2013 Fall Tour de St. George - Part II

THAT'S ODD

...After the quick break, I found my new acquaintance, and we were ready to go. 'I didn't get your name,' I said, as we pulled out of the stop and back on to the road. As I said this all I could think was, 'Watch it be Gary. No, it's not Gary. Don't be Gary. Okay, BE GARY!'

'It's Gary,' he replied.

'What!? Gary?'

'Yeah, Gary.'

I couldn't help but laugh. You see, when I was riding in my first event I road for a bit with a guy named Gary who was just as pleasant as this guy, and right about the same age. Apparently, I have a thing for riding with guys named Gary, and I didn't even know it.

Putting the odds of something like that aside, Gary and I were back in the saddle and were getting to know each other. Turns out Gary was from British Columbia, and had a winter home in St. George. As I served my mission in BC, we had a good chat while taking in a few flat miles. When the road started rising Gary was kind enough to let me ride on, but I knew the real hills were still ahead of us, so I didn't get too far in front. I was also good enough to stop with Gary at the next stop so he could refill his bottles. (At this point, I thought it better to ride with someone to help pace myself rather than push too hard too soon and burnout too early in the ride.)

THE CLIMBS

We were about 30 miles in and had two smaller climbs under our belt. Up next would be a quick, short climb of over 300 feet in a two mile span on Red Hills Parkway on the north side of St. George that would then drop down to Bluff Street. Once on Bluff, we would head north for 16 miles to Veyo. This would be the longest climb of the day with ~1,600 feet of climbing over the first 10 miles, with the road turning fairly flat with a little downhill the rest of the way to Veyo. I had climbed steeper sections than these before, but this would still be a challenge for me due to the length of consistent climbing that would be required. (It seems most of my local riding are shorter climbs ranging up to ~5 or 6 miles in length.)

Gary and I stayed together through the climb on Red Hills Parkway, but once onto Bluff Street and headed to Veyo it wasn't long before I had dropped him. (I really enjoyed riding with Gary and all, but it comes to a point when climbing that you don't dare go any slower, or faster for that matter, as you know you will burn out. Had I slowed it would have felt just as painful climbing and it would have only taken longer.) Midway up the climb there was a water cooler for people to refill at, so I did wait for Gary there. But once we were climbing again, it didn't take long before I pulled away.

There wasn't too much passing on this stretch of road. I am happy to report the only passing I encountered was me passing others, as I was not passed until I stopped at the SAG station in Veyo.

THE BACK NINE (OR 30)

Gary got in to the SAG station just a couple minutes later and spoke very highly of my climbing skills. (Don't worry, I know I am a novice, and most people I ride with are better climbers and riders overall than I am.) It was while refilling our bottles the lead peloton of riders doing the full century passed us. It was actually pretty stunning to watch a good group of riders speed by the SAG station just after a good climb and see the group of guys pushing each other to go faster. Gary was quick to refill and run, stating he wanted to get a head start on me and that I would be catching him shortly. I filled topped off the bottles and was on my way.

The next section was mostly flat or somewhat downhill. The only thing I didn't like about the course was the one steep section of road ended with a sharp turn, taking away any chance for me to use that momentum for a quick breather off the pedals. Instead, it was here that I found myself starting to hurt. The funny thing was my legs were in pretty good shape. Besides a quick twitch of my right quad threatening to cramp up when I was trying to attack the peak of the climb toward Veyo, I had no indication of tiredness or exhaustion. Instead, what I found was that my stomach wanted to rip itself out of my body and be thrown under the wheels of the previously mentioned peloton to get back at me for possible neglect.

I hadn't eaten much of a breakfast, and I am still working out what does and doesn't work on longer rides, so I guess this is just part of the learning experience. That said, I do not like it.

All I remember over the first 15 miles of the back 30 was 2 things: 1) Stomach pains are as bad or worse than legs pains when trying to ride; and 2) from the looks of the elevation map before the ride, there was more flat or slight incline riding that what I hoped for. Also, I did not catch Gary until passing him at the last SAG station around mile 65.

This time, however, I didn't stop. I couldn't. My stomach had started to wear me down, and all I wanted to do was finish. My stomach hurt, and my butt was quickly becoming tired of being on such a small seat. It longed for a soft couch or recliner on which it could share the load amongst all parts equally, instead of only one small mid section.

Miles 65-73 are some of the worst road I have ridden. I remembered this section of road from the Spring Tour, and was more than ready for it to be over. As tired as I was, I found myself counting down the last 12 miles to the ride. Each time a would hit a mile marker I would say aloud, "10...9...8!" It was here Gary would pass, yell something negative as he passed for motivational purposes (unfortunately, that does not work on me), and I would see him ride a little ways in front. My legs were getting tired, but I still kept a good pace. Finally, I could see the last hill before the school. I was up it and through the finish line.

(The one time I stopped to take a picture, not the most scenic.)

