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Preparation
June of last year I decided that I would attend Sebring in February. I had changed my diet and lost 20 lbs. My body had become trim. I just needed to refine my muscles and heart to an even better condition. I have never been part of a structured training program to prepare for a ride. I thought I should become a part of the 4F (farther, faster, fitter, fun). In the thread of the same name, it defined some of the necessary equipment needed to be in this training group. I began with a heart monitor and rode my bike outside as fast as possible while keeping my heart rate low. A month later l purchased a Wahoo Kickr trainer and became an active member of the team. Starting out I rode 4 days a week. A month later the program ramped up a little and went to 5 days a week.
This same time I was considering changes to my bike. I have a Quest 559. I had ridden the bike with the seat reclined at 35 degrees. Most people asked if it was uncomfortable to keep my head up while riding. I knew if I was to ride any distance, I would need some sort of head rest as seen on the S and V models. I had some other ideas to make the Q go faster, farther. In the months while training, I made a fiberglass seat, a headrest, faux disc wheels, and changed to an 11 speed system among other items. All items detailed in a thread on this site.
The last 6 weeks, coach Ratz turned up the heat and created a specific training program for Sebring riders. This program trained 6 days a week. Some days were quite hard. Training began to take on a life of its own and was a little overwhelming at times. The week prior to the ride was the “taper” week. I expected this week to be a nice and easy rest prior to the ride. It was just the opposite. Late in the week Ratz shared the plan and my progress and it made more sense. I realized the week before I was loaded in the slingshot and each hard workout I had pulled me back farther in the sling. Thanks Ratz. I feel I was as ready as I could have been with 3 months training.
Sebring
My wife, Lisa, and I escaped the winter storm that Ratz documented in his travels, as we drove our million mile (286k) minivan from central Indiana. We arrived in Sebring on Friday late morning. On our way to the track we stopped off at Frostproof and drove the 100 mile loop from the turnaround back to the track. It was a good test for using my “new” Wahoo Elemnt’s turn by turn navigation.
After lunch our room was ready and others in the tribe began showing up in the parking lot. It was neat to meet people that I have corresponded with through this forum. My bike was unpacked and ready to go on the 11 mile loop at 4pm with the rest of the tribe. Riding my bike in the parking lot was a good way to knock the dust off my handling skills. I had not ridden outside for 4 months. I had many items with 0 miles on them yet to be road tested. Others often comment, “Don’t come to an event with untested equipment”. Here I am with about half of my bike being new. I was tempting fate. No, I don’t think tempting is a strong enough word. I was perhaps, sticking it in fate’s face.
The 11 mile loop group ride was fun. It was a nice little ride to shake off some nerves and ride alongside other bikers. I saw the hill for the first time and was a little psyched out the first time up. It later became easier.
Race Day
I had a leisure bike prep. Pumped the bikes tires up and topped off the water bottles. Soon I was at the starting gate awaiting the start. The race began and I was in stealth mode. I didn’t want to carry my light and battery so I leached on to others with lights. The first lap was pretty dark. As the morning sky was starting to lighten, I began hearing something coming from my back wheel. I stopped to find the Gorilla tape that I used to cover the stem opening on my disc had come loose and was not going to stay. We parted ways on the track and I was off to catch up with Hardy and Connie. I caught with them before we left the track. Shortly after leaving the track I heard a piece of metal bounce away from me. I reluctantly stopped, to learn a screw and washer that was securing my foam headrest had come loose and was lost on the concrete drive. My headrest was no longer supporting my head, goody! This was not the smoothest of starts, though I persevered. I began making up places as riders needed to drop there morning coffee. Riders were off in the weeds. Not me, I was using a cath. I’ll keep this brief, 2 thumbs up for the cath.
20 miles into the ride I noticed my Elemnt swaying from the handlebars more and more. I thought it had to do with the oversized bushing I made to adapt the large bracket to narrow handlebars. It turned out the bushing was fine. It was the screw that came loose and it was swinging from my bars. I grabbed it just before it dropped to the ground. I stuffed it under my jersey and thought that was unfortunate. No Cadence, HR, Speed, directions… and anything else it could have told me.
