Forty-Eight
Saturday was a day of ups and downs - in more ways than one. The 300K started at Shute Park a little past 7 am. The rain wasn't too bad at first, but it got worse before it got better.
I finally found a way to keep my feet dry: Bob Beckman's "Hot Foots" over my old neoprene booties over a pair of Seal Skinz socks over my shoes. How's that for layering?
I didn't spend much time off the bike. I bought a 64 oz. bottle of gatorade at the first checkpoint (~72 miles). At Pacific City I stopped and ate a mini pizza on the sidewalk (~91 miles) and got more Gatorade. Then I stopped for a while to wolf down a bag of potato chips and Reeses Pieces, and fill up on Powerade at a mini-mart in Amity (~141 miles) a few miles before the third checkpoint. Other than that and a few quick stops to piss, I was riding the whole time.
I handled the climbs pretty well. I rode with the second pack of riders until we started the first big climb on Hwy 6. Then I broke away and eventually caught another rider. I was on my own until we got close to Tillamook, and then a group of three riders caught me and we rode together, picking up a few more along the way, until we reached the Three Capes Scenic Loop. From there, three of us pick up the pace and dropped the rest of the pack. When we reached the next big climb I held my position between one guy who was a little faster and one who was slower. After the decent I was on my own until someone caught up to me near Hwy 18. With the wind behind our backs and a slight downhill, we were going about 20 mph for several miles. I was ready to ease up on the pace when we finally turned off onto a country road. From there we road together until the mini-mart at 141 miles, and then I rode alone to the finish.
I did made a few mistakes. First, I should have punched holes for my zip ties ABOVE the plastic zipper on my zip lock baggies instead of below it. Rain got in through the holes and the ink on my maps started to run. Second, I was fumbling with package of gel while I was riding. I lost a few packs when they fell out of my pocket somewhere along the way. The ones that I did manage to open and eat made a mess when I put the empty wrappers in my other pocket. Also, I think my seat might have been a little too high. At least it was tilted forward just a tad too much. I really noticed this when I tried to give my body a break by resting my forearms on the top of the bars, as if I were using aerobars.
The highlight of my ride came at the finish (8:39 PM) when I was talking with Susan France and I learned that she did RAAM in '91. We chatted for 10-15 minutes until the next riders showed up. That was neat!
I finally found a way to keep my feet dry: Bob Beckman's "Hot Foots" over my old neoprene booties over a pair of Seal Skinz socks over my shoes. How's that for layering?
I didn't spend much time off the bike. I bought a 64 oz. bottle of gatorade at the first checkpoint (~72 miles). At Pacific City I stopped and ate a mini pizza on the sidewalk (~91 miles) and got more Gatorade. Then I stopped for a while to wolf down a bag of potato chips and Reeses Pieces, and fill up on Powerade at a mini-mart in Amity (~141 miles) a few miles before the third checkpoint. Other than that and a few quick stops to piss, I was riding the whole time.
I handled the climbs pretty well. I rode with the second pack of riders until we started the first big climb on Hwy 6. Then I broke away and eventually caught another rider. I was on my own until we got close to Tillamook, and then a group of three riders caught me and we rode together, picking up a few more along the way, until we reached the Three Capes Scenic Loop. From there, three of us pick up the pace and dropped the rest of the pack. When we reached the next big climb I held my position between one guy who was a little faster and one who was slower. After the decent I was on my own until someone caught up to me near Hwy 18. With the wind behind our backs and a slight downhill, we were going about 20 mph for several miles. I was ready to ease up on the pace when we finally turned off onto a country road. From there we road together until the mini-mart at 141 miles, and then I rode alone to the finish.
I did made a few mistakes. First, I should have punched holes for my zip ties ABOVE the plastic zipper on my zip lock baggies instead of below it. Rain got in through the holes and the ink on my maps started to run. Second, I was fumbling with package of gel while I was riding. I lost a few packs when they fell out of my pocket somewhere along the way. The ones that I did manage to open and eat made a mess when I put the empty wrappers in my other pocket. Also, I think my seat might have been a little too high. At least it was tilted forward just a tad too much. I really noticed this when I tried to give my body a break by resting my forearms on the top of the bars, as if I were using aerobars.
The highlight of my ride came at the finish (8:39 PM) when I was talking with Susan France and I learned that she did RAAM in '91. We chatted for 10-15 minutes until the next riders showed up. That was neat!
posted by Sabertooth Salmon at 1:06 PM
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