I remember doing the Time Warp.
Drinking those moments when
The blackness would hit me.
And the void would be calling.
Let's do the Time Warp again.
"The Time Warp", Rocky Horror Picture Show
A conundrum. This blog is supposed to mostly be about cycling and I'm not cycling.
What to do?
What everyone does when their best is behind them regardless of whether it's temporary or permanent: relive past glory!
One of the things that I don't like about the blog format is it's linear. You can't go back and add posts in the middle of 2015 so if there's an event you want to write about and don't have time about all you can do is post a place holder and get back to it. (N.B. I'm still whittling at my London Edinburgh London 2017 ride report, I'm just using a very small knife).
One victim of this format is my first 1200K - Endless Mountains - which I completed in 2013 which also happened to be my first year randonneuring. As I've said a number of times here, I was a long time rider and had ridden 10K miles/year for a lot of years before I started randonneuring but finally decided to give it a go in 2013. I was in pretty good shape that year and did a Super Randonneur series in the Spring.
I also did a "RAGBRAI double crossing" in July where I rode from the eastern border of Iowa out to the start of RAGBRAI on the western border then turned around and rode back. Although the daily RAGBRAI regimen was shorter, I did 100+ miles per day for 11 days in a row so, as I said, I was in pretty good shape and decided to do my first 1200K.
When I told friends I was thinking about doing Endless Mountains, which featured somewhere between 45-55K feet of climbing they questioned my sanity. My response was that either I'd finish or it'd cure me of the desire to do a 1200K.
I finished.
So, a little over 7 years later, here's the story. This is taken from an email report I sent to friends at the time which I've taken the liberty of editing for clarity. One advantage to this retrospective view is that I can comment on a few things that didn't seem noteworthy in the initial ride report. In particular, I made a number of friendships that persist to this day including Dan Diehn, Mike Fox, Mark Thomas, Vinnie Muoneke, Joel Lawrence, Mark Olsen, Bill Olsen and John Pearch. I would ride with all of them again in the future, I just didn't know it then.
Well, to get this one out of the way right off, it was hilly. How hilly? Well, here are a few “highlights”:
- Fox Gap. This was at about mile 60 on the first day and it's a damned good thing. If it was on day three I'd have been handing somebody my brevet card. Five miles at what seemed like a near constant 14%.
- Two big climbs on day two, both more than three miles long and with gradients of 12%-18%, never less.
- Three big climbs on day three but two that really stand out. The first one was three miles of 12%-15% topped off by about two tenths of a mile at 22%. There was a secret control at the top of this one. The second one was four miles at a near constant 14%.
- One big climb on day four. This was at mile 700 or so and, needless to say, everybody was pretty tired. 1.75 miles at a near constant 14% topped off by .2 of 18%. I stopped for a few seconds at the top and my leg muscles were quivering and a LOT of people either did the mailman or walked on this one. See my discussion on gearing later on. Norm and I agreed that if there were a secret control at the top of this one whoever was manning it would've gotten their ass kicked but no one was there.
These were in addition to lots of hills that were “only” 8%-10%. The descents were pretty damned amazing but there were very few where you could “let it go”, they either had a 90 degree turn at the bottom or were very heavily potholed. One at mile 92 on the first day had so many holes, cracks and crevices it had me on the brakes literally all the way down and I was really worried I was going to blow a tire due to overheating the rim but fortunately I didn't. My top speed for the event was 52 MPH, I'm sure I could have gone faster but there was a limit to how fast I was willing to go on unfamiliar roads.
Having said all that, the course was very beautiful. Sections that stand out:
- Long sections along the Delaware river. Old mills, stone houses, beautiful scenery.
- The town of Tioga (NY?) had lots of beautiful old mansions with signs out front of who had lived there.
- The “Hawks Nest” a long climb through a rocky river gorge with a beautiful view at the top.
- Lots of rolling farmland, very similar to Wisconsin.
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| Climbing to the Hawks Nest |
The ride
I had put together a spreadsheet that estimated average speed, time at the controls and arrival times at each control and overnight. On the first day, I rode mostly by myself until the end of the day when I hooked up with Norm Smeal and Don Jagel. As a result of riding by myself for most of the day, I arrived at the first overnight within 10 minutes of my plan. Norm, Don and I agreed to ride together on the second day and set a start time of 4 AM. I was in bed by 11:45 and up at 2:45 so three hours sleep.
