlebar

DESCENDING AND FLATS BIKE:

• Bacchetta CA2:
• Double front gears: 58/42
• Same rear cassette, Railgun seat, tiller, levers and handlebar

TRAINING:

I live in the Arizona mountains so it is a matter of choosing the `best' set of training courses.  Comparing the mileage, cumulative climbing and average feet of climbing per mile I've got excellent ("no excuses") training terrain. 

• Failing to plan is a plan for failure. 
•  Every time we breathe in and breathe out we get another chance.
•  Action defines us.
•  Behavior precedes awareness. 

More on `Fear as a Motivator'

I'm cognizant of the fact that any writing that I do now about my preparation for an upcoming race in August (Hoodoo 300) will ultimately be read after the event.  I've written about past cycling challenges and have felt somewhat embarrassed or `odd' when later reading it.  

`Embarrassed' because I may have been too optimistic or too ignorant to do the proper training.  `Odd' because I wonder what it is about these things that gets me so engaged that it knocks my life off balance (family, work, etc).  

I was born a `psychologist.'  That is, I probably overthink everything.  Luckily I chose to make my actual profession that of a `psychologist,' as a practical defense against `stinkin' thinkin'.  Cognitive traps.  Emotional tail-chasing.  Too often this `defense' gets pretty weak and worn down.  

For the past few years I've focused a good deal of my training for `flat land' competitions.  The 6-12-24 Hour World Championship in Borrego Springs, CA.  The Bike Sebring 12 Hour race in Sebring, FL.  

I trained in the flat desert, 80 miles away and 4,000 feet below where I live in Prescott, AZ.  Why?  Because there are no recumbent cyclists up here!  And I wanted to `compare' my abilities with other recumbent cyclists.  Not to mention just for the company of other serious cyclists.  

Another important reason I targeted these events: safe roads.  Although there is a vibrant randoneurring community in Arizona many of the courses they use are dangerous.  Trucks, RVs, ATVs and other vehicles whizzing by on a 2 lane road with minimal shoulder at 80 - 85 mph.  Riding a recumbent bike on these roads is, in my opinion, even more dangerous.  

(I remember, on a randoneurring brevet near the Grand Canyon, climbing a 15+ mile 6% incline - south to Flagstaff on AZ 89 - with a 20-30 mile crosswind blowing me from a 12" shoulder into speeding trucks and cars.  Navigating the crosswind, the rumble strips ... I finally just stopped and hitch hiked to the top.  Live another day.)

Now that I've chosen to compete in an event that takes place on safe roads, in the Utah mountains, over 300 miles, with 17,000 feet of climbing - all within a time limit of 24 hours - I am not allowing myself any excuses if I do poorly.  After all, I live in the Arizona mountains; the perfect training terrain for this event.  

THE RACE PLAN:

It is more psychologically feasible to race twelve (approximately) 25 mile stages than to race one 300 mile stage.  As well, breaking the race event into 12 stages allows me to train specifically for each particular stage.  

For example, stage seven is 32 miles long with 4,500 feet of climbing.  That is a `huuuge' amount of climbing in such a short space.  

The very next stage, stage eight, is 27 miles long with 5.300 feet of descending.  (In the dark of night, from an altitude of 10,500 feet above sea level to 5,750 feet above sea level).  Reaching speeds in excess of 40 mph, for long stretches, is an almost certainty.  A `certainty' that carries with it serious risks (mechanical failure, hitting critters on the road, road surface problems, windchill and frostbite). 

THE TRAINING PLAN:

The 300 is a valid competitive challenge.  Not `too easy.'  Not `too hard.'  Right in the target zone for me.  No excuses.  I live in the perfect training terrain.  And that is sobering.

I'm training now in a way that I've never trained before.  My training courses simulate both the climbing and descending of the 300.  I've broken the training courses into discrete sections that I am timing.  Each segment will serve as a baseline against which I will attempt to improve on each time I train on that course.  

THE TYRANNY OF TRAINING:

I can make myself miserable when I set a goal that requires disciplined and difficult training.  Worse, I can make those around me even more miserable ... because of how I act when I feel miserable.  

