A change of goal, but not pace - big plans for 2015!

So.

2015 brings new loftier goals in health and fitness, and new lessons to be learned hunting. 

Health

In the summer of 2014 I went for my annual physical, and through blood work my doctor found that my cholesterol was high, as well as my triglycerides, and my A1C was borderline high, which he stated was a precursor for diabetes. He said, well, you're not fat, which means I can't just tell you to eat right, because it doesn't look like you're eating all that bad. He asked how much sugar I was eating and I told him not much, so he said, well, make it none. At the time I thought, this guy is crazy! I did tell him that I thought I could get my cholesterol back in check with diet, so he gave me until November to get it straight or he was going to have to put me on medication. 

I started looking into diet changes, and had considered going into a more Paleo type of diet, but figured that wouldn't help my cholesterol before I started doing some research. I basically took the next 3 months to research and think about how I was going to attack this, and in October I started the "Whole 30" diet - which is more of a body reset. No alcohol, no dairy, no legumes, no pasta, no grains for 30 days, along with some other limits on ingredients. Then you can start adding stuff back in and see how you feel.  This is not easy at all. It's very tough finding what you can eat, especially at first. I am lucky that I hunt and have game meat in the freezer, and we have a garden with plenty of fresh vegetables. I was never able to get away from the evening "snack" of frozen blueberries, but even though not recommended, it wasn't off limits, and it was my weakness. Evening snacks were and still are a hard habit to break. Anyhow, on November 24th I had my bloodwork done again with the following results. 

• Total Cholesterol - 194       down from      229
• HDL Cholesterol -   44          up from         41
• LDL Cholesterol -  136      down from      142
• Triglycerides  -        69       down from      231
• A1C -                       5.1      down from      6.1
• Weight -                   184     down from     195 (this was Oct 24 - Nov 24)

Wait, what? Yes, this was diet alone. No exercise changes. Kris wasn't super convinced when I started it, and has become quite the advocate after seeing the results. Including the clearing up of the snuffy noses for Kelleach our 12 year old son, and the acne on Brogan our 15 year old son. For Brogan it was dairy, and Kelleach seems to be mostly gluten and dairy. I have added things back in, but can definitely tell when I go off too far. Grains and dairy seem to hit me the hardest and take the longest to recover from. Sugar is just addicting. That's it. There's no way around it. When I fall off the sugar wagon, and I still do, it's hard to get back on track. Sugar in my mind is one of the most addictive substances in the world, and causes you to desire it more. The only sugar I allow myself now is honey in my coffee, and a very occasional dark chocolate bar, but even that has to be limited.

Fitness

So - once getting my health in check somewhat, and agreeing to go to Colorado in September and be the videographer/photographer for Kim Womer's high country mule deer rifle hunt, the decision was made that even though I was in good shape for the 2014 mule deer hunt, it was time to get in great shape for 2015. Kim was asking Jeff at Antler Quest to give us the best chances of a 200 inch buck, no matter what we physically had to do to get it. I told Kim whatever he needed me to be able to do, I would be ready and we started planning. I mentioned to Kim that on the last Saturday of our hunt, there was a race that I always wanted to run. The Imogene Pass Run (IPR) goes from Ouray Colorado to Telluride Colorado. Running up 5000 feet to go over a 13,000 pass and then down into Colorado. It's a 17 mile race and has been on my bucket list since I learned about it. Kim was fully supportive and said I had to do it. He said he'd be waiting for me at the finish with a beer. 

Having never run further than a half marathon, and never run that kind of elevation, I signed up for a couple of the tougher local races, including the Frozen Snot, which is a 14 mile race in PA which climbs 5400 feet over the length of the race. For a precursor, I ran the Frozen Assets race, which is typically a snowshoe race, unless there's not enough snow, which was the case this year. It was a 23 degree morning, and with little snow on the trail I ran my first race of the year on January 3rd. 

I decided that my goal for 2015 was not only to run the Frozen Snot, and the Imogene Pass Run, but to also try to run a half marathon every month. 

The Frozen Snot took me about 6.5 hours, and was a good lesson. A few weeks later I did the Cast A Shadow snowshoe race, and ran 14.6 miles in snowshoes in around 3:55. Both of these races were a very good idea of what was coming. A 13 mile road race is nothing compared to what these races had held for me, and if I had any dreams of a 4-5 hour IPR, then I needed to do some serious leg work. This would also help me immensely with all of my running, and with the whole reason for getting serious about my running - Kim's muley hunt! 

So - with 180 days left before we leave NY for Colorado (September 2nd), we have big plans. Kim has been working out like a madman, and I have been ramping up. I have been doing some running, and just got back to the gym last week, and have been snowshoeing with Kris up back. I'll be in shape. Right now I am reading a book by Loren Cordaine about the Paleo Athlete, and combining the Paleo diet with the athletic lifestyle to maximize your training.

New Lessons

So this leaves us with the lessons to be learned. 

