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April 30, 2006
THE CHICO WILDFLOWER RIDE
The Chico Wildflower Ride
Well, this will go down in my record books as one of my worst race preparations in my brief competition history. First, and what will likely haunt me the most is that I was not able to reach the level of training that I had planned for. Secondly, rather that rest the day before the event, I did the running leg of a triathlon in Oroville, followed by a ½ mile lake swim, and followed by an hour of tennis or so with my family. Lastly, we had friends over the night before, so I ended up staying up way too late, and having way too much fun.
I set my alarm for 4:30 AM, and I really struggled to get out of bed. I did my usual pre-race routine, and was headed into Chico (and our meeting place) by 5:30 AM. My right ankle was still pretty sore (I injured it yesterday playing tennis), but not nearly as bad as it was the night before. I met up with 3 other riding buddies, and we headed out around 6:15 AM. There was already a steady stream of riders on the road, and the diversity of the people out was incredible. We saw lots of the usual 20 somethings, with the $3,000 bikes and all the matching gear – we saw 12-year-old kids, riding with their parents, and we say lots of people that looked to be grandparents – some of them appeared to be riding the same bike they had when they were kids!!!
The first challenge was Humboldt road – going up past the burn dump. We had all ridden this a number of times, and even though it gets fairly steep, it no longer really causes me any serious issues. We decided to mentally break the ride into four segments, Humboldt, Honey Run, Table Mountain and the flats – to help us mentally cope with the length of the ride. Once at the top of Humboldt, we literally flew down Hwy 32 – I pegged a maximum speed of 36 miles per hour.
The next hill was Honey Run – and this was probably one of my fastest climbs on this route. Being out there with 3 or 4 thousand other riders is a great motivating factor, as I really did not want to be slow, or worse yet, have to walk with all the other riders around me. My riding partner Paul also helped keep me on track, and didn’t let me slack off too much.
Once in Paradise, we headed east on Pearson, and we turned onto Recreation Drive to the first of many rest stops for the day. What an incredible site!! There were probably at least 300 bikes and riders there, music was blasting, they had gallons of water being dispensed, and literally every type of really good snacking food imaginable. Lots of bananas, oranges, three or four types of muffins (and they were delicious). After refilling our water bottles, we headed back out to Pearson, and then headed south on Pentz Road.
Pentz road was a trip!!! For some reason, there was almost no traffic other than bikes on the roadway. That gave us lots of room to crank up the speed, and see how many riders we could pass. Paul and I took turns at the lead position, and we must have passed 50 riders coming down the hill. On one steep section near Lime Saddle, Paul hit a top speed of 50 miles per hour. I chickened out and hit the brakes instead, as my bike is a little too squirrelly for me to be comfortable at that speed.
From Pentz Road, we headed east on Durham Pentz, to Wheellock Road. Nice county back road, nothing really notable here. We then crossed Highway 70 to Coal Canyon Road, again a nice easy pace, and pretty comfortable ride.
We had to go a short stretch on Highway 70 to get to Table Mountain Blvd. We saw one of the riders in front of us nearly get ran over by a Chevy Blazer – he didn’t’ bother to look before he headed into the left turn lane, and almost got hit. That was too close for all of our comfort, as we would have been first on the scene of a very bloody mess. Luckily, the Blazer was able to stop in time to avoid him.
From Table Mountain Blvd, we crossed the freeway to the north forebay – where another rest area was set up. Again, it was unbelievable. A free mechanic on duty, to help with any mechanical issues. Lots of water, Recharge drinks, and again, some of the best muffins and things I have ever eaten.
From there, we headed into Oroville, and up Cherokee Road. Similar to my training ride on Tuesday, the first mile or two were OK, and then the road just gets incredibly steep, and is unrelenting. I think I ended up walking three or four times to make it up. Lots of riders were either walking, of pulling off the road to rest. This is the toughest climb I have found locally in Butte County. Anyway, after that climb kicked my butt, it was mainly downhill all the way to the next rest stop. Lots of huge potholes, and a really poor roadway condition made going really fast really challenging. Luckily, everyone made in down without anything more that a few close calls.