I don't know, yet, quite how I am going to not go off the deep end in the training process over the next three months.  But I will be making it a priority to remain mindful of my mood, of not feeling `rushed' and unwilling to relax, to be patient and `smell the roses.'  

No doubt I will have more to `blog' about this process.      

INGESTIBLES FOR CREW SUPPORTED LONG-DISTANCE CYCLING

O.K. My special ingestIbles on long-distance crew-supported cycling competitions:

Foodstuffs: ((Little sandwiches. Smashed tight so that they can be easily grabbed, quickly eaten and swallowed.)
-white bread
-peanut butter
-mayonnaise
-tuna fish
-pickle relish
(Little balls of ...)
-Avocado
-Brown rice
-Peanut butter

Fluid
-Maltodextrin powder
-Whey protein powder
-Water
-More water: not when I'm `thirsty,' but on a regular schedule

Minerals
-Endurolyte (electrolyte) pills
-Magnesium pills
-Potassium pills

Medical
-The occasional ibuprofin
-Tums

NO ENSURE PRODUCTS AT ALL, EVER, FOR ALL TIME, IN PERPETUITY AND FINALLY .

Yarnell Grade, Mountain Training ... and Balance In Life

I could write an incomprehensible book on this subject. 

Over the past week I've `psychologically inoculated' myself against early season doubts about my capacity for riding up mountains and long grades.

• Two weeks ago I rode the Skull Valley Loop, with 2,000 feet of climbing in 20 miles.  
• Last Friday I joined 300 intrepid cyclists and rode up Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona.
• Yesterday I rode the legendary Yarnell Grade, where the Arizona desert meets the mountains of the Colorado plateau.

Here are two videos of the descent down Yarnell Grade.  The first one is on May 18th in a car.  The second one is on May 19th on my Bacchetta Ti Aero recumbent bike.

1. Descending Yarnell Grade - Car
2. Descending Yarnell Grade - Bike   

Though I had planned to do a 34 mile, 3,300 foot training ride today ... my body is telling me to rest. 

And that is the hardest thing to gauge in terms of training: balance.  Balance as it relates to performance improvement; balance in terms of the rest of  my life: family, work, social activities and just simple `relaxation.' 

More on this topic over the next several weeks and months.   

Ride Report - Mt Lemmon

Living in the American Southwest offers great opportunities for challenging cycling.  From grim, hot desert to mountainous terrain.  

The Greater Arizona Bicycle Association (GABA) sponsored a supported (SAG stations and vehicles) ride up Mt Lemmon, just northeast of Tucson.  Excellent road and mostly good weather in Spring makes for a great one day cycling challenge.

At this point I'm training to enter the Hoodoo 300  in late August of 2016.  I live in a mountainous area in Arizona (Prescott) so I have the perfect training ground for the Hoodoo 300.

The Mt Lemmon ride constitutes about 30 miles of almost non-stop climbing for an approximate total of 6,000 feet.  An average 5.6 degree grade, with a few 12's and 13's thrown in.  

Starting on Friday the 13th, at 7:10AM, I pedaled 25.8 miles and 5,600 feet to the top.  All was going well until I hit the first descent of the climb.  Flying down a short 150 meter hill at 42 mph I heard a loud `pop' and immediately unclipped my feet from the pedals and began feathering the brakes.  I managed to maintain control of the bike and come to a safe and sudden stop just as the hill was tipping up again.  The front tire.  

Popping the wheel from the frame I inspected it very carefully for tire rip.  I pulled the tube and noted a tear.  Matching the tear to the tire location ... nothing.  The tire looked solid.  I concluded that all I needed to do was to put in a new tube, inflate it and get back on the road.  

Not.  When I inflated the tube I checked the tire again and again, disbelieving my first inspection.  And there it was: a small tear just at the wheel rim. 

I usually carry a spare tire when training at home.  But, since this was SAG supported I didn't bother to bring one.  My ride was over.  Descending Mt Lemmon on that tire would certainly have resulted in tragedy.  