Since my first half marathon in February of 2010 I have learned quite a bit. I did my jaunt with cycling, and distance cycling and triathlons, and running, and now I am looking to the woods for my hunting and my running. It's a different type of running and demands your attention at all times, but is very mind clearing with the fact being that there isn't a lot of room for doing much other than paying attention and enjoying the view. I've learned a lot about training, how if I want to be faster I have to do speed-work, and if I ever want to be a good Snowshoe racer, or trail runner, I need to do some serious legwork and hill work which overlap each other in benefit. So there are fitness lessons. 

I am waiting for delivery of my new Panasonic HC-VX870 4K camcorder, and have busted out the Contour Roam and my D300 to start working on my photography again. Kim and I will be sitting down with what we have and seeing where we are with things. Kim has a line on some GoPro cameras which will also help out with things, and I believe we're going to sign up for a video class with Campbell Cameras being held on the 21st of March in PA. 

The next level of learning for me will be hunting with a new person. This is always a lesson in life. To see how different hunters approach things. Many times small changes in how things are approached can lead to different levels of success. Additionally, Kim and I will be hunting similar to the way I hunted last year for mule deer, but in the same way, quite differently. We will be hunting more of a specific animal. Possibly going for a single deer. That one buck in the area that exceeds all others. It will take time and patience, and fitness. It's going to be a great experience. Additionally, if things go well enough, it may give me the time to get off the mountain before my race and possibly get my first elk. Even if it's a cow. I wouldn't mind bringing home a whole bunch of meat for the freezer. 

Time will tell.  

Next race is the Cooks Forest Half Marathon that Kris and I will be running on March 28th. 

Hunting the West

Wow.

It's definitely been a while - what, 2.5 years? So much has changed. In August of 2012 I did my second running at the Dark Skies 200K solo. I got about 87 miles in, and realized that I just wasn't having fun. So I called Kris, told her where to pick me up, and bailed. I still rode the bike on and off. Kris and I ride the tandem on occasion also, but more of my time is now being spent running.

Last fall, in September, I spent a week in Colorado hunting Mule Deer at around 12,000 feet and above. It was an awesome hunt. I went with my cousin Casey and his best friend from high school, Brad Valentine who also happens to have become one of my best friends also. We have been doing hunts of one sort or another every two years since 2006, and we always have a blast planning, driving out and hunting together.

In 2006 we went out and utilized a drop camp style of hunting. They took us back in to a walled tent on horseback and dropped us off for a week. 

It was awesome. We didn't end up with any success, but enjoyed the trip, and did see game. I remember seeing Elk on a distant ridgeline and thinking wow, cool, way too far away, but definitely cool! We now know that it was truly not likely too far away, and we probably should have gone after them, but live and learn. We weren't really prepared for that kind of climbing, and with archery equipment it would have been quite a task to successfully complete. 

We did enjoy the trip, and looking through pictures brings you back to the memories immediately. After doing this for years, and hunting in Wyoming for antelope, I have decided and talked to Kris about doing a trip to Colorado every year in the future.  

The last day of our 2006 trip, it snowed, and we ended up waiting a whole day for the guys to come in and pick us up. 

This was our first experience with an outfitter, and we were to find out on our next trip that there is no hurry for them to come get you. They tell you it'll be Saturday, so you get ready at 7AM and sit all day and waste your time waiting.  It's a horrible way to end your trip, and in 2008 we tried a different outfitter with similar results, 1 small mule deer buck shot for camp meat, and a raghorn bull missed high, and a full day wait for the outfitter to come get us at dusk, with a ride out in the dark, in a thunderstorm with lightning being our only light while riding along a bluff edge over a gorge. It was scary, but also one of the coolest experiences I have ever witnessed. 

In 2010 we ended up hunting by trespass fee on an 800 acre piece in Colorado. Each year we learn more and more. This was probably our best hunting area, and our best opportunities. We just still have alot to learn about the HOW of Elk hunting. The hunt was done at 9800 feet which is decent elevation, and it was fairly flat. We found huge wallows off the back of the property on Federal Land, but just couldn't put everything together to get ourselves an Elk. All in all, at this point, we had spent probably $15,000 between the 3 of us just for our hunts, not including tags, fuel, food and supplies.

2012 demanded we actually have a successful trip, so we hooked up with a landowner near Casper Wyoming and pulled the 5th wheel out there to hunt Pronghorn.  We all tagged out the first day with our bows, even though the landowner told us not to shoot the first one we saw, which none of us did. We all shot Pope and Young class bucks, with Casey's being the only one to make the books. That was also a fun trip, and got our heads back into what a successful hunt feels like. 

Coming off a high, we decided to head back to Colorado for 2014. We used a service called Antler Quest, which was basically a guy who goes out and scouts for you. We got ahold of Jeff Coldwell a year in advance and he worked with our requests to try to find a place that we would enjoy and have a good chance of success. He told us that we would not be going for Elk and Mule Deer. "Pick a species and concentrate on that". It was good advice. We also had some preference points, so decided we would give it a shot with our muzzleloaders. In March Jeff told us what unit to apply for, and we all drew. Then in August, about 3-4 weeks before our trip, Jeff headed to our spot to scout. He sent us our hunt packet which included a map of the area with the hotspots and our recommended camping spot circled, and 38 photo's he had taken while out there with notes on them pointing out where to look while glassing. 