Now I admit I'm more punctual than most but when I say “start at 4 AM” I mean “ready to clip in and start pushing the pedals at 4 AM”. Apparently to Norm and Don it meant “be downstairs with your bike but having breakfast at 4 AM”. I debated going on and if I had to do it over again I would have but I decided to wait. I ended up riding with Norm for the rest of the ride and, once again, if I had it to do over again I would just have ridden at my own pace and perhaps hooked up with someone during the night sections but not tried to stay together with someone all day. It turned out Don was nursing a little tendonitis so he dropped back after less than 20 miles and Norm basically wanted to do a sit down meal at every control so we took 40 minutes minimum at each control. Since the overnights were fixed this didn't affect my finish time except on the last day, it only meant I got less sleep. Who knows how it would have played out had I ridden by myself? Perhaps I'd have pushed harder than I should have and blown up and the longer breaks worked in my favor but it could also be argued that if I'd have gotten two hours more sleep every night I'd have been fresher.
At any rate, as I said I rode with Norm the rest of the way. For the most part, we were evenly matched on pace except for the last day when I had to wait for him a lot but we weren't matched on the desired length of times at the controls. The biggest reason I decided to wait was to have someone to ride with at night. It turned out that on the second day there's a big climb about 40 miles from the finish, he cramped at the very start of it and told me to go on because he wanted to stretch and I rode the last 40 miles by myself anyway... I got in at 2345 and in bed by 0045, up at 0245 so two hours sleep.
On the third day, we once again “started” at 0400 which meant we started pedaling at about 4:35 or so. Norm had forgotten his USB charger for his Garmin so I loaned him an extra to use on the second overnight. This turned out to be a mistake as it changed my morning routine and as a result the next morning I forgot to move the USB cable from the charger to my jersey pocket so I'd be able to use it to recharge the Garmin during the day. About 60 miles in it was apparent that there was no way it was going to make it all day. Norm's feet were blistering so we decided to go off course to a Wal Mart so he could get some moleskin and I could get a USB. The ride there was miserable on a narrow road with lots of traffic and it turned out they didn't have the USB cable I needed anyway (seriously Wal Mart? A friggin' mini USB cable and you don't have it?). I called Marcia and asked her to bring mine to the next control which she did. This cost us a few extra miles.
The third day was also the hottest so far and the two big day three climbs I mentioned were both in the afternoon. On the last of the two there was a very steep descent where you could actually let it run with a control at the bottom 2.1 miles away. I asked Norm (who had a rack bag with the cue sheet on top) three times what the control was (gas station, c-store, restaurant, …) and for some reason he didn't want to tell me. I should have pulled my cue sheet from my pocket and looked but didn't. There were two other guys at the top (Mike Fox and Dan Diehn), I started down and they followed. Long story short, we covered that 2.1 miles so fast it “seemed” like the Shell station we passed was too soon (I hadn't checked the mileage) so I blew past it figuring that between the three of them one would know which was the control and at worst I'd have to turn around and ride back a little.
Turned out they all followed me and we ended up riding about 4 miles (all downhill) past the control. I think they were pretty pissed but I cut off any complaining by saying “there were four guys with cue sheets in their pockets who passed the last control”. That pretty much shut everybody up.
The overnight on the third day was the same as the second (Lewisburg) and featured a long descent into town. On the second night it was fairly warm so no problem but on the third it was about 20 degrees cooler and I'd not packed knee warmers in my bag. The descent had long sections at 25 MPH then a brief part where you had to pedal and my legs would get really cold on the downhills and really hurt when I started pedaling again. Finally made it though and in bed about 0145.
Norm and I decided to “sleep in” on day four and get on the road at 0600 so I was up at 0445 (three hours sleep) and we left at about 0620. At the start Norm announced that he'd not packed his night gear. I thought “that seems risky” but since I'm not his Mom I didn't say anything. Day four included the really hard climb at 700 miles that I mentioned previously. Norm bailed about a quarter of the way up and walked the rest so I told him I'd finish the climb and wait for him at the bottom. It turned out I waited about ten minutes and the control was only another two miles. Norm was really dragging on day four, both riding slower and taking even more time at the controls but I figured since I wasn't really riding for a fast finish time and since we'd ridden that far together I'd stay with him.