Then it was on to the Spring Valley School, and our lunch stop. There we probably 500 riders here, and it looks somewhat like a carnival, with all the colorful jerseys and such. Lunch consisted of Sandwiches (lots of choices), strawberries, nuts, granola, cookies, and just about anything else you could of.
We didn’t stick around too long after we ate – it was already past 12:00, and it was getting hot. It was also getting increasing difficult to move again after we sat down, so we needed to keep moving.
Onto Pentz Road, then a left turn onto Durham Pentz – and another rocket sled ride down the hill. Paul and I again took turns with the lead (breaking the wind for the other rider). This technique allowed us to probably go a mile or 2 per hour faster than the individual riders. We continued this all the way into Durham. We stopped at the corner market in Durham, and bought Red Bulls for both of us. We needed the psychological lift, and we joked about how we would have wings after we drank it.
We needed wings, to fight the headwind we met along Durham Pentz and Durham Dayton. 14 to 15 miles per hour was about the best we could hold. Even with that slow of a pace, we were passing lots of riders. To be fair, we did get passed by a few also – but they were the guys that seemed to live, breath and drink bicycles.
About the time we passed 7 mile lane, on our way out to River Road is when it started getting tough. We had long ago ran out of comfortable positions on our saddle, and lots of things were starting to complain – from our wrists down to the soles of my feet. The only thing that helped keep up going was passing people – and knowing that the faster pace we held, the sooner we would be finished.
Once we turned onto River Road we were passed by a huge Peleton (large group of riders in single file). We tried to keep up with them and join their group, but they were riding way faster than our tired legs were willing to go. We stayed on River Road, counting off the miles, and trying our best to keep upbeat about the ride. Finally, after what seemed to be hours, we pulled the Chico at 5th Street. After a fairly painful ride through the city streets, we made it back to our starting point, and two of the best tasting beers that I have ever drank. Our total time was 6 hours and 51 minutes of “saddle time� (not counting the food stops). We averaged 14 miles per hour across the entire ride, which is pretty good for a couple of guys that are not “real� road bikers.
After a quart of chocolate milk, another bottle of Gatorade and a Cliff Bar, I am well on my way to recovery. While it was a long ways, it was not nearly as hard on our bodies that I had anticipated, and so far I can walk easily, and even traverse stairs (a vast improvement over my post-marathon recovery). While none of us had trained as much as we had wanted, we all made in home in one piece, with no obvious injuries or issues.
So, I’ll take a few days off, then get a few good swim workouts in, with enough running and biking to hold my fitness – and then taper down for the my first real (doing all three legs) triathlon on May 13 in Oroville. This should be a good event, as I believe that I am in much better condition in all three venues than last year.
Posted by Dennis at 06:09 PM | Comments (2)
April 28, 2006
WILDFLOWER WEEK
This was a fairly light training week, as I tried to taper down for my first triathlon on the season on Saturday, and the Wildflower (100 mile) bike ride on Sunday.
I took Monday and Tuesday off from work, to try to get some projects finished up around the house. Monday afternoon found me running a jackhammer, breaking up concrete that was poorly placed by the previous owner of our house. Tuesday, I decided to try to get a bike ride in, around the Table Mountain Loop. This was the only portion of the bike ride that I had not been on, and I really wanted to see just how challenging it would be. I started from my house, went into Durham, then east on Durham Pentz, to Wheelock Road, the up Coal Canyon, then in to Oroville, left on Nelson, then onto Cherokee Road.
This is where the fun begin. About a mile into the Cherokee portion, it started to get a little steeper, by the two mile point it was really steep, and by roughly the three mile point the ride was just killing me. My legs were burning, my heart rate was probably up around 175, and I just could not find a flat spot to recover. I finally got off the bike and walked for a 100 feet or so to give my body a little bit of a rest, and to get my heartrate back under control. It took two more of these “rest breaks� to make it to the top of Table Mountain. Here all along I was under the impression that this would be the “easy� portion of the ride.
