Training Recap

To recap my winter training, I started in November at 158 lbs and my field test was 225 watt average. This was immediately after my 1:59:36 Half Marathon performance, so I wasn’t out of shape at that point. Or at least I wasn’t out of running shape, I could tell that I wasn’t the same cyclist that I had been in June when I started concentrating on running, but I was still good.

I followed the Winter Camp program with two TRX Full Body Blast sessions and one Coach led Computrainer sessions each week. I also followed the training program Coach Tim sent me on Training Peaks. However, I did not do extra at any point – I only did what was on the plan.

In January I added nutrition regiment to the program after the holiday feasts. I started with an Advocare Cleanse and followed that with the BioTools products. The Cleanse started the weight loss with a good 3-4 lb kick start and the BioTools were added to make sure I wasn’t going to wear down during the training schedule. The product info for BioTools is recommends them for Baby Boomers that are active, need to muscle recovery and build lean muscle. That sounds exactly like what I wanted to have happen!

At the end of  month training plan for my May 6^th Field Test I weighed in at 148 lbs and produced 296 watt average.

Here are some numbers adding in the weight of the Bumble Bee = 18.5 lb.

November = 2.81 watts/Kg           vs.                May = 3.92 watts/Kg

WOW + 1.11 watts/Kg in 6 months, with little of that coming from weight loss.

What did I spend?

• 6 Months of Cycling Camp @ $150 per month = $900
• Advocare Cleanse = $32
• Advocare BioTools 3 months @ $70 = $210
• Advocare O2 Gold = $40
• Total Spend = $1,182

Was it worth it?

Yup, that seems like a lot, but what was the gain?

If we use the formula Watts = g*m*Vg*(K1+s)+K2*(Vg*Vg*Vg)

We can calculate is the difference between my November speed on a 6% grade and the May speed on that same hill.

November = 9.34 MPH

May = 12.37 MPH

+ 3.03 MPH

What if I spent that money on a lighter bike?

What would gain if you could spend $1,200 to drop 3 lbs off of the bike to take it to the UCI minimum. (I say could because I am not sure you can loose 3 lbs with $1,200)

Nov = 9.45 MPH Result in a gain of 0.11 MPH

May = 12.48 MPH Result in a gain of 0.11 MPH

Obviously losing 10 lbs of body weight is bigger than losing 3 off the bike. However the cost of loosing body weight is $240 and will power. The large gain in speed between November and May comes from the power increase. Power was built from both the training and the nutrition products.

Obviously, if I am watching someone slowly crawl away from me during the GFNY I will be wishing I had spent the other $1,200. However, if I can go 12 MPH up a 6% grade – there aren’t going to be too many riders passing me.

My Winter Training:

I started following our cycling camp schedule in early November along with our first group of campers. I didn’t yet have a goal event, I was simply changing back over to cycling from my running adventure. The first session at cycling camp is a Computrainer Field Test – 8 minute all out effort. November ’11 I quickly spiked my heart rate to 181 by the end of the first minute and it stayed there for the last 7 minutes – average power was 226 watts. That was low, but it was all I had in my legs that night. I had run the Columbus half marathon 2 weeks prior in just less than 2 hours so I was not out of shape. I had rested since the marathon so I was not fatigued from it either. 226 watts was my level of cycling power at the beginning of my winter training.

The following sessions proved the value of doing the Computrainer Field Tests to measure progress through a training schedule. The Computrainer sessions start out with a warm up and equipment calibration, this calibration ensures that each test is a valid comparison tool. The calibration measures the rolling resistance of the wheel against that ergo unit. The eliminates the variation of wheels and tires from changes in the results, it leaves only the riders ability to generate power as the measure. In contrast to outdoor heart rate based field tests, with the indoor power based test all of the elements of nature are also controlled: wind, water and humidity are not factors.

For November and December I followed the camp cycling plan just like all of the other campers with strength training once or twice weekly. My second Field Test was mid December and the result was 242 watts with a HR in the mid 170′s. Same feeling at the end, completely wrung out with nothing left to give. But I was starting to feel like a cyclist again – pushing thought the burn, smoothing out the stress and pain in my legs. This was confirmed with the first Tour de Cause Winter Time Trial event (WTT) with a result of 225 watt average power for 28 minutes. I was really happy with that since 8 weeks before I could only produce that power for 8 minutes, now I could roll that effort for close to 30 minutes.