The hike in was about 3 miles long, and climbed from 9800 feet where we parked to approximately 11,500 feet where we set up camp. It took 3 hours, and was damned hard carrying 70 lb packs, but was beautiful. Here's Brad and Casey ahead of me on the walk in, just before the Big Bend, and almost 2 miles into the trip. It took us over 3 hours to cover the 3 miles.

We set up camp, and glassed some, saw some Elk, and a couple of mule deer, even a small buck. The first night was the coolest, probably around 20 degrees, but comfortable enough. We were up and scouting early and Casey spotted a nice buck that he wanted to go after. So off he went. Brad and I split up and tried to keep an eye on the buck and spot for him. I climbed up one side of the bowl, and got some nice shots through my spotting scope of the buck, but it wasn't meant to be.

Caseys buck. 

Later in the week I spotted a group of 5 bucks, and spent the next few days trying to put together a stalk strategy. I got within 150 yards, and screwed up the shot. Brad got a decent buck on the third day, and was the only one of us who went home with a buck.

That brings us up to present day for the most part. Big plans are in the works for 2015. Including a High Country Early Rifle Hunt with Kim Womer, and a Bucket List race for me. In the same 2 week period.  Stay tuned! 

Damn! Where'd the time go!

OK

So much has happened since my last post..  I "fell off" my goal. I PR'd a half marathon. I was part of some amazing stuff, and have plans for my first Marathon.

I did my last full 200K in July with Bill Fischer. It was a beautiful ride - the Hornell 200K. It was a great day, nice and reasonable for temps - mid-70's. The wind wasn't horrible, and the ride was pleasant.

It was my first ride with Bill in some time, and he stated more than once how he was impressed at the improvements I had made in ability and strength riding. It was probably a lot of smoke, and he was just hoping to keep me moving, but it was nice just the same. It was definitely the first time we had ridden together since the loss of two friends we had both ridden with on part of this same route in the spring. We talked of it some and cherished the time together, and the fact that no-one is invincible, and it's important to be sure that you're putting the right things first.

The ride took us 11 hours and 3 minutes, with an hour and 20 minutes of "down time".  Though it was a great ride, about 6.5 hours into the ride (seems like it's always around there), I recognized that I needed to get something into my stomach to get things "straight". I tell Bill that when we get into Savona (around 80+/- miles), I was going to need to do something about my nutrition, and was hoping for some chicken noodle soup. Knowing how it helped near the end of my 300K.

Well, we pull into Savona, stop at a non scheduled gas station / Subway, and I look for soup.  Awesome, they have chicken noodle soup in the store. I ask about a microwave, nope, sorry. Bummer. I tell Bill, that we'll have to move on and hope for the best in Addison only 15 miles further on with a little over 1000 feet of climbing between here and there.  Oh well, pedal, pedal, pedal..

About half way to Addison I start to get to the point where I am thirst, but feeling nausea. I keep drinking and doing what I can to keep moving. We get to Addison - less than 30 miles left, and I am feeling that I have once again hit that nutrition wall. Damn.. Just can't figure it out! Ugh ! This is SO frustrating. I can seem to do anything other than get water down. Bill and I sit in the Acorn for 20 minutes, and see what a little rest will do for us. Every other stop has been quick and dirty. One thing I had learned with my rides is, the less time you spend on your butt, or screwing around off the bike, the better off you are, and the sooner you'll get done! If you think about it, 3-4 minutes is a mile, so, an extra 8-10 minutes on the bike, and not sitting around puts you 2-3 more miles down the road. Well, after about 3 minutes sitting, I get the shakes pretty bad, and mention to Bill, "this doesn't look good, lets get back on the road". So we go. It's not too bad. I get another 10 miles in, and start really feeling like crap with about 20 miles left.

The last 20 miles was pretty tough. I was thirsty, but didn't feel any better when I drank. I remember at one point mentioning to Bill "if I felt like I do right now doing anything else, I would find some place to lay down". Bill pulls off in Canisteo - with less than 10 miles left, and goes and gets me something to drink, and I keep pedaling. We get 2 miles from the finish, and I yell to Bill that I have to stop, now... We pull off the road, and I empty my stomach (sorry folks). It was all water - nothing but water. AND - it seemed like a gallon. To me, I would say it was everything I had consumed since Savona, since that point where my body told me "hey! do something smart here". Well, obviously, I didn't.

We finished the ride, and I am still on track for my R-12. My 12 months in a row of 200K's or better. One more in the books, and only 4 more to go!  I am 2/3 done. The hot months are pretty much over, and the easier months are coming. Bill and I talk a bit at the end about our thoughts on what it could be. We finish. I have part of a chocolate milk, and just get on the road. It's only a half hour drive home. YEP! A half hour and two more pit stops to be sure that my stomach is completely empty! Awesome!!!

The next few weeks I spend doing what I am good at. Analyzing, over-analyzing, reading, researching, and over-thinking anything that it could possibly be! I figure that it must have been the fact that I hadn't taken in enough sodium. IN fact, I sweat pretty heavy, and though I was replacing my fluids with water, I wasn't taking in any sodium. I read in one article that for every liter of sweat (I am about 1 liter per hour) you can lose between 250 and 3250 mg of sodium. WHAT! What did that say? Though that is a pretty broad range, it's also quite a surprise.  Lets go with 1500 mg. 10 hours, 15,000 mg. ! OK.. I need to make sure I up my sodium intake. I think what I was suffering from may have been a mild case of hyponatremia.

