Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Trans Iowa thoughts

Once again I am in the Trans Iowa funk. This time of year work gets CRAZY busy and I have to stay focused as TI is on the brain! This is the time where I am doing my last minute brainstorming and trying to decide what to bring, etc. Obviously weather has a lot to do with it. Being my four TI I have learned that having nice weather is kind of like winning the lottery. VERY unlikely to say the least!

Here the plan of action of what I am bringing along:

1. Two 24 ounce bottles on the bike. One water, one GuO2.
2. 25-50 ounces in the CamelBack Mule depending on heat of the day and distance between towns.
3. About 8-10 Carbboom Gels (One about every 3 hours)
4. About 8 or so Sport Beans with Caffiene (One about every 3 hours)
5. About 5-6 Clif Block packages. (One about every 3 hours)
6. About 4 to 5 Cliff Bars. (One about every 4 hours)
7. Four to five 8 ounce Boost drinks. (One every 50 miles)
8. At gas stations I will eat pork tenderlions, brats, pizza, I would love to eat a 1/3 lb burger at a Hardees! Small bags of peanuts and maybe a Snickers or two. Definitely a Snickers ice cream bar!
8.5 All food will go in Mule and this frame bag.
9. Elete Water put in my GuO2.
10. Two spare tubes and a patch kit
11. About 20 Hammer Endurolytes.
12. Arm and Leg warmers
13. Cannondale water/windproof socks
14. Two chemical warmers
15. Grey Tape
16. Tire lever
17. Pump
18. Chain splitter
19. Map of Iowa or maybe the copies of these maps for the route that I think TI will take.
20. Rain coat and pants.
21. Cell phone and camera
22. Cue sheet holder.
23. Helmet light and bar mount light.

As you can see, I love to eat!

Plans of action for the day:
1. Be realistic and not over confident. This means ride at a reasonable pace that will get me as far as possible.
2. I plan on riding with a group of at least 4-5 people. This includes Steve Fuller, Jim McGuire, Gary Cale, Dwight Beavers and hopefully Ron Saul. It would be would be great to have a few others.
3. Depending on the conditions of the day I want to get to the first check point at mile 40 feeling as if I have barely even started. I am doing to do my best to start reasonably. One thing I have learned is not to go out hard unless you don't have a choice (Version 2!!!!!)
4. I am not going to care where the other riders are. My number one goal is to last as long as possible!
5.Eat and have fun.
6. Make sure that I am not pulling all the time. I need to do a better job of drafting.
7. Have fun.
8. Don't charge the hills.
9. Coast.
10. Ride in 25 miles chunks. Do NOT focus on the distance. Ride 25 miles and then do it again. If I am riding 25 miles in 2.5 hours during the toughest sections I am doing great! Keep at it.
11. Don't get selfish.
12. Get to the 2nd check point and leave ASAP. Never stay in one place for long. Stay on the bike (thus the food!).
13. Listen to music at night.
14. Never, ever give up. Rest for a few minutes if I want to quit and force myself to get back on the bike.
15. Have fun. If I am suffering at times it will be better down the road.
16. Encourage my friends.
17. Call people on the phone. Free minutes baby!
18. The goal is to finish so I never have to do it again!

Okay, so there are some thoughts. If you have any advice let me know.

Paul

Sunday, April 19, 2009

My guess to Trans Iowa V.5



What's been going on?

Sorry for anyone that reads this. I haven't been posting again, but here are some updates:

Since my last post Matt Maxwell, Nick Wethington and I completed a century ride in some windy conditions. Over all I was bonking a bit at the end, but that is mainly because I rode this pretty darn hard trying to keep up with these freaks of nature! This was a few weeks ago. Then, last weekend I completed a metric century on a Friday night finishing around 11 at night and then got up and rode at 6:30 and completed a full century. For the past month I have been riding about 25 miles four to five days week. I am really feeling good about Trans Iowa and the Dirty Kanza. I feel more prepared than the last couple of years so we shall see. We now have less than two weeks to go until TI so it should be interesting. I can't wait!

Happy training.