I spent some time last week writing a long post, breaking down in detail my training totals for 2008, evaluating my race performances and trying to determine what I can change this year to become a fitter, faster triathlete. That long post can be summed up in four words.
I. Must. Bike. More.
So, I decided the right way to kick off my 2009 training was to do a really long ride. A 200KM (120 miles) brevet with the San Diego Randonneurs.
A map of the route.
I've done two Ironmans and a handful of century rides, but 120 miles is my longest ride ever. Not to mention that this route contains nearly 7000 ft of climbing... all the North County classics like Del Dios, Old Castle, Couser/Rice Canyon, and finishing off with Torrey Pines at the 115 mile mark. I knew it would be a tough day.
We started the ride promptly at 7AM in a light rain and the temps were in the mid 40's. I wore my bib shorts, full length leg warmers, a base layer on top, a short-sleeve bike jersey, arm warmers and a rain jacket that converts into a vest. I also had on ear warmers and wore my full finger winter gloves. Despite all that, I was still cold.
The first section of the ride was over rolling hills through Sorreto Valley, Carmel Mountain and beautiful Rancho Santa Fe. There are some beautiful estates in that area, wow. There were a number of riders stopped repairing flat tires... I guess the rain caused a lot of road debris to collect on the shoulders of the road. I think I counted six in the first 30 miles. The first major climb was San Elijo Road, 1.9 miles at 7% avg. gradient. I dropped into the 39x26 and spun up with no problems. Checkpoint #1 was at the top of the climb, then we were rewarded with a long and steep 1.5 mile descent into San Marcos. I rode my brakes the entire way down... with the wet asphalt, I wasn't taking any chances. With the damp and the wind, it was cold and my feet and hands were numb.
In San Marcos, we had a nice flat section up Twin Valley Oaks Road to Deer Springs Road out to the second checkpoint at I-15, roughly 44 miles into the ride. By this time we had been riding about 2:45, and I had gone through 2 bottles of GuH20/CarboPro and 1 Clif Bar. I was carrying one spare bottle in my jersey pocket with enough drink powder for 2 more bottles and with this, I mixed two more bottles of sports drink.
Here's a pic of me... contemplating the fact that I still have nearly 80 miles to go.
Out of the second checkpoint, we headed over the 15 Fwy, then north on Old 395/Champagne Road past the Lawrence Welk resort. A nice long gentle descent before what, in my opinion, was the toughest climb on the course. Old Castle Road, nearly 4 miles at about 6% avg grade with about a mile at nearly 9%. Fun.
From here... only two major climbs left. A short steep ascent up Couser Canyon Road and a long grinding ascent of Rice Canyon before arriving at the final checkpoint, Rainbow Market at mile 65. By this time, we had been rolling for over 4.5 hours in the cold and rain. I was cold. So, I was happily surprised to find hot soup and bread waiting at the checkpoint. SO GOOD! This was exactly what I needed. After a quick bathroom stop, we headed out again... starting with a fast descent of old 395. So much for being warm... the fast descent chilled me to the bone once again.
Miles 70-90 were through the rolling hills of Fallbrook with some nice descents down Live Oak Park and Mission Road. After so much spent climbing the front half of the ride, it was great to have some fast sections. This part of the route was a lot of fun to ride. After brief stretch on Hwy 76, it was a jaunt through the Morro Hills area and then to the most boring (boring-est?) section of the entire coast... the dreaded San Luis Rey bike trail. Most North County cyclists know every inch of this 7.2 mile path and true to form, there was the typical afternoon headwind. I just geared down, zoned out and ate my second Clif Bar.
Once back to the coast (the final stretch), I just mentally checked off the towns that I passed through..first Oceanside, then Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar. In Carlsbad, I caught a group of other randonneurs. The last time I had seen them was back in Rainbow; they were leaving the soup stop as I was arriving. We exchanged some encouraging words and I pressed on. I was riding slightly faster so we were only together for a mile or so.
The biggest test of the ride for me, mentally at least, was the final climb up Torrey Pines. This is not a huge climb by any stretch. But after 115 miles... it felt like I was climbing Everest.
Once over top of Torrey, it was only a few rolling miles through the UCSD Campus to the finish. I pulled in at 3:36 pm for a total time of 8:36. My rolling time was 7:40, a 15.7 mph average. Turns out I finished 5th out of 41 finishers, which I'm pretty happy with. Not exactly in keeping with the non-competitive nature of the event to be talking about my placing, but at least I know what I wasn't out of my league in attempting this.
Once I finished, I quickly got out of my wet cycling clothes into some warm gear and ate a couple brownies.
Some of the other guys tried to convince me to do the 300K later this month. That one has 12000 ft of climbing. Not sure I'm ready for that yet... we'll see.