It's Official

I have sent in the money and have my name actually listed on the website...Hooray!
I'm boosting the training and had a meeting with some crew (my wife and sister). We are planning for crew training in Sacramento this week end and plotting to snare other innocents into a life of crew.
I seem to be cleared for "open" category of a recumbent trike and bike. The trike is for the long, slow climbs and high winds. We'll see how the plan works. Since this is my second attempt I'm trying to keep the logistics simpler, the cars smaller with more light and sound systems.
I have tried to explain why I do this. There really isn't any way to justify it to anyone who doesn't think doing hard things is its own reward.

NO ONE TALKED ME OUT OF IT

Two years after my first post I am looking seriously at riding RAW again. I have reconciled the possibility I will bonk again with the advantage of using the ride as a fund raiser for the Central Asia Institute. If that works, the farther I ride the more money I raise and I don't need to feel bad about not quite finishing.
The RAW this year is only 860 miles. In two years only two solo riders have finished. I think the organizers accepted the race was too long for the people who are signing up for it and shortened the race.
I may ride this race on trikes. The theory is that the trikes might be heavier with more drag, but there is no energy spent maintaining balance. That is the theory. I still like the recumbent bikes and I think I'll be happy whichever way I go. That's it for now.

C

COULD SOMEONE TALK ME OUT OF THIS?

At the request of my crew chief I am contemplating another RAW effort next year. We learned a lot at this year's race. She is enthusiastic about trying again. I am less enthused but willing to consider it. Today is August 4th. After riding 100 miles this week end my knee is fine, the bikes are working, the weather is gorgeous. There is no reason not to go looking for trouble.
I have more vacation coming up. I'm planning on some long rides, 200 miles or more to see what happens. The problem with very long, non-looping rides in Montana is that, out of Lewistown for example, it is possible to go over 100 miles without seeing a house, much less a town with a hotel. So starting a long ride around here is a serious matter.
I have panniers and I'm thinking of approaching the next long (500) mile ride as a tour rather than a race. Carrying enough water for 120 miles of riding in summer means carrying a lot of weight. Still, one does what one must. One's other choice is to find a loop close to home and put in a couple hundred miles where help is available. One doesn't want to do that because one knows one will want to stop if stopping is easy. One will change pronouns now.
This is the first posting for the 2009 race. The first step is reinforcing an addiction is admitting the addiction and buying all the paraphanalia necessary to support it, then drop all your old, noncycling friends. I've done that...Let's roll!

ChrisM

Not as Fun as it Looks

The race is done. I'm sad to say I tanked at 258 miles. Though I don't think I would have finished on time I like to think I could have gone farther. There were some first timer errors.
1. I needed to train more. When it was snowing I needed to do long hours on an indoor trainer.

2. The inexperience of my crew showed. I ended up doing too much of the work and didn't check my bikes before the ride. On one bike the rear derailleur was out of adjustment and on the other the boom with the pedals had rotated slightly. The first left me struggling to find gears on the hills, the second hurt my right knee as I worked the odd angle.

3. I made a wrong turn just a few miles into the race and went down the wrong long, steep hill. My crew chief's phone battery was dead so I had to ride back up the long, steep hill. I wasn't happy.

4. Finally, I was drinking well but didn't eat enough. When I faded in Arizona I thought it was the 110+ degree heat. Now I think I just ran out of fuel (and heat and a sore knee...take your pick).

More than a week later my knee is still sore. I'll do some longer rides in Montana over the summer and see how I hold up physically. I still don't see a RAAM in my future, I don't rule out another run at a Race Across the West.

Thanks for your support.

ChrisM

Adios y Hola

This is the last pre-race blog. I'm starting to pack, distributing cool gifts to my crew (shirts and CREDIT CARDS)and doing easy rides after work while avoiding massive thunderstorms.
I leave Bozeman on June 3rd, my birthday, to arrive in Oceanside by Friday. Tonight we are having a last training run for my crew to implement the changes made since the previous training ride. On Tuesday I'm driving with the bikes, Wednesday the crew is flying down to 1) Oceanside or 2)Albuquerque to pick up the RV. I haven't gained as much weight as I would like before the race. It just makes that much less to haul I guess.
That's it. Now there is just time to fret, fret, fret and then ride, ride, ride.

ChrisM

Moving, not pedalling

I spent a meterologically horrible Memorial Day week-end moving house. I didn't do any riding but I did do a lot of heavy lifting using my quads and my lower back (ouch). I did get some stationary bicycling done early in the week. Mostly this week has not been so much a taper as a plummet. Still, I feel great. My resting pulse has been at 50 all week. Apparently lifting furniture and boxes of books is not a cardiovascular work out.
Now the clothes are back in the drawers, the pictures are hung and long baths have been taken. No more reasons to not get out and do some toner upper rides this week. My new home is only two miles from work. The road is hilly and narrow so if I vary my pace I can go easy or get a brief intense work out. I think at this point easy is the recommended way to go. I'm SO disappointed.
Thirteen days out and I'm healthy, rested and living in the shadow of a growing terror. What else is ultramarathon racing about?

ChrisM

Top of the Hill

This past week-end was the last of the big training rides. Saturday I did 60 miles on a gorgeous day. That route was quite hilly, finishing with a moderate climb that ends at the local ski resort. Moderate in this case means 1500 feet up in about sixteen miles. This was the check ride after the last tune up at my local bike shop. They adjusted derailleurs and changed tires and cables. The new vented seat cover I put on Kelson works fine.
Sunday I did 107 miles in 6 hours, 20 minutes. What's to say? I felt good. The chief benefit of long rides seems to be brutally enforcing the rules to 1. Eat and 2. Drink. Even working on it I was getting dehydrated. The next plan is to put a water bottle in a chest pack of some kind so drinking is easier. Imbibation is definitely my weak spot, aside from legs.
I've decided to leave the Easy Racer Javelin home. The complications of spare parts and travel space were getting to be too much. I love the springy ride...alright, maybe I'll throw it on the roof of the car. But then there are more lights, tires, tubes and, let's face it, a heavier bike. I think it will be an all Seiran race.
This week is a good time to taper because I'm moving into our new house. It's only a couple of miles away, so there will be many small trips and one day with a rented truck. For once the stress of moving is less than the stress of something else--the training.
I'm getting a new helmet too. Who knows what the equipment inspectors inspect?

ChrisM