In January I saw a link to the Gran Fondo New York and offered my wife a weekend holiday in NYC as part of a getaway package. With the sign up, I now had my goal event – 104 miles, 8,500 ft of climbing – 4 times climbs. While not the extreme challenge of other rides, this was going to be pretty good. From this point forward I was training with a purpose – it was going to be all about power to weight. I clearly needed more power (and less weight), but how much could I improve by May? I was hoping to gain another 10-20 watts since I was convinced that my previous tests and training had peaked me at about 250/260 range.

After setting my goal event and date, I wouldn’t say my training intensified, I would only say that I was more diligent in following the plan and not shortening any of the cycling/endurance sessions. As I followed the camp training and entered each WTT I continued to see jumps in wattage in both the field tests and the WTT results. The jumps were not erratic, they were steady increases in power that mirrored the short field test of about 3 miles and the 10 mile WTT courses. A field test would show an increase in wattage, the WTT that followed would show a comparable result of about 10 watts lower average.

The fifth and final WTT was the same course profile as the first event. The result was a huge difference in power – my power had jumped to 254 watt average for 26 minutes. I added 30 watts and had cut 2 minutes off the 10 mile effort in 8 weeks of training! This result was confirmed with the end of March field test results of 273 watt average. At that point my power was 21% higher than my initial November field test.

I was still 7 weeks away from my goal event so the training changed to more specific climbing and max efforts to peak in May. The last set of drills on my schedule for May 4^th was eight 1 minute Power Intervals with a 1 minute recovery. With each of those efforts I imagined rolling up one of the GFNY climbs, and then raised the intensity as a was pushing past other riders and grade changes. That was a lung searing, leg wobbling session. I did a recovery ride on the trainer Saturday watching a couple of Breaking Bad episodes to prepare for the Sunday field test.

My goal for the field test was to start out at the final result from the last one (273 watts) and see if I could push that higher during the test. I calibrated the Computrainer at 2.63 to ensure a valid test result. The difference between this and other tests was that I was alone – no companions to push or to be pushed by – it was just me and the machine. This lonely work: the hum of the fan, the whirr of the chain, the clicking and squeak of the cleats in the pedals is all there is to distract you from the pain of the effort since I forgot to turn on the music. My surprise came as I rolled the wattage up in the first minute, 280 felt good, 300 felt hard – that is 8 minutes hard, but not impossible. So this became my new target – 300 watts! A cadence of 107 was producing just over 300 watts so I focussed on pushing the pedals across the top all the way to the bottom, first the right then then left. Smoothing the pain all the way through the pedal stroke, relaxing the stress points, just keep that high tempo rolling. The minutes clicked by and my average wattage was climbing up through 290 as I passed the 4 minute mark. I was in pain, but then I thought about how fast the last 4 minutes went by, I could keep this effort up for another 4. At 6 1/2 minutes my average had climbed to 294 and it was time to get cross eyed. I shifted down a gear and pushed a little more – 310 watts, at 7 ½ minutes I put in a final push to 320 watts and the average clicked up to 296 with an avg HR of 168. I was done, I mean I was really cooked; shift down, spin and gasp. I jumped of the bike to take a screen shot of the result before it dropped below 290 but I screwed that up – wobbly and sweaty is not the time to be performing those types of functions.

I jumped back on the bike to complete the cool down when I had a brilliant idea, I wondered if I could produce the same effort as my previous field test (273 watts) after that hard effort. As I recovered the idea became a challenge, what was my recovery rate, what did I have left? So I jumped off and reset the time trial to give me a clean slate. I counted down to a 10 minute recovery and started again. My next surprise was the I could roll at 275-280 watts as a sustainable effort. I am not saying it was easy, just that I felt like I could keep going at that effort level for a while. My average had climbed up to 275 by the 4 minute mark and I was really feeling the effort. I focussed on maintaining a cadence of 103 which produced 275/280 watts for the next 2 minutes. At that point I decided to see what was left, I shifted down and started grinding and I could push the wattage up to 300+. At 7 minutes I pushed a little more – 310, at 7:30 I made my final push and was rolling the same wattage as the end of the first field test – 320/330. I ended this test at 278 watt average with an avg. HR of 163. My HR avg was 5 beats lower from the first effort, which might indicate that I had more left than I expected and my goal should have been to hit 286 + for the second effort.