I made one really good decision at the start of day four. I almost didn't pack any bag balm in my saddle bag thinking “it's only 139 miles, I won't need it” but at the last minute decided to put it in. We'd had two long sections of rain on previous days and I'd not brought a cover for my saddle (a Brooks Swift). As a result, the area where my “sit bones” go completely collapsed putting more pressure on the center of the saddle. As a result my “taint” was really sore. At about 50 miles in, it felt like someone was pressing a branding iron against me every pedal stroke. I stopped right there and put on some bag balm right on the side of the road (must have made one hell of a sight for passing cars!). Had I not packed it there's a good chance I would have DNF'd, been in misery to the next store where I could buy some vaseline or alternatively had Marcia bring bag balm to the next control. Glad I packed it.
As the day went on, it became increasingly clear that at the pace we were making we'd not finish before dark and Norm started sweating his decision not to pack his reflective gear. After a while he asked if Marcia could get into his drop bag and get his reflective gear and bring it to us at a control. I agreed to call her and ask and she said she would.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. I'm guessing that had I ridden by myself on the last day I'd have finished a number of hours earlier but I wasn't really riding for pace anyway and mostly wanted to just finish rather than get a fast time. As it was, I was the 15th finisher out of 28 starters.
The weather
Overall though I have absolutely no complaints about the weather. Sure, it would have been great if it hadn't rained but the temperatures were relatively mild, no screaming headwinds to fight, no heat indexes in the 100's, etc.
The volunteers
The rider
The only “stomach issue” I had was about 2200 every day I got a case of heartburn that would light up the sky. I kept thinking “pick up some antacids at the next stop” but there wouldn't be one between there and the overnight and I'd forget about it the next day. Lesson learned, next time some Tums in the bag.
The equipment
- The Calfee with a Shimano compact double and a 34x32 as the easiest gear.
- The Hampsten with a Campy triple and 30x29 as the easiest gear.
- The Serotta Coors Team with a Shimano Dura Ace triple with a 30x32 as the easiest gear.
I ended up going with the Serotta but changing the front crankset to a Sugino with 48x36x26 gearing so my easiest gear was a 26x32. That's a lot of gears and I'm not at all ashamed to say I used 'em all. I didn't get down to the 26x32 very often but on that 22% after three miles of 12%-15% it sure came in handy (I was having a very hard time keeping the front wheel on the ground at that point).
I maintain my bikes pretty well and all three were ready to go. I put on a new chain (now toast), brake pads (now toast) and tires on the Serotta. For tires I used Vittoria Corsa 700x25's which some people complain are “flat prone”. No flats for the whole ride though I'll admit there were a lot of times I was riding along in pouring rain saying “please don't flat, please don't flat”. No mechanical issues whatsoever on the whole ride.
I brought two pairs of shoes and riding sandals. I alternated between the shoes but never did use the sandals because I'd have needed to change the pedals and I was just too tired at the end of the day to do it. Toward the last four hours or so of days 2-4 my feet (toes) hurt SO BAD it felt like someone had them in a vice and hitting a bump or going over railroad tracks almost reduced me to tears. Assuming I don't sell all my bikes and give this silly shit up, I may try sandals next time.
I used an eogear 6.8 (I also have an 8.0) and it was perfect: big enough to hold everything but not so big I was encouraged to carry a bunch of shit. Here's what I had in it:
For lights, I had two cheapo battery powered LED taillights and a Dinotte 300 tail light. I used one of the battery powered tail lights all the time, turned the second one on at night and kept the Dinotte in reserve. For headlights I had a dynamo powered (Son 28) Luxos U and a Dinotte XML3. For night riding, I mainly used the Luxos and switched on the Dinotte (which I had aimed farther out) as a “high beam” on steep descents. This worked really well and I never felt like I was outrunning my lights. The Luxos has two beam patterns, one of which is more penetrating and the second which is both the penetrating beam and a broad beam that lights the sides of the road. I was very happy with this lighting setup. I charged my Garmin during the day by connecting it to the port on the Luxos U. This also worked very well and brought it to full charge from 15% or so in about two hours.
