Ride Reports July 2005

2005 Michigan National 24-Hour Challenge
June 18-19, 2005 by Bill 'Saddle Sore' Smith

A New Record (for me) 362.8 miles

Like Pilgrims returning to Mecca, each Father's Day weekend people from all around the States (and sometimes other countries) converge in Middleville, Michigan for (up to) twenty-four hours of fun and pleasure.

We call these people "crews" or "support".

In addition to these folks, approximately four hundred people return here to ride their bikes for distances up to 480 miles!

These people are usually classified by scientists as "nut-jobs".

This is the sixth year I've been a proud member of the “nut-job” contingent.

The Event

The Michigan National 24-Hour Challenge (www.n24hc.org) is a personal best ride; it is not a race. Cyclists depart at 8:00 a.m. Saturday and may ride until 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Checkpoints along the route verify that each cyclist has ridden the route in its entirety.

A Loopy Ride

The riders must ride loop one (126.7 miles) once. The survivors then ride loop two (24.7 miles) as many times as possible until 8:00 p.m. Those still conscious will then traverse loop three (7.5 miles) all night long. I call this loop the "exciting" loop—not because it's really boring (it is) but because this is the loop on which you might be "lucky" enough (translation: too tired to see and think clearly) to hallucinate and see dinosaurs lurking in the dark shadowy areas. This was my experience in 2000, my second year of fun.

The Training

"How does a person of sound mind and body train for an event such as this?" you may ask. I am glad that you asked. Being a "nut-job", I am not qualified to answer the question. However, I’ll tell you how I train. I would love to know how to train for 400 miles in this event; I strongly suspect that the first step in that training regimen is to pick better parents. But, barring that...

First, if you can, ride all Winter. We did the Lights and Pizza rides from October through March this year, and tackled as many climbs as we could (at a reasonable pace).

Second, get a trainer. Ride it. Hard. I use a Spinervals tape (see www.CoachTroy.com) and tackled the Time Trial program once per week from November through April. This tape is an intense one-hour workout. It is time well-spent. It's a good method to keep your fitness over the long Winter, especially when there is ice on the roads and riding outdoors is not possible.

Third, use a heart-rate monitor. I use mine on my indoor trainer only; I rarely give my all on road rides, so it's not much use there. On the trainer I like to push with all I can, because when the tape is over, I am already home and a shower is minutes away.

Fourth, ride long distances.

Once Spring arrives, I like to get an early century in—usually before the end of April. Hilly is better; it means the workout will be profitable, regardless of how fast or slow the group rides.

As the Spring progresses, I aim for a double-metric (125 miles) in early May, then a double-century (200 miles) by May's end. At the same time, I try to get in some "speed work". Whereas for our local racers, "speed work" is 22-23 mph, for me it is 18-19 mph (on a good day). At forty-seven years old, that’s about all I can get these days.

Equipment

Each ride offers an opportunity to test your bike's hardware, learn what works best for you, and what you should avoid. For example, a saddle that feels good at 125 miles will not necessarily feel the same way at 200 miles. I learned that last year when I did my longest training rides on my old Fuji with an aged Avocet saddle, and did the Challenge on my newer Specialized saddle. I had horrible blisters on my butt for the last 150 miles of the ride. Long rides give you a chance to determine which shorts are most comfortable. For added padding, on rides longer than a century I wear two pairs of shorts and switch them half-way through the ride.

Nutrition

I am still learning what and how to eat on long rides. After countless double centuries and six triples, I am still not certain what works best for me. Ten years ago I could subsist on junk (cookies and such); now as I age I find I must eat frequently (constantly is a better description) and more healthily. I've become fond of the Mocha Mocha Clif Shot (it's got caffeine, my drug of choice) and fig newtons. After 200 miles I begin to crave salty foods, so I always pack some potato chips. They sell pizza slices at the Challenge; a ten o'clock slice of pizza is almost a spiritual experience. Post-ride I crave meats and pasta and cheese. My wife theorizes that, since my on-ride diet is mostly sugars and caffeine, that I need to add some low-calorie string cheese to my jersey pockets to make up for my lack of protein intake. I shall try this in the future and see what happens.

The Ride

This year’s ride went off under cool, cloudy skies. The temperatures were in the low 60's and the winds were light, out of the north. For most people, it is perfect riding conditions — me, well I prefer a little more warmth.

It is a tradition that the national anthems of all participants’ countries are played. This year we heard our anthem and those of Canada and Denmark. Then the bagpipers begin blasting away and we are off on the ride.

Even though it is never a good idea to push very hard at the start of a ride as long as this, I still try to work a little bit at the beginning and tag along comfortably inside any compatible paceline I can find. This year I was unsuccessful: I only found one at the right speed, and within it was one guy who was a very squirrelly rider. In fact, he came close to causing accidents three times, so I backed out of that one. Several others came along, but each seemed to be from one-half to two miles per hour too fast for me, so I just paired and tripled-up with whomever came along, which seemed to suffice. Much of the time we rode side-by-side or in a 2 X 2 "box" so we could talk, which helps to pass the time.