The end result is a huge increase in power between my November and May Field tests – 31% increase in 6 months of training. Plus the bonus of having this power repeatable over the course of a ride as I will need to repeat a hard effort multiple times.

So the hay is in the barn and my focus is now on not gaining weight over the next 2 weeks, now that is a challenge!

The task we had the Heart Chase participant perform was warm up for 2-3 minutes, pedal as hard as they could For 30 seconds then stop. We would observe their Heart Rate (HR) as they warmed up for 2 minutes, note the maximum HR during the 30 second effort, note the change in HR immediately after they stop the effort, then count the time for the HR to return to the warm up levels.

We partnered with Dan Peters of Lancaster Bicycle at his future home in downtown Lancaster. Dan would supply the location and bicycles – CCR would supply the task and the HR measuring equipment. Since this is a drill that our Winter Cycling Camp participants had to perform, we had all the equipment required. CCR has Computrainers the show heart rate, power output and cadence which gave us all the data we needed. We used ear clips to pick up the HR for each rider so we didn’t have to have HR straps for each rider.

Here is what we observed:

Non-athletes:

The HR would rise up to 80 to 90% of max during warm up.

During the 30 minute effort the HR would rise up to 95% max level.

At stop the HR would rise 5-10 beats and then drop back to warm up in 2 minutes.

Runners:

The HR would rise very quickly with little power output, even during warm up.

During the 30 minute effort the HR would rise up to 95% max level.

At stop the HR would rise 3-5 beats and then drop back to warm up in 1 minute.

Cyclists:

The HR would rise to 110 – 120 during warm up.

During the 30 minute effort the HR would rise up to 95% max level.

At stop the HR would rise 3-5 beats and then drop back to warm up in 30 seconds.

The key is what happens when the participant stopped pedaling. In all cases the HR rose. The reason for this is that the legs help circulate blood during cycling motion. When you stop pedaling your heart has to take over the lost pumping function that your legs were providing. All of the other observations follow this key factor, the well conditioned runners saw their HR jump very quickly during warm up. This is due to the lack of cardiovascular infrastructure that a cyclist would build up during training. The other observation is that their HR returned to warm up in about half the time of non-athletes. This is a sign of aerobic fitness.

The cyclist would show a low HR during warm up because their legs have the infrastructure to help the heart. While under load the HR reacts the same – albeit with a much higher average power output. The cyclist experiences the same shock upon stop of pedaling due to the dependancy on the legs to assist with circulation. Then the well trained cyclist saw very rapid HR return.

What does this mean to you as a cyclist?

#1 – Time on bike is important to build your cardiovascular infrastructure. Building muscle is important, but without the complimentary cycling you are missing that critical infrastructure.

#2 – Running will improve your hear strength and aerobic capacity, but time on bike is the key to building a cycling aerobic capacity.

#3 – When you finish a very hard effort such as reaching the top of climb, you will recover faster if you keep pedaling. This will allow your legs to help your heart and avoid those dizzy or woozy sensations.

#4 – Work with someone that knows how to structure your training to build that infrastucture and aerobic capacity.

So, get out there and ride, ride, ride.

Some related links:

http://www.paragonapartments.com/blog/2011/12/06/your-second-heart/

http://www.healthstatus.com/articles1/strong-heart-how-to-become-very-fit/

We think we are close to all of these goals with the design, selection of Voler SQ Pro Jersey and the pricing options. Since we were not going to add a shorts/bib design we wanted to create a look that integrated with the standard black shorts/bibs that most riders wear.

Mens and Women’s  short sleeve (shown) and sleeveless (like the vest)

Sizes extra small to 3X Large, Voler has the size and fit that will make you look good on the bike.

Why Voler SQ Pro?

2007 ToC jersey with lots of wear

My wife bought me a Sprinters jersey while we were at the 2007 Tour of California. She liked the color the best, the fit and comfort of the Voler jersey made it my favorite. The jersey has gotten a lot of wear, lots of washes and it still looks and fits great.

We are placing our initial order April 23^rd with delivery June 9^th. We are offering the jersey and accessories at our cost for all pre-orders.

