|   Better late than never : World Solo Championship Report | Carter Taylor
Sep 19, 2003 1:59 PM | | Sep-15-03, 11:29 AM
i I originally posted this on the Passion board Sept 15. I had forgotten completely about this part of MTB'R site, so I figured better late than never. Along with a few re-edits here it is.
i A couple of comments also. I tend to focus on myself so much during a race, basically trying to monitor and control the system. I am like an airplane pilot who is watching the instrument panel and very rarely looks out the window. I know this being the 8th 24 hour solo effort in the last two years that I had done, this one was tough. After reading the other posts, it is refreshing to know that other people suffer just as bad as I had, but had a great experience anyway. Thanks to all you fellow competitors for the nice encouragement through out the race. It was great rehashing old relationships and making new ones also. Again, thanks to all. Cya at the next one.
Ok, time to write of my experiences 10 days ago at the 24 hrs of Adrenalin World Solo Championships held at Whistler BC., now that my energy levels are starting to come back up. I am about 80% of normal I would guess right now. Also, I tend to write like I ride; I just stubbornly plod on, so bear with me.
I have been training specifically for this race from the day after finishing the 24 hr race at McDowell Park, April 5 & 6 in Phoenix. I did not want to set the bar too low, so my goal was a top 10 finish in the Elite class.
I thought I was as prepared physically and mentally by the middle of August as I could have been, considering where I live and in the conditions I live in. I live 100' below sea level and in the desert, which meant lots of miles driving to escape extremely high temperatures and to get training in the hills.
On Thursday, 10 days before the race, I remember my body starting to ache and my head and sinuses begin to suffer from dryness with bouts of vertigo. I thought with 10 days to go and plenty of rest that I would be OK. I always believe that if you lie to yourself often enough, you will eventually believe it. So I kept telling myself that I was OK. Since I was tapering and not doing any sustained intensity, I never really noticed anything real bad while on the bike.
Cut to Thursday in San Diego checking in at Alaska Airlines: When I race solo I always carry 3 batteries. These batteries I have flown internationally and domestically a few times and never had a problem. Except coming home from Silver Star last year, we packed them in the luggage and forgot to declare them to the check in person. They looked awful strange to the baggage people x-raying the luggage and caused quite a stir for awhile. Anyway the check-in person in San Diego over-reacted, even after seeing they were a dry cell battery. They continued to treat them like a wet cell battery, which is a hazardous material, dry is not. After much time and negotiating, they were packed in a separate wet cell box and sent on their way.
All bikes, luggage and batteries did make it to Vancouver on time. We made the trip up to Whistler OK, even though my wife was no longer talking to me. That came from a silent argument we had at a Canadian Super Store. I can barely stand still long enough at a normal store than to have to hang around one of those monstrosities while my wife slowly searches for what she needs.
Pre-ride: Build both my bikes the next morning after setting up my pit. My mechanic and I headed down the hill and within 60 seconds were lost. They said many of the locals were taking down the markers for souvenirs, so the trail was not marked very well. Luckily, some other riders that knew the course came along, so we jumped in with them. I rode the whole course in my middle chain ring. The course had a ton of climbing. The down-hills were either steep or technical so there were not many places to recover for a flatlander like me. Sinuses and bouts of vertigo still bothered me while sitting around the hotel that afternoon and evening. A couple of hours after pre-running my calves ached, which is abnormal for me.
Strategy: I usually tend to go out hard after the run, hold the pace as long as I can, then just try and survive. I usually have a race plan for how many laps per block of hours, along with a nutritional plan for how many calories per hour to eat and when. Any pre-run strategy changed very quickly after riding the course, it became a very basic "stay upright and don't stop".
Race:
Lemans start: I was told the run would only be 400 meters. As I am rapidly converting the distance to feet in my head, I think that would have to be pretty easy. That's not long enough of a run to get in any trouble, even for me, a guy who can't run. I even considered crowding to the front for a 30 second kamikaze run, just to get my picture up there in the front with Chris and Tinker. The mass of people pushing to the front quickly dispelled any thought of doing that. At the start, I had my typical run, the pack surges and slowly gains speed while I try to hang on. To no avail though, I slowly fall backwards into and beyond the mass. I especially suffered when they made us run up and down a steep hill. I am sure glad chicken man was not there as last year at Silver Star, or I would have been spanked by the big guy in the chicken suit again.
