Nogales Bicycle Classic RR

The atmosphere in the peloton was friendly, warm, familiar.  Everybody, save me, knew one another.  Old friends would put their hands on another's shoulder and talk with an intimacy born through knowing and accepting another over decades.

And like conversations between old compadres, the race intensity ebbed. Sometimes people would surge, stretching the pack thin, then it would slow and grow wide and comfortable.

This is how the race went for 40 miles.  Sometimes we'd fly along at 35, sometimes at 22 mph.

Then, for reasons I didn't understand, it got quiet, dark. The group tightened.  It was as if something ominous was about to transpire.  

A battle was taking place with strategies I failed to comprehend and techniques I failed to recognize.  Mistakenly, I thought the 1200 feet of climbing in final 5 miles would do me in.  I wanted to hang on until then, and then see who was best prepared.

The race was the Inaugural Nogales Bicycle Classic.  This is the town's second attempt at hosting a cycling event.  The first date was postponed due to low participation.

I was hesitant to sign up as it came on the heels of a big race and during a very busy time of the year.  Beyond that, to put it delicately, I had an stomach bug for 10 of the previous 14 days.  I hadn't ridden my bike in two weeks, and the few runs I had were amazingly slow and difficult, leaving me inexplicably sore for days.  But I want this event to be successful, so I joined. 

Being a small race, I could easily place or come in last.  I had hopes of placing, but my real goal was just to finish in less than 3 hours, even if I couldn't keep with the fast group.  As I mentally prepared, I visualized falling in with the fastest group and trying to conserve energy where I could.  Fifty-five of the route's sixty miles cover my routine rides.  I imagined where I could catch my breath and where I would have to push hard.  But, also recognizing my lack of preparation, I told myself that if I was dropped, I'd just enjoy the rest of the ride and have a good time.

Like the last race, the day before race day this time was anything but ideal.  I never sat down at home, save breakfast.  I worked, had an emotionally taxing day, ran errands in the afternoon, and then attended my oldest daughter's final high school band performance.  When that was finished, I got home, prepared my bike and clothes, took a shower and hit the sack for a fitful night of sleep. 

In the morning I woke up tired and achey.  The quick 15 minute drive to the race was a real treat.  I usually have to drive 60-plus miles. Once there, I soon discovered my jacket wasn't needed for a warm up ride, it wasn't at all cold, even at 6:30 am.  That concerned me.

As I sat in the chute watching the clock count down, I glanced at my heart rate on the Garmin.  It read, 96, 97, 98 ...  excitement!

Count down ... race.

As you can see, there's a pretty nice climb to start the race, then it's a nearly uninterrupted shot downhill for 25 miles!  How sweet is that?

Down the first hill my Garmin recorded an average moving speed just over 40 mph on the first mile, and just over 38 on the second.  The top speed was 58 mph!  I'm not sure if that's accurate, seems incredible to me.  But, it was definitely too fast to look at the clock!

 At mile 14 it was my turn to pull.  I had my good luck socks on!  As you can see, the mood is relaxed and friendly.  I was excited to see my family (oldest daughter took the pictures) on the side of the road cheering!  They'd let the group pass, then drive ahead and find another place to cheer and photograph.  In fact, the public support and aid stations were superb!  A lot of people came to watch. 

Around mile 35 it grew warm.  There was a headwind as we started to climb back up to Nogales.  I made sure to slip to the middle or back of the pack, conserving my energy.

Then the eventual winners started doing something I'd not experienced.  They would sprint ahead, spreading the pack.  Some people couldn't match the pace would fall behind.  After creating an insurmountable gap for those dropped, the lead group would slow down.  The conversations died, the group tightened and dwindled from about 30 down to 15 or so.  It was all fun for the first 40 miles, but the next 20 would be racing, no doubt about it!

Had I known what was happening sooner I could've been smarter and kept up without full out sprints.  But I never tried to hang with fast guys before.  I was ignorant of such tricks.  I thought it was just foolish riders that would burn themselves out.  I didn't realize they were trying to burn me.  Falling into the trap, I'd ease in the back of the group hiding from the wind, then have to sprint forward, slipping between slower riders as the sprints continued.  I should've stayed near the front and just tailed them when they left, instead of having to sprint alone.