FINISHING UP

Gary was there to congratulate me (the family arrived less than two minutes after I rode through the finish line), and I was happy to be done. The route was a great route (outside of the 8 miles towards the end), and SpinGeeks had done a great job putting on the event. I ended up 14th of the 95 that finished the 75 (actually 80) mile course, which is about where I had hoped. Gary finished 4 minutes ahead of me in 12th. Part of me thinks I should have not stopped as many times with him as I did so I could have beaten him. Then I realize the good he did probably outweighed the 4 minutes. Besides, I wasn't in it to win it.

(Pic taken from the Spring Tour de St. George. As I paid like $7 for it, it better get posted!)

2013 Fall Tour de St. George - Part I

Alright, it's been almost two months since the ride, long past when I want to have these things posted. So here goes.

Leading up to the event, I went back and forth as to whether I would do the 80 mile course, or man up and attack the 100 mile ride. The 100 mile course was the same as the 80 mile ride, with two appendages early on that added the extra 20 miles. Herein was the problem, the extra mileage was early in the ride, and well before the two real climbs in the 80 mile course. Not to mention, the extra 20 miles had its own chunk of climbing that I would have to deal with. Long story short, once a buddy backed out of the race that was pushing me to do the 100 miles, and I knew I had the El Tour de Tucson coming the next month, I figured I would take it a step at a time, and be content with the 80 miles for St. George.

That said, I did hope that I would have a decent showing for only doing the 80 mile route. Of the over 500 participants that signed up for the event, about half signed up to do the century, and ~100 were signed up to ride the 80. Now, I know that these events are not 'races', and there wouldn't be much to brag about me opting out of the century ride to put in the measly 80 miles, but I did hope to place at least in the top 25% or so of those doing my ride. Again, this is knowing that the fast riders were actually being real men and going the further distance, but it's good to have goals, something to push you, right? I figured that as I finished in about 6th place ('about' because that is what I recall when the results were posted, but the results link on the website do not currently work) for the 30 mile ride in the Spring Tour de St. George with ~100 riders earlier in the year, this should be a good goal. (I am operating under the assumption that faster, more experienced riders usually go further distances, and I was not much more experienced. Nor was I an any better shape. So moving slightly down the curve would seem appropriate.)

THE START OF THE RIDE

As I figured, the ride started out chilly. What I didn't plan for, was me being a few minutes behind schedule in getting to the race, and starting a few minutes behind the lead group. My loving wife, supportive kids and myself didn't get to the school in St. George where the race was starting until 5 minutes before the start. This didn't leave much time for me to actually get dressed, go over the bike, eat something (oh yeah, not the best idea to only have a granola bar for a breakfast beforehand), and get to the starting line along with everyone else. I did what I could, but still was a little uneasy as I realized I was the last person out of the parking lot.

Luckily, I was able to catch the last of the crowd before they were getting through the starting line. That said, I wasn't too late, but I was still much later than I needed to be as I hoped to see how fast the lead group would take off on the outset of a century ride. But nope, I would just be playing catch up to those going at my pace. At least this way I got to pass a few people that understood things like 'pacing yourself' or 'hey guy whose never done this distance with this much climbing, don't be a fool'. Yup, I passed all of those folks.

(Just after the start, and still cold.)

After a few miles of winding through a few subdivisions of homes, and a quick stop to double check that my back tire wasn't flat (just glad it was nerves that had me over thinking that it might be, and that it actually wasn't), I was on the open road and starting to relax. About a mile or so before the 80/100 course split was finally decided that I really should just do 80 (I'm the guy that says 'Yeah, I told myself to be content with 80, and that is what I told my wife so she knew when to come pick me up, but if I'm feeling good maybe I'll just do the 100.'), and was happy to make the turn. At this point the slow incline pushed up a bit more for a short hill. It wasn't too far along that I passed an older rider, and noticed he was quick to latch on my tail for the rest of the ride up. To be honest, I was kind of flattered that someone would actually think it would be better for them to get behind me rather than go around me.

On the downhill side the guy passed and said 'I should probably take a turn out front' at which point I was happy to let him lead, and take a minute or two in his draft. During this quick interchange I was sure to notice two things (1) he had to be in his 50's or so and was thus a bit older than I was, and (2) looked like he did this much more than I did. (Of course, I think anyone with a road bike that is wearing a kit that is going over 10 mph rides more than I do. And if they are going under 10 mph, they probably still ride more than I do, they are just taking a break for whatever reason.) Based on his speed and his apparent age I was sure to take back the lead after a couple minutes. Before we knew it, we had a few more guys on our line and had a good speed leading up to the first rest spot. 'I'm gonna stop a get something to eat,' the older gentleman yelled 'you can keep on if you want.' 'That's okay, I need to stop as well,' I replied. My late arrival to the event afforded me no time to use the restroom and I knew there was no need to carry the extra water weight any further.

TO BE CONTINUED...