Tierra Bella Century?

[snapdragen]

Hey Snap,

I was wondering if you were working the Tierra Bella. I kept my eye out for you, but obviously didn't see you.

Your club did a fantastic job on the event!

-- Mel

I didn't work this year...I forgot to sign up.

[tealamb]

Well, I'm totally humbled after reading about Melissam's great ride (and perseverence!) on the century, but I promised a ride report, so, for what it's worth, here it is.

It was SO cold and windy when we got there! We had to wait while two in our group went to check in, and it was torture - I was kind of nervous, and anxious to get going, and, I was freezing. We finally got rolling, but I don't think I really warmed up until halfway through the climb up Gilroy Hot Springs. Speaking of which, I'm kind of surprised that people have compared it to Old La Honda, because IMHO, it's not even close. (I haven't ridden OLH in about a year, though, so take that with a grain of salt.) Still, it was a little longer than I expected, and was definitely a good climb.

After eating a bit (and not enough, as it turned out), and getting our picture taken at the rest stop at Gilroy Hot Springs, we pushed on. Our group really split up on the descent down Canada Rd. We have some pretty aggressive/confident descenders (is that a word?) but I'm pretty conservative, especially on roads I'm unfamiliar with. Even so, I got stuck behind someone even slower than me who was hanging out in the middle of the road, and with the car traffic, and other cyclists wizzing by, I didn't feel comfortable passing him. So I was on my own when I got down to the valley, and had to deal with the wind for the first time. It was pretty bad in the morning - I can't imagine what Melissam was dealing with in the afternoon! I just put my head down and slogged away for what seemed like forever, heading north right into the wind, and then turning west and getting buffeted by cross winds, and so on, and so on...

At one point, I found myself behind two other women. We weren't pacelining, but we were on a busy road with very little shoulder, and we were riding single file. After reading that thread here about drafting, I was really conscious of sucking uninvited on someone else's wheel and was trying to keep at least a bike's length behind them. I had to slow at one point because of something in the road, and all of a sudden, I heard a guy behind me bark, "SLOWING!" I looked behind me, and there was a line of at least 6 or 7 other cyclists behind me! I felt really uncomfortable, because I wasn't feeling strong enough to take the front, but I also felt like I couldn't gracefully get myself out of the line without causing problems because of the heavy traffic, and narrow shoulder. I slowed down just a bit, and I guess people got tired of my slow(er) pace, and they finally passed me.

I finally caught up to my DH and another guy in our group just as we started on the rollers leading up to Uvas reservoir, and by that time, (about mile 38?) I was hurting. My muscles were getting tight and kind of achy, which always happens after about 35 miles, and I could tell I was running out of gas. I kept thinking that the Uvas rest stop was coming right up, but it seemed like it took forever to get there. When we did, I was pretty out of it. I couldn't figure out where to put my bike, and I just kind of stood there in front of the racks, staring. My DH told me later that I actually asked him where I could put my bike. It was weird. I was so thankful that they had PB&J, nutbreads, and trailmix, because even though I knew that I really needed to eat, most kinds of food didn't sound at all appealing, and those were things that I felt like I could get down without gagging. (I'm a weirdo, I know).

After that, the ride was a breeze, and I really started enjoying myself. The food that I'd eaten, and the Advil that I'd taken at Uvas kicked in, and I felt MUCH better. The last rest stop at Machado school was my favorite. Maybe it was just because I was feeling so much better, but the people seemed super friendly, the sun finally came out and I could take off my windbreaker, and they had a sweet pup named Cindy hanging out there, looking for treats under the food tables. She had her own name tag, and I found out from her owner that it was her fifth Tierra Bella!

It was only about 10 miles to the finish when we left Machado school, and I just seemed to feel stronger and stonger, even though the wind really started picking up. At one point, a crosswind almost knocked me over! I felt fantastic when we rolled back into the parking lot at Gavilan. I was actually wondering if I had it in me to do 40 more miles. Yeaaaah, right. I think it was just the euphoria at finishing!

I have to say that this was an extremely well-organized ride. Every single volunteer I encountered was friendly and helpful, and the food was excellent. And the scenery was beautiful. I was so impressed! This metric was definitely more challenging than the Wine Country we did last year. It seemed like there was a lot more climbing, definitely more wind, and, I guess, just the caliber of the average rider on this ride was higher than the Wine Country, based, from what I could tell, on the average pace.

Anyway, for all two of you who are still reading this novel, I just want to thank everyone who answered my call for more information about this ride. It was all very helpful, and I definitely appreciated it. This is a great community, with many caring and supportive members, and I hope to be able to contribute more as I get to be a stonger and more experienced rider!

Thanks again! (Oh, and Melissam? You totally rock, and I'd guess you're going to kick some major butt on the ALC ride this June!)

[Bike Goddess]

Tealamb (Sarah #...) Thanks for your report. Great details and great reading.

