Video I shot when I stopped at around Mile 24 of my 40 mile ride.
This is the Mullica River, across the rever is Sweetwater, NJ.
The day was absolutely beautiful, but hot and slightly humid.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Tour of the Pig (or should I call it Ridding from the Devil)
With the Tour de Cure approaching very quickly and only rides of 20 miles in, I knew I had to get a 30 mile ride in at least for mental reasons. As a former cyclist I know that once you get 30 miles in everything else becomes easier especially of riding with other riders as the draft will help you to the finish. So with the heat and humidity of the say at noon, I took off for my what I thought would be 30 mile ride. I was not prepared to say the least. Breakfast had been a bagel with peanut butter and an apple at 8:30, I had a banana before starting, and took two more with me for the ride. I grabbed some gels, but decided against it (bad idea). Hydration would come from two bottles of Gatorade (90% Gatorade, 10% water). I had adjusted my seat post up and right away I knew this knew fit was good. The legs felt very strong and my stroke felt fluid. the ride starts off with a slight hill up to Rt 9 then descends, I ad the wind at my back and the pace was steady at around 17mph. Then I realized, OH Crap I will have the wind and a climb to deal with for the last couple of miles. Could be trouble! But I was enjoying the ride, I got to listen to SteveRunner talk about his new puppy Indy, and it made for an enjoyable first couple of miles. Once I got through New Gretna and got onto 542, I knew this was uncharted territory, but I was excited. I immediately dropped into Tour de France mode. I was now an unknown domestique out on a lone breakaway. Once on 542 the road turns rural and winds it way through some great countryside. As I approached the Bridge, I knew this was now or never. I seized the moment kept the tempo up and rode. I knew I would be OK, but I am now through 3/4 of one bottle and one banana and its only about 8 miles. this is not good. As I rode along the Mullica River across from SweetWater I knew Batsto was just up the road. The road winds it way on the outskirts of Wharton State Park (where sightings of the Jersey Devil have been reported) I knew I had to try and outride the Devil, LOL. I almost called this ride the "Riding from the Devil".
Batsto Village is a 1700's era village where you can visit and see how "pig iron" was mined and processed from the river back during pre Revolutionary Days. Batsto holds a great 5k in August, and I have plans to run it this year. Thus the reason for todays ride. I thought Batsto was about 15 miles from home, turns out its almost 17.5 miles, so I decided to add another 3 on further till the turnaround. The next 3 miles were beautiful, but horrid. the road is pot holed and crappy. I felt like I was in Paris Roubaix with all the jostling. Hoping that I would not crap a wheel with all the ruts. Add to the fact the road narrows and there is no shoulder to speak of and road traffic was getting heavy. Once I got to 20 miles I quickly made the turn around. Once again I dealt with the crappy road. Once I got back to Batsto, I finished up the first water bottle and started on the second. I have to ration this one accordingly and I still have 17 miles to go. As I approach the scenic view around Sweetwater again, I kill the last banana, and take a break. I call in a update to the Extra Mile podcast. I also shoot a little 30 second video of the beautiful river front. I spend about 3 minutes are so and I am off again.
The next remaining miles would go very quickly even though my pace was a bit slower, I now had wind to contend with. The heat is also starting to make a difference, but I know I am almost home. I hammer as I approach the Bridge, make the hard right turn and I am now in the single digits till the ride finishes. Once I get into New Gretna, I can feel a renewed strength but I am starting to get feel the early onset of hydration. I decide to kill the rest of the bottle at 4.5 miles to go, so I at least have something for the last 5k. As I get to 5K, I now picture mentally the finish. The road starts to climb and I know I have about a mile of a slow climb. As I make the right on to Mathistown, I know I am home free, I crest the climb recover on the very short decline and start the little last incline. I jump out of the saddle power up this small hill and let out a resounding scream knowing the last 1.5 miles will be a rolling down. I slow it down and try to spin it into the end.
When it was all said and done, it was a 40.30 mile ride with a moving time of 2:27:12 at a pace of 16.4mph. My heart rate was 157. The wind speed on the way out was 13 mph coming in from the East, so I had my work cut out for me on the return portion.