Eventually there was a huge sprint and I got stuck behind some riders that were getting dropped.  I crossed into the far lane and just slammed it, breaking 35 miles an hour on flat ground to catch up!  That pretty much sealed my fate.  

In the picture to the right you can see the first three placing riders employing this strategy.  I'm stuck in the pack behind these guys about to make my sprint.

In the picture below I am moving to the outside to execute my biggest sprint.  

 

As we turned and went within a mile of my house I hit the wall.  I was cooked earlier but didn't realize it.  I slowed to form group of slower riders, but only three came.  I fell in with them and we worked together, riding in single file, taking short turns at the front.  We actually started closing the gap.  But I knew what lay ahead.  And the rolling hills ushered in some wonderful cramps.

Now knowing my chances of placing were now truly gone, I did as I practiced (mentally) and slowed down, trying to rest a bit for the big hills at the end.     

I finished the last 6 miles alone.  I worked through the rolling hills and then began the real climbs.  I was very concerned on three occasions that I lacked the strength to climb the hills.  I worried I was going to have to walk!  Steady and slow I went, only standing and pulling hard when it was required by gravity.  At one point I pushed so hard, at such a slow speed, I almost pulled a wheelie.  My average pace through those hills was about 10 mph, sometimes dipping as low as 5 mph.  

I came in at 2:57:57, in 11th place, just over 9 minutes behind the winners.  My name was called out and people cheered as I crossed the finish line.  A volunteer walked over with a cup of gatorade and ice for me and another came with a banana.  I stretched, shook hands with the three people I rode with for a while and cooled down.

Everybody asked where I lived and then, after realizing I'm a local, commented it was strange not having seen me riding before.  The winning rider came over and introduced himself.  He complimented me on my form and cadence.  He said he had been watching me during the race and liked how smooth and easy I was on the bike.  That made me feel good.

It was certainly the best bike race environment I'd been a part of.  I'm really hoping that the event is held again next year.  All told, there were just over 140 participants for the three distances, 10, 40 and 60 miles.  They organizers were very happy with this turnout.  I hope that's a good sign!

The Nogales Bicycle Classic far exceeded my expectations.  The support, both by sponsors and volunteers, and especially those just cheering, was fantastic.  The participants were outgoing and friendly.  The route was beautiful, roads in excellent condition, and it was very apparent that the organizers really cared about our experience.

I came away feeling charged and motivated to train harder this coming fall.  I found out that I can hang!  I will seek out other riders in the area and hopefully train with them.  Until then, I am going to take a couple of weeks off to rest and recover.

A Day in the Life

Yesterday, the day after my first century ride, I got up at 4:30 and ran four miles.  The first mile was 10:30, but then I woke up and the rest were in the 7:30 range.  I went to work and had a rough day, I was flat and my students were nuts.  After work I had an hour long meeting ... I think we planned the next meeting in that one.  Then, I taught two classes for the community college, finishing up at 8:00 pm.

Last night I couldn't sleep well.  There were javelina rooting around outside causing the stupid fat chihuahua we have to bark and bark and bark, and forget to stop barking.  I rolled out of bed at 4:15, headed out for a short two mile jog and then a full upper body workout at the gym. The picture is me at the gym this morning, see how busy it is?

Today I sat in a meeting for two hours and didn't even get grouchy!  That's a miracle or enormous proportions.  The Pope should be notified!

During class today, I saw nearly instant karma.  I was chastising a class, saying to the group, "This is stupid behavior."  A girl said, kind of under her breath, "You're stupid."  The funny thing is that when I checked my email after that period, I had an email from that girl's mother!  How's that for timing?

After work, I took off for a 40 mile tempo ride that has a measured 1100 feet of elevation gain.  It was quickly apparent that my legs were TOAST! I try to keep my tempo at a minimum of 17.5 mph, but no-no-no, not today.  Not with the dead legs, not with the wind.  I kept reflecting on the need to have purposeful rides once the base cardio work is done.  So I compromised.  When the wind was strong and I was going uphill, instead of trying to keep at 17.5, I'd lower the number to what I felt I could sustain.  As it turned out, most of the time I was able to maintain my 17.5.  I was happy with that!

