What do you do when plans don't go your way?
There was a play I watched in lower school- I don't remember the plot, but I remember watching this family that was faced with challenge after challenge. Each time they encountered an impasse, like a flood blocking their path, they tried to find a way around, over, under or through the block. They got stuck 4 times and managed to successfully avoid failure to reach their happy ending. What does this have to do with cycling?...
Local races = cancelled
Nationals = cancelled
Riding with friends = cancelled
Graduation trip to Star Wars World = cancelled (Disney, if you are reading this, please send me Galaxy's Edge blue milk!)
No one predicted this virus, or the timeline to rebound, and as a result we planned 2020 as full steam ahead in 2019. After my performance at Sebring 2020, and subsequent rehabilitation, I was chomping to go after the 12 hour national championship at the end of May. With uncertainty in the air, and race cancellation wavering, we proceeded with training in full swing. To capitalize on this time, I partnered with Dave Starr from Eat Drink Win to maximize my nutrition both on and off the bike (I'll go into more detail about my experience with EDW in another post). With training and nutrition plans in place, we were building our way to a strong performance to keep the Stars and Stripes on my shoulders for the national title. But, when the 12 hour national race was cancelled, I was faced with a question, what do you do with your fitness when you have prepared so diligently?
The endurance races I participate in are sanctioned by the World UltraCycling Association (WUCA) - a leading international organization dedicated to ultra cycling. WUCA holds cycling records extending from timed to distance and state records across the world. One such record is the crossing of Maryland state.
Given the close proximity to the start line, I figured securing the cross state record would be a fun, alternative, challenge that would test my limits and my race execution. The plan was relatively simple, I had to give WUCA 21 days advance notice, and would plan to start at 6am with an estimated end at 12pm. WUCA provides the start and finish points, but the route between the two points can be made by the racer. Additional strategy in course planning can provide a competitive advantage in the field. Instead of selecting the general "shortest" distance route, I used Google Maps as a visual aid to detail the roads in an attempt to find a more optimal way of racing. While I wasn't able to see the route in person, a satellite overview was sufficient to get an understanding of where there would be stop signs and stop lights/ other areas of congestions. As a result I tried to select roads that would have minimal interruptions to allow for a faster attempt despite the added distance.
The Gear
Why change what works?
I selected the BMC TM01 with the HED disc and Enve 5.6 front for the attempt. Girodana FRC Doppio suit for the kit with NoPinz & Aerocoach overshoes for aero benefits. There's something special about a freshly waxed chain by Wend Wax. When fresh, pedaling feels effortless and easy. It has become a ritual to wax the bike chain the night before, capping off preparation for the next day.
The Nutrition
The weeks leading up the attempt were dual training sessions- one for my stomach and one for my legs. We pushed my limit to see how much I could realistically drink on the bike to maximize carbohydrate intake. Skratch Labs sent me their Superfuel last year to demo, and thought it was a game changer. I was excited to further test Superfuel with Dave and incorporate the nutrition into my regimen. Adding anything new into my race diet takes time- getting the stomach acclimated to the mix and testing how it effects your performance. Dave had me test various concentrations of the mix and to consume in various temperatures and timeframes. But, more on that in a later post.
After testing multiple setups, we settled on drinking a bottle of Skratch Labs Superfuel every forty minutes to maintain 110 carbs per hour and 800ml fluid per hour. EDW conducted sweat tests and created a matrix that detailed how much fluid was needed at a given work rate per humidity and temperature. This matrix was analyzed and crafted over weeks of testing, which also showed how my drink mix plans impacted my performance.
With race officials on notice, route planned and nutrition dialed, we just needed to wait to be called to the state line.
The Ride
"Tropical Storms may be a good thing."
My parents tell me that I shouldn't worry about the things that are out of my control. But, I couldn't help and check the weather on an hourly basis leading up to my attempt. There was a tropical storm coming through the area - it looked like I had found a unicorn with regard to the wind. If I left very early, about a 4am start, there was a possibility I could race and finish before the storm blew through. Why would I do this? The wind. Gusts and strong, very strong tail winds around 25 mph were forecasted with rain starting around 10am. My alternative was to race in the rain or into a headwind.
48 hours before my scheduled attempt, the forecast changed again with the storm moving in much faster. Now, rain all day, or rather a deluge starting at 3am. No amount of wind would make riding in that storm safe for my attempt. As a result, I made the "go" call at 9pm to race the following day, 24 hours before my scheduled attempt. This is permissible under the WUCA guidelines which states you have 24 hours before and after your attempt date to take into account weather/ extenuating circumstances. My unicorn turned into a donkey as I was faced with a headwind for my race.