I only have one question for you: Before you got to Uvas were you eating and drinking? You sound as though you had run out of fuel since you were doing much better after food.

[melissam]

Hey Sarah,

Good job on the Metric! I really enjoyed reading your ride report. That was a nice descent in the Hot Springs area, but a little hairy with all the riders and the traffic.

I agree with Bike Goddess -- it sounds like you had the classic bonking symptoms: feeling like you're out of gas, and general spaciness. I'm glad that re-fueling solved the problem for you.

-- Melissa

[kjay]

tealamb . . . I sure enjoyed reading your ride report, and am glad that you mentioned how great all the volunteers were. It's really a very well organized and supported ride. I rode the 36-mile route, which was plenty for me. I tend to baby myself.

[tealamb]

I only have one question for you: Before you got to Uvas were you eating and drinking? You sound as though you had run out of fuel since you were doing much better after food.

Nope! I ate at the Hot Springs rest stop, but not while on the bike before Uvas. And, after approximately eleventy-billion times of doing this exact same thing, do you think I'd learn my lesson about not eating = bonking?? AND, I even took a baggie of trailmix with me from the rest stop, OPENED it, and put it in my Bento right in front of me so that I could dip into it while riding. But did I?
I guess I was just really concentrating, trying to deal with the wind and catch up to the rest of my group. I dunno. If you all have any hints as to how I can remind myself to eat, other than a complete brain transplant, I'm all ears.

Thanks for the kind words about all my blathering.

[jobob]

Hey Sarah -

I've done that too, many times. It's so easy to get caught up in the excitement/tension/whatever of the ride and forget to eat, even if food is within inches of your face.

Often I'll say to myself "oh, it's only a few miles to the next stop, I'll eat there" which can wind up being a Big Mistake for me. It's amazing how fast the pre-bonk woozies can come on.

Veronica once mentioned a pretty good trick. If you have a computer or a watch with a timer, set it to beep every 15 minutes. Then have a small bite to eat and a swig of water or energy drink every time it beeps.

I've taken to using "liquid food' on my longer rides (~ 100K and more). I'm much more likely to get the calories I need at a fairly contant rate if I can swig them rather than munch them. I use a product called Spiz - after some trial & error I found it's more palatable to me than similar products such as Sustained Energy and Perpetuem. But this is definitely a trial & error / personal preference sort of thing. I also have solid food for variety, but I rely mainly on the Spiz, and so far it's worked well.

Edited to add: For shorter rides, I use Cytomax, just like the Bike Goddess! - I don't really need Spiz for the shorter rides.

Also over time you'll probably get to know your own personal warning cues for when you know you need to eat NOW or suffer the consequences. In my case, it's a drop in enery or feeling a little jittery or lightheaded. Now, hopefully during a ride I will have taken in calories regularly enough to not reach that point, but if I do, I know I have to tear into the paydays or shotblocks or whatever I happen to be carrying & wolf them down without delay.

[Bike Goddess]

I do Mt Diablo ride once a week. This has made me VERY conscious about eating as I have bonked a couple of times after the junction (I'll still keep going, but often it's a walk the last part ). Although the ride is tough, it's great training for eating and getting in shape.

So here's my suggestion- if you can't eat on the bike (I have a hard time with that one too) then be sure you have a sports drink that you can tolerate. Personally, I use Cytomax.

I drink religiously every 15 minutes (or so)as I ascend the mountain. When I get to the junction, I'll have part of a Lunabar (or something similar) and some energy gel (not my fav, but it works for me). I continue to drink my Cytomax as I ride the final 4.3 miles.

This has become the standard for my other rides as well. I find that taking small amounts of sports drink often keeps me going strong. After about 20 miles or so on a training ride, I'll stop and eat a bar or whatever.

The other part of this is eating a good breakfast before I leave the house. For me it's a soft boiled egg, tea (with 2% milk- my English background), and 1/2 of a cinammon bar.

If I have to get up early (4:00,5:00, whatever) then I'll at least get something in my system before I leave and then snack on the way to the ride. If there is food to be had at the beginnning of the ride, I'll have some and then not start my drinking routine until about an hour into the ride (assuming cool temps in the early morning). I don't eat a lot at rest stops, just mostly oranges, dried fruit and nuts. I will eat a little more at the lunch stop (salty foods plus 1/2 a sandwich). I've learned that eating small amounts frequently is easier on my system.

Now, if you are a long long distance rider (like Veronica and Maillotpois) the the issue of eating takes on another dimension.

[melissam]

If anyone's interested, I recorded the Tierra Bella Century on my Garmin Edge 305. You can play back the ride by following this link:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/player/5454217

Personally, I like changing the map to Hybrid, and zooming in about 3 more levels.

Good Gravy, according to the data, I was climbing Henry Coe for about an hour and 45 minutes! Honestly, it didn't seem that long while I was doing it. Now the headwind part, that felt like 2 hours, but it was only 45 minutes.