Bike:
Lap 1: I am finally relieved when I reach my bike, now the race officially begins. The frontrunners are long gone and I am mired somewhere in mid pack, at least that is what I want to believe. Everybody is trying to use the wider sections prior to the single track to move up. I quickly pass many people only to lose 20 of the spots after floundering through a rock section and going over the handle bars and having to wait for a gap to get going again. Now I have already screwed up my race strategy by not staying upright. Covered in dirt, both knees sore from landing in the rocks, I quickly come to the conclusion that I had better get my stuff together, start riding and controlling my bike before I hurt myself or do something stupid. Things did get a bit better after this, but I had no snap in my legs that 1st loop. At the time it did not concern me because I usually go through many cycles during a 24 hr race. I think, if my cycle is starting at the bottom, all the better because I supposedly will only get stronger for the remainder of the race. I did go over the handlebars one more time in the special solo section, but I am not sure why, screwed up on a root or something.
Lap 2: I change out of the dirt covered clothes between laps and actually feel much better. It is so embarrassing to ride into the pits covered in dirt and blood. I did notice my skin was beet red while changing jerseys, again I thought, this is strange. Riders are spread out so now I can carry speed and ride all the sections. Again my climbing is terrible and there is no power in my legs. Half way around the loop my legs start to cramp. This causes immediate concern because now I know something is very wrong, because I very rarely ever cramp, maybe a couple times a year. I rapidly change my goals from a top 10 to just finishing the race. I kept telling myself," I am not going to let cramps knock me out of this race."
Lap 3 till sometime in the late evening: I am hurting so bad from the cramps. My stomach is messed up so I cannot eat or drink. I even cramped in my ankles and I have no idea what muscle group exists there. I offset the cramps by changing gearing, cadence and by not stopping. There is a section I started walking early in the race just to stretch my legs and stave off the cramps. I am still riding everything else but at no pace. I humor myself by keeping track of how many times I am being lapped by the top guys.
Sometime in the late evening till sometime prior to the sun coming up: It is finally cooling off quite a bit and I suddenly feel much better. I am trying to eat but my stomach is still rebelling. I have no power to push the lesser grades, but am now passing quite a few people on the steep sections. Again I am not stopping. I realize my only shot at doing anything is to stay on the bike. I tell anybody who will listen, "how much I love the night" and I actually am having a good time. I still am running the transition with a smile, trying to please all the volunteers with my attitude and endurance.
Sometime prior to the sun till 6:30 AM: Whatever fun I was having, gone now. The lack of nutrition finally has caught up with me. I shoot for 500- 700 calories an hour while racing, but for this race I was only getting 250-300, I just could not eat. I take my first break at 6:30 AM to analyze my situation and see what I have to do. My crew says I have moved up through the night into 25th place and have time to do 4 more laps. "Yea, right."
Sometime after 6:30AM till end of race: I decide I am only going to do 2 more laps, so I need to stretch the laps out. As the temperatures heat up, the cramps return. I finish lap 13 and instantly head out wanting to get finished with the race, but with no food and just a tiny bit of water. That was one of the stupidest thing I have ever done. Somewhere between checkpoint 1 and 2, I bonked so bad. My body finally shut down and it scared me. Scared me not because I thought I was in any health danger, I knew somebody would find me if I passed out. It scared me because I might not officially finish after suffering so much and being so close. I was going so slow, looking for food, bottles that contained water or anything edible on the ground. Problem was I had already passed all the rough sections where that stuff was everywhere. I finally made myself get on the bike and started pedaling, and pedaled more, and even pedaled more counting the time I thought it would take to get to checkpoint 2. Finally after 15 minutes of mental torture, I roll into checkpoint 2. They had Hydrade, a new performance drink sponsor this year, which I needed. After filling up my pack and eating most of their chocolate covered peanut balls that they happened to have for snacks, I now knew I would finish. I complete my 14th lap at 11:03, well behind the 22 laps Chris and Tinker did, in officially 25th place.
Lessons learned during race, not in any specific order: A 20 man corporate team and being the last man to go would be an ideal situation for my next race. Use a wet rag to cool off HID light if it does not want to restart. Do not run the transition when in the throes of cramping. Do not start a new lap, especially towards the end of a race without food or fluids. Be careful how much alcohol content those paper moist wipes contain after sitting on a bike for over 18 hrs (You'll have to figure this one out for yourself).
