Anyone Doing The Stagecoach 1/13?

[Brandy]

Hi Veronica

I'm actually rethinking Solvang. I'm definitely in for Butterfield, it starts too close to home to skip it! Solvang would require an overnight stay or two and with three kids at home, I'm thinking that might be tough. If I'm going to have to do an overnight, I'm thinking that I want to save it and do Eastern Sierra instead. So basically, my double schedule is totally up in the air as of now, but I'm thinking Hemet might be a good option because again, close to home and I'd love to have two knocked out early in the season. I considered Davis and that might be a possibility...but Eastern Sierra is calling to me if I can get more comfortable with my climbing ability! I'm also keeping the Grand Tour open as an option because it's close to home.

[Veronica]

Go for Eastern Sierra! MP did it last year and it sounds gorgeous. I'd forgotten about Hemet. It's not on my calendar since it's the same day as Mulholland. I vaguely entertained trying to do the stage races this year.

Welcome to the club of insanity. Good luck with your training!

V.

[Brandy]

Thanks Veronica! I think I started having nightmares about Butterfield the other night...I was apparently trying to calculate what time I'd need to come in to get in under the time limit and woke up in a panic.

I'm pretty set on Hemet as my second DC and I really, really, really want to shoot for Eastern Sierra, but it all depends on my climbing. I'm doing 100 miles and 10,000 ft on Saturday (Encinitas to Palomar Mountain and back) with my ultra rider friend, so that should be a good indication. We're also doing the Breathless Agony route on March 25th, we're organizing it for our so Cal Bike Forums group, complete with roving SAG. I had thought about going for King of the Mountain, but with the kids I was piling too many out of town rides on my plate. So...we'll see!

[Veronica]

How did the 200K go?

V.

[Brandy]

It went well...thanks for asking! I don't have plans to do a brevet series this year, but my friend told me that it would be a good training ride, particularly because it has some of the same climbing that is featured on Butterfield. The route was GREAT, I rode with some great guys from Bike Forums, and it was nice to have the company all day. I finished strong and felt great...but VERY hungry afterward. It was definitely a good test of my nutrition strategies on longer rides, I thought I was doing well with one Hammer Gel an hour, plus gatorade, but I was scolded by my friend/coach who told me that I should have been having two gels an hour. I vaguely remember having that conversation before the ride, but it must have left my brain...of course, the jersey pocket full of gels that I returned with should have been an indication that I should have been refueling more often.

[Veronica]

Glad you had a good ride.

I'm kind of obsessive about eating and drinking on my longer rides. Every 15 minutes I eat or drink something. So far this strategy has worked.

V.

[Brandy]

I definitely need to be more conscious of it and after my scolding from my coach friend, I will be. He's usually on top of me when we ride together and keeps good track of reminding me to eat/hydrate more often than I would do on my own. He took off with the fast group so we didn't ride together until he doubled back after finishing and rode the final 15 mile stretch with us, so I didn't have my babysitter there. I need to get better about doing it myself!