by Dan Connelly

Without a hint yet of the coming dawn, the lead police car led the main pack out of the Vallecito Elementary School parking lot, and we were off. The pack was considerably smaller than the 300 rider limit, but given the 10:30 pm finish deadline and the desire to minimize time spent on Marshal-Petaluma road after sunset, a large number of riders had already left. This is a sanctioned option, with riders allowed to check out at any time from 4 am to 6 am, but those starting at 5 am have the advantage police control through the traffic signals early on, not to mention the draft advantage of the pack.

Soon enough we were on Lucas Valley Road, the first climb of the day. In 2005 I’d done this ride without a light, figuring I’d simply utilize the illumination of proximate riders. But that had been an uncomfortable experiment, one which led me to go out too hard on the opening climb as I put too much value staying with the lead group and the lights of the follow vehicle. This year I’d borrowed a friend’s NiteRider Newt dual-light system. The difference was amazing: I was able to ride my own pace on that climb. This still put me in sight of the leaders at the top, but only 5 miles into a nominal 200 mile ride, my goal was only to avoid a debt which would require high interest payments in the second half.

My Garmin 500 display wasn’t visible (in retrospect I should have hit the “light” button; I wasn’t thinking so well), so probably still rode a bit harder than I should have. But not too bad: I could still talk easily enough, a good indicator of being no worse than the low end of Z4.

I found some riders with which to share the pace over the southbound bumps of Nicasio Valley Road, the easy backside of Whites Grade, and then down into Fairfax. By now the day had reluctantly arrived through the low clouds: the first phase of the ride was done.

Usually Bolinas Road: the first climb to Pine Mountain, the rolling descent to the dam, and the climb to Ridgecrest seems like an endless grind. Today, it passed quickly, as I knew there was so much more yet to follow. Along the way, I stopped at the Pine Mountain rest stop, the first of the day, to pack my light into a paper bag for delivery back to the start. Then I hopped on to some passing riders and continued on.

Overcast clouds turned to fog as we hit Ridgecrest, the tree cover condensing the mist into a surprisingly steady rain. But by the second sister, the trees were behind me, and the rain stopped. The morning sun was shining brightly through the thin clouds, and by the intersection with Pan Toll road, I was riding in sunshine.

Here I was tempted to remove my vest, as I was warming quickly, but I was using the pockets, and it wasn’t pressing enough for the hassle of transferring everthing to the pockets in my jersey underneath. This would be the last time I’d be tempted to remove the vest in 100 miles. On my legs I had full-length compression tights and high-calf compression socks over my bib shorts and regular socks, while on my upper body I had a long-sleeve undershirt, jersey, and arm warmers (turned inside out to hide the “Alto Velo”: still waiting for that Voler order to come in!) in addition to the vest. Crazy amounts of clothing for August, but that’s how it goes in San Francisco-Marin.

Soon after the climb to the golf ball (west peak) began, I began to see descending riders, some looking fairly fit. I was worried some of these had been with my start group at 5 am: that was a considerable time gap. But then as I approached the golf ball I saw Bo, the winner of the Terrible Two this year, and I knew everyone ahead of him was likely an early starter. I was riding fairly well, hopefully within myself. In preparation for Terrible Two, Bo did a training ride which included climbing Mount Hamilton Road, descending and reclimbing San Antonio Valley Road (the steep “backside” of Hamilton) four times. That’s the sort of suffer-fest which allows a rider to hammer a double. Lacking that sort of disciplined preparation I had to be more careful, so I had no regrets about not matching Bo’s pace.

After passing the golf ball, I descended a bit then climbed to the east peak parking lot, where there was a checkpoint. I quickly topped off my bottles with water (one contained Accelerade, the other Spiz, which is a “liquid food”), then back down. It was 7:30 am: a wonderful time to be on the mountain.

Back down upper Ridgecrest, the turn onto Pan Toll was a remarkable transformation. Within a second, I went from uncomfortably warm to cold: the fog-chilled wind blowing up from the coast. I slowed a bit to take inventory, decided I’d be okay, then continued on carefully on the wet roads, the sun now hidden behind the mist.