Despite the fact that it was Friday the 13th I was extremely lucky to have that tire blowout before I started my way down the mountain.  Descending at 35 - 50 mph on mountain switchbacks ... certain death.  I imagined myself making a sharp descending turn, the tire blows, the bike goes out from under me, I slide into the oncoming lane ... and under the wheels of a car or truck.  

The GABA SAG vehicle, driven by `Bob,' rolled by within 5 minutes.  He put my bike on his rack and shortly I was heading down the mountain to the starting point.  

THIS is a link to a short video that I took at the top of Mt. Lemmon.  It was the `penultimate' SAG stop about 5 flat miles from the end of the ride.  

And THIS is a link to the Ride With GPS metric of the ride.  

Luge - Minimizing Wind Resistance on Long Descents

This descending method minimizes wind resistance without the use of special gear (fairing, aero bars, etc). 

Riding a Bacchetta Ti Aero recumbent with a tiller and Railgun (Kent Polk) carbon fiber hardshell seat at a 11 degree angle of recline. 

The technique involves extending both feet parallel to the ground. One foot (left) remains clipped in. The other foot is unclipped. Right leg extended with calf resting on right pedal crank. 

Note the video of the descent, below.

Video Clip of 2.2 Mile Descent

This is a picture of the Bacchetta Ti Aero bike. 

• Tiller steering
• Zipp R2C levers
• Railgun carbon fiber hard shell seat at an 11 degree recline. 
• 650 Zipp wheels
• 650 x 23 tires

Recumbent Gearing in the Mountains

The steepness of climbing and the overall amount of climbing that I do in the hills and mountains determines which bike I use.

The Bacchetta Ti Aero has 650 wheels.  I've set it up with a double (50/34) up front and an 11/36 ten speed SRAM cassette in back.  This is the bike I use if the course has inclines greater than 6% for long stretches.

The Bacchetta CA2 has 700 wheels.  I've set it up with a 58/42 up front and an 11/36 ten speed SRAM cassette in back.  This is the bike I use if the course has less steep inclines.  As well, on the descents I can continue to apply power for longer before I spin out (i.e., pedal RPMs greater than 110 or so).

The chart below illustrates how many forward inches is gained with every turn of the crank by bike.

Gear Inches		KEY: With every complete turn of the crank the THIS is the number of inches the bike is moved forward.
175 mm crank
23-622 tire
SRAM 11-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32-36 10-speed Cassette
	TI	CA2			TI	CA2
Wheel	650	700			650	700
	50	58			34	42
11	111	139	125%		75	100	134%
13	93.5	117	125%		64	84.9	133%
15	81	102	125%		55	73.6	134%
17	71.5	89.7	125%		49	64.9	134%
19	64	80.2	125%		44	58.1	134%
22	55.3	69.3	125%		38	50.2	134%
25	48.6	61	126%		33	44.2	134%
28	43.4	54.4	125%		30	39.4	134%
32	38	47.6	125%		26	34.5	134%
36	33.8	42.3	125%		23	30.7	133%

Training Routes for Mountain Ultracycling Event

This is the target:

300 Miles x 17,000 Feet of Climbing

These are the training routes:

46 Miles x 4,300 Feet of Climbing

56 Miles x 4,300 Feet of Climbing

100 Miles x 8,100 Feet of Climbing.

Sweet Spot

Over the years I've experimented with many ways to `perform well' on a recumbent in the mountains.  Climb well, navigate fast descending switchbacks, controlled and fast descents on the straightaways.  Wind. 

 

Although front wheel drive movable bottom bracket recumbents can do well on the flats (if the rider can master the push-pull by pedal force against steering) I found that they are not suited to my terrain. 

 

I spent 2015 customizing the seat and the steering so that the recline was less than 4%.  While I gained `aero' I gave up power.  This does not, axiomatically, mean that there is an inverse relation between power and aero.  In 2014 Matthias Konig set a new Adult Male World Recumbent Racing Association record in the Non Faired Class by riding 100 miles in 3:26:54.  Average speed 28.999.  He is clearly at a sub 4% recline. 