Lessons forgotten since the race: I seemed to have forgotten everything I learned because I just entered Idyllwild at the end of September as a solo racer.
i Obligatory picture 1 hr after the race with IV. Brent Chapman will understand. Brent, Sandra also said she missed your cook. |
| Mc Dowell Park | Carter Taylor
Oct 30, 2003 3:36 PM | | Carter Taylor-- Apr-09-03, 08:48 AM
"24 Hrs @ McDowell Race Report"
Left Brawley Friday morning with my wife (nutritionist and medical duties), Wayne (director sportif) and Dave (1st timer in the solo division) and headed to Phoenix Az for the McDowell race.
We arrived and preran the course, it was the same as last year. You were either going up or down. If there was flat section, there was usually a headwind. Also more than enough rocks to go around.
Game plan: I was concerned about my early season form at Tucson a month ago, particularly my strength. I could not hold as fast of a pace there that I thought I should of been able to. My plan for this race was to break the race into four six hour blocks. The first block I would do six laps, the second I would do five, the third I would ride a very conservative four laps and eat alot to recover or save some energy for a kick in the last block.
The Race: Early in the race I found that there wasn't any way I was going to stay close to the leaders on lap times. I had to make sure I stayed with my game plan and hopefully caught some of them sleeping.
I knew I was giving up three to four minutes a lap if not more to Alex on his rigid singlespeed and there wasn't anything I could do about it. (Alex broke three chains during the race by the way and got sick during the night)
First Block: six laps in 5:54, felt comfortable but had to control my emotion. I kept wanting to go harder, but alas, better since won out and I stook to my game plan.
Second block: my 11th lap in 11:53, I love this portion of the night, I call it the magic hour. Also it is an equalizer. Had some lighting problems but my crew handled it fine.
Third Block: four more laps by 5:33 AM, there must of been three hours that I never saw another solo rider. My Director Sportif even told me that I was solo leader for about three minutes in the wee hours of the morning while the real solo leader had to repair a tire, then he blew by me like I was standind still. I was told he kept an eye on me as I left. These three minutes have to be the highlite of my whole cycling career. So my game plan seemed to be working, I had caught many of them sleeping I assumed.
In the back of my mind I knew that as soon as some of the big guys woke up and started clicking off fifty minute loops, they could take a loop back every two and a half loops. It was a motivator on the course for me, doing the arithmatic in my head while riding. One thing I forgot to mention, I do not want to know where I'm at in a race till mid morning. Because if I think I'm doing well and feel good, but I find out I'm not doing to good results wise, I can lose motivation instantly.
Fourth Block: took the only break between 5:33 till about 6:45. I set in a chair naked in front of mister heater taking a sponge bath and eating regular food. I do not think I offended anybody except my wife, I believe nobody saw me.
Before the start of my 18th lap, my director sportif told me I was in fourth and the guy in third had just left. I started my lap and caught the guy fairly quickly at the start, it looked like he was struggling a bit. Upon passing him, a rush of adrenaline took over and I just hammered that lap to put more time on him. At this point I'm thinking I might have my first podium. On my 19th lap a friend told me that the director sportif had miscaculated and I was actually in fifth. They were worried that it my bother me or cause depression or something I guess. At that point I did not care about results anymore anyway, my purpose was to get the 19th and 20th lap in, I was racing strictly for myself at this point.
Finished the 20th lap at 12:30 officially in 5th. Probably my best race ever, even better than my 4rth last September at Idyllwild.
Yea there were times I struggled. There were times I hurt so bad from the rough beating taken in the rocks. There were times I thought I might throw up during the third block. There were times I wanted to go faster but couldn't make my legs go. But what made it so sucessfull then? it was not giving up, working all the way to the end, doing the extra lap even though I didn't have to.
I also would like to thank all the other racers, volunteers and spectators, you were all awesome. I really appreciate the consideration from the other riders out there and your encouragement.
My racing season is over till the World's in August. Solo events take alot out of this 42 year old body so I plan to back off some, but I could be available for a team event if anybody needs a rider.
cya all,
Carter |
| |