Luckily I had a backup speedo that was able to tell me my speed. On the way out I wanted to be around 20mph. That was not too hard with the tail wind and groups of riders to draft. When I was about half way around the lake the leaders passed me going the other direction. It was neat to see the tight group of fast riders wiz by. I continued on to the turnaround without anything falling off or breaking. I took a couple minutes rest at the turn to choke down some endurolytes and swap water bottles around. While I was at the turn, Bob and Tanya dropped off there chips and they were gone. I probably should have been more focused like they were. I took off passing anyone that was in front of me. I even noticed a couple of recumbents that I slowly caught up with. It was Bob and Tanya. We rode together for a while around the 60 mile mark. I don’t know if they noticed this, while I was just ahead of them I thought I heard something dragging on the ground. I began swiveling my head around looking for the source of the sound. I then realized I’m not going straight down the road. I looked forward at the edge of the road leading to the grass. I quickly leaned and pulled the bars as I felt the tires slipping on the sandy grass. As I braced for impact, my tire found some pavement and the next thing I knew I was back in the center of the road. Hallelujah, Thank you Lord. That was way too close. I believe the source of the sound was my foam headrest was flopped to the side and sound was reflecting off of it. That white padding is not a turn signal. It should be vertical behind my neck and head.
At the rest stop near mile 72 I planned to see Lisa, exchange water bottles and tell her about the headrest and prepare to do some triage when we get back to the track. My wife earned her support role position when I stopped. She told me that she picked up some tape to repair the headrest. I was shocked. She is amazing. She is attentive and proactive. She said she saw it come loose at the track, and then took action. We taped the foam padding in place. Even though it took a few minutes, fixing that paid dividends in the next segment of the course. It was 15 miles of wide open winds in your face. I spent all of my time with my head against the rest chasing the next rider ahead of me. This is when I felt the most benefits of the long hours spent on the trainer. I continuously charged against the wind without breaking. The last leg from Lordia to the track was spent 100 feet behind a Bacchetta. I strangely couldn’t catch him nor could he lose me for the next 10 miles.
I finished the 101 miles with a personal best of 5:20. I was thrilled. I took just a minute to pat myself on the back. Got some water and some food and off I went to the 11 loop. It was pretty uneventful till my sixth lap. Climbing the hill in the heat made me feel funny at the top. I rode back to the pits and took a long rest. I ate, drank and elevated my legs. I also changed my shorts and jersey. I’m a salty sweater. I had hoped it would give me a fresh feeling getting out of my crusty clothes. I was revived and was able to complete 2 more laps before the track was open. I was so looking forward to the track because it was flat and fairly smooth.
I made a few laps before darkness arrived. I stopped to add my light, battery and long sleeve shirt. The 12 hour ride ended and I had logged just over 200 miles. I was wearing down slowly but I continued on. As I left the pits I attracted a couple of DF cling-ons. They followed me for many laps. I didn’t like riding with them very much. I felt like I was being used with no benefit. My mental attitude was waning a little. Paul commented about my lack of rear tail light. I may have been snippy in my response. Sorry Paul. I will try to be more conscience of my responses to friendly riders.
After riding on the track in the dark, I became more fatigued. Mentally I became detached from the big picture and goal of the ride. Bob was willing to coach me and get my body back on track from the food that I was eating. He gave me a hammer cocktail and some almond flour biscuits. I think it was too little too late. I had derailed. 251 miles in 15:24 was where I stopped. On a ride like this I went to low energy levels that are hard to simulate on the trainer. I had hoped there would be some connection that would propel me farther and keep me in the game longer. I watched others continue while enduring all sorts of hardship. I just lost that connection, that fire in my belly. I had lost my ‘why?’.
The following morning when my mental acuity returned, I thought about how I could have played it differently. One angle I missed was my competition. At the time I quit I was close to my class rival. That may have sparked a fire. The other approach I could have had was to take a nap and start riding again with a couple hours rest. I left a lot of time on the clock. Another item that may have given me an escape from the fatigue was my music. I didn’t even listen to anything that could have boosted my mental state. I may have become known by my singing. Roxxxannne.. you don’t have to turn out…..
High points- 5:20 and 200 in 12. Bike performance was great.
Low points – food intake while riding. Tuna salad sandwiches. I asked for another sandwich, Lisa replied that we may need another loaf of bread. I had not realized I had eaten that much bread. Not very Keto.