I feared things would be even worse in Muir Woods, but actually it was slightly warmer there, the roads a bit drier, as I’d passed through the clouds. The second rest stop was here: I ate some fruit, filled my bottles again, and added orange Perpeteum to my remaining chocolate Spiz. This seemed a good idea at the time… but I realized I’d have been better off adding the unflavoured Sustained Energy instead.

I was 50 miles in. The first quarter of the ride was in the bag.

Northward

A brief hesitation as I wasn’t sure which way to go out of the rest stop (I am almost neurotically paranoid about wrong turns), but then I was soon to the Highway 1 intersection. I rode this north, mostly alone over the two significant climbs to Stinson Beach. After passing through that beach town I was overtaken by a group of three. We worked surprisingly well, picking up a few more along the way, and rolled into the rest stop at the Pt. Reyes Station public toilets together. I was much quicker here than the others, however, and (again after some seconds of confusion about which way to go) rolled out alone.

Back on Point Reyes – Petaluma Road (reverse Roasters), past Nicasio Valley Road I rejoined the Marin Century route. Marshall Wall was stacked with riders, mostly 50 k’ers, some walking their bikes. I have to admit this perked me up; what had felt like a slow pace now seemed not so slow.

That is, until I was passed by one guy from that group of three I’d left at the rest stop. Riding a relatively low-cost Performance bike, he motored up the wall. I simply had to let him go: I was keeping my power meter in the 200-230 watt range, a level of effort I thought I could hold on climbs through the day, and couldn’t be digging myself deeper than I already had so early in the ride. If he could hold that pace he was fitter than me, and there was nothing to be done about that.

I probably should have reviewed the route sheet ahead of time: I was surprised when we passed Hicks Road without turning. Other riders were returning from the same road. I later learned they had reversed the direction of this portion of the course. In 2005 we’d turned onto Hicks, headed out to Highway 1 on Marshal-Petaluma Road, and returned via Petaluma. This year was the opposite: probably an improvement as it allows a southern leg on Highway 1 along the coast.

Lunch this year was in Petaluma, at mile 93. I got through quickly, only stopping to fill my bottles, down three Endurolytes, and stuff my pockets with some fig bars, dates, and a half-bagel. As I left I found myself again next to Performance guy, but once again, his relentless pace left me behind. A good sign at lunch: the volunteers in the “double century section” (with its powders, potions, and pills) was surprised to see me. There obviously weren’t too many doublers ahead. I knew the Webcor pair of Bo H and Brian Buck were well ahead, but they make even quicker use of stops than I do, so were easily missed. But obviously I wasn’t too far down.

Mile 100, somewhere in Chileno Valley Road: I was halfway. Of course, I was tired already: I rarely ride 100 miles in a day. But mid-way through a double I just forget about the route and focus on turning the pedals. Turn them enough times, eat and drink, and the finish will arrive.

Performance, Rivendell, and Roubaix

Somewhere near here I was caught by a Davis Rider on a Specialized Roubaix and another guy on a Rivendell. They were clicking along at a nice pace, so I joined in. I’d say we worked well together, but I did less pulling than the other two, who were content to zip along. We joined up with first one, later another century rider, making a nice group. As we rode I asked Rivendell why he rode that bike: he seemed stronger than most riders of the brand. He said his wife got it for him and he liked it because with its condiderable mass it was a bit of an equalizer between the two. I told him I appreciated the equalization myself.

We arrived together at Valley Ford rest stop. I stopped here for a can of Coca Cola (part of which I drank, the rest of which I added to my bottles), as well as a few more Endurolytes, then left alone. The Coke worked so well for me at mile 184 of Terrible Two, I wanted to tap into it a bit earlier here.

I never did see the century riders again: the century split off again. But I would rejoin the other two soon enough.

It was after a busy stretch on Highway 1, soon after we turned onto Joy Road. Honestly I don’t remember Joy Road from 2005; it wasn’t on the route in 2004 (see Felix Wong’s route sheets). It gains 1047 feet climbing from Highway 1, much of it steep. The descent is also steep, with potholes overlapping other potholes, not the sort of thing you want to deal with 120 miles in. Actually, I was glad I’d installed latex tubes, which lose around 2 psi per hour: the lower pressure relative to the 105 psi I’d started with took off a bit of edge.