So - Amazon - shopping cart - buffered salt tablets - check..  Ready for my next ride!

August 4th. Willow Creek Triathlon.  This event is awesome. I was dressed up in this classy old skool getup. Knee High Socks, Old Skool Puma's, Mesh Tank Top, 1984 Fuji Del Ray, Umbro Shorts.. I decided to help some guys on the team out since it's a point to point, and I would park at the end, and ride back to the start. It's only 17 miles. Heck. I'll just take an easy ride!

I park the truck, get the Fuji out, throw on my backpack with my wetsuit in it, and head up the road to the start. I am moving right along in my first few miles, and then I realize that I am doing pretty good! Hey, wonder how long it would take if I pushed myself (this was a STUPID idea - almost as dumb as wearing a bunch of old skool clothes!). Well. I made the 17 miles in 51 minutes. That's a 20 mph average, on an older bike, wearing a backpack. I was going to CRUSH this race!  Awesome!

We get ready for the start of the race, and shoot the breeze with all the Rogues. We had more banana hammocks there that anyone wanted to see, but that's what the guys do for the "fun" factor. I figure I should try to get a few calories, since I just depleted everything. Thank god Tim Andrus had some Gatorade. I drank about half the bottle, and was ready to roll!

The race starts, my swim goes well, I jump on the bike and am in the first mile, and am gaining on a guy on a TT bike.  I pull up and ask him how he's doing, and he says that he's doing poorly, that his handlebars slipped, and he had just crashed. I said "bummer" and pedaled on. I figure if you're not smart enough to check your bike out before a race, then maybe....   OK..  The ride goes slower than I hoped. The guy on the TT bike passes me along with some others. There is a strong headwind, and I am just not feeling it. I finish the bike stage, and hop off for a super fast transition since I am wearing the same sneaks that I wore on the bike with my pedal cages. I forget something important though - the water station.

It's hotter on the course than I had expected. My swim was pretty good, my ride sucked, and now my run was also sucking. I was sweating pretty bad, and feeling crappy. People were stopping to walk, and it looked like a good idea, so I said screw it, and walked. I watched 2 people collapse in front of me on my leisurely afternoon walk. I also saw some of the folks that I should have been beating pass me, but instead of running, I cheered them on and finished 20 minutes slower than last year, but I felt good, so I didn't care.

All in all it was a great race. I had fun, and enjoyed my time with friends. Since that point, I have done much more running, and much less riding.  It's funny how this article was started in October of 2012, and I am just wrapping it up today, March 3rd, 2015! I did alot of running, worked on my pace, slimmed down some, switched to a more Paleo lifestyle, and am now just starting doing alot more trail running, and considering possibly a Full Marathon, or an Ultra Trail Run in my future.

Stay tuned!

Lake Gaston 210K NC to VA out and back

SO.

I figured that since I was going to be vacationing with my wife and kids for 10 days, and going to be in another state, I would get a permanent in, and in the mean time get a state or two more towards my "American Explorer" award, which is cycling at least a 200K in at least 10 states. Once this is achieved in a RUSA cyclists lifetime, they can get a metal plaque that state magnets can be added to, with the goal of "filling the map"!

This is set up as a goal to accomplish over a number of years, I am going to try to accomplish it in my first year as a RUSA randonneur, since I have finally committed to giving up the goal of a Super Randonneur award for the year, because of scheduling difficulties, and the fact that it would mean I would have to drive back to NC twice in the next few months, to ride 240+ miles, and then 360+ miles in likely high temps and heat, I thought it would be more logical to try for that goal next year. Riding severely fatigued and dehydrated can lead to accidents, as well as other problems, and I don't need to be stupid.

I decided to do this particular ride because it includes two states, NC and VA. I already have rides in NY, PA, and NJ, and have looked at some more rides closer to home that include WV, and MD, so I wouldn't be "wasting a state" by riding in a state that would overlap. I am hoping to get some other states later this year.

I contacted the route owner, this is the person who builds the route and is in charge of it, and he told me that he would be out of town when I was here, but I was more than welcome to do his route, and also recommended a route out of Raleigh owned by a friend that was a loop as an alternative. I am not a huge fan of out and back routes, but he told me that his route was a little more rural, and I always prefer a route with less traffic involved.

I decided to do the route on Monday morning, since that was the second full day of our vacation, and it would assure I was more rested and better prepared for the ride, without cutting in to too much of our vacation time. The weather promised to be in the mid-90's, with humidity near 60%. It was warmer than I had ridden before, and though I wanted to ride my Fuji, since it was a bit flatter of a course, I went with the CoMotion because of more water bottle holders. This proved to be a very wise choice.

I started at 6AM, trying to get as much ground covered as possible before the heat set in. I brought a stocking with me to make an ice sock for later in the day, and traveled light. Water bottles were filled, and I brought 6 mini PayDay's with me, and 4 baggies of INFINIT Endurance powder that I put in the 3rd water bottle that sits under my downtube just in front of my pedals, one for each segment of the ride. I grabbed an orange juice at McDonalds to get my receipt and card signed and got rolling.

