Death March 2014

This years Death March. It was not the same plan as previous years, but I feel it went just as planned. Over the winter I had a few thoughts on partners for the Death March, but everything fell threw. At one point I conceded that maybe this year I would not race. I have yet to miss a Gravel Grovel or Death March, but I figured it would happen some day. I was at peace with it because I had not really been training hard this winter.

I had one person that I thought was on the fence about racing with me. I think I could have talked him in to it, but I didn't feel right doing that if he really was not interested. He did contact me about someone else who was looking for a partner. I was not sure how strong he was, but at this point I was happy to just be racing. I needed the miles. After some communications it was determined to just get the mandatory check points and anything else near by. This is very different from previous years, but it sounded like a good plan to me.

Typically I spend Friday night in a cabin, but since I was late in my planning, they were all booked up. I really didn't have anyone to share them with either so it really didn't matter. I spent Friday night trying to get my bike back in to order. I was not ready for a long gravel/dirt ride. It was set up as my winter bike with the long travel fork and the big tires. I had some troubles getting everything to work, but it was as good as it was going to get. I just hoped it would hold up for the long day.

Saturday morning came early and I was on the road way earlier than I would prefer. I did end up getting there quicker than I figured. This was a good thing, but it was much colder than I was expecting. I may have to reconsider my thoughts on gear. My partner found me and after a quick chat, we were ready to hit it. At the start line the drew the remaining two mandatory check points. They ended up being easy check points to pick up with out adding a lot of miles. This was a good thing for our plan.

Since I had been out of the loop, I let my partner make the plan. He had a map and a plan. This had to be the least amount of time I had looked at a map leading up to the race. I knew about where the check points were and what the plan was well enough to get by with out looking at a map much. As the horn blew, we headed to the closest check point along with just about everyone else. It was only a mile away and it was very crowded. We snapped the picture quickly and we were back on the road toward our second stop.

As we climbed up the road, I could tell my partner was not ready to climb at the pace I was moving. We were at the second stop soon enough. We were moving pretty good so far over all. I tried not to push the pace too hard, but I was actually feeling really good. I could hear my partner breathing pretty hard and we still had a long day ahead of us. I told him to just go his own pace. He didn't have to try and keep up with what I was doing. I was just happy to be out on the bike and it was all good. Once he understood that it we were good, I think he relaxed a little and started to ride better.

We decided to skip climbing the fire tower. The time bonus was not worth the effort or the amount of time it would probably take to climb it. There were a lot of people, so the traffic would have the climbing go even slower. Some of the roads were wet and soft. Plenty of mud spraying up on my face. I could not believe I didn't think about grabbing the SKS fender that I have for my down tube. That is just how out of it I was on my planning. I was happy with how the bike was rolling and I was happy with how the tires were hooking up.

The trip out Comb's road was a mess. I knew it would be soft and muddy. A lot of people were having trouble riding this section. I rode almost the whole section both ways. I climbed the hill both directions all but one section each way where the tire sunk in a little too much. I hopped back on and finished the climb. After the long trip out to Elkinsville, we made a change to our plan. We were going to take Story over and pick up a few more check points, but since none of them were needed and the original plan was to just get the required ones and call it a day, it was not hard to decided to take Comb's road back. I was glad we went this way when I saw the VW Van rolling down the road. I could not have been happier when they were kind enough to share a beer with me. That was the best beer of the day.

Up to this point we had really been making some good time. We were averaging 10 miles per hour. If we could keep this up, we would be back in plenty of time to eat. The trip out to our second last mandatory check point was not as smooth and our pace slowed down. My partner was out of water and starting to hurt. This is when I realized that I had not been drinking very much. I was feeling really good and still had about a bottle and a half left. This means I had not been drinking near enough. I knew that he needed my water more than I did, so I gave him my second bottle.

We were still rolling and only had a little bit to go, but we were slowing down. We made it to Fleetwood and only had one more to go. The section between Fleetwood and Hickory took longer than I thought it would and I know he was really starting to hurt at this point, but we were on the home stretch. I kept trying to keep the spirits up and us moving as quickly as we could. I was ready to get back and eat. The lack of food and water was starting to catch up. Soon enough we were at Hickory and headed down the road to food. There was a little more riding in this section than I remembered. There was a section of road that I completely forgot about. Maybe it was because every other time before when I was riding this section, I was completely shot. At one time I even thought I made a wrong turn. He wanted to check at map, but I said I knew where we were going or well I thought I did. Turns out I did know where I was going.

We crossed the bridge and was back at the Horse camp in short order. They were just getting ready to start serving food and the beer was not tapped just yet. I had never been back that early before. I have had several times where they were just about out of food. I could get used to this, well maybe with a few more check points. We ended up right at the planned 50 miles and 9 check points. It took us 5:54 to complete our route. This effort found us in 43 place in the men's division and 60th overall out of 151 teams. Not too bad at all. I will say that I was very happy with out well my partner held up. Early in the day I was not so sure. My plan was completed. I went for a nice long ride and had a lot of fun.

I can not deny I had some what if thoughts. I wish I could find a partner that is a little closer to my riding (some years faster, some years slower). I have had partners that were way faster than me and some that were slower. It is hard to figure out what fitness both riders are going to be in for this race. I know that this was by far the best I have ever felt for this ride. I am sure that the trip to Florida made a big difference. I am also not sure how I would have felt if we would have rode a lot harder all day. Maybe next year I can find myself in the same or better condition and just see how it turns out. Either way it will be all good!

Playing catch up

Once again time has passed by way to quickly. I hope I can get better at keeping this updated more often. I have not been training like I should be or more probably like my competition has been doing. Oh well, it is too late to change that. I can only move forward and try to improve every week and hope to end up some place when I need to be there.