I took two bottles with me for the ride, one with accelerade, and one with water. I drained both completely by the time I got to the top of the hill. I thought to myself, well, now what are you going to do??? You’ve got 30 miles to get home, it’s 80 degrees, you are sweating like Ken Lay on the witness stand, and you are out of water??? I then remembered that there was a Mexican food van (AKA Roach Coach) that was parked at the intersection of Durham Pentz and Clark Road when I came through. Unfortunatly, he had already left for the day by the time I got there. So, at that point I had no option but to keep going, and hope that I could make it back to Durham before the cramping set in. Luckily, I made it back without any real issues. This ride ended up being around 55 miles, quite a bit longer than I had anticipated. It also made me realize how much “fun� the last 50 miles on Sunday will be (cause this first 50 pretty well beat me up, and I was tired and sore).
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were rest days to get ready for the weekend. Saturday myself and two friends did the North Forebay Triathlon as a relay. I did the running portion (3 miles), which went first, then Eric did the Kayak leg, the other Dennis did the bike ride. This was a lot of fun, as we really were not trying to win anything - just go out and have a good time. Of course, once I was at the starting line, it was anything but fun and games - I have this awfully competitive streak in me. I was the 12th runner as we rounded the first turn, and I thought that I should be able to pick off a few more as the race went on - but no such luck. I guess I not quite as fast as I thought I was, and I ended up being passed by 8 runners by the end - so we started out the second leg in about 20th position. My time actually was pretty good, my unofficial watch time had me right at 23 minutes, which is just where I thought I would finish. Eric held his place in the pack, and the other Dennis slipped a few postions - but overall we were very happy with our placement amongst the finishers. The results were not up yet, but we know we beat our time from last year, and the way I see it, anytime you can be another year older, yet faster, that is a great thing.
We played tennis later that afternoon, and I hurt my damned ankle again - this the day before a 100 mile bike ride. That should make for an interesting ride.....
Posted by Dennis at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2006
ONE WEEK TILL THE WILDFLOWER
Training this week went pretty well. Monday was a rest day, Tuesday was an early morning gym workout, consisting of a ½ swim, 22 minutes of running hills (treadmill program) and about an hour of spinning. Wednesday was a rest day, and the Thursday was pretty much a repeat gym workout, only this time I did speed work in the pool, and did the running after spinning. I ran 1.1 miles on the treadmill at an 8 minute/mile pace.
Friday a couple of my co-workers and I got together at the North Forebay for a workout. We are doing the North Forebay Triathlon this coming Saturday (the day before the Wildflower) as a relay, so we wanted to check out the trails, as well as get in our first lake swim of the year. The bike ride was really fun, as the course was relatively flat, and in pretty good shape considering how much rain we have gotten this winter. It was a little muddy in spots, which was kinda fun – by the time we got back both our bikes and our bodies were covered with mud.
Then we put on our wetsuits, and took the plunge into the chilly, chilly waters of the forebay. Going into the water, the coldness literally takes your breath away, and it is nearly impossible to get a good breath of air. Once you get your face and body used to the coldness (usually about 10 minutes or so) it gets a little better (unless you go out too fast and hyperventilate, in which case you will probably not even finish the swim). Every time I do a lake swim I laugh at myself; I spend hours working on technique and drills to try to perfect my stroke – then I get out into a 60 degree lake and within the first three strokes all that refinement is thrown right of the window, and I regress to “Survival Swimming�. Near the swimming/picnic area the temperature wasn’t too bad, probably mid 60’s. Once we got past the bridge, the water below the top couple of inches was so cold that you didn’t dare put your feet down. We discovered that with our wetsuits on, we could literally “sit� in the water – with our heads and feet well above the surface. We swam out past the bridge, and then over to the dock by the Kayak rental place. We stopped there for a few minutes and regrouped, then swam the return trip without stopping. Of course, I forgot to set my watch, so I do not know how long we swam – probably on the order of 23 minutes or so, which should have been close to a half mile. Our new wetsuits were great, there was no way I could have (or would have wanted to swim) in that water without it.