Here is what my speed looked like for the ride
I now know that next weeks 62 mile ride should be know problem, as long as I address my hydration and nutrition needs, but given that the Tour de Cure will have aid stations to refill up my bottles and tummy, I am not too worried. As long as its not very windy or real crappy weather I think my goal of riding it under 4 hours and 15 minutes should not be a problem. I think I have to make one more adjustment to my bar stem, to raise it slightly and it should help to further fix my fit issues, as well as allow me to use my Scott Clip on aero bars.
I can assure you my ride report for next week will be interesting. LOL
Batsto Village is a 1700's era village where you can visit and see how "pig iron" was mined and processed from the river back during pre Revolutionary Days. Batsto holds a great 5k in August, and I have plans to run it this year. Thus the reason for todays ride. I thought Batsto was about 15 miles from home, turns out its almost 17.5 miles, so I decided to add another 3 on further till the turnaround. The next 3 miles were beautiful, but horrid. the road is pot holed and crappy. I felt like I was in Paris Roubaix with all the jostling. Hoping that I would not crap a wheel with all the ruts. Add to the fact the road narrows and there is no shoulder to speak of and road traffic was getting heavy. Once I got to 20 miles I quickly made the turn around. Once again I dealt with the crappy road. Once I got back to Batsto, I finished up the first water bottle and started on the second. I have to ration this one accordingly and I still have 17 miles to go. As I approach the scenic view around Sweetwater again, I kill the last banana, and take a break. I call in a update to the Extra Mile podcast. I also shoot a little 30 second video of the beautiful river front. I spend about 3 minutes are so and I am off again.
The next remaining miles would go very quickly even though my pace was a bit slower, I now had wind to contend with. The heat is also starting to make a difference, but I know I am almost home. I hammer as I approach the Bridge, make the hard right turn and I am now in the single digits till the ride finishes. Once I get into New Gretna, I can feel a renewed strength but I am starting to get feel the early onset of hydration. I decide to kill the rest of the bottle at 4.5 miles to go, so I at least have something for the last 5k. As I get to 5K, I now picture mentally the finish. The road starts to climb and I know I have about a mile of a slow climb. As I make the right on to Mathistown, I know I am home free, I crest the climb recover on the very short decline and start the little last incline. I jump out of the saddle power up this small hill and let out a resounding scream knowing the last 1.5 miles will be a rolling down. I slow it down and try to spin it into the end.
When it was all said and done, it was a 40.30 mile ride with a moving time of 2:27:12 at a pace of 16.4mph. My heart rate was 157. The wind speed on the way out was 13 mph coming in from the East, so I had my work cut out for me on the return portion.
Here is what my speed looked like for the ride
I now know that next weeks 62 mile ride should be know problem, as long as I address my hydration and nutrition needs, but given that the Tour de Cure will have aid stations to refill up my bottles and tummy, I am not too worried. As long as its not very windy or real crappy weather I think my goal of riding it under 4 hours and 15 minutes should not be a problem. I think I have to make one more adjustment to my bar stem, to raise it slightly and it should help to further fix my fit issues, as well as allow me to use my Scott Clip on aero bars.
I can assure you my ride report for next week will be interesting. LOL
Spring Lake 5
When Memorial Day weekend rolls around that means that its the Spring Lake 5 Mile. This Saturday before Memorial Day tradition in Spring Lake (aka The Irish Riviera) is a Jersey Shore tradition that marks the start of the Summer racing season at the shore. This race is old, and it is fast, it is also one big party event. This race usually sells out in two weeks when it opens for entries in February, as whole families, and I mean whole families (or clans if you like) sign up for it. So come race day, it's just you, Mary Grace, Mary Katherine, Mary Alice, Patrick, Joseph and a whole horde of those who roots hail from the Emerald Isle, the ancient Celts would have been proud. On race day, its about 8000 runners, walkers, and partiers lining up. if you want a PR on this fast flat course, be within 10-15 feet of the start otherwise you will be weaving.
Last year me and the wife walked this, my wife was nervous, but she soon relaxed as she saw that most were here for the good times. This year she walked it with her friend, she was looking to "PR" over her time from last year. My goal when I signed up was to go sub 45 minute with a "stretch" goal of sub 40. Going sub 40 was very distant for me, as my conditioning just wasn't there, but sub 45 was. I discarded that plan when the Dr sent me in for surgery. Usually this can just destroy me mentally, but I made the best of it and decided that sub 50 would be just as worthwhile.