I did try to do a power block to see if I could make up for some lost time. I joined a group of guys that go to Florida in the spring to get a lot of miles in the legs with some good weather. Boy was it some good weather. It was upper 70's to 80 almost everyday. There was not too much climbing, but there were some bridges to climb and a fair share of wind to keep it from being too easy. The riders did their share to make it impossible for it to be an easy trip.

We left on Wednesday after work. I didn't get a lot of sleep Tuesday night with a lot of tossing around. Part of it was stressing about the trip and some of it was trying to figure out what I was forgetting. Work was crazy as usual and before I knew it, time to get loaded up was there. It took a little bit to get everyone loaded and ready and we were on the road. And it was going to be a long road.

15 hours later, a few stops at a gas station and plenty of times the windows were rolled down. Morning traffic was crazy, but when the sun came up and we finally could see the water, it was a great feeling. We found the condo and were happy that the cleaning lady's were nice enough to let us in. We unloaded the cars, changed clothes and I think with in 30 min. we were rolling down the street.

I could not believe the views and the change in weather. I had to make sure and pay attention to where I was going or I would end up crashing in to someone. We were staying in Clearwater Beach. We headed out to Fort De Soto. It was a good trip out and I was feeling good. The bridges hurt to climb a lot more than I thought they would. On the way back I was really starting to feel it. The legs were very heavy. Ii was struggling to keep up with the pace. I was falling off the back and toward the end I had to ask them to back off the pace a little.

When we finally got back to the loop, the plan was to head north some and try to get in the planned 100 miles for the day. They tried to talk me in to going, but I was hurting and not happy that I was holding them back. I was almost talked in to going, but at the last minute decided that I had enough for the day and it would probably be best that I headed back to rest. We still had several more days of riding and 70 miles for the first day was not bad. After some harassment, they went their separate way's and me thinking I knew how to get back to the condo. Well, that's what I get for thinking. Well, around the first corner I hit a crack in the sidewalk and flatted the back tire. I thought I was only a block or two away and didn't really want to change the tire right then. Well, after walking around in circles for a few blocks and not seeing anything that I should, I finally found someone to ask where I needed to go. I was still several blocks away, but knew where I was going now. When I got back, I was wore out and hit the shower. I am sure that the lack of sleep the night before we left, the driving 9 of the 15 hours and not being able to sleep in the car did not help at all.

Friday morning we were up early and on the road before I knew it. I was hoping that the legs felt better than the day before. This ride we headed north first to try and miss out on the traffic. We headed north to Tarpon Springs. This it self was a good little ride. I did have a little shifting issues and my chain dropped behind my cassette. A little maintenance and I was back up and running. Once we hit Tarpon we turned around. This was going to give us a 55 mile ride to Fort De Soto straight in to a strong wind. Great, this should be fun. If I have the same issues as the day before, I will be way too far from the condo and will have some issues getting back.

Fortunately the legs held on for most of the day, but I did have a little knee pain and I did struggle a little out at the fort, but took in some food. I managed to keep with the group and when we rolled back in to town the other computers showed 110 miles. My computer decided to run out of battery at 75 miles in. I forgot that I had the back light set to stay on. I am sure this didn't help anything and I am not sure it was completely charged. I could not believe that my legs did me that good after how they felt the day before.

Saturday we woke up with a lot of fog and some light rain. It was warm enough that I felt I could still ride with shorts and a short sleeve jersey. We headed back out to the Fort. The road was very wet in spots and it was hard to see. The air was very moist and I was sweating more than the previous day. I was very happy with how the legs felt after two hard day's on the bike. The pace was a little peppy as we were getting to the Fort. I kept up, but it put a hurting on me. On the way back my knee was really hurting.When we stopped to eat, a suggestion was to head back out to Fort De Soto and we would have our 100 in for the day. My legs wanted to go along, but my knee was killing me and I knew it would be a very bad idea. As it turned out, there were only two riders that went back south. Everyone else headed north toward the condo.

This ride back was horrible. My legs had the power, but every pedal stroke hurt so bad. At one point it even crossed my mind to dump it and crash myself. I figured at least then I would have a good reason to call someone to pick me up. I had to ask them to back off the pace some as I just could not go that hard. I was not the only one hurting and soon enough I had some one else drop back to keep me company. I don't think I could have been happier to see the final bridge to town. I knew I was only a few blocks away from getting off the bike. We ended up being done earlier than the previous days and took advantage of that to rest up some and also take in some views at the beach. A few of us found a nice bar that had an open window to rest up at.

Sunday morning we woke up early. Four of us were brave enough to head back out on the bike. I was not sure how the knee was going to feel, but it was doing better than it was the previous day. I figured I would see how it went and if the pace picked up too high, I would just fall off the back and get my own ride in. I knew we were on a 2 hour time limit. The plan was to head south for and hour and turn around. We did see a huge group of riders heading north while we were still heading south.

The knee was not hurting and I could maintain the pace for the hour out. We turned around and headed back toward the condo. I think there was a little tail wind or something because we were flying. I know I saw 24-26 mph for a good part of it. As we got closer to the final bridge, I was beginning to think we were going to get back in 45 min. Well, that was before the legs started to give out. I think the several back to back rides were adding up. That an the fact that we were really cruising. My pace fell off some, but was still not slow. Up and over the bridge and we were back to the condo in 50 min. A quick shower, change and as quick as the trip started we were back in the car and heading home. I had a blast on this trip. Lots of laughs and good times, plenty of warm miles and good food. Even though I was the butt of a lot of the jokes, I am ready to go back next year. I just hope to be a little lighter and in better condition. Now, if someone could just figure out a time warp for the drive, it would be perfect. How can I complain about getting in 285 miles in 4 days riding in 75+ degree weather, in February.