It was a foggy morning, with 100% humidity, but also 73 degrees, so I wasn't complaining. My glasses fogged up quick, and I took them off. About 8 miles out of town I saw a sign for "Bailey - 9 miles", so of course I had to stop and get a picture. As I got back on my bike I noticed about 30 little round "seeds" on my legs. Shoot, are those ticks?  That caused another quick stop to verify that they weren't in fact ticks, they were seeds of some kind, but they bothered me for the rest of the trip, as I would look down, and there would be more on my legs from cars kicking them up as they passed.

These rides all have time limits, both too fast and too slow.. You can't get there too early or too late. The first Control, 37 miles into the trip had a 7:58 opening time, and a closing time at 9:56. I was doing well, with my stops and starting slightly after 6 and I pulled into the stop and got my card signed at 8:10, which was after getting my water, and chatting with one of the locals about what I was doing. He had seen "another fella" doing this a few weeks back, and was aware of where I started from and where I was going. He followed me out the door, and I filled my bottles and got on my way. I had 4 dogs chase me on the first leg, and was thinking it was going to be a long day, as the dogs can cause you to "burn matches" that you may need later.

This segment promised to be prettier, with more remote roads, and a 1 mile long lake crossing as well as crossing from NC to VA. The open time for the next control was at 9:30, and I arrived at 9:50, so I was still going strong.

It was starting to heat up now, and I should have filled the ice sock here, but I wasn't feeling uncomfortably hot, and thought I'd be OK. About 3 miles down the road, I realized I was wrong about that, between the heat and headwind, it was going to be some real work. I had made it to the midway point in 4 hours, it was possible to finish in 8 theoretically, but I knew immediately that wasn't going to happen, and was hoping to finish between 9 and 10 hours total.

I kept my pace very reasonable over the next 28 miles, making sure that I didn't over-exert too much, and trying to stay cool. There was little shade, and the temps had popped to 90 degrees in no time. Each hill was work, even though they were really very slight grades. I was just concentrating on how much fluid I was taking in, and taking it reasonable. I  drank 2 bottles of INFINIT mix (27oz bottles) in the first 65.5 miles, and probably finished another 27 oz bottle of water. I also ate 2 of the mini paydays. I was starting to feel full, which was a bad thing. I was also starting to feel very hot. Over this next 65.5 miles the Garmin said that the temps got up to 104, I don't think that was the air temp, but I'll bet you with the road heat, it might have been pretty close. I know I thought a couple of times about letting a little air out of my tires because I was concerned with the heat that they might pop, but they held out. I stopped a couple of times for photo ops crossing Lake Gaston, the NC state line, and  for a pile of what I at first though was a HUGE snake hit by a mower, but went back to see it was a bunch of alligator gar someone had thrown in the ditch.

I got to back to the middle control at 12:10, got some water and ice, and filled all my water bottles with only water, and filled the stocking with ice to hang around my neck and try to keep my body temp down. I only had 37 miles to go, but knew it was going to be painful. There were some long stretches of nothing but sun and rolling roads. No stores to stop and fill my water, so I had to plan accordingly. You can see in the following photo with my bike, the panty hose loaded with ice that I put around my neck.

The final miles were in fact tough. I stopped 10 miles in to fill my bottles, and again at 20+ miles in. When I stood after filling my bottles at the 20 mile stop, I had to grab the wall to stay up from being a little woozy. I had gotten to the point of overheating, and was having trouble consuming anything, including water, but was thirsty, so forced it down. The final 10 miles were tough, with just cranking the pedals becoming quite the task. I averaged under 10 mph, and was stoked when I saw the sign for the Cracker Barrel in the horizon ahead, knowing it was next to the McDonalds that was the final control.  A little further on I saw the Hampton which hosts the parking lot which you ride through to get to the finish. I rolled in slow, and was damned happy to be done. The receipt from Mickey D's said 3:34, so 9 hours and 34 minutes.  I was dreaming of under 9, and if it had been cooler I might have made it.

I am glad I did the ride. It was an eye opener about riding in the heat, which CAN be done, but you have to ride smart. I do know that coming back to North Carolina at the end of July to ride a 400K, and then again at the end of August to ride a 600K is out of the question.

I also found out between the ride and writing this report that another good friend, and guy I rode with a couple of times earlier this year died in a ride in Virginia. It was a major event. 2000 participants, and it's a multi-day tour. Mark Hogan who was a gentle giant of a man was riding with another guy I have ridden with a few times, Blaine Chamberlain, and Mark was crossing railroad tracks, and fell. He was wearing a helmet, but the impact with the road caused too traumatic of head injuries for him to survive. He was another guy in the 60 year old range. In fact I rode earlier this year with Mark Hogan, Mark Sheehan, Bill Fischer and myself on an 80+ mile ride around the southern tier of NY.

During my first ride with Mark H. I was lagging behind, so when we crested a hill, I told the group to go on ahead, and I would finish on my own. He refused to leave me, and said we all ride together. He was a great man, and will be dearly missed. What a great guy.. It's just not fair some times.

