Camp Lynda: Day 3

Today was 107 miles, 9500 ft of elevation gain, and 8 hours 55 minutes of ride time. We were actually out for 10 hours 20 minutes due to the stopping and chamois to ground contact. The roads were more rolling with a couple of 10-20 minute climbs. That elevation gain piles up over the miles I guess.

Well, riding 100 miles on a mountain bike is not nearly as bad as I was expecting. Thanks to Rick the man, I was well prepared for this training camp due to all the very long winter training weeks in December.

We lucked out with the weather today – no moisture and perfect temps. My only complaint was the wind. More on that later.

About 18 or so people showed up for the ride at 8 AM this morning. We started out on the pavement to get out of town

…and eventually funneled onto the dirt. The group split up pretty quickly, and I found myself riding with Dave C and Ed from SoCal, and in the later miles – Fred Wilkinson and St George local guy on a sweet gold bike.

Dave C

Fred NOMing on Fritos. He has a long list of finishes for the multi-day events including Great Divide Race(that was a 3 week race for him. DAMN!) and much more.

I knew that I was not riding at my best today. My legs were heavy and noticeably sore from the last 2 days of riding limiting my ability to push it. Not a big deal since I purposely rode in zone 2 and 3 for most of the ride. I am a little firecracker and I love to go super hard, so today was a lesson in self-discipline which I fortunately had in check. I knew that as long as I kept a positive attitude, then everything would be just fine.

Around hour 2.5, I was feeling all the efforts of the last 2 days in my legs and was struggling to keep up with the group. I do NOT have a GPS, which make self-navigated rides in the middle of the Utah/Arizona desert pretty difficult. My plan was to ride with someone who had a GPS. Dave and Ed both had one, so I stuck to them. We actually rode the first loop in reverse and man, those power transmission lines were buzzing loudly.

Here come the photos:

Entering the desert.

Hey guys! Wait up!

Deeerrrrrr

Pano from high point of ride (I think like 4500′)

Into the desert sky

We actually spent a lot of the day riding in Arizona

Dave C keeping us from getting lost.

I have learned this year (the hard way) to eat on long rides, so I was noshing every chance I had. I actually consumed a great deal of calories today. Here is what went down the hatch on the ride:

90 oz of water
50 oz of Cytomax
16 oz of Starbucks Energy Crack Drink
2 Rice Krispie treats (small)
1 Larabar
2 Mint Chocolate Gus
1 peanut butter sandwich
1/2 turkey jerky stick
a huge handful of Haribo bears
1 Payday
5 electrolyte capsules

I granted myself permission at the 7 hour mark to see what sort of Looney fury was stirring in my sore legs. I was able to push the pace and get my HR into zone 4. The Starbucks Crack Drink rocked my world. In fact, from hour 6 to hour 9, I felt better than I had all day on the bike. After about 20 min of thrashing on the pedals, 2 of the guys decided to head back to town. Sorry boys, I wasn’t trying to hammer you, but was trying to learn about my body for Leadville. Dave C and I continued on with the rest of the route. The wind was INSANE. Headwinds are not awesome, but we managed to power through it.

Dave and I rode in right as it turned dark.

My ride buddy! Dude, sweet Ergon grips!

I made lots of super cool new endurance friends over the past few days. It was GREAT to meet you all! Dave Harris has also given me a new nickname – Nitrous. I’ll take it! 🙂

I am psyched with the ride today, and although my legs were dead at the end from the 177 miles over the last 3 days, I finished still as chipper and excited as ever. Yahoo! Camp Lynda. A+. You BET I’ll be back next year!
Now where are those cookies…