Terrible Two

[Carl Sanders]

That one hurt.

Spent most of the week leading up to this ride fighting and losing to a chest cold. Upper respiratory congestion was not doing wonders for my aerobic capacity.

Coming into this event, which is part of my Sierra Tahoe Training plan, I felt fit and fast, where just last weekend, I pulled off a ninth place at the King Ridge Grasshopper series final. About 90 miles of serious hurt for that one, but was still able to finish strong, knocking off four or five riders on the final climb up Willow Creek to secure my first top ten with those guys. Nice to be able to roll with the local west county Big Dogs.

Thought I would be able to carry this momentum into the Terrible Two.  Not this time.

Friday night the sore throat and chest congestion persisted. I went to bed only feeling only about 88% of capacity.

I had paid my registration, had pre-ridden most of the course in segments, so I made plans to get up a 3:00 AM.

Seemed I was ready to pay again.

 

Looking over pervious TT results with riders whom I'd raced with on shorter courses before, I though I might be able to pull off a sub 12 hour finish. With that goal in mind, I rode with top 30 or so out of town and over Trinity. The lead group of 10 or so riders then dropped us somewhere on the Silverado Trail en route to Calistoga. Staying with a strong chase group we ended up re-grouping on Hwy 128, after the Calistoga Rest Stop, where a one-way stop light was being enforced by Course Marshalls.

The temperature climbed as the chase group disintegrated over the Geysers. This would be a mostly solo game from this point on as I bumped and bounced my was down the backside which would have been far easier on an XC ride. Finally rolling back onto relatively smooth pavement, I caught up with a couple guys near the bottom. 

On to River Road, we formed a short, fast rotating pace-line with one other rider that carried us all the way over to Lake Sonoma. That hard, unexpected push may have cost me. At 110 miles, I arrived at the Lake Sonoma Rest Stop with a time of 6:15, fifteen minutes behind my target split time. Grabbing only water, gulping some fresh fruit and a handful of GU, I took off up Skaggs and quickly realized I was in for a world of hurt. My quads were already feeling the early intense miles and the 7,000' of climbing. Only 90 miles left with 9,000' of climbing to go!

Spent most of the ride out to the coast switching leads with only one other lone rider.  Glad for the water stops en route over that series of unforgiving hot, steep and exposed climbs. At one Stop, I learned I was still holding onto 13th place. Inspiration in numbers pushed me on!

Then, the Rancheria wall off the Gualala River nearly broke me. That has got to be one of the steepest sections of that course. Got past by a strong climber who I passed earlier with a flat. Refueled and soaked the body in cold water at the Rancheria Rest Stop, then I jumped back on for that crazy, almost dizzy descent out to Stewarts Point.

Heading south on HWY, I could see two riders ahead, but did not have the kick to catch either before Fort Ross.  My average sustainable heart rate was steadily dropping as was my pace up each climb.  Deep fatigue was getting the better of me. I didn't sense there were many matches left to burn for my hoped for strong finish.

Nearly there, I went into an auto mode, methodically rocking my way back and forth out of the saddle up the final big Fort Ross climb.  Past the same guy that I was trading leads with on Skaggs for the final time. He looked spent. I crawled by pretending I was not. Some sort of slow-motion, B-grade movie kind of drama unfolded as each of us struggled to push slowly upward, our very being seemingly at stake if we did not give it our all. 

Rolled solo the rest of the race, glancing periodically behind me, sure that I was going to be overtaken at my ridiculously slow speed; down to Cazadero, up along the Russian River, over the hill to Occidental and finally back into Analy High School in Sebastopol at mile 200 in 14th place with a time of 12:32. Not too shabby this round.

Great race support. Yummy dinner afterward. A good vibe among racers, event staff and volunteers.  Despite the suffering, already making plans to see what I can do operating at 100% next time. Will likely need to increase caloric intake next time and hope that I'm not sick before hand. I'll aim for a sub-12 hour, top ten finish next time. Glad for short term memory.

 

[Paul Montgomery]

Well told...16k of climbing and 200 miles, now that's a Death Ride!