They descended ahead of me, but not too far, and I caught and passed them at the lowest slopes of Coleman Valley Road. Coleman Valley is nasty: sustained 12%+ (feeling steeper from 135 miles in the bank already) followed by a false summit and then two short climbs before the true descent. I just focused on spinning my 36/26, my lowest gear, which took me close to threshold in the 270 watt range. Truth be told I wanted to put up a good number for Strava on this section, a move which would end in tears. But that’s for later.

The climb took a bit out of my limited reserves, however, and I was passed by the Rivendell guy on the rolling summit. As he passed, we could see Performance up ahead. Rivendell caught and passed Performance, but I followed at my sustainable pace.

The descent was much nicer than that of Joy, and other than my usual nagging worry about missing a turn, I enjoyed the ride. I caught sight of Performance at a key moment which convinced me I was still on track.

At mile 142, the day had finally began to warm and so as I rode I transferred the odd bits of food I had in my vest pockets into my jersey pockets underneath. Then I removed my vest and stuffed it into my center jersey pocket. From there it was just eight miles or so back at Valley Ford.

I could have skipped this stop, but I wanted more Coke and to try some of the Tums they had at all the rest stops. I was getting some stitches in my chest, and wanted a blast of calcium to see if that would helped. I’m not sure if the Tums helped, but while the stitches continued to be an issue, they never got really bad. On the Coke end I went a bit overboard, putting it in both bottles. Coke should be diluted at least 1:1 with water, more if combined with food, and I was over that concentration. But despite eating a fig bar and dates on the road following Valley Ford, I handled the Coke okay.

150 miles done, 50 to go. We were in the final quarter, but 50 miles is 50 miles is still a long way, longer with tired legs than with fresh legs, no matter how small the fraction of the total.

End Game

I didn’t see any of my usual company as I left Valley Ford for this second time. Next was the long southern run down Highway 1, which in 2005 had been to the north. There’s usually a northern wind on the coast, but today held up to what I’d seen from weather data for the day prior: wind from the south. A block headwind isn’t what I really wanted to see at this point, but I just hunkered down and dealt the hand that was there. It was the same for everyone.

The route finally turned left off Highway 1 onto Marshal-Petaluma Road: a rather rude introduction as the grade went from zero to large within just a few pedal strokes. I had just overtaken two century riders at this point, so it was nice to have company for this. But I slogged along at my death-march pace and was on my own again.

At the Walker Creek rest stop I got some water to dilute my remaining Coke, and grabbed more dates. I asked when the next turn was and was told 18 miles. For some reason I found this discouraging; I prefer changing roads to mark progress than staying on the same road mile after mile. I was out quickly, though, putting it out of my head.

It turns out my question was misunderstood and the next turn, onto Hicks Road, wasn’t far at all. Hicks soon T’ed into Pt Reyes-Petaluma and I knew I was in the end game. The eastern side of Marshall was easy compared to the eastern “Wall”, then the descent and left turn onto Nicasio Valley Road. In 2005 I almost got taken out by an RV in this turn, but today no issue. I was getting really close.

One last rest stop on Nicasio Valley Road. I wanted to blow past but decided to check to see if this was a mandatory checkpoint. Of course, had I checked the route sheet in my pocket I would have known this, but my brain really wasn’t working well at all by this point. I had trouble getting anyone’s attention, so spent more seconds here than I would have liked.

One more climb to go: Lucas Valley Road. I really wanted to blast this sucker: blitz it at or over threshold, but there simply wasn’t anything left. I couldn’t even hold 200 watts on the climb, a strong contrast to when I was strong on the final climb of Terrible Two, to Occidental. Instead I just focused on keeping the pedals going, knowing I was almost there.

Fire trucks were moving back and forth on the road near the summit, almost absurdly. One was approaching from behind, siren off, soon after another had descended the opposite direction (also siren off) and I disparately did not want it to pass me, as I knew I’d be much faster on the descent. At the summit, a volunteer pointing a flag at a “dangerous left turns! ride slowly!” sign, I thanked him and began my descent just ahead of the following truck.