 

 

There is a great advantage to having a very, very high gear when descending long distances.  The more teeth in the biggest front ring the longer it will take you to `spin out' and just coast.  That advantage turns into a severe disadvantage on the flats and climbs. 

 

My training bike (Bacchetta Ti Aero) used to have a 55/42 front ring and 11/32 ten speed rear setup.  Even at the 42/32 combination I found myself `grinding' up hills. 

 

Recently I changed out the front rings to a traditional `double' of 50/34.  That was a big help but it still had me `grinding.'  Over the weekend I installed a new SRAM PG-1070 rear cassette: 11/36 ten speed. 

 

I seem to have stumbled upon the perfect combination: 50 upfront and 36 in back.  `Sweet Spot.'  I can climb a 7% extended grade at 6 mph at a 65 - 70 rpm cadence without feeling a `grind.'  Plenty left over for short accelerations, upshifting for overtaking another cyclist. 

 

THIS is yesterdays 25 mile, 2,118 ft of climbing training ride. 

 

I'm really looking forward to more training on the hills. 

 

 

 

 



Utah Gran Fondo on the Bacchetta Ti Aero

I rode the Planet Ultra Zion Gran Fondo in Utah yesterday.  My primary purpose in this event was to assess the characteristics of the road (chip seal) and general terrain in preparation for the Hoodoo 300 in August.  

Ride With GPS Data Here

The Planet Ultra folks put on a very well supported and well routed event.  I plan to do more of their events this year.  As usual, I was the only recumbent cyclist.  As well as the oldest rider.  

In all respects it was a worthwhile experience.  Good road quality.  Terrain (climbing, i.e.) not a problem.  Though I'll make some gearing changes for the Hoodoo 300 I was more than well prepared on the Bacchetta Ti Aero with the double (50/34) up front and ten speed cassette (11/32) in back.  

Fortunately no flat tire(s).  Michelin ProRace 3s with a tire liner.  

I will likely use both the Bacchetta Ti Aero and Bacchetta CA2 in the August event.  Gearing on the CA2 will be 58/42 up front with a ten speed 11/36 in back.  The bigger chain ring setup in the front will allow faster descents before I `spin out' (around 120 rpm). Tiller, R2C levers and Kent Polk Railgun seat on both.  

Bacchetta Ti Aero

A Collection of Videos of Cycling in Prescott Arizona

I live in an incredible location for challenging bicycling amidst beautiful country. 

 

I've collected several videos of some of my cycling in what is called the `Skull Valley Loop.'  The SVL is my usual training route: some or all of it. 

 

This video is the longest (28 minutes).  The 12.2 mile descent down Iron Springs Road to Skull Valley.  Descent Down Iron Spring Road. 

 

This is a short video going north on the White Spars from mile post 305.  Descent north from MP 305

 

This is a short video going north on the White Spars from mile post 298.  Descent north from MP 298

 

This is one of my favorite descents into the city of Prescott on the White Spars.  Great road, minimal traffic, turns and speed.  Descent to Prescott

 

Going south on the White Spars from mile post 298 to just past Wilhoit.  Very twisty and fast.  I was still early in learning how to operate the Garmin VIRB XE camera.  Descent south from MP 28

 

I've spared you any videos of me ascending the hills out here.  Watching paint dry would be more exciting. 

 

On my latest cycling I've ridden the Bacchetta Ti Aero: 

 

 

 

 

 

Always Something To Learn

Yesterday I travelled south about 70 miles to train on relatively flat terrain.  The training plan called for the following:

 

• heat acclimatization
• increased time cycling
• aerobic training

 

While I achieved these goals I noted the effect of `ramping up' into challenging physical demands.  56 Miles on Vulture Mine Road

 

I started the training ride at 11AM so as to experience early to mid-afternoon desert heat.  I was not disappointed.  The course was a 56 mile out and back, with the out leg of 28 miles of descent and a return of 28 miles of modest climbing (1 - 3% grades).  The temps were in the late 90's and early 100's on the way back.