Saturday was my last big ride planned before the Wildflower. In order to meet family obligations, I planned on leaving around 5:30 Am, and ride from Durham to Chico, then up Humboldt, down Highway 32, across town and then up Honeyrun, across Pearson Road, and down Pentz Road, ultimately taking Durham Dayton Road back to Durham. This will end up about a 60-mile bike ride, with around 2500 to 3000 vertical feet. That should give me a pretty good taste of what next Sunday will be like, especially with respect to the vertical climbing. At least that was the plan….
But, as usual this spring that feels like winter, I awoke about 4:30 Am to the sound of rain again. I got up and couldn’t believe that once again my ride was going to be blown out. After a couple hours of waiting for it to blow over (which it never did) I gave up and went in to the gym. Did a ½ mile swim, 60 minutes on the spinning bikes, and then a 3-mile pace run (first half hills, second half speed). At this point I have just about relegated myself to being in pain during the last third of the Wildflower, cause I just have not been able to get in the longer training rides I needed.
Posted by Dennis at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2006
2 WEEKS TILL THE WILDFLOWER
This was supposed to be my last big training week, as I make my push to get ready for both the Wildflower, and my first triathlon of the year on May 13, in Oroville. I started the week with a rest day on Monday, then swimming (1000 yards), 2 miles of hills on the treadmill, and 35 minutes of spinning on Tuesday. Wednesday was another rest day, and then Thursday was another swim/bike brick workout. Swimming was 5 – 100 yards sprints, and then a couple of hundred yards to warm up/cool down.
Also, I got to try out my new wetsuit on Thursday. I ordered it last week, and couldn’t wait for the lakes to clean up to try it out. The buoyancy, and improved “hydro-dynamics� decreased both my 50-yard and 100 yard sprint times by almost 20 percent. It is absolutely amazing how much easier it is to swim with a good quality, triathlon specific wetsuit.
I’ve been fighting a cold and/or sinus infection for the last week or so. On Wednesday, I got tired of the headaches and stuff, so I went to Enloe Prompt care after work. Once in the exam room, the nurse’s aid did the usual blood pressure, pulse, etc. When she took my pulse, she said “wow, that is really good, you must be an athlete�. I do not know that I have ever had anyone call me “an athlete� before, and it was a pretty cool feeling.
I have been watching the weather all week, trying to figure out how to get a long (around 70 miles or so) ride in over the weekend. Saturday looked like rain, and Sunday was out due to rain and a family gathering for Easter. So, Friday after work, I finally was able to get away to ride Honey Run again. I wasn’t able to leave until almost 5:30 PM, so I knew I would be a little “daylight challenged� at the end of the ride, but I figured that would help keep me motivated to ride fast. The ride was fairly uneventful, all the traffic behaved pretty well, and for the first time this year I made it up Honey Run without stopping. I stopped at the little corner market and Neal and Skyway to buy a Gatorade, and started talking to two ladies there. One was purchasing a bottle of wine, and she commented to the cashier that “that’s what I should be doing, going for a bike ride, rather that doing this� pointing to the alcohol. They laughed when I told them I had considered not riding today, and just hanging out by the pool with a Corona this afternoon. They both agreed that I “deserved� a Corona once I made it home.
By the time I made it home, it was after 8:00, and plenty dark. Made a mental note for myself to leave before 5:00 PM for the Honey Run loop. This ride was about 35 miles, and took me on the order of two and a half hours. That averages to a whopping 14 miles per hour. My goal, for the triathlon seasons is 19 miles per hour during the races.
Saturday morning I woke up, hoping that the weather would cooperate, so I could get an additional ride in. No such luck, the Magalia weather station already had a trace of rain, and the national weather service had issued a Wind Advisory for the Valley. I have just about had it with biking in the wind, so I went to the gym instead, to get both a swim and a good spinning workout. My training plan called for a long bike of 70 miles today – and there just was no safe way to make that happen out on the roadways.
This was my “long swim� for the week, so I swam a mile (35 laps), then did about an hour and a half on the spinning bike. Sunday will be a well-deserved rest day.