Letchworth 300K - June 2nd

OK...  So this ride is actually not called "Letchworth 300K" - it's called 300LR-1, but what kind of fun is a name like that?!

Friday night I drove from work to my parents house in Caledonia, and stayed within 1 hour of the start. The ride start time was scheduled for 6AM, so this would give me a bit more sleep and a chance to catch up with my parents, which is always a good time, and alot of laughs. I got to sleep around 9, and headed out for Ontario NY for the start.

I arrived at around 5:30, and got everything prepared to ride. 4 riders were there including myself.  Ride organizer Peter Dusel (left), and two others, Al (blue), and John (yellow).. John had tried the same ride a couple of weeks earlier and DNF'd, so was bound and determined to get it done this time. Check out those tires on Johns bike! 45lbs... Man - that has to be some rolling resistance, but a cushy ride.

We rolled out together and headed for our first stop in Canadaigua 30 miles down the road. There were some slight rollers, and the wind hadn't picked up much yet, so it was a nice ride. I felt great, thinking hell, it's only 160 more miles! No problems, right? We stopped at the park across from the Hess Station Control and got our cards signed and were on our way.

Next stop would be Naples - Bob and Ruths diner, which was only 25 miles further down the road, so we headed down the East side of the lake, up on the "scenic route". We continued down the road together, and the wind picked up some, and the rain spit a little bit along the way, but all in all, it was still quite decent.  We rolled in to Bob and Ruths and got our cards signed at 10:15. When we came across the bottom coming into Naples, the wind was something. It was a cross wind, but you had to lean sideways into it riding, not looking forward to hitting the hilltops climbing out of Naples to Dansville, and then Dansville to Canaseraga. I was shaking from the cold, so decided to keep rolling, but stopped long enough to get the "legit" Naples photo with the grape vines in the background.

Interesting thing about the cold and dressing appropriately. If you're doing it right, you're going to be cold when you stop, but when you're rolling you should be comfortable, which I was. Of course sweating and getting the clothing soaked doesn't help a bunch, but I have no idea how you're going to ride and not sweat. At least not me.

I got going just before the others, and saw them in my mirror as I got back on the bike after taking the picture. As I stated earlier, I felt great, and had a dream time of 15 hours. I figured with the wind, if I could do the first 100 miles, and get to Letchworth (102 miles) by around 8 hours, I should be able to do the next 90 in another 8 hours as there was less climbing and should be a strong tailwind. The hills out of Naples are decent. Some long climbs, but nothing really horribly steep. Then you roll downhill into Dansville, and go through town, and out the other side to climb up Ossian Hill Rd. One thing I have learned is that long ago most roads were named, and when they were named the vehicles were a bit different than now lets assume, so, when a road has the name "Hill" in it, there is very likely a good reason.. This was no exception. It's a 2.5 mile stretch climbing over 600 feet, then when you think you've topped out, it still gradually climbs, but by this time, you're "on top" with farm fields around, and nothing to buffet the wind, and I couldn't get up over 6 mph for probably a 5 mile stretch..  I kept pedaling towards Canaseraga, expecting at any time to have this long downhill stretch, but that never happened. I figure that Dansville must just be a low spot, so when you take that long fast ride down into Dansville, there's only one way to get out, and thats climbing...

Once I got to Rt 70 in Canaseraga, it was only about 8 miles to the next Control point. There was some wind, but the woods on the right side do a pretty good job keeping the breeze under control. I rolled into the "Seager Farm" control at around 1:30. I was just over 90 miles into the ride, and had been on the road for 7.5 hours. If I was hoping to keep up this pace, I really needed to keep rolling, but I sat down, had some rice cake, a swig of gatorade, and some pretzels that they had there. As I was standing to get going again, Al and Peter came up the road. I hopped on my bike and said "hey" as I was pulling out of the driveway.

The next stop was behind the Glen Iris Inn in Letchworth State Park. It was what is called an "info" control. I needed to write down on my card, how many acres the initial donation was, which could be found on a large plaque overlooking the falls. I spent more time here taking a good picture of my bike and trying to upload it than finding the answer and was quickly on my way again.

Right out of the parking lot you start climbing.. There are some short steep climbs in Letchworth, and I believe this is where I made the biggest mistake of my ride. I was doing OK for time, and was really trying to make the whole ride in what I figured now might be a possible 16 hours, but I knew I would have to keep moving. The second half of this ride appears on paper to be less hilly, which it is, as far as long climbs go, but it has alot of rollers, and I didn't take them at a reasonable enough pace, and didn't allow myself time to recover. I wasn't even through Letchworth when I started feeling sick, and that feeling that I wasn't absorbing anything, including water. Even drinking water was making me feel sick.. This wasn't good. I did have time to stop and take another photo though - make the most of it, y'know!

I headed out of Letchworth towards Geneseo, and stopped in town at the mini market to try to find something I could keep down, and fill one of my water bottles. I bought a Dr. Pepper, and a bag of those little chocolate chip cookies, ate 3 cookies, drank half the bottle of pop, and felt worse.. Screw it, time to keep going.  I stopped in the middle of town, at the bear statue, and took another shot of my bike - looks like I am in France!