The road was in excellent condition, making for solid cornering. I vividly remember getting passed on this descent in 2005 and I vowed to not let that happen again. Despite this, I showed more caution than required in the corners. It turns out there were approximately five crashes on this descent, several requiring medical treatment, despite warning signs at each of the tricky corners. But I didn’t have the slightest issue other than that I should have taken it a bit faster.

The last few miles went easily. I was tired, unable to sustain power above Z3, but I could at least get into Z3. I was calculating as I went my chances for a sub-12:30 and it looked good.

Done

I entered the school, crossed under the finishing banner, and with some bystanders cheering I gave a little fist-pump. I was glad to be done. But I wasn’t really done until I’d checked in, so after asking directions to check-in, I went up onto the sidewalk, through the expo, and to the check-in table. My watch said “5:26″, so 12:26 if we started on time.

“You’re #8″ the volunteer said. “Eighth?” I responded. I couldn’t believe it: that was better than I’d thought. I was 17th finisher in 2005, so that’s a nice improvement.

Davis and Rivendell finished soon after. Each of them had clearly been stronger than me but chose to enjoy the day a bit more. Still, my goal going in had been top 10, for whatever that is or is not worth, and I’d hit that goal. So success.

After hanging out at the finish for a few hours, in part waiting for my carpool partner to finish his double (on his ‘cross bike!), it was time for the drive back to San Francisco.

I’d managed to do the entire ride without any wrong turns, always a major victory by my standards, but in an RTFM moment I shut down my Edge 500 without first hitting “stop” and “reset”. This apparently caused my ride data to get purged. Now I’ve gone through periods of data aversion where all I want to do is ride, echewing metrology. But this isn’t one of those periods: I’m riding well, I’d made a solid effort up Coleman I wanted to Strava-log, and I wanted to see how my power up the opening climbs compared to the power on the final climbs. Losing the data was such a disappointment I devoted an entire blog post to the subject.

Despite my dreadful lack of sleep the night before, I had trouble getting to sleep that night. Too much Coca-Cola, I suspect: a considerable caffeine dose in 20 ounces of the stuff. But part of it may have been the fitful mix of trauma and adrenalin from an extremely full day.

by Joan Grant Deitchman

After DNFing Race Across Oregon last year due to pretty miserable weather conditions both days plus some major lower back problems (which turned out to be due to a saddle height change that had happened in the lead up to the race without me knowing), I needed to go back and get that monkey off my back. RAO was by far the hardest thing I’d endured, and I’d made it 456 miles before throwing in the towel, but I needed to go back and finish it. Before I knew it, I had an all star crew lined up – Sandy Earl and Lee “Fuzzy” Mitchell – wow, how’d I bag them???? Add to the crew Jason “Pudu” Pierce (a bad assed cyclist – for example he did Death Ride on his fixed gear bike this year – and bike mechanic who we’ve gotten to know on the California double century circuit) and my husband Mike, and I knew I was going to be in good hands. I was almost more intimidated by the awesomeness of my crew than by the badass-ness of the ride itself! Not to mention fear of tarnishing Sandy’s 100% finish rate in all her crewing efforts! I had my work cut out for me – I didn’t want to disappoint!

Race morning I got up a bit earlier than last year (3:30am) so that I’d have more time to digest my breakfast before hitting the course. Everyone gathered for the start just before 5am. It was perfect early morning conditions – not too cold, but nice and refreshing. The first 9 miles were the “parade route” where we were all supposed to stay together as a group – I was going into the race with a questionable knee after injuring it 3 weeks before RAO, so I wanted to take things super easy at the start until I got properly warmed up. I knew there was a short steep climb right near the start, and I didn’t want to aggravate my knee trying to power over it with the pack. So I comfortably dropped off the back, but never lost sight of the group.