As mentioned in previous posts, I don't review my Whoop data prior to big days to avoid any mental psyching. Fortunately I did not check today as my Whoop score was not optimal. Conversations with Kristen Holmes, VP of Performance at Whoop, reassured me that a "lower" recovery score doesn't mean you aren't able to perform. Rather, the trend of low recovery scores is more of a concern than an individual score. However, given the almost spontaneous nature of this attempt it isn't too surprising that my sleep was low (early start and pre-race excitement) and subsequent decreased HRV.
On July 9th at 6:20 AM, I stood at the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland, clipped in, and started to pedal. No warm up today, I figured the first 10 minutes or so were interrupted with traffic lights and would provide a warm up. All week I had been feeling anxious and was probably over critical of my legs. However, today was one of those days where you think your power meter is off. In fact, I thought my Garmin computer was off as my speed and power were higher than expected. Not wanting to stop to recalibrate or check, I pressed on.
Riding on new roads also played to my benefit. Focusing on the roads instead of the computer helped the time pass quickly. More importantly however was the fog. It was very humid and the fog presented many issues. First, I couldn't see. My TT helmet has two interchangeable visors and neither was suitable for the humidity level. The condensation that filled my view made riding very hard. Despite the aero penalty, I rode with the visor on top of my helmet, keeping my eyes focused on the road. Aero doesn't mean anything if you can't see and crash. After 70 miles I was drenched. At 100% humidity, my sweat was not evaporating and my kit became saturated. The unfortunate result was chaffing- and a lot of it. At this rate I knew that the next 70 miles were going to be a challenge from my head down to my legs.
Learning new skills is exciting, but learning out of immediate necessity is not as stress free as I would like. Today's new skill involved applying chamois cream while riding my bike- it's not easy, nor have I ever practiced or attempted this feat- especially on a TT bike. Successful application was a victory in of itself.
If it is out of your control than don't worry about it- right? Well, curiosity often gets the better of me and I try to think of ways to improve the situation. For example, I couldn't control the humidity, but what if I could influence the sweat evaporation or find another way to prevent chaffing, or find a way to see? My thoughts raced as my legs pedaled and fog turned into sun. In case you were wondering, I never thought of a solution. The solution came to me as the fog burned off and I pedaled out of the dense scene. So, I guess you could say the solution was to pedal faster to reach the sun and escape the fog...
My pacing plan and nutrition were almost spot on. The wind picked up, as expected, which really started to bite at the end. The final 7 miles felt like forever as fatigue set in, the wind rubbing salt into the wound, and the road surface not offering any comfort. I was dehydrated, spent and over exerted myself as I fought the headwind. The road condition didn't grant me any favors either with the constant bumps making it nearly impossible for me to remain in the TT position and generate power. Mentally I was fixated on the distance, counting down the miles. However, seeing the state sign for Virginia took away all discomfort and provided fuel to push.
Unlike any other race, there was no crowd, no cheering, no podium- just a question, " You passed the state line, is that it? Are you done?". I pulled into a parking lot and my crew wanted to confirm what else was needed or if we were done. Yes, I was done! Physically and logistically, I had crossed the state line, besting the previous record by 2 hours and 5 minutes to a new record of five hours and thirty minutes.
While my attempt was successful, and has since been ratified by WUCA, I gained valuable experience and took away the a lot of key learnings. The 2 most critical points:
Water! Bring more water. The sweat testing we did was good, but it was a starting point. Variation in the humidity and effort impacted my sweat rate and I needed more water. I didn't plan on the change and didn't make additional water bottles for my race. Had I mixed more bottles, I would have consumed more.
Dual routing. There were times where my bike computer froze, and one instance where I beat a train crossing that held up my crew. The worst issue was having a street name changed. Having a second navigation device to mark where I am relative to my crew, and the route, ensures easy monitoring and prevents misdirection.
In the end, I set a new record- you can't be upset about that. Power was decent, although under what I had planned from my 2019 time trials. Speed was fast given the headwind conditions, and the nutrition and pacing plans were almost perfect. There is no test for race planning or execution like racing, and this was an excellent way to experiment to see the results of our hard work.
Shortly thereafter I learned that 12 hour nationals would be rescheduled to August. With recovery in mind, I was excited about this performance and looking forward to applying the experience to the next race opportunity.