Training Log
2007 
Saturday - 26 May 2007
| Hrs. Sleeping: | 5 | |
| Pulse/Waking: | ||
| Rising: | ||
| Difference: | ||
| Weight: | ||
| Body Fat: | ||
| Distance: | 117 miles | |
| Total Time: | 10:45 moving time - 8:12 stopped - 2:33 moving average - 14.1 mph |
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| Time of Day: | 6:30 am | |
| Weather: | Nice...! Calm and upper 50s at the start, upper 70s at the finish. Some wind but never too much. | |
| Workout Type: | 'race' |
| Breakfast: | 4:30 - cereal |
| Lunch: | |
| Dinner: | |
| Workout Food: | 1.5 100 oz CamelBak bladders of water, most of a bottle of Perpetuem (8 scoops), 2 Larabars, 3 gels, Fig Newtons, 20 oz Coke, 6 Endurolytes |
| Course: | North Bend to Vantage on the Iron Horse Trail |
| Results: | |
| Comments: | This is my last 'tune up' before Trans Portugal. I figured it would be similar to some of the sections or days that we would encounter there (read: lots of dirt road) so it seemed like a good idea. That, and I have never ridden past the Hyak parking lot on this trail so I was (sort of) curious what was on the other side. It was quite pleasant at the start. We got there in plenty of time, the weather was nice and mild, it was not so early that it was still dark and the organizer really was organized! She had a sign-in sheet and these super cute NB2V commemorative rocks all painted up like little awards. It was really nice actually. The only bummer was that the other two or three cyclists that I thought were going to show up bagged out so instead of a race, it was now just a ride. :) So off we went. We started out sorta brisk but not suicidal by any means. The road up to the tunnel is really fast and firm and Vince H and Robin P had cranked up their tires to like 60 and 70 psi respectfully so it was go, go, go! ASIDE - I'm not even sure that I have ever ridden my mountain bike with more than 50 psi in the tires; ever! It kinda stops feeling like a mountain bike then and just like a really heavy, slow road bike; to me anyway. On the climb we chatted and marveled at the engineering that must have been required to build this railway grade. So many gaps and valleys had to be filled in with rock and dirt to say nothing of building the trestles that span the big gaps. As we approached the Snoqualmie tunnel I was putting my sun glasses away and turning my light on on the fly and just dove straight in. As it got dark I head a yelp behind me but figured whoever it was would get themselves sorted out and I could meet them on the other side. :) I love this tunnel! The surface was _very_ smooth this time (must have been freshly grated recently) and it sort of feels like it's ever so slightly downhill if you head east. Plus, riding (and skiing) in the dark just feels faster than in the daylight. I popped out the other side and parked it by the restrooms to wash my hands, have a bite and drink. It turns out the yelp was Vince realizing that his batteries did not work! He had to ride behind Robin and use his light... And when they showed up, Robin informed me that these restrooms in the Hyak parking lot also have showers! How cool is that? At this parking lot we met three women that were waiting for the runner they were supporting. As we pulled out and continued on we all wondered out loud why in the world they were here so damn early... This next section was BEAUTIFUL! All along Lake Keechelus and Lake Easton the trail was flanked by WAY more green than there is on the other side of the water... When you drive along I-90 it all looks so bleak and brown and dusty - not so. This railway grade was really scenic. And there were several more tunnels over here too! What a blast. As we were busting it along this section of the trail just past the summit, there was a patch of snow on the ground that had not melted yet. I saw a track that went straight through it and made a beeline for the entrance. I guess Vince was thinking the same thing but because he was behind me I aced him out, he missed the track and bit it in the snow drift. :( If you have ever fallen in spring snow, you know it kinda hurts... We were laughing at the time (especially since Vince is the best bike handler) but later when I saw his shin I felt sort of bad. Not much later we came to the steepest 'hill' of the ride so far. It was this little dip followed by a 30 foot rise. Vince jokingly shifted to the granny ring and promptly threw the chain off the inside. Then when he tried to yank the chain back to the big ring, he twisted a link! So we had to stop, break the chain and replace the bent link with a spare. :) We got way too much mileage out of the fact that Vince bit it on the only 'technical' section and threw his chain on the only 'climb'. Through Easton and Cle Elum the trail was still fun. Really straight and flat and consistent but relatively fun. And I was feeling really good so far. I had pushed hard all last week, figured out I was going too hard on Thursday and eased off that day and did nothing Friday but was worried that one day of rest would not be enough. So far I was doing fine. We were even joking how we had to open and close a few gates just like we were going to have to on day five of Trans Portugal. Somewhere around Cle Elum there was even a Cafe right on the trail where we stopped to drink and rinse again. Then my bottle exploded. I was taking a drink, gave the bottle a squeeze and the lid blew off. I was doused in super thick Perpetuem goo; yuck! It soaked my jersey, my shorts, got all over my arms, my legs, my bike, all my controls and my GPS. :( So then I had to spend a few minutes judiciously rinsing it off with my CamelBak while not using all the water so that I would still have something to drink. One word: gross. And then the trail got soft. Not a total bog mind you but just enough really fine sand on top of the hard road that your speed plummeted to like 14 mph. It was not so much cycling as it was resistance training. And when you can see the next five miles of trail up ahead (and it's not changing any) it's a little disconcerting. At the fruit stand in Thorp there was a garden hose and I was able to rinse as best I could. While we were here Robin's rear tire went flat all on its own! Mechanical number two. Unfortunately filling up my CamelBak did not help me too much. I had been pulling quite a bit until now and had to relinquish the pace setting to Vince and Robin for a bit as we started back up. From Thorpe to Ellensburg was boring. It's so damn flat (I was actually dying for _any_ change in elevation at this point be it down OR up...) and you can see the 'trail' for miles ahead of you. And guess what, it never looks any different. I felt like Robin slowed a bit on this section and that Vince went pretty well but I bet none of us were what you would call chipper. Riding through Ellensburg was a nice change of pace because 1) we got on the pavement for a bit and 2) we went right through the Central Washington University campus which is very pretty and green and 3) as we got back on the trail it was right by the rodeo and we got to see lots of locals in jeans, cowboy boots and big hats. Then again, they got to see three fruit cakes from the city in tight Lycra(TM) roll through town. It's all a matter of perspective, eh? Although it was not much further, we ended up stopping in Kittitas for a Coke. I had left my money in the car so Vince came to the rescue and soon I was sitting on the bench outside of the convenience store enjoying 20 fluid ounces of nirvana. This was probably our longest stop at maybe almost 30 minutes. Even doing all that rinsing and flat fixing back in Thorpe took less time. I ended up gabbing a chunk of ice from this barrel of drinks outside the store and gave myself a rub down with it. Nice. Finally, after more soft trail out of Kittitas we got to the main ascent; what a relief! Unfortunately Robin fell back some right away. If it had been anyone else I would have waited but Robin is so darn self-sufficient that Vince and I decided to ride ahead to the next obvious stopping point. We found that at the bridge where the train used to cross I-90. The bridge was closed. I guess there was not enough money to convert the surface into something flat and to build a railing so here we had to ride some actual single track (yeah!) down to a road, cross under the freeway and then climb back up to the railway grade on the other side. We had to use our small chainring for the climb! AFter slogging it out over miles of flats it was a small shock to the system. :) This is where we entered 'Army West'. There was a map and sign-in system. You are supposed to fill out this slip of paper, take it with you and then drop it in some box at the east end of this property owned by the military. Why? Good question. But like lemmings to a cliff we followed the directions dutifully. Okay, now it got soft. Vince had told me about this four mile(?) section of trail and how it had been described as anything from "totally unrideable, ridiculous" to "not that bad..." Turns out it was not that bad. Slower going than hard dirt but not so bad that you had to twiddle a tiny gear and balance or fall over. It just made for harder riding. But up here it was also kind of pretty in a barren sort of way. We went through lots of rock fields, saw loads of basalt and rode through another tunnel! Boy, just when you think the soil is dry, you hit this tunnel and it's dry times 10. Good thing there were no cars to stir up the dust - it would have been killer. As we exited the tunnel it was finally time to descend and Vince promptly took off like a shot. I had to really push to catch him and then once I did I looked back and Robin was no where to be seen. We stopped at the next road crossing where we found the last compost toilet and waited. We had just ridden down what was probably the steepest part of the trail so far and we _really_ did not want to ride back up and every minute that Robin did not show made us feel more and more guilty. Finally he pulled up. Turns out he got a tear in his tire and had to boot it with Duct Tape. That tape has become an essential item in my cycling and hiking repair kit! So off we went; on what seemed like an _endless_ descent. Vince kept surging, I kept chasing and towards the bottom all of a sudden I was 50 feet off of his wheel! Funny how this kind of thing can sneak up on you; one minute you feel great or at least reasonable and the next you are running on empty and totally unable to push the pace. As I think back, I really did not have much to eat on this ride - go figure. At least it was very close to the end. When we made it to 'Army East' we found the drop box for the slip of paper and promptly made a wrong turn. Thank goodness Vince has his eyes on his GPS (I had stopped watching mine some time ago... see above paragraph about not eating enough) and noticed it. We had ridden one mile past the turn. :( But we had a tailwind for the trip back. In retrospect the road was well marked, we just were not looking for it and had our brains all keyed on finding the Army East drop box. From here the road went along a ridge and then DROPPED down to the water. After numbing my senses with so much flat, non-technical slogging, I almost forgot how to actually ride in the dirt but it came back fairly fast as I slid/rode down this steep, sandy road to the pavement that parallels the river. At the bottom we came out at some camp site that was over run with drunk, sunburnt college age kids; it was some mighty fine people watching. :) From here it was just a few miles (3 maybe...?) along the paved road back to Vantage and the RV camp where Robin's parents, Shelley and Amy were waiting for us. Nice. No sooner do I get off my bike than someone is handing me a beer and fruit and chips and salsa and humus. How can you go wrong? And there was more drunken girl drama here too - very entertaining and always a plus. This was a _very_ well organized event and because of my excellent company it was also lots of fun. You would need to be pretty motivated to do this alone I think and I'm not sure if I will be back but it was nice to have done it once and to experience a part of the state that I have never ridden and only heard about. The organizer is a runner and this started out as an ultra run actually; I can only stand in awe of folks that would do all this on foot. If I think of all the boring sections, the soft surface and how long they took at 15 mph or whatever speed I was going at the time and how much longer they would take on foot - yikes! But the first half was very pretty. And it would be super cool to do this as an out-and-back ride instead! Plus, then you can have your car waiting for you at the finish. And only ride the pretty sections. Just an idea... :) Thanks also to Vince and Robin for company and to Shelley and Robin's parents and Amy for their support. That makes all the difference. |
| Equipment: | Ti Cycles Skookum, 24/36/46, 12-32, Hutchinson Python tires at about 48 psi, a little less for the last 15-20 or so miles |