Right before the end of the parade section there was a pee stop. It had been planned to be behind some trees, but of course by the time me and one of the other women (Karen Armstrong) got there, all the guys were at the trees, so we got to squat in the ditch facing a farm house – lovely!! Oh, but it gets better. I didn’t realize the foliage in the ditch was prickly and had thorns on it. First I got tangled up in one and got a scratch on my leg, then I realized I was getting brambles all over my chamois – great!!! This was my reward for hydrating enough in the morning to actually be able to pee this early on – I was now to be known as Bramble-Butt!! I quickly tried to de-bramble my chamois, but the group was ready to leave and head across the highway to start the real race, so I figured I’d continue with them and then once everyone took off up the climb I’d stop and continue the de-brambling. So I huddled behind Terri’s van trying to pick the remaining brambles out of my shorts while everyone else bolted up Mt. Hood. This was a little bit of extra stress, but I tried to just laugh it off and think of it as a good story to tell afterwards.

I was at the back of the pack, although it didn’t take me too long to catch up to a recumbent rider, Dennis Johnson, and pass him (climbing on a recumbent is much harder than climbing on an upright bike). I settled into my pace, and enjoyed the scenic views of Mt. Hood, knowing full well that within hours there would be much less scenery to look at. I started in on hydration/nutrition with a vengeance – I knew that I needed to eat/drink as much as I could while it was still cool out, because when it heats up it’s a lot harder to take in food, and so you want to go into the heat of the day with your tank topped off. I downed both my water bottles and 2 packets of Cliff Bocks in the next 15 miles. My crew gave me more Perpeteum and blocks, and I continued to try and down everything. The only downside of this was that I found myself having to stop and pee every hour or so! From the start to the top of Mt. Hood, which took just over 3 hours, I’d stopped and peed 3 times, and then I had to stop again within the next hour too, and the hour after that! I was starting to get concerned that I was going to be spending all my time watering the vegetation along the Oregon ditches rather than riding – I’ve never had to pee that frequently on a ride before! But of course as the heat of the day set in, while many of the other riders would be puking and suffering from dehydration, I would be in much better shape thanks to my due diligence in the hydration department.

I got to time station #1 in Tygh Valley 73.4 miles into the course at 10:08am – 10min slower than last year, but with 3 additional pee stops, time lost waiting at a traffic light on Highway 35 due to road construction, and a slight mis-navigation regarding the turn from Highway 35 to Forest Road 48 (the crew said they’d be at the turn, and when I got there they weren’t, so I was confused about what to do since I could have sworn that was the turn – I nearly missed it last year so was on the lookout for it this year – but pretty quickly the BikeVan reappeared and all was well – with all the construction cones in the pullout they’d not seen that it was the road and had kept on going). From Tygh Valley we continued on towards time station #2 in Moro. It started to heat up in this section, and near the bottom of the Grass Valley climb my stomach started to feel not so good. Perpeteum was no longer palatable, and I was feeling the beginnings of a bit of nauseousness. I switched to more plain water, some Doritos and other saltier foods, and V8. We passed the road sign “Payne Loop” just after the climb – Mike had seen the sign last year and taken a picture, but I’d not noticed it – this year I did though, and it seemed to fit my mood right then! The next section of rollers was much better than last year, as there wasn’t anywhere near the head winds that we’d had a year ago, so it seemed to go by a lot quicker. I got to time station #2 in Moro 121.4 miles into the race at 1:33pm, 6min faster than my time last year – guess I’m consistent if nothing else! Since I was 10min behind my pace at TS1 though, it means I’d made up 16min on this stage compared to last year.