This was the last picture I took for the ride. When your ass gets dragging like that, you don't care much about anything but finishing..  I will say that I looked for other photo ops, but nothing jumped out.

Into Canadaigua, the last stop before the end before 9:00. Just 28 miles left.  I was a hurting unit. Al and Peter pulled in 5 minutes after me, and Peter got me straightened out on my nausea.. I hadn't eaten or drank much of anything since probably 2:00. I was pretty badly dehydrated, and craved the fruit smoothie I grabbed, but couldn't drink it, too much acid.  Peter said that I really needed to go empty my stomach. I was shivering so bad I was shuddering, and this was inside the Tim Hortons.. Anyways, I took Peters advice, and immediately started feeling a bit better. I got some chicken noodle soup (much needed sodium), and some water, and felt like I was ready. We all got our reflective gear on, lights going, and I was shaking again, so got on my bike, and got going again. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I heard the bell on Johns bike ding, as he was pulling in.

I was ahead of Peter and Al by only a few minutes, but they made a wrong turn and ended up further behind me than expected. The last part is fairly flat with some small rollers, but thankfully it's a nice stretch, and I slowed to let the others catch up, didn't seem right to finish the ride alone after these guys sat around and helped me out at the control giving me the pointers I needed to feel better.. With about 15 miles left I saw the lights coming up behind me, and we rode the remainder of the ride together. Talking some, and enjoying the night. We pulled into Peters driveway, and the final control at 11:40PM, just 17 hours and 40 minutes after we had left.

According to the Garmin, I spent 15:56 minutes in the saddle pedaling, which means just over 100 minutes of off the bike time. I climbed over 9100 feet - not my most climbing for a ride, but with the fatigue you get on the longer rides it seemed plenty. I burned about 8000 calories, and according to the scale lost 5 lbs since Friday morning. By Monday morning I had gained 3 lbs back, and was likely still dehydrated, so am still working on getting the rest of the fluids I need - oh yeah, and the rest I need. I had very little saddle discomfort until around mile 180, and then not enough to bother me all that much.

Not sure what the next ride will be for me, at least the next long ride.  We have a couple of busy weekends, and a family vacation coming up at the end of the month, then the Boilermaker the second weekend of July, so, sometime after that.. Was hoping to maybe try to sneak a 400K in, and maybe even do a 600K this year, getting me my Super Randonneur Award for the year, but I am not sure that will be happening, we'll see.

The only other two things to mention.

1 - Peter and his wife told me to stay at their house for the night, and when I told them I was heading out, they said "get going then". Peter said it will be about 25 minutes after your butt settles into that car seat, and you're going to have a horrible time staying awake. He was right. The clock on my dashboard said it had been 26 minutes when it was all I could do to stay awake. Even coffee didn't help much. I will make alternate plans next time I do any ride over 200K.

2 - We lost a friend in cycling on Saturday. Not one of the four in my group, but a guy I had ridden with earlier in the year. His name is Mark Sheehan, and I enjoyed riding with him, and talking with him about his recent retirement - actually, at the time it would be his future retirement. He had left NYSEG to take vacation before coming back for a single days work to retire back in February, and was home for a few days from a year long house rental in Florida where he, his wife, and his doberman were going to spend a year and check things out. He had worked very hard the previous year, we talked about my goals, about his goals, what those goals had been, and what his plans were. About riding with his wife, going to Fredericksburg, TX to ride some long ride down there, one day with his wife, and another on his own. About a lot of different stuff..  He was out riding Saturday with a group, and pulled his bike off the side of the road and died. I am not positive about the details, but that doesn't matter. He died doing what he loved.  I found out from a friend today that he had over 3000 miles in this year already. He was loving his retirement. I am sorry he didn't get to enjoy more of it, and am sorry for the loss for his family. Goodbye Mark. It was nice riding with you. I am glad to have known you.

“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking."


Arthur Conan Doyle

Pine Creek 200K - Jersey Shore Start

Beautiful - this can not be argued with.

Pine Creek 200K - Jersey Shore Start

This is an absolutely beautiful ride through the land of Eagle, Bear and Snake. Called the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, the Pine Creek Rail Trail is a crushed limestone walking and biking path that runs 62 miles End to End, from Jersey Shore, PA to Wellsboro, PA if going south to north, which is the uphill direction.  Of course, uphill is 3600 feet, end to end, at about a 1% grade, so it's not noticeable. 

I started the ride at 7:30 from the Weis Mart parking lot in Jersey Shore. It was about 40 out, and I had both water bottles filled, and was wearing my rain jacket because it was still a little misty out. You have to travel the roads from the parking lot for less than a mile till you're on the Rail Trail. Except for the short ride to the 3rd control, at the top of the trail, and some road crossings, this is the only spot that you encounter vehicles. 

The trail runs along Pine Creek for the most part, or within a few hundred yards of it for the complete time you're on it. Along the trail you can see some of the original New York Central Railroad mile-markers. The “L” references Lyons, New York, a major railroad juction 168 miles north of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.

