PedalFreek

On September 14 & 15th I raced the RAAM Norcal Cycling Challenge. It was a very good race for me. I won and set a new course record. For the first 220 miles I felt so good, like I could do anything I wanted to do. I could maintain speed on the flats, power through the rollers and climb in or out of the saddle without the legs burning. There was 21,116 ft. of total elevation gain but 80% of that was in the first 220 miles. With 180 miles to go I had around a 45 – 60 min advantage over the second place rider, Seana Hogan. But I began to suffer the last 180 miles. The legs really began to hurt and with 40 or so miles to go Seana had closed to within 20 or 25 minutes.

Several things went through my mind the last 40 miles. One is I wanted to win and two is a double century I did where I was out in front of the other riders. I was caught by Eric Wilson a very good and respected rider. The double century organizer told Eric he needed to show me how to ride at the front. I haven’t forgotten that comment and I wanted to prove that I can ride at the front. So I began to ride out of the saddle, pushing as hard as I could. Then I would ride in the saddle until my speed began to drop and then I’d be out of the saddle again. I pushed like that all the way to the finish. Even on the levee road into the finish. The levee road was extremely rough. So rough that at one point I hit either a bump or a hole and it sounded like I had broken a wheel. In those last 40 miles I gained some time on Seana.

This race allowed me to reinforce something I always knew about myself but lately had begun to question. In my mind I reinforced the fact that I have heart, I have courage.

Special thanks goes to my special girl, Ann and her daughter Alli. They crewed for me and got me to the finish in first place. As anyone knows it’s impossible to race effectively without a good crew.

Thanks also to Cardo. Maker of the BK-1 communication system for bike helmets. I used their system to communicate with my crew to get a new bottle or get food. My crew used the system to let me know about up coming turns.  Before I used two way radios for communication with my crew. The Cardo BK-1 is much easier to use and communication comes across loud and clear. Lately on training rides I’ve been using the Cardo BK-1 to listen to my iPod through the bluetooth setting. A great and versatile system.

And if he’d been training I believe it would’ve helped with the saddle sores. Also Tim didn’t put anything on the sores until after one had opened up. I was putting cream on my butt from the minute it felt a little sore. Yes Tim had moved, changed jobs and was working 60 hrs a week. But he made a commitment to be my teammate. I invested time, money and made a mental investment in RAAM. Tim owed it to me let me know if he wasn’t ready to race. It was the moral thing to do. Yes he told me and announced to the crew he would give me $500 towards an entry next year. Hoo rah. I spent thousands on this years RAAM. I’m so disappointed that we didn’t finish. It’s embarrassing. We could’ve, should have finished.

I know riders get dehydrated but he was admonished by the crew to drink. I also know saddle sores can be show stoppers. But the thing that bothers me is he wasn’t training.  He wasn’t ready to race. He was riding 2 new bikes. He knew 1 didn’t fit at the April 6 RAAM Challenge but I don’t think he resolved the fit issue. The 2nd new bike looked like the saddle was too high. If he had been training he could’ve worked out fit issues. Continued in the next post.

RAAM credited PKG PedalFreeks with 1474 miles. My bike computer shows I rode 960 miles which means my “teammate” rode 514 miles. Yes he was dehydrated before Sedona but Ann (crew) said he would get off the bike and just sleep.  He wouldn’t drink or eat. Then in Sedona he told Ann “I think Wades made at me. Maybe we should just make a vacation out of it”. At a transition in Durango, CO Tim rode next to me and asked if we should “pull the plug”. Then in Ulysses, Kansas he went to the hospital with saddle sores and hemorrhoids and never rode again. Continued in the next post.

Disappointment is beginning to turn to bitterness. I feel like my team mate stole from me.

The Sarto Cima Coppi is an amazing climbing bike. It felt so easy to get and stay on top of the gear. Just like there’s no chain. 13.5 lbs with head and taillight. Laterally stiff yet vertically compliant. It rode very good. Full custom geometry, hand made by Sarto in Italy. I’m very pleased with the bike. Thanks Sarto for a great frame.

The Yarnell grade wasn’t bad nor was the climb to Jerome. Although I remember getting tired towards the summit. The climb to Sedona and on to Flagstaff made me suffer.

The downhill into Jerome, Az was a blast! The kind of descent where you can let it all go. Brake hard going into the curves and then pedal out hard.

The Colorado thunderstorms with pea sized hail was fun to ride through 🙂 At one point it looked like 2 inches of water on the road.

I won’t soon forget the false flats in Arizona. The gradients were less than 1% but they went for miles. After awhile they began to take a toll on the legs