I knew the next section was going to be the hardest part of Saturday – it would be the hottest part of the day, and there was a tough 9 mile climb coming up from the John Day River where it was over 100deg last year. First though there were a few shorter climbs and a longish descent before getting there. Along here I traded spots a couple of times with Alex Kohan on his recumbent – I’d pass him on the uphill, and then he’d pass me on the downhill. Tim Woudenberg was on his crew, so it was great to see a friendly face. Alex, like me, had DNFd last year, so I was hoping that we could both have a great race and finish. Dropping down to the John Day River I felt the blasts of hot air, but this year I was expecting it. On the way down I saw a sign for “Starvation Lane” – I thought of Jason’s experience crewing for Bruce last year when I saw that sign – Bruce had been having stomach problems the entire race last year and couldn’t keep any food down – in fact it kept coming back up repeatedly! I made a mental note to tell Jason about the sign when I got the chance. At the bottom I started up the climb. I’d been holding off on taking an ice-sock (a tube sock filled with ice that you wrap around your neck to help keep you cool in the heat), as I knew it would get my shorts wet, and bring on chaffing earlier. I knew this would be where I’d want it for sure though. The temperature this year on the climb was only 96deg – a little bit cooler than last year’s 100+deg, but still hot. The climb flattens out in the middle, and then pitches up again the last mile or so. At the top I stopped to do my first shorts change – we were about 150 miles in, and I was starting to feel a bit of discomfort. We continued on towards Condon. I was still feeling a bit nauseous, probably because my electrolyte intake had dipped after switching to mainly plain water and V8 during the heat of the day. I also was feeling a need to make some room in my lower digestive tract and was feeling a bit of pressure in that area, so I decided I would make a beeline for hopefully a flush toilet at the gas station in Condon. I felt much better after that stop! Onwards and upwards after that – there were a couple more climbs to knock out before time station #3 in Heppner. On the first big climb after Condon I was passed by Paul Vlasveld’s 2 person team vehicle with Paul Duren and Louise McCracken in it – again, it was great to see some friendly faces out there! Just before the last climb before Heppner we reached 7:30pm and so the BikeVan had to start direct follow. This is when the van drives immediately behind the rider any time the rider is riding. The BikeVan is equipped with an external PA system and speakers, so this meant they could talk to me and play music for me over the speakers – really cool!!! I made my way up the last climb before Heppner climbing to the tunes of the Arrogant Worms, a Canadian group that does parody kinds of songs similar to what Weird Al does. I made a special request for the “Last Saskatchewan Pirate” since we’d been riding past a lot of wheat fields during the day! (Lyrics here) Race Director George Thomas also pulled up next to me on this climb and asked how I was doing – he said I was looking much better than I had at this point last year – and I knew I felt much better too! Woohoo!

We finally arrived in Heppner at time stations #3, 207.5 miles into the ride, at 8:36pm, 8min faster than my time last year, but the difference was that instead of taking a 45min break because I’d felt awful at this point last year, I felt relatively good and kept on going. We did stop so that I could change into a dry shirt and eat some cup-o-noodle soup though, then it was back on our way. Last year I’d started to get really sleepy along this section, but this year I wasn’t having much trouble staying awake. The music really helped a lot. When we hit the steeper climb though, my knee started to bother me a bit….ugghhhh….!!! I guess I was lucky that it had held out this long, but it would have been nice if it had stayed cooperative the whole ride. Oh well, I’d have to deal with it. We stopped for more cup-o-noodle soup at the top of the steeper climb before dropping down to the longer more gradual climb up Battle Mountain. Going up Battle Mountain I started getting the first real signs of sleepiness. I asked that we try playing an audio-book over the PA system, hoping it might engage me. I’ve never tried doing this before, but Michele Santilhano, who’d done RAAM this year, suggested it when I’d seen her the week before RAO. So I’d downloaded “The Life Of Pi” at Mike’s recommendation. This did work in terms of keeping me awake and alert for a while, but I don’t think I was far enough into the book for it to be captivating enough yet, so after several chapters I asked that we switch back to music. At least it did work for a while though. Nearer the top of the climb I really started struggling to stay awake more, so I asked for some music by Aqua – I knew it had a techno/dance kind of rhythm to it that really seems to help keep me awake. So we started in on what Sandy called “All Aqua All The Time”! This totally woke me up for the rest of the climb, and the first half of the descent. But then with about 10 miles to go before Dale I just started losing the battle. I hate that feeling of losing control when you’re trying to stay awake and your body just won’t listen – you feel so powerless!