On race day we got there in time to pick up our packets, I pinned the numbers and the chips on the lady and walked back to the car, which was about a kilometer away from the start. I get to the car, get my singlet on, my chip on, get the Garmin ready and start to panic. everyone is moving very quickly to the start. I start a slow run, to the start, which by the way great way to warm up. Panic is a great way to loosen muscles. As I approach the start, they are telling everyone to hurry up, I see the "elites" doing there striders. Uh OH, this is not going to be good. I told the girls I would meet up with them for the start. As I weave my way through the crowd on the grass next to the street, the girls find me. They are relaxed, I am not.
After a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, the gun goes off, we make our way to the start. as we get within 30 ft of the start my wife sends me off. I start the Garmin as I go across the timing mat and hit the wall.
NO, not that "wall", it was a wall of people walking, walking like they had all day! I start the weave, finding my spots like a North Jersey driver on the Garden State Parkway on a Summer weekend. As soon as a opening was created by some one moving, I slipped into it. After all Nature does abhor a vacuum. I also realize, it is hot, I am now drenched in sweat and its just over a 1/3 of a mile. Good Grief! Settle in and start looking for some more space to move into. At mile 1 I see that gun time is 13:xx its a full 3 minutes plus more then my Garmin time, I also notice my Garmin is off by about a 1/10 of a mile. This can't be right??? But oh yes it is, remember my weaving through the crowd, it added almost a tenth of a mile to my run. Not much, but it adds up.
The humidity was pretty annoying, and I was being stupid and not taking water, this could be dumb, but I am passing people and that feels good. At mile 1.5 I see Larry the Lighthouse up a little, I surge up to him, say hello and get the hell out of there. No way some guy wearing a lighthouse costume is going to beat me!! I love ya Larry but no way. I try and settle in and try to keep the pace for a sub 50. I just hope the heat doesn't catch up to me first. By the time I reached mile 4, I knew I was there, but I was now trying to keep my heart rate in check, it was climbing higher then I wanted, so I actually slowed my pace and hoped it wouldn't hurt my time.
Now I don't want to hear anyone bitching to me about this, but yes I wore my iPod, but we were given explicit instructions we had to remove them within 200 yards of finish or face DQ. So I was conscience of distance once I went through mile 4. Once I got to within a quarter mile of finish, I took the headphones off, checked the time ( I was close) and prepared for a kick if I had to. As I got within 200 yards, instinct took over, kick got started and I kicked it in. It felt good, it felt real good to go fast. Per the Garmin, during the kick my heart rate got up to 202; this is not cool. That is very high! got through finish and I watched my HR drop quickly, always a good sign I feel. Grabbed some water, a Gatorade, a couple of bananas, and a bagel and started the walk back to mile 4 to find the girls. I would walk the end of the race with them, which was probably a smart way to cool down the legs. At about 3.75 miles I find them, they are having fun, apparently throwing water at each other at the stops. My wife figures she is close to beating her time from last year so they start to get serious. Once they are within a quarter mile they decide to actually try and jog it in, and they do!
Turns out that based on chip time, she did 1:26:21 (17:17 pace). I had a net time of 49:47 (9:58 pace). I was happy very happy, my legs felt OK, a little sore, but OK.
Here are the splits:
Lap(#) Time(m:s) Distance(mi ) M Spd(mph) Avg HR(bpm) MAX HR (Cal)
1 10:15 1.00 7.6 168 174 168
2 9:48 1.00 7.8 179 184 169
3 9:56 1.00 8.3 184 187 169
4 9:44 1.00 8.5 187 189 168
5 9:31 1.00 7.8 192 198 167
6 0:29 0.7 9.8 199 202 10
As you can see the "extra" lap was because I actually ran extra distance in the first mile.
Plan is to run this next year and make a "honest"attempt at sub 38 minutes. I think it can be done, but I better line myself up front with all the greyhounds!