And to make the experience better, look a the sky.  What a place to live where I can ride all year long on nice, empty roads like this!

Tomorrow morning I'm going to do a running workout, 4 mile repeats, along with the normal calisthenics I do on run days.

I also decided, on today's ride, to shoot a couple of videos of what I spend hours at a time looking at.  So, here they are:

Finally Healthy, and some costume pics.

I think I'm finally healthy.  My injured hip complains rarely, and only when I first start going down hill.  The hills don't hurt once I'm properly warmed up.  It's been a LONG time, since the end of June.  I'm very happy about my current condition.

I've started my half marathon training, along with training for the Tour de Tucson, which I may not join.  I may not have the money for it.  The idea is that I'll alternate long rides and long runs, one per week.  I have noticed some significant improvements in my riding lately.  What's funny is that, like last time, the jumps in speed and power are seemingly out of nowhere.  All of a sudden instead of struggling to maintain a 14 mph average on these particular hills, I'm cruising at 18 to 19 mph!  If you're wondering about tailwind...nope, done it consistently the past three rides.

With the change in seasons there is less fresh fruit around.  Much of what remains isn't so great.  As a result I've not been eating as well as I was over the summer.  Also, with it getting colder outside, it's been tough to haul my butt out of bed in the mornings and go to the gym.  I've not skipped any runs or rides, but the gym has seen decreasingly less of me since school started.  I need to recommit to going to the gym more frequently and to work on my diet.

In addition to those things, I'd forgotten what a commitment training really is.  I run before work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I am supposed to go the gym in the mornings on Tuesday and Thursday.  I ride Tuesday and Thursday.  Saturday is a long ride or long run.  It's tough to do all of those things with a full time job, a part time job, meetings after school, totting kids around and so on.  I'm beat!

I did miss my long ride last week.  I decided to tune up my bike before the ride and noticed some fancy cracks in my Bontrager RaceLites.  My trusted bike shop owner warned me of them and told me what to look for.  I purchased a new set of Mavic wheels and am now riding in style.

This past week was Spirit Week at the high school.  I decided to participate.  :D  Here's Tacky Tuesday:

I worked hard to be tacky without being over the top.  A coworker saw me and said hello.  I asked how I pulled off tacky...she stopped and said, "Oh, good.  I wasn't going to say anything because you look awful!"  

She thought I dressed that way out of poor taste, not in the spirit of Tacky Tuesday.  SCORE!

Wednesday was nerd day.  I had to learn to tie a real bow tie.  That sucked.  I learned a lot about those that wear bow ties.  They don't do things by accident.  

Now the last was Western Thursday.  I got a big ole grin to go along with my outfit.

Finally, a new ride!

I couldn't sleep.  I was amped up about the new ride I'd scheduled for this morning.  I drank a lot of water, ate a lot of carbs (and junk too), drank more water and finally put a large glass of water by my bed.  At nine pm, I went to bed.  ...  ...  ...  9:02: Geez, I can't sleep!  I needed a good night's rest.  My legs were a bit sore and it was sure to be a tough ride in the morning.

I tried again.  I thought of how the ride would go, visualized how it would work out.  This sometimes puts me to sleep.  No dice.  9:22.  I then decided to think about work, maybe that'd send me away.  Nope.  I tossed and turned and would just dip into sleep when a mouse would sneeze in Chicago and I'd stir.  It felt as thought I was flirting with night anxiety, which I get periodically.  My heart was beginning to race a bit.  I tried the heart-rate monitor to see...it was a whopping 58 bpm!  That's a solid 10 to 12 over my normal heart rate though.  I couldn't lay in bed or it would legitimately start racing and then I'd never fall asleep.  At 11:00 I decided to try a warm bath.  I read a Bicycling magazine and then planned how my training schedule might go with work.

At midnight I tried again and fell asleep.

A few things about the ride excited me.  First, it was a new destination; the Whipple Observatory Visitor's Center  at the base of Mt. Hopkins.  Second, I started the right the day before with my wife, but just got a tease of what it would be.  She began having some asthma problems and we were running out of time.  So, we had to turn around.  I did take this picture though.