We finally pulled into Dale at 3:57am, 285.6 miles into the race, elapsed time now just under 23hrs. I was 59min ahead of my pace from last year, but I wasn’t in very good spirits – in fact I was downright negative. Even though we were over half way, I was doing the mental math wrong, and thought it was less over the half-way mark than what it was (267.5 miles was the half way mark, so we were already almost 20 miles past the half way mark – I thought it was less than that though). And even though I knew we were almost an hour ahead of pace from last year, I knew that last year I ran out of time, and that there was still a lot of hard riding to come, so I didn’t think I’d built up enough of a time cushion to be able to finish. This is a good example of why when you’re doing these things you should NOT start trying to do mental math and analyze what remains in front of you – that’s for the crew to do. Doing so just makes things seem insurmountable, and makes you feel negative. Anyway….we kept going out of Dale even though I could hardly stay awake. I was zig-zagging all over the road, and couldn’t for the life of me keep my eyes open. Finally my crew decided it was time to take a nap. I got off the bike, laid down on the ground on a thermarest, and before they’d even finished covering me up with some blankets I was out cold. Next thing I know they were waking me up to get back on the bike 20min later. The nap helped, but the next several hours were still a struggle. It wasn’t until a couple hours later that I finally felt like I was awake. This next section was where I’d had the worst of my back pain last year – several sections where I was literally riding and crying at the same time, and where I’d ended up sitting in a ditch thinking my race was over, before somehow continuing on for another 150 miles. Without the back pain, this section passed remarkably faster than last year. We dropped down into the one flattish section of the race – the section leading up to and after Spray. The temperature here was only apparently in the 70s or low 80s at this point, but it already felt like the 90s to me. I needed to get out of my warmer night jersey and into something cooler.

We pulled into Spray at ten-something in the morning (last year this was a time station, but not this year, so I don’t know exactly when we arrived). Last year I hadn’t got to Spray until 12:38pm, so I’d gained another hour or so on my cushion. I was feeling pretty overheated at this point, so we went into the mini-mart to change clothes and use the bathroom. Even though I was trying to hurry, I felt like I was barely moving, so the pit-stop was probably much longer than it should have been. But there were some good things that came out of this stop – Dill Pickle Potato Chips, and Freezie Pops – oh, and a mouthful of Pudu’s soft serve ice cream! Having fresh clothes on, and an ice sock around my neck, I headed out from Spray. Sandy also had me put a knee brace on my sore knee (the kind that is a narrow band that sits under the knee cap at the base of the knee and helps it track better) to see if that would help with the pain. It did seem to help a bit, so I left it on the rest of the race.

After another flat section along the river, there was another 10 mile climb. Along the flat section Dennis Johnson passed me on his recumbent – it was so awesome to see another rider – I hadn’t seen anyone since before Heppner the evening before! As we started up the climb though, I passed him and we didn’t see him again until the finish (he came in just after me). Last year this climb cooled off as we got up higher because of the storm system that was moving in. Thankfully there was no storm system this year, but it did mean that it stayed hot all the way up. My crew gave me another freezie pop on the way up which was a little taste of heaven! The climb also pitches up in steepness the last mile or two. It was apparently about 98deg when we got to the top. I opted not to get another ice sock on the way down, thinking I’d save it for the next climb – after all, a descent should be somewhat cooling right? WRONG! Not when it’s 98deg it isn’t! This descent wasn’t super long though, so we passed through Fossil and I pulled off on the side of the road in some shade to down a V8, Mountain Dew, and get a fresh ice sock before tackling the next climb. I felt pretty hot on this climb, but kept grinding away.

Then came a looong descent down to the John Day Fossil Beds area and Clarno. This descent was where it rained/hailed on me last year – this year it felt like I was in a convection oven instead!! The descent was about 13 miles, and I felt like I was baking as I passed through the 100+deg heat at speeds of over 30mph. I decided that at the bottom I was going to ask if we could stop briefly so that I could get in the van and cool down quickly before tackling the next climb – another 9 mile climb with some steeper gradients – I knew this was going to be the toughest climb of the day thanks to the heat. Getting out of the heat for a few minutes in Spray earlier in the day had made a big difference, and I was hoping a quick break here would too. It helped, but not as much as I’d hoped. I got back on the bike and started climbing and felt like the sun was baking down on me. This was my “mental low point” for the day on Sunday. The temperature was apparently 102deg – and my crew took a picture of the reading in the van to prove it! At one point the sun went behind some clouds, and even though the temperature only dropped a degree or two, it FELT like a huge difference not having the sun beating down viciously on me. During this section Sandy was playing some kind of old time styled music with off the wall lyrics over the PA that at least helped keep my mind somewhat off the suffering. It also helped to see Adrienne go by in her van a few times and cheer me on – seeing anyone out there in the middle of nowhere lifts ones spirits! Finally the top came though, and then the descent into Antelope.

