Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan Otcenas
That looks amazing! One of my good friends did the 1200k (it might have been 1000, but I think it was 1200) in Alaska last year and his pictures were amazing.
So... we expect pictures. :)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan Otcenas
That looks amazing! One of my good friends did the 1200k (it might have been 1000, but I think it was 1200) in Alaska last year and his pictures were amazing.
So... we expect pictures. :)
Good luck to both of you! Susan, be extra careful with that heat wave...
Well, this weekend helped to boost my confidence a little bit and I made sure to take the advice given here to assure success. Thank you again, all.
I was able to get in a 130 mile solo ride on Friday and was happy with both my average and how I felt afterward. I finished right at 8 hours in the saddle with only 3 short 10 minute breaks in between. My hydration was good, as indicated by needed pit stops (;)). WW bagels with PB, bananas, honey stinger energy chews (sweet, but not as bad as gels), and Skratch got me through the ride. Had half of a turkey sandwich on last two pit stops and each stop, downed a bottle of water, consuming a total of about 11 large bottles of fluid. Afterward my legs were tired, but I feel that I could have ridden another 30. The biggest hurdle was just boredom, since I was alone.
I rode a short, very slow recovery ride of about 20 on Saturday and then was able to ride a short, medium effort ride on Sunday of about 25.
I'll do a century next weekend, then about 10 days out start tapering and upping my calorie and fluid intake. Should have a base of about 3000 miles by the time of the event, so I think I'm about as prepared as I can be. Just trying to ride when it's hot to acclimate my body, as I'm a hot weather wimp.
Any additional thoughts or advice is very welcome!!
Susan - can't wait to hear your report of the Alaska ride!!
Velo, you rock. One hundred and thirty solo miles with a 16+ mpg average is awesome. You have RAIN in the bag.
I hope so, Indy. Thanks! I think I'm going to be about as prepared as I can without quitting my p/t job and neglecting my family.
I agree with Indy. Looks like you are very very well prepared for this event. Sounds like you are doing everything right, practicing your event day strategies, and listening to the very sage advice provided here. All that's left to do is to stay healthy, then enjoy the event!!Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
As for me, the Alaska Solstice 600K was freakin' AWESOME. I haven't written a ride report yet, but I've put up a ton of photos in a public album on my facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/susan.otcen...5691132&type=1 Photos never really do it justice, though. The ride organizer got some great shots as well. I love this one of me, riding along the still partially frozen Summit Lake https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater The ride is super remote, with vast stretches with ZERO services. You really need to be self sufficient. I carried lots of food and 3 bottles at all times, plus all my repair gear, warm clothes, etc. If you want to see the route, I uploaded my ride segments to Strava, here. http://app.strava.com/athletes/870991 We lucked out with incredible weather, warm days, not too cold at night, and a rippin' tailwind for part of the first day. I had no mechanicals, got nearly 4 hours sleep at the overnight control at 400K, and recorded my best ever 600K finish by over 2 hours. (finished 600K - 372 miles -in 34:50). Having 24 hours of daylight certainly helped, as I usually slow down in the dark, which wasn't an issue here. All in all, an incredible weekend.
Looks amazing, Susan! So glad it went well and that you weren't affected by the heat. I ran just 8 miles yesterday in 90° and it was brutal, and I'm probably better acclimated than you are in the PNW.
Susan, that is just... amazing. You rode 370 miles in less than 26 hours saddle time, climbed 11,500+ feet, and did it all on 4 hours of sleep. Wow! The pictures are amazing. I'm intrigued by the lack of "night" and how it affected you. On long days on the bike, I feel that sun sinking and it has a mental effect. With the sun always there... interesting. Anyway, my effort seems small compared, but we each have our hills to climb and I'm still getting ready for mine. I hope I'm as successful with mine as you were yours. Congratulations on a really wonderful brevet.
Hi all. Just wanted to give a quick update even though it's been 2 weeks. We had a great ride and beautiful, warm, but not hot weather in spite of 12 or so mph headwind the whole way (this is a one-way ride). We had one mechanical that really set us back. My husband SAGged for the 4 of us, so we waited and he whisked bike and rider away to the nearest bike shop (we were still in metro Indianapolis) to get bike fixed. That probably cost us about 1.5 hours or so, maybe a little less. Nutrition was good, hydration was good and I felt strong at the end. My garmin says 162.11 miles, 10:22 rolling time, and just under 4800ft of ascent. I'm very happy with that. Because the end is a slight upward grade and the wind was in our face the whole day, I told my husband that if we didn't have others with us, I would have turned around and done 38 more to get my first ever in my life double-century in. That would have been the day to do it. I really nailed the nutrition and feel like my training was adequate. So all around, it was a success and it was nice to do this very wonderfully organized event again after being away from it so long. Kudos to all of the volunteers and organizers cheering us all along the way and a special thanks to my husband and daughter for spending a long and BORING day leap-frogging us across the state. Finally, thank you to all of you here for your words of wisdom and encouragement. Just goes to show that this is not a solo sport - it takes a team.
One of the guys in our club flew you there and rode it with his daughter. He posted lots of pics. Looked like a great ride. Glad you had fun and did well. Congrats!