Bike and rider before the start
I maintain my bikes pretty well and all three were ready to go. I put on a new chain (now toast), brake pads (now toast) and tires on the Serotta. For tires I used Vittoria Corsa 700x25's which some people complain are “flat prone”. No flats for the whole ride though I'll admit there were a lot of times I was riding along in pouring rain saying “please don't flat, please don't flat”. No mechanical issues whatsoever on the whole ride.
I brought two pairs of shoes and riding sandals. I alternated between the shoes but never did use the sandals because I'd have needed to change the pedals and I was just too tired at the end of the day to do it. Toward the last four hours or so of days 2-4 my feet (toes) hurt SO BAD it felt like someone had them in a vice and hitting a bump or going over railroad tracks almost reduced me to tears. Assuming I don't sell all my bikes and give this silly shit up, I may try sandals next time.
I used an eogear 6.8 (I also have an 8.0) and it was perfect: big enough to hold everything but not so big I was encouraged to carry a bunch of shit. Here's what I had in it:
- Large multi-tool
- Two tubes and tire levers
- Spare derailleur cables
- Rain jacket
- Reflective vest and ankle bands
- Night (day) glasses
- Arm warmers
- Knee warmers (except for when I needed them)
- Bag balm (in a small vasoline jar)
- Sandwich bag full of Hammer (half Perpetuem, half Sustained Energy)
For lights, I had two cheapo battery powered LED taillights and a Dinotte 300 tail light. I used one of the battery powered tail lights all the time, turned the second one on at night and kept the Dinotte in reserve. For headlights I had a dynamo powered (Son 28) Luxos U and a Dinotte XML3. For night riding, I mainly used the Luxos and switched on the Dinotte (which I had aimed farther out) as a “high beam” on steep descents. This worked really well and I never felt like I was outrunning my lights. The Luxos has two beam patterns, one of which is more penetrating and the second which is both the penetrating beam and a broad beam that lights the sides of the road. I was very happy with this lighting setup. I charged my Garmin during the day by connecting it to the port on the Luxos U. This also worked very well and brought it to full charge from 15% or so in about two hours.
I had a 70 oz Camelbak and two insulated bottles. Water in the Camelbak and 6 scoops of a mix of Perpetuem/Sustained Energy plus a big shot of Hammer Gel in one of the bottles and water in the other. This setup worked pretty well as I was able to switch between drinking the Hammer stuff and plain water and the Hammer Gel (Chocolate) made the Perpetuem/Sustained Energy combination taste better (like chocolate milk) so I could actually stand to keep drinking it.
So that's it. Overall I'm very happy with the performance of both man and machine and “enjoyed” the ride. I'm pretty darned proud of myself for finishing. Now to go work on those eBay bike listings.....
I also have to thank Marcia both for coming and for all of the support. She really did everything she could to make things easier on me by having things organized, filling bottles and Camelbak in the morning, reminding me not to forget things, etc. I know how hard it is to wake up in the middle of the night (on very little sleep), be very busy for a couple of hours and then try to go back to sleep. She did it with a smile and was waiting out front at the overnight control each night. No wonder she's the light of my life!
So that's it. Overall I'm very happy with the performance of both man and machine and “enjoyed” the ride. I'm pretty darned proud of myself for finishing. Now to go work on those eBay bike listings.....
All done!
I also have to thank Marcia both for coming and for all of the support. She really did everything she could to make things easier on me by having things organized, filling bottles and Camelbak in the morning, reminding me not to forget things, etc. I know how hard it is to wake up in the middle of the night (on very little sleep), be very busy for a couple of hours and then try to go back to sleep. She did it with a smile and was waiting out front at the overnight control each night. No wonder she's the light of my life!
Epilogue (2020)
There was a lot of debate (dueling Garmins) over how much total elevation there was. Here's the data from Strava for the ride:
225.08 miles, 16:11 moving time, 13.9 mi/h moving average speed, 14,102 feet of climbing
222.81 miles, 15:50 moving time, 14.1 mi/h moving average speed, 9,476 feet of climbing
200.06 miles, 15:18 moving time, 13.1 mi/h moving average speed, 12,652 feet of climbing
139.52 miles, 10:28 moving time, 13.3 mi/h moving average speed, 8,965 feet of climbing
Totals: 787.47 miles, 45,195 feet of climbing