At this point I was in need of another flush toilet, and was hoping desperately that there would be one in Antelope, even though I know there’s hardly anything in Antelope. We were almost through town and I thought we were going to be out of luck, but then, like when you see an oasis in the desert, I saw a sign for a Cafe that said “Open”, and a placard out front that said “Marionberry Cobbler” – SCORE!!! We truly had reached a little oasis in the middle of the Oregon desert!! Here the crew was also able to get cheese fries, mierpoix beef soup, and coffee in addition to the cobbler, and I got to use a real toilet! I started up the next climb. I think my crew was trying to mess with me on this climb though, because they kept playing the same song over and over and over – all I remember about it was that the lyrics kept saying “what goes around comes around” – I was about ready to go stark raving mad after about what I thought was the 3rd time through! Near the top Pudu chimed in with a comment about how it looked like a nice descent looking back where we came from – I offered to ride back down to find out if he’d ride back up to the top! I was in pretty good spirits at this point, knowing that I was in much better shape than I had been at this stage of the race last year. The sweet moment was when we crested the hill and I could tell that the wind wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it had been last year – this was the section last year that was the nail in the coffin for me – the wind had been so strong that I could barely make forward progress going downhill. It was around this time that Pudu played the song “The Climb” over the PA. Don’t laugh – it’s a Hannah Montana song, but I heard it on the radio shortly after RAO last year, and the lyrics seemed really appropriate, so I’d downloaded it from iTunes. (Lyrics here) Pudu also offered me leftover cheese fries out of the van window along this section – and pickles!! And Mike gave me some dill pickle potato chips – yum! We passed through time station #5 in Shaniko at 6:12pm, 431.4 miles into the race.

The next section on Bakeoven Road I’d done in the dark last year, and I remembered seeing all the weird desert vegetation on the side of the road blowing violently in the wind like ghoulish creatures beckoning me to hell! This year I was able to see what the vegetation looked like in the daylight – much less scary and animated! We kept going and arrived in Maupin just before 8pm – last year I’d pulled in to Maupin at 11:25pm, and had dropped out here because there wasn’t enough time to finish under the cutoff. What a difference to get here 3.5hrs earlier still in the daylight! I knew there was still a tough section with a lot more climbing still to come though, but at least I’d made it further than last year. I quickly did a clothing change here before we hit the road again to try and get as much done in the daylight before it got dark. We completed the climb out of Maupin and the descent towards Tygh Valley. Just at dusk we stopped for soup and cobbler (that the crew had bought in Antelope), then I tackled the next climb. This climb seemed harder to me than the climb out of Maupin – my knee was starting to get sorer, and I was also feeling hungry and a bit out of energy. Finally the top came though, and we descended towards Dufur. Then came a little bit of flat/rolling terrain before the last big climb up Mt. Hood. This climb is about 15 miles or so, and almost 500 miles into the ride the legs are a wee bit tired! I felt relatively chipper though. We stopped for more cup-o-noodle soup at the base of the climb. It was nice knowing there was essentially just one climb left, even if it was a long one. The climb took about 2hrs 15min to get to the top, and near the top it was hard to tell whether we’d even reached the top, as there were several false summits. For one of them you came over a little crest, and there was the peak of Mt. Hood bathed in the moonlight – I figured that HAD to be the top since it seemed so poetically perfect, but no, it wasn’t…. About 1:45am or thereabouts we reached the summit – woohoo!!! I stopped to put on my knee warmers, arm warmers, vest, and down a 5hr energy to try and help me power through the last 30+ miles. