Saturday, April 24, 2010

RAWROD TT

This is the only picture I took of my RAWROD TT on Friday.

It's a pic of Brad's new secret sauce. That's all I'm going to say about it. Other than I want some.

We had a good group of nine fast riders. Brad, Grizzly, Aaron, Brandon, Miles, Jesse, Keith & Carson.

This wasn't a social ride. It was a personal, self-supported, TT over 100 miles. (If you wonder why we do this, be sure to look at the video miles put together. It's one of the most scenic rides I've ever done). But being a self-supported ride meant I would have to carry a camelbak. I hate camelbaks. I made the mistake of putting all of my food in the pack (not my jersey pockets). which made it hard to eat what I wanted when I wanted. I also made the mistake of packing 4 chicken strips which I thought I would eat at the "lunch spot". There was no lunch spot. And at mile 90, that chicken would start to talk to me and mess with my head.

At mile 40, I started to cramp any time the trail kicked up. Half way up Murhpy's, I had to dismount several times to stretch out my legs. I knew it was from a lack of eating/drinking enough. At the top of the climb, I decided to take out several items from my pack (Gu, powerbar, and chews) and stuff them into the legs of my shorts for easy access. Once I did that, my legs were good and I was able to recover and push the pace again.

I finished in 8:15. 10 min behind Brad and about 30 seconds in front of Grizzly Adam. Which brings me back to the chicken strips. After climbing out of the rim and hitting the pavement back to the car (It can't be more than 10 miles of paved road). I was completely out of energy. So bad that I was actually riding a very fine line of passing out. I was talking to myself (and the demons in my head). All I had left was the chicken strips which sounded so good but would require me to stop and dig them out of my pack. I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that because Grizzly was chasing me and I knew he was within a few minutes. Sure enough, I looked back and could see him. He had gears and I didn't and being back on pavement, I knew he would close the gap and he did. But I managed to stay about 30 seconds ahead of him.

I rolled into the parking lot, flipped down the tailgate and ate that glorious chicken and the protein shake I stashed in the cooler. I carried that chicken 100 miles through the desert and thought about it many times during the day. I almost named it like it was a pet.

Later that night at the camp, the brats tasted twice as good with the ride done and nothing left to do but hang out.

8 comments:

South County Ciclista said...

You were flying. I pushed it hard to Murphys thinking I may be able to see you all ahead of me from the top. No luck. I was too slow.

Jonnie J said...

Nice work Ricky. Sorry I wasn't down there with you. That's one of my all time favorite rides.

Anonymous said...

Nice write up and good job on the ride.

FYI, I found another brand (not camelback) for big days. It holds 3L plus room for lots of stuff. But the nice feature is the two mesh pockets with elastic bands on the sides. I can stuff both full of gus/gels and I can reach both pockets while riding. I normally stuff one pocket and use the other side as a garbage bag. Don't remember the brand name, though. May be worth getting something like that if you do lots of big rides.

mtb w

evilbanks said...

Good write up man-------and nice work finishing with such a quick time.

Having my rawrod cherry popped (as it were) on Saturday is an event I'll never forget and one that I'll come back to year after year.

PS---thanks for the wipes, didn't need em' but God knows they were like a security blanket for the 100 mile trek across the desert.

Flyin' Ute said...

Bro. I missed riding with all the "fast guys" on Saturday. I wish you would just stick to the saturday ride and then ride it fast.
It was good seeing everyone who was still there at the campfire. One of my favorite rides of the year.

Grizzly Adam said...

I was running from you most of the day. Then you caught me on Shafers, and I had to chase you the rest of the way. Painful.

Derron Tanner said...

Sounds like it was one hell of a race and I heard the weather was fantastic--quite a change from last year. Super pissed I missed out. I'll be there next year.

Anonymous said...

i am right with you on hate carrying a camelback, so much so that i have now bought enough smaller bike packs that i can carry most stuff for an all day ride in them. the extra water is still a challenge.