The Challenge organizers, Diane and John Obermeyer, along with their 150 volunteers, keep the stops well-stocked with food and drink. Nonetheless, I brought my own stash of iced tea, Gatorade, Fig Newtons, chips, chocolate chip cookies and Clif Shot. So far I’ve found that I rarely eat or drink enough — it gets to be almost an annoyance to eat, as for best performance you need to constantly chow down, especially when you're not even hungry!

An Exciting Data Analysis

One of the nicer additions in the last three years is that each bicycle gets outfitted with an RFID tag, which records one’s rider number and timestamp as each checkpoint is passed. The checkpoints are at miles 34.4, 71.5, 96.2 and 126.7. Beyond that, they vary depending upon the number of middle loops you can get in. When the results booklet arrives (only one week after the ride is over!) enclosed are any pictures you were in, as well as your time splits. After 34.4 miles I was averaging 18.7 mph. That fell to 18.5 at 71.5 miles. By 126.7 it had fallen to 17.1 (this includes stopped time — the clock is always running). By nightfall my average pace had fallen to 16.5 mph. Analyzing the rest of my time splits I find that, during the night, I am one slow fellow. I've not paid much attention to it (until now), but I see that my average night pace this year was only 13.9 mph (again, this includes stopped time). On the whole, though, I was almost one mile per hour faster than last year—most likely due to stopping less. Not counting stopped time, I averaged 16.0 mph and spent 22 hours and 40 minutes on the bike.

Wasn't that an interesting paragraph? So the point is, either ride faster, stop less, or do both. Next year, I am going to try to do both. I shall shoot for 375 miles by riding faster at night.

The Mistakes

I always make some boneheaded mistakes each year on this ride. Last year I missed a turn. A couple of years ago I ate a ton of bread and nearly fell asleep on the bike (after observing the dinosaurs). This year, I did not eat enough in the midnight-two o’clock time period—and had some very slow night laps as a result. Fig Newtons and WAWA iced tea (elixir of life) came to the rescue again.

The Best Parts

Aside from the ride, which is enjoyable in a masochistic way, it was wonderful to have my wife there to support me with food, drinks, enthusiasm and kisses!

And nothing at all beats the incredible Italian dinner served to us by our friends in Michigan (the Piggs) on Sunday evening. After 362 miles, spaghetti and meatballs in homemade sauce is an unparalleled experience. The smells emanating from the kitchen of our fine Michigan cook, Sue, all day was simultaneously torturous and intoxicating. We are also indebted to them for watching our children and giving us the best in hospitality.

Want to know more? Go to http://www.n24hc.org and dive in.

High Road to High Rock
June 11, 2005 - by Martha and Mark Anderson

Joan Wicks, Steve Walter, Jeff Gantnier and Bill Preston joined Mark & Martha Anderson on the High Road to High Rock. It was a sultry day for lots of climbing; Bill Preston mysteriously disappeared at the Ranger station after the first climbing stage. The remaining five riders tackled the rest of the cols on their own.

Club members Lynn Rosenbusch and John Fauerby were spotted off in the distance; Dave Whitaker went spinning on by with a quick "how ya doing?" After a brief respite on the rocky top at High Rock, the breezy descent down Rt. 550 made it all worthwhile. The only mishap was a swallowed bee, the stinging effects wore off after a few days of alcohol treatments.

Loopy For Lewistown
June 25, 2005 - Led by Brian King

It was sunny and a good bit warmer than last month at Lewistown Elementary School when six laid back bikers gathered for a leisurely 'D' ride around the Lewistown area. Along for this month's trip were Laura Chaffiotte, Betty Duncan, Brian King, Rick O'Donnell, Peggy Parker, and Bill Smith. Laura and Bill joined us mid-way through their own ride on which they'd already been up to Thurmont for breakfast.

Brian King, Laura Chaffiotte, Bill Smith, Rick O'Donnell, Betty Duncan and Peggy Parker

We took a route similar to last month that brought us up Catoctin Furnace Road to the Market Basket store just south of Thurmont for a rest stop. There were no takers for the soda fountain style ice cream treats they sell even though they seemed inviting as the day was warming up quite nicely.

Bill and Laura head out of the rest stop.

Bill and Laura turned down Hessong Bridge from Blue Mountain to complete their ride as the rest of the group meandered clockwise along Layman, Wilhide, Bottomley and Old Frederick before passing through the Utica Road covered bridge on our way back to the ride start. It was a nice 19 mile ride to start out the weekend.

Betty, Peggy and Rick ease on down the road - Layman Road that is...