Sometimes the memory of a view of a road, or trail, haunts me, beckoning my revisit.  I was captivated.  I wanted to ride that road, see what was over the hill and around the bend.  I knew the road on a motorcycle, but things on a bicycle are quite different.

In addition to the scenery were a pair of mating Red Tailed Hawks.  They were HUGE.  One of them was very annoyed by our presence and would fly overhead screaming.  He was close enough that we could see his mouth opening and his chest moving as he belted out his screech.  The other, I'm assuming female, sat atop a powerline pole just looking at us.   

 We also found "fresh" backpacks left by illegals.  In fact, I'm sure we just missed seeing them getting picked up.  I've seen countless illegals and smugglers and so on, I live right in the region most heavily traveled (supposedly) on the US-Mexican border.  Anyhow, I decided to share a picture of the packs as well as a souvenir I picked up while looking through the bags. 

At six this morning I felt like I'd over-slept.  I remember thinking, Great...it's gonna be hot on the ride now!  


I felt relieved when I realized I had plenty of time to make breakfast (peanut butter and jelly) and have some coffee.  Like last weekend, I toiled with the decision to take or leave the camelbak.  This time the stores were not as ideally located as last weekend and the trip is 25 miles longer.  I left the camelbak again.  Turns out, I didn't need it.

My goal today was to work on my cadence.  I've been finding that my knees and hips get tired if I have the cadence in the 80's or lower, but 95 to 105 and I don't get sore or tired.  I wanted to see how much validity was in this observation and today was a good opportunity to do that. 

At mile 15 (or so), I was passed by a gentleman in his mid-60's.  Not just passed, but blown away!  Some people talk about getting chic-ed, I got geriatric-ed.  As he rode by he asked if I was riding to Green Valley again and that he'd seen me riding there from time to time.  He was just riding around Tubac, probably a 20 mile loop as I've seen him ride out of a housing development there in the past.  That realization made me feel slightly better.  Still, I had been maintaining an 18.x mph average at that point and got smoked.

I rode the 26 or so miles to Elephant Head Road.  The road was uphill and I was tired.  My bladder complained to me about riding.  I looked around for a secure place to wander into the shrub and answer the call when someone in with a thick Scottish accent said, "Good morning."

Collin, he later introduced himself as, was a stud rider.  He had finished in the top 10 for the 80 mile leg of El Tour de Tucson the previous year.  He slowed down and I sped up and we rode to the top of the road, at the base of the mountain, together.  It was about 8 miles from where we started riding together and I was glad for the company.  Not only was he quite interesting, but by riding with someone else, I didn't have to fight myself to keep pushing up the hill.  

If you look at the graph of the elevation at the bottom of the picture, you can see, it was quite a hill to climb!  Here's the link to the map if you would like to watch the fly over feature (google earth required).

We stopped at the top and refueled.  After a short break, we went our separate ways.  Collin had an appointment to keep later in the day and blasted ahead down the mountain.  I had another 32 miles to go (he has 14) so even if I could've kept up with him, I needed to pace myself.

The ride was what I'd hoped it to be.  There are a lot of wild flowers in full bloom right now, the air was still but warm (and humid) and the views were spectacular.  I only had one car that didn't give me proper space while passing me, and otherwise, saw very little traffic.  I beat the rain home and am sufficiently exhausted, though in high spirits.  What more could an athlete ask for?  How many other experiences are fulfilling in so many ways?  Accomplishment, euphoric ephemeral corporeal experiences, fellowship, and the fact that through it all you've promoted your ability to do more of it next time!

Great Day! Mile 70 was better than mile 20.

If it's going to be a long day, it better be good.  I got up at a quarter before 5 am for the second straight day.  On tap for today was a planned 80+ mile ride to Marana, Arizona, where I'd meet with my wife's family for a group birthday party (lots of July birthdays).

I packed four water bottles, two with water, two with gatorade.  I also brought a 3 liter camel back, a snack bag of pistachios and a few gel shots.  When I hit the road at 5:20, it was under thick dark cloud cover. A papery cloud washed over San Cayetano, the mountain that is the local landmark, giving the appearance of fungus over its peaks.  

My game plan was to just cruise until I got to Tucson, 60 miles north.  I did a great job for the first 20 miles, averaging 17.5 mph, keeping my cadence high and the perceived effort low.  I practiced something new, stretching on the bike.  I've stretched calves and hamstrings before, but today I unclipped one foot at a time and stretched my quads.  It worked great.  Amazing how comfortable I've become in the saddle.

But then, I started to feel really good and opened up a bit breaking 28 mph on a flat straight away.  DOH!  No biggie though, it was shortly before my first planned stop at about mile 35.  

At the break my average speed was up to 18.5 mph, even with the stretching.  The gas station where I stopped had water, gatorade and a snickers bar waiting for me.  A quick trip to the bathroom, munched the snickers and filled up the drained bottles, then down the road I went.

Over the next 25 miles I flew.  There were quite a few other riders, mostly riding in groups.  The road is a two lane back road that bisects pecan groves. I was tempted to slip in behind one large group that must've been doing 30 mph.  The vacuum they created as they went past me was incredible.  Oh well, I was about 40 miles into a projected 84 mile ride.  Next time maybe.

My average speed kept creeping up and my thighs began grumbling.  I alternated drinking water, NUUN, and gatorades while balancing intake and sweat rate.  It took a lot of practice to get it right.  But still, I was worried that if I kept that pace I'd suffer cramping problems.  I'd see how that panned out.  But at mile 45 I was having doubts and not having such a great time anymore.  The clouds hadn't made it this far north and the sun was HOT!  My butt was getting sore and I began to labor a bit.

I made it to Tucson in just under 3 hours of riding time.  It was just after 8:30 when I was rolling through old down town Tucson.  The Mexican restaurants were hopping, selling their Saturday morning specials.  The Mexican bakery smelled particularly tempting.  I almost went in!

As I learned, you can't fly through town.  The roads have a lot of debris and pot holes, stop lights, pedestrians and so on.  It's my first experience riding in town.  I made the most of it.  I pulled over, grabbed my bag of pistachios.  I coasted, largely no-hands style, for about an hour munching on pistachios.  I went from old down town to new down town, through the "hippie" part of town, through old neighborhoods with lots of neat architecture, past the university and then finally into urban sprawl.  

The problem I was going to have was time.  I hadn't used enough.  My wife was bringing a change of clothes for me but wasn't expected to be at my in-laws' home until 11:30 or so.  I decided to buy another gatorade and a protein shake, and use the bathroom before taking a detour to explore some of the bike/hike routes around town. Also, I needed a restroom to dry off a bit. The heat, sweat and time in the seat would work their evil if I wasn't proactive.

I met some riders who were resting and pouring water on their heads.  It turned out they were heading past where I could catch a bike route.  AWESOME.  We chatted for a few miles and went our separate ways.  

The bike routes were so unbelievably awesome.  Mile 70 was better than mile 20!  The bike route trailed along side a river, winding and rolling.  Lots of wildlife darting here and there kept me distracted from my chaffing rear. Sadly, after 8 miles, the fun was up.  I was deposited on I-10's frontage road without a bike lane.  Ugh.  

But, I felt so great after cruising around Tucson and taking in some nutrition that I rode to a Starbucks a few miles past my in-laws' home.  On the way there, a coyote froze in front of me.  He was going to cross the road but stood watching me instead.  I slowed and we exchanged greetings, inter-species style.  

At Starbucks I ordered an iced Americano.  As I did, I suddenly was struck by my incredible INCREDIBLE stench.  I operated the debit machine at arm's length out of respect for the baristas.  

I made it to my in-laws house, stinky, sweaty and in my bike gear.  It would take my wife another 2 hours to show up!  In the mean time, the neighbors came over for lunch.  I'm never socially awkward, well, never unless I'm wearing tights and stink!  

Stats:

Distance:  83 miles

Time:  5 1/2 hours 

Fluids consumed:  3 liters, and 6, 24 ounce bottles 

Food:  2 gel shots, a snickers bar, a bunch of pistachios and a protein shake