 Pre-order Prices

As you can see above, 59.95 is a seriously great price on a new jersey. Add to that the fit and quality, this a deal you cannot pass up. But let us make it even better. We want you to be completely put together when you are riding in all types of weather, so we are offering to pay you to ride in our colors. When you add a wind vest or another jersey we are going to pick up part of the cost. So add a matching wind vest for $40…, add another Jersey $50…

Flight #1 got off to a difficult start as the CT program stopped running 1:36 minutes into the race. So we had to shut down and restart. It was a good opener for the participants, the race was dominated by Nick Vorwerk with his very high 250 watts of power to 132 lb weight. He started strong and ended kicking out 500 watts over the last quarter mile – it was an impressive performance. No one was even close and he was still pushing himself all the way to the end. The other 3 competitors were all pretty evenly matched P/W. Second, third and forth place traded places several times during the last mile and a half. With the final 3 riders finishing within a minute of each other.

Flight #1 Results:

Flight #2 was run Sunday afternoon to accommodate Don Walkers participation in the YMCA Triathalon on Saturday. Jen Sawchuck joined the fun for the first time on Sunday.

Flight #2 Results:

I had a faint hope of competing with Nick on this course, however with my power at the same rate as Nick with 20+ more pounds reality hit hard. Standard warm up was completed and Don gave the countdown and we were off. I was focussed on my power and cadence making sure I was not letting my cadence drop below 80 even on the 8 & 9% grades. I was hoping to compete with Nick however I could not hold much over 250 watts. I could feel the burning in my lungs on the steeps where my HR was maxed out at 180. I attempted to recover by dropping my HR back to 170 on the less steep sections to make sure I was able to complete the event. Having watched Nick kick out those big watts at the end of his ride I tried to emulate that. The final half mile I kicked up my cadence to raise my power output. From the last 3 months of cycling camp, I know that if I had dropped into a lower gear I would have lost power instead of getting more. I was able to raise my power into the 300 range but was not able to get anymore. I felt good about my results having completely forgot the great time Nick put up the day before. Jean Walker and I cheered Don and Jen to the course completion. It is really tough to keep working after other participants have finished but Don, then Jen brought it home in over 40 minutes of hard effort.

Looking forward to the final event and making this a bigger and better event next year for the Tour de Cause.

Tim Rucker congratulates Richard on the win

Event #2 course was dead flat with no change in grade for 10 miles. The course favored pure power with a little impact from power to weight ratio for each rider. The trick was to produce even power for the 23-36 minutes it would take the riders to complete the 10 miles.

Event #1 course was a rolling course with little flat and was more climbing than descending. That rolling course required the combination of power to weight with the ability to spin high cadence on the downhill portions of the course. Nick Vorwerk with a high power to weight and spinning ability as good as any other rider was the winner of Event #1.

Event #2 had two Flights of riders starting on the hour beginning at 10 AM. Flight #1 was Nick Vorwerk, Jay Truesdel, John Crook (me) and Don Walker. I had hoped to ride in Flight #2 to give a little more recovery from the Camp Session that ended at 9 AM, but that was not to be. The event starts with rider weigh-in to enter the rider weight in the Multi Rider program. Flight #1 lined up, we warmed up and warmed up the Computraners and tires. After warm up we calibrated each CT to 2.5 pounds of pressure to make sure the race is based on rider ability aerobic capacity and strength.

At the go, I kicked it hard using the morning practice on Power Start drills from Cycling camp to get a jump and I was out in front. Jay and Nick were close behind in that order with Don trailing. I thought getting a lead and riding from the front would give me some extra wings. I was shouting for a picture of my lead because I was not confident it would last. After a minute I was looking at a lead over Jay of 3-400 feet with Nick within 100 behind Jay. I was focused on the wattage that I was producing in comparison to Jay and Nick, I expected that if power was constant I could maintain my lead. At the 4 minute mark I looked up and saw the same numbers and I gave a brief smile, then realized that Nick was was now in 2nd position less than 100 feet behind me. Over the next few minutes I did my best to hold the young man off, but eventually Nick made the catch and eased ahead. My HR was running in the low 170′s which is at the high edge of my thresh hold – I was not running at a sustainable level so I had to be careful. At that point I decided to let Nick go, and stay close enough to try for a late catch with a final effort between mile 8 and 10.

I kept Nick at 800 feet and waited to mile 8, I clicked down a gear and kicked it to maintain my cadence. I immediately saw 2 results: Nick’s lead was going down and my Heart rate was going up – we were past minute 20 and I had been running hard. My average wattage for the first 20 minutes was 253 – If I needed a normalized power thresh hold I could use that number. In 2 minutes I had chopped 200 feet off of Nick’s lead and I was getting hopeful. Then Nick looked up and picked up his pace to stop the erosion of his lead. At that point I slid forward on the saddle to get right over the pedals to kick up my power – hoping to see what Nick had left. Well, the answer was enough to hold on – my heart rate had climbed to 175 and had not budged with that last hard effort. I was now solid in the red zone and was really feeling the effects of the effort with no impact on the distance to first place. After another minute my opportunity was gone and Nick continued to kick it to the finish.

Nick: 25:59:80, John: 26:20:24, Jay: 27:01:19, Don: 34:09:27

Flight #2 of Donna Bush, Richard Lewis and Dan Bryan weighed in, warmed up, calibrated. At the start Richard and Dan were kicking out over 300 watts each making it a close race. Without any experience watching either Richard or Dan in an event like this I was wondering if they could maintain that high of power for the duration. With both Richard and Dan large powerful riders we thought they might. Part of the answer came when Dan moderated his output to the high 200′s. This left us watching Richard’s ride to see if he had overcooked the start or if he was within his limits. At the 20 minute mark Richard continued to hold a Wattage average of over 330 watts. On this course where power is king he rode to an great time of 23:24:64 with Dan and Donna coming in that order at 29:07:05 and 36:07:08.
Event winner is Richard Lewis from New Albany at 25.6 MPH and 338 avg watts for the 23+ minutes.
2nd place – Nick Vorwerk
3rd place – John Crook.

With some calculations of power to weight we are looking forward to a good race next week where once again power to weight will impact the outcome and to Event #4 where pure climbers will test their abilities on the 6% grade course.

Come join the fun and see what you’ve got.

Flight #1 Results

Flight #2 results

Here are the top 5 reasons I would give to join the fun:

#1 If you are a competitor (triathalons, city limit signs, etc), keeping that competitive mind set in the winter will help you jump start your spring. Thinking about doing your best will keep you motivated in your winter training. Even though you are working on base miles, strength, technique in the winter you could benefit from the additional focus these events bring.

#2 If you are a recreational cyclist, this is a gathering of cyclists of all abilities and why not take another opportunity to socialize? Come early, stay after and watch, chat with friends, and talk about what could have been.

#3 If you always wanted to know how you stack up against your peers in power, you can see your real time and average power along with heart rate during the event.

#4 If you are doing a training program or always wanted to know what your “threshholds” are, these long events where you are pushing yourself can give you a pretty good number to work from. Although not as specific as a Lactate Thresh hold or a VO2 Max/Thresh hold test it would be good.

#5 If all else fails to motivate you, why not support Tour de Cause? These folks are doing great work here in the community and this is a fund raiser for them.

OK, so you may have missed the first event, you didn’t miss the second event and the entire series is just $50. That is only $12 per event to get all of these benefits, that is a real deal!

Details and sign up here: http://www.crookscycleright.com/ccr/upcoming-events/tdc-winter-time-trial-series/

The cycling portion of the tri program will be focused more on sustained effort/ time trial training than high power efforts.  The training plan will train the energy systems the way they need to be trained to keep a high, sustained power over the distance of the race. In addition to the cycling, there will be additional coaching conversations on transitioning between disciplines and fueling requirements.

Participation in the Tri camp includes a membership to the F.I.T group for group runs. The F.I.T. group has Monday evening, Wednesday morning and Saturday morning runs that include long, hill and speed work. The training schedule will be aligned to the group runs as they fit the individual campers.

Tri Camp January – May:

Weekly 90 minute Computrainer cycling session

Weekly TRX Full Body Blast strength session

TrainingPeaks account with training schedule

F.I.T Membership for the Winter 2012 session – http://fairfieldintraining.com/

Hi,

John forwarded you’re e-mail on to me so I could answer your questions about the training.  Getting started into the Winter Cycling Camp ASAP would really benefit your performance on the bike next year.  As we work through the Cycling Camp we will explain all the different intervals (their purpose, when to use them, how to do them, etc) and with the use of the Computrainer you will get solid data on how you performed on each interval.  I know it seems strange, but something as simple as a Power Interval (go all out for X amount of time) is often performed incorrectly but the errors do not show up unless we are looking at power.  After you go through a class focused on a specific interval you will know how an interval should feel and the correct way to do it, so then you can go and do it on your own at home or out on the road (if the weather happens to be nice enough in November).