 

A few things I `relearned' along the way:

 

• I should have had something to eat before I started;
• Bring more water;
• Don't lay the bike down with the water bottle bite valve `open.'  3/4 of the water just drained out;
• Just as you find an out of the way private place to take a dump expect a train of four-person ATVs to drive right past you, gawking

• Make sure the spare tubes have a valve that is long enough to accommodate the wheel rim.

 

Though I had planned to ride about 75 miles it was safe and prudent to just do one out and back (56 miles).  The heat was harsh.  I didn't have enough water.  I didn't eat enough.  I got a flat tire and used one of two spare tubes.  The other spare tube had a valve that was too short (32mm instead of 48). 

 

When I got back to the car I was a bit wobbly.  Heat and dehydration. 

 

That's what happens when you train.  You find out what you do right and what you do wrong. 

 

 

 

FINDING MOTIVATION THROUGH FEAR - The Paradox

This article from the April 10, 2016, issue of the New York Times Business section, hits the nail on the head for me.  

 LINK 

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I was driving with a friend recently and telling him about some projects that really excited me. I mentioned a new book I’m working on, an article I’m writing and this new hobby of adventure motorcycling in the desert.

He interrupted me and said, “How do you stay so motivated and so excited about things?”

It caught me off guard. I hadn’t really considered the “why” behind my list of activities. But as I thought about it, I realized that the one aspect each of these projects had to make me so motivated — the common thread — was the feeling of being in just a little over my head. In other words, doing things despite the fact that, as the marketing guru Seth Godin likes to say, “this might not work.”

Now, that may sound a little bit counterintuitive. It’s easy to wonder how doing stuff that makes you uncomfortable, and might not even work, is a source of motivation.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this paradox, and I could not get my friend’s question out of my head. I wondered whether I’m wired differently. But there’s something about a sink-or-swim environment that excites me.

I posted on Instagram about constantly getting in a little over my head, and my friend Dallas Hartwig told me about this concept called HORMESIS, a phenomenon by which something that could significantly impair or even kill you in high doses can make you stronger in low doses. Or as the National Institutes of Health puts it, “In the fields of biology and medicine, hormesis is defined as an adaptive response of cells and organisms to a moderate (usually intermittent) stress.”

Of course, I thought. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It’s not a new concept. It’s well documented that the way to grow muscle is to rip the muscle tissue, and then give it time to regrow. You give it stress, then rest, and it comes back on the other side stronger than it was before.

So what if we did the same thing in other areas of our lives? In our work, in our family life or in our recreational activities?

It makes sense that the business equivalent of building muscle is trying new things. When you throw yourself into the deep end of something new, you often face a steep learning curve. That forces you to grow, adapt, change and develop your skill set. It’s almost irrelevant if the particular project ends up succeeding. The very act of taking on something new helps you become better at your work over all.

You cannot spend your whole life in the deep end, as that is a recipe for drowning. Muscles get tired. So just like physical exercise, you have to take breaks. You have to calibrate the stress and rest cycle of any sort of entrepreneurial or creative work.

The more I thought about it, the more I began to see these experiences, of diving into the unknown, for what they really were. Some people call them work projects, but I call them adventures. After all, isn’t the definition of “adventure” to set off into the unknown, endure hardships, come back and then rest?

With this reframing, I finally had an answer to my friend’s question about how I stay motivated. It’s because I’m constantly setting off on the next adventure! How could I not?

I know that adventures are not for everyone. I know they can feel scary and intimidating. But making a habit of seeking adventures, in spite of how scary they are, may be the secret to staying motivated about the things you do.

And that, if nothing else, confers a key economic benefit onto anyone who experiences it. Even if we set aside all the tangible benefits that come from stepping outside our comfort zone, it is intuitively obvious that being more excited about your work is a surefire way to improve your performance – and turn your various ventures into adventures.

Note: There is a difference between taking a `reasonable' risk and an `unreasonable' risk.  As it relates to bicycling ... "NOT WORTH IT."