Posted by Dennis at 07:06 AM | Comments (0)
April 09, 2006
THREE WEEKS TILL THE WILDFLOWER
This was a big training week, as I make my push to get ready for both the Wildflower, and my first triathlon of the year in May. I started the week with something new for me – a spin class at In Motion Fitness. I did the “beginners� class on Tuesday, and it was fun. The instructor was very nice, and understanding when I told him I would have to leave early (work always seems to get in the way of things!!). I warmed up for the spinning by swimming, did 21 laps in 26 minutes and 47�.
On Thursday, I did a repeat swim/bike brick, with 100 yard “sprints� in the pool, and then went to the “advanced� spin class. The instructor for this class was a hoot, and he really went out of his way to try to give us a good hard workout.
Friday was swimming at In Motion; I did 35 laps (1,750 yards, or just about a mile) in 41 minutes and 52 seconds. This averaged out to two minutes and 23 seconds per 100 yards, which is my best time yet for a long distance swim. In fact, this is faster than many of my previous race times for ½ mile swims. Finally, the swimming is starting to come around.
Saturday was my big bike ride – I hooked up with my friend Paul, and we went up Honeyrun, then up the trailway to the upper end of Paradise. Honeyrun is just as steep, and still just as hard as I remember it…. I took two short walk breaks to stretch out my calves and back, but Paul toughed it out all the way to the top. Once at the top of town we stopped at Fastrip to buy some Gatorade and something to eat – the lady behind the counter asked where we were riding from and she just about fell off her stool when I told her we started in Durham, went to Chico, then up to Paradise via Honeyrun. I guess to the average Joe, that doesn’t exercise much, that seems like a pretty big deal.
We went home via Neal Road, which is a wickedly fast way to get home. Once we got past the rough stuff about half way down, we both put our bikes in high gear and gave it all we had. I reached a maximum speed of 33.5 miles per hour, and then all of a sudden my right hamstring started cramping – so I took that as a not so subtle message that I had better take it easy. Our total for the trip was about 53 miles, and roughly 2000 feet of vertical climbing. As I was riding the last couple of miles to my house, I remember thinking, Wow, this would only be the halfway point on the Wildflower….. That is going to be a long, long day…..
Sunday was pretty much a rest day, as I was still sore from the bike ride. Later in the afternoon, I couldn't stand it - with the spots of sun shining through the clouds, I went for a 5 mile run. Of course, it started raining about halfway through. I guess I just have to appreciate the rain now, for soon it will be July, and so hot we will all be complaining about the heat. Finished the run in 44 minutes, which was pretty good considering my condition.
Posted by Dennis at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
April 02, 2006
CYCLING IN THE RAIN
That pretty much sums up this weeks training. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am just about sick and tired of "the wet stuff". I was able to get in a gym workout (swim, bike, run brick) on Wednesday, and a 5-mile run early on Friday. I was able to sneak in between the raindrops on Saturday afternoon with a 30-mile ride up around Bidwell Park and around California Park. This was a good ride, and I was able to play with my new bike computer a little bit. My average speed (including stop lights, and stop signs, etc) was just under 16 miles per hour, over a two hour ride. I thought that was pretty good, until I read a post on Beginnertriatlete.com about someone who has just averaged 20 miles per hour on a one hour ride. I guess I still have some training work to do....
I was going to add Humboldt Road into the mix, but I did not trust the weather, and did not look forward to a late afternoon (lots of traffic) trip down Highway 32 (especially with the 25 mph wind we were having). Highway 32 is not too bad early in the morning on weekends, when most of the drivers are sober, and the traffic volume is a lot lighter. Later in the afternoon, or on weekdays the trip can be absolutely terrifying once you get above 25 or 30 miles a hour, and have to deal with Garbage trucks, and lots of traffic trying to blow you off the roadway.
Hopefully next weekend I will be able to get a “real� bike ride in, and maybe even tackle Honeyrun. The Wildflower is just 28 days away, and I currently am nowhere near the condition I will need to be to finish the ride.
Posted by Dennis at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)