Last year me and the wife walked this, my wife was nervous, but she soon relaxed as she saw that most were here for the good times. This year she walked it with her friend, she was looking to "PR" over her time from last year. My goal when I signed up was to go sub 45 minute with a "stretch" goal of sub 40. Going sub 40 was very distant for me, as my conditioning just wasn't there, but sub 45 was. I discarded that plan when the Dr sent me in for surgery. Usually this can just destroy me mentally, but I made the best of it and decided that sub 50 would be just as worthwhile.
On race day we got there in time to pick up our packets, I pinned the numbers and the chips on the lady and walked back to the car, which was about a kilometer away from the start. I get to the car, get my singlet on, my chip on, get the Garmin ready and start to panic. everyone is moving very quickly to the start. I start a slow run, to the start, which by the way great way to warm up. Panic is a great way to loosen muscles. As I approach the start, they are telling everyone to hurry up, I see the "elites" doing there striders. Uh OH, this is not going to be good. I told the girls I would meet up with them for the start. As I weave my way through the crowd on the grass next to the street, the girls find me. They are relaxed, I am not.
After a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, the gun goes off, we make our way to the start. as we get within 30 ft of the start my wife sends me off. I start the Garmin as I go across the timing mat and hit the wall.
NO, not that "wall", it was a wall of people walking, walking like they had all day! I start the weave, finding my spots like a North Jersey driver on the Garden State Parkway on a Summer weekend. As soon as a opening was created by some one moving, I slipped into it. After all Nature does abhor a vacuum. I also realize, it is hot, I am now drenched in sweat and its just over a 1/3 of a mile. Good Grief! Settle in and start looking for some more space to move into. At mile 1 I see that gun time is 13:xx its a full 3 minutes plus more then my Garmin time, I also notice my Garmin is off by about a 1/10 of a mile. This can't be right??? But oh yes it is, remember my weaving through the crowd, it added almost a tenth of a mile to my run. Not much, but it adds up.
The humidity was pretty annoying, and I was being stupid and not taking water, this could be dumb, but I am passing people and that feels good. At mile 1.5 I see Larry the Lighthouse up a little, I surge up to him, say hello and get the hell out of there. No way some guy wearing a lighthouse costume is going to beat me!! I love ya Larry but no way. I try and settle in and try to keep the pace for a sub 50. I just hope the heat doesn't catch up to me first. By the time I reached mile 4, I knew I was there, but I was now trying to keep my heart rate in check, it was climbing higher then I wanted, so I actually slowed my pace and hoped it wouldn't hurt my time.
Now I don't want to hear anyone bitching to me about this, but yes I wore my iPod, but we were given explicit instructions we had to remove them within 200 yards of finish or face DQ. So I was conscience of distance once I went through mile 4. Once I got to within a quarter mile of finish, I took the headphones off, checked the time ( I was close) and prepared for a kick if I had to. As I got within 200 yards, instinct took over, kick got started and I kicked it in. It felt good, it felt real good to go fast. Per the Garmin, during the kick my heart rate got up to 202; this is not cool. That is very high! got through finish and I watched my HR drop quickly, always a good sign I feel. Grabbed some water, a Gatorade, a couple of bananas, and a bagel and started the walk back to mile 4 to find the girls. I would walk the end of the race with them, which was probably a smart way to cool down the legs. At about 3.75 miles I find them, they are having fun, apparently throwing water at each other at the stops. My wife figures she is close to beating her time from last year so they start to get serious. Once they are within a quarter mile they decide to actually try and jog it in, and they do!
Turns out that based on chip time, she did 1:26:21 (17:17 pace). I had a net time of 49:47 (9:58 pace). I was happy very happy, my legs felt OK, a little sore, but OK.
Here are the splits:
Lap(#) Time(m:s) Distance(mi ) M Spd(mph) Avg HR(bpm) MAX HR (Cal)
1 10:15 1.00 7.6 168 174 168
2 9:48 1.00 7.8 179 184 169
3 9:56 1.00 8.3 184 187 169
4 9:44 1.00 8.5 187 189 168
5 9:31 1.00 7.8 192 198 167
6 0:29 0.7 9.8 199 202 10
As you can see the "extra" lap was because I actually ran extra distance in the first mile.
Plan is to run this next year and make a "honest"attempt at sub 38 minutes. I think it can be done, but I better line myself up front with all the greyhounds!
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