The reason I chose to start in Jersey Shore which is 2 hours from home for me instead of starting in Galeton, which is another option, because I figured it would be all uphill for the first half of the ride, and then I would turn around, and it would be all downhill back to the car. Excellent, right? The problem is, with little to no grade, it quickly became apparent that one issue would be the fact that you never get to stop pedaling. You never climb that hill to coast down the other side. You don't HAVE to stand to climb, you have to remind yourself to stand for a bit to keep the blood pumping. It's not a hard ride really, it's just a taxing ride. You have to keep pumping, the whole time. 

About 20 miles into the ride I saw a black thing up ahead through the trees. As I rounded the bend, I see it's a black bear about 80 yards ahead of me, walking the trail, heading the same way as I am heading. So I stop the bike, and quietly take a picture. Then I start pedaling again to see how close I can get. I get about 50 yards away and he glances back and takes off running away from me down the trail. I chased him to see if I could get a better picture when he ran off the trail, and do end up getting within 25 yards, but the weeds are deep, and he's hell bent to get out of there.  Very cool! 

About 5 miles further down the trail I look between myself and the creek, and see two Bald Eagles sitting high in a tree watching the river. Also very cool!  Now, I am just hoping to see some Rattlesnakes. Something the trail is known for. There are educational signs all along the trail to keep your eyes open for them, and what to expect. Unfortunately, I never did see any.

The first stop is in Cedar Run at the Cedar Run General Store, which is a really cool little store at mile 33 in the ride. You pass through a couple of other small towns, and pass a store in Slate Run at mile 27 which is the last Control of the ride before the finish line on your way back. I got to Cedar Run around 10:00, and unfortunately the store doesn't open until 11! SO - I will have to swap this Control to be the control on the way back down the trail, and have the Slate Run stop on the way up. Anyways, the Cedar Run Inn was open, and the lady there gladly signed my card and I was on my way. I still had 1 full water bottle, so I figured I was OK. 

About 2 hours later I run out of water. Of course there is a creek right next to you, but I didn't have any iodine tablets, and don't like to trust creek water, because if you're wrong, you can end up very sick. There are also bathrooms at spots along the trail, but the same thing there, I have read that the water tastes like rusty pipes.. I figured, I would just push on, and be fine. It was up to about 72 or 73, and still a bit cloudy, so it was tolerable. When the trail ends, you can cross a bridge on a grass lane, and get out on Route 287 which quickly joins Route 6, and ride a mile down the road to an Acorn, where I was happy to drink a whole Big Gatorade, and fill my water bottles, grab some pretzels, and relax for a few minutes before I got started on the downhill section! It MUST get easier going downhill, even though it's only slight, right? 

Wrong. The whole trail is covered with fine crushed limestone. It's pretty, sure. It's smooth, yeah. It's even resurfaced in spots! But - it's not fast, and you never roll smoothly and get any speed up. I pushed along fairly consistently, and my average moving speed was right around 12 mph. 

The sun came out in the second half of the ride, and there was much more action on the trail and in the river. A lot of folks canoeing, kayaking, and rafting. There had been rains for a few days before and the river levels were around 3 feet when I checked online after the ride, which is perfect for canoeing. I am looking forward to heading back with the boys to do a trip, and hope I can convince Kris to go along with us, either in the Kayak or the Canoe with the boys. 

The second half was uneventful, beautiful, but part of the negative of an out and back is the fact that you've seen it all before. When I passed the Cedar Run Store, it was open, and alot of folks were eating ice cream. I pedaled on the 6 miles to the Control at Wolfe's General Store, and enjoyed a ice cream Twix bar, more Gatorade, and filled the water bottles. Short rest here, and back on the trail. 

I finished the ride around 6:45PM, about 10.5 hours of moving time, and that was split about evenly between the ride up, and the ride back down. I hoped to gain time on the way back, but the trail's lack of assistance and not being as fresh as I was at the start didn't help me to make up any time. 

I went across the road to the CVS, grabbed some water, and a Mango Sorbet out of the freezer, and a bag of tootsie rolls, and headed home. It was a good ride. 

It's funny about these Rando ride.  Fatigue and your mind play games with you. You are riding along this beautiful trail, and stream, and people are lounging downstream, letting the stream push them, and laughing and having a blast. All I kept thinking was that I couldn't wait to get home, and get the boys back down here as soon as possible. When you take one of your weekend days and choose to spend it away from your family, a little guilt sets in. When you're doing it, you realize that you're not doing it because it feels good WHILE you're doing it. It's about the feeling of accomplishment afterwards! But - it's a fine line. One of my friends said they stopped doing it not long after the rode by a lake on a long (multi-day) ride, and looked out to the lake and saw people drinking beers, having a cookout, relaxing in the sun and shade, and enjoying each others company. He asked himself why the hell he was doing this, and stopped for years shortly after that. BUT - like any addiction, he's now doing it again.

There are worse addictions to have. Vanity plays it's part, as it always does with fitness, and competitive sports, or you wouldn't bother doing them! Even if it's just to say I did this! I am not saying don't set goals for yourself. I have likely not been this fit in a long time, and I feel great! But -- at the end of the day, who's keeping score? Fitness is a very good reason to do it, and I truly enjoy riding, but I do it for my own piece of mind, and look forward to the day when the boys may come along with me.