June of last year I decided that I would attend Sebring in February. I had changed my diet and lost 20 lbs. My body had become trim. I just needed to refine my muscles and heart to an even better condition. I have never been part of a structured training program to prepare for a ride. I thought I should become a part of the 4F (farther, faster, fitter, fun). In the thread of the same name, it defined some of the necessary equipment needed to be in this training group. I began with a heart monitor and rode my bike outside as fast as possible while keeping my heart rate low. A month later l purchased a Wahoo Kickr trainer and became an active member of the team. Starting out I rode 4 days a week. A month later the program ramped up a little and went to 5 days a week.
This same time I was considering changes to my bike. I have a Quest 559. I had ridden the bike with the seat reclined at 35 degrees. Most people asked if it was uncomfortable to keep my head up while riding. I knew if I was to ride any distance, I would need some sort of head rest as seen on the S and V models. I had some other ideas to make the Q go faster, farther. In the months while training, I made a fiberglass seat, a headrest, faux disc wheels, and changed to an 11 speed system among other items. All items detailed in a thread on this site.
The last 6 weeks, coach Ratz turned up the heat and created a specific training program for Sebring riders. This program trained 6 days a week. Some days were quite hard. Training began to take on a life of its own and was a little overwhelming at times. The week prior to the ride was the “taper” week. I expected this week to be a nice and easy rest prior to the ride. It was just the opposite. Late in the week Ratz shared the plan and my progress and it made more sense. I realized the week before I was loaded in the slingshot and each hard workout I had pulled me back farther in the sling. Thanks Ratz. I feel I was as ready as I could have been with 3 months training.
Sebring
My wife, Lisa, and I escaped the winter storm that Ratz documented in his travels, as we drove our million mile (286k) minivan from central Indiana. We arrived in Sebring on Friday late morning. On our way to the track we stopped off at Frostproof and drove the 100 mile loop from the turnaround back to the track. It was a good test for using my “new” Wahoo Elemnt’s turn by turn navigation.
After lunch our room was ready and others in the tribe began showing up in the parking lot. It was neat to meet people that I have corresponded with through this forum. My bike was unpacked and ready to go on the 11 mile loop at 4pm with the rest of the tribe. Riding my bike in the parking lot was a good way to knock the dust off my handling skills. I had not ridden outside for 4 months. I had many items with 0 miles on them yet to be road tested. Others often comment, “Don’t come to an event with untested equipment”. Here I am with about half of my bike being new. I was tempting fate. No, I don’t think tempting is a strong enough word. I was perhaps, sticking it in fate’s face.
The 11 mile loop group ride was fun. It was a nice little ride to shake off some nerves and ride alongside other bikers. I saw the hill for the first time and was a little psyched out the first time up. It later became easier.
Race Day
I had a leisure bike prep. Pumped the bikes tires up and topped off the water bottles. Soon I was at the starting gate awaiting the start. The race began and I was in stealth mode. I didn’t want to carry my light and battery so I leached on to others with lights. The first lap was pretty dark. As the morning sky was starting to lighten, I began hearing something coming from my back wheel. I stopped to find the Gorilla tape that I used to cover the stem opening on my disc had come loose and was not going to stay. We parted ways on the track and I was off to catch up with Hardy and Connie. I caught with them before we left the track. Shortly after leaving the track I heard a piece of metal bounce away from me. I reluctantly stopped, to learn a screw and washer that was securing my foam headrest had come loose and was lost on the concrete drive. My headrest was no longer supporting my head, goody! This was not the smoothest of starts, though I persevered. I began making up places as riders needed to drop there morning coffee. Riders were off in the weeds. Not me, I was using a cath. I’ll keep this brief, 2 thumbs up for the cath.
20 miles into the ride I noticed my Elemnt swaying from the handlebars more and more. I thought it had to do with the oversized bushing I made to adapt the large bracket to narrow handlebars. It turned out the bushing was fine. It was the screw that came loose and it was swinging from my bars. I grabbed it just before it dropped to the ground. I stuffed it under my jersey and thought that was unfortunate. No Cadence, HR, Speed, directions… and anything else it could have told me.