In addition to this, the Winter Cycling Camp will help keep you on track throughout the winter.  It is easy for training to get bumped down the priority list through the holidays and when the racing season is still far off. With a regular trainer day plus extra “homework” during the week your off season training will have more structure and purpose, which will definitely help keep you focused during the colder months.

http://www.winthefight.org/granfondo/

Options were:

• The “Diabolical Double” – the feature event of the Garrett County Gran Fondo, the Diabolical Double is a true, extreme epic on par with European climbing classics such as Etape du Tour, la Marmotte, and the classic Italian Gran Fondos. At 125 miles and 16,500 feet of climbing, the Diabolical Double is an all-day affair that is an extreme challenge for even the most fit rider. Included in Rapha Continental’s 2009 tour of the Top 25 Epic Rides in North America, and called by the Rapha riders “one of the most demanding and stunning rides of the summer”, the Diabolical Double is destined to become a true North American cycling classic.
• The “Savage Century” – at 102 miles and 12,700 feet of climbing, the Savage Century is a very challenging century ride in its own right despite playing second fiddle to the Diabolical Double. The Savage Century shares the first 59 miles and final 15 miles of the Diabolical Double route.
• The “Masochistic Metric” – at 62 miles and 8000 feet of climbing, the Masochistic Metric can stake its claim as the toughest metric century route in North America. The Masochistic Metric shares the first 47 miles of the Diabolical Double and Savage Century routes and includes some of the most stunning rural scenery and vistas you are ever to encounter on a bike as well as the vast majority of the steepest climbs encountered in the Savage Century and Diabolical Double routes
• The “Garrett’s Greatest 25″ – A beautiful 25 mile ride through the rolling Garrett County farmland with a challenging 3 mile climb to the finish atop Wisp Mountain.
  

Event and ride report on the Gerrett Fondo

The Garrett Fondo is an amazing ride.  I think I was way overtrained for the challenge of the course I signed up for but underprepared with supplies.  At the hotel the night before the start, I was certainly intimidated by the other riders.  There were all these grim, skeletal gentlemen who looked like they spent their lives climbing l’alp.

The fondo was all wooded lanes, farms and alpine meadows.  The course was steeply up or steeply down at every inch of road, but the longest climb was not more than 4 miles. Still, at what a pitch: we must have been climbing 20% grade for 2 miles on Bowman Hill, the biggest climb.  At another point on one flatish stretch of road, I looked at my elevation meter and saw we were still climbing at 10%.  And at the steepest points, even the people crawling back-and-forth across the road were probably climbing at 15%.  I was glad I had learned how to eat on sheer descents, because there was no way I was going to do it climbing.

There weren’t that many riders, although the fondo did sell out.  Each group was around 80 riders, and we left from the mountain of the Wisp ski resort in three heats separated by thirty minutes.  I started with the 3rd and last group who looked totally unprepared for this 60-mile route (or any 60-mile route), except for their amazing bikes.  Does everyone else but me have a R2 Cervelo or Dogma at home?  (There were also tri bikes!)

I was riding all alone after two climbs up Shingle Camp and White Rock Road, when the route took me down into the wooded valley below the ski resort’s summit.  And on your good advice, I rode by the first checkpoint without stopping.  And then the real climbs started: a 1,200 foot ascent up Morgantown Rd, and several 500+ climbs up Everly Rd and Collier Rd and Pig’s Ear Rd and the Devil’s Half Acre.  My only moment of pain came about 20 miles later with 2 miles left to the last checkpoint, where I cramped up suddenly somewhere between Pig’s Ear and Devil’s Half Acre.  I had run out of electrolytes 15 miles back, and I had no idea what they would have at the checkpoint.  People I passed just minutes before came along and zipped by me only offering a few sharp remarks.  But I recovered, feasted at checkpoint 2, and gingerly rode through the Savage Forest area and up to the summit finish with a few heat 1 riders who had cut their 125 mile ride short.

Do no families come to these events to see the riders finish?

When I crossed the line there was Melanie and Bea cheering for us with no one else around besides a handful of volunteers.  I never did see the real climbers, the walking skeletons who spooked me at the hotel the night before.  They must have still been enjoying the double century when I packed up my bike and drove off.  The food tables were still piled high when I finished, and my toddler and I feasted on Goldfish and Heed.

For my first organized ride, I was happy with my pace, although it was not much to talk about.  Before my leg cramped up, I was riding around 16mph/well under 4 minute miles.  At the end, my average pace had gone to 14.2mph or so which is around a 4:15 minute mile.