Luckily I had a backup speedo that was able to tell me my speed. On the way out I wanted to be around 20mph. That was not too hard with the tail wind and groups of riders to draft. When I was about half way around the lake the leaders passed me going the other direction. It was neat to see the tight group of fast riders wiz by. I continued on to the turnaround without anything falling off or breaking. I took a couple minutes rest at the turn to choke down some endurolytes and swap water bottles around. While I was at the turn, Bob and Tanya dropped off there chips and they were gone. I probably should have been more focused like they were. I took off passing anyone that was in front of me. I even noticed a couple of recumbents that I slowly caught up with. It was Bob and Tanya. We rode together for a while around the 60 mile mark. I don’t know if they noticed this, while I was just ahead of them I thought I heard something dragging on the ground. I began swiveling my head around looking for the source of the sound. I then realized I’m not going straight down the road. I looked forward at the edge of the road leading to the grass. I quickly leaned and pulled the bars as I felt the tires slipping on the sandy grass. As I braced for impact, my tire found some pavement and the next thing I knew I was back in the center of the road. Hallelujah, Thank you Lord. That was way too close. I believe the source of the sound was my foam headrest was flopped to the side and sound was reflecting off of it. That white padding is not a turn signal. It should be vertical behind my neck and head.
At the rest stop near mile 72 I planned to see Lisa, exchange water bottles and tell her about the headrest and prepare to do some triage when we get back to the track. My wife earned her support role position when I stopped. She told me that she picked up some tape to repair the headrest. I was shocked. She is amazing. She is attentive and proactive. She said she saw it come loose at the track, and then took action. We taped the foam padding in place. Even though it took a few minutes, fixing that paid dividends in the next segment of the course. It was 15 miles of wide open winds in your face. I spent all of my time with my head against the rest chasing the next rider ahead of me. This is when I felt the most benefits of the long hours spent on the trainer. I continuously charged against the wind without breaking. The last leg from Lordia to the track was spent 100 feet behind a Bacchetta. I strangely couldn’t catch him nor could he lose me for the next 10 miles.
I finished the 101 miles with a personal best of 5:20. I was thrilled. I took just a minute to pat myself on the back. Got some water and some food and off I went to the 11 loop. It was pretty uneventful till my sixth lap. Climbing the hill in the heat made me feel funny at the top. I rode back to the pits and took a long rest. I ate, drank and elevated my legs. I also changed my shorts and jersey. I’m a salty sweater. I had hoped it would give me a fresh feeling getting out of my crusty clothes. I was revived and was able to complete 2 more laps before the track was open. I was so looking forward to the track because it was flat and fairly smooth.
I made a few laps before darkness arrived. I stopped to add my light, battery and long sleeve shirt. The 12 hour ride ended and I had logged just over 200 miles. I was wearing down slowly but I continued on. As I left the pits I attracted a couple of DF cling-ons. They followed me for many laps. I didn’t like riding with them very much. I felt like I was being used with no benefit. My mental attitude was waning a little. Paul commented about my lack of rear tail light. I may have been snippy in my response. Sorry Paul. I will try to be more conscience of my responses to friendly riders.
After riding on the track in the dark, I became more fatigued. Mentally I became detached from the big picture and goal of the ride. Bob was willing to coach me and get my body back on track from the food that I was eating. He gave me a hammer cocktail and some almond flour biscuits. I think it was too little too late. I had derailed. 251 miles in 15:24 was where I stopped. On a ride like this I went to low energy levels that are hard to simulate on the trainer. I had hoped there would be some connection that would propel me farther and keep me in the game longer. I watched others continue while enduring all sorts of hardship. I just lost that connection, that fire in my belly. I had lost my ‘why?’.
The following morning when my mental acuity returned, I thought about how I could have played it differently. One angle I missed was my competition. At the time I quit I was close to my class rival. That may have sparked a fire. The other approach I could have had was to take a nap and start riding again with a couple hours rest. I left a lot of time on the clock. Another item that may have given me an escape from the fatigue was my music. I didn’t even listen to anything that could have boosted my mental state. I may have become known by my singing. Roxxxannne.. you don’t have to turn out…..
High points- 5:20 and 200 in 12. Bike performance was great.
Low points – food intake while riding. Tuna salad sandwiches. I asked for another sandwich, Lisa replied that we may need another loaf of bread. I had not realized I had eaten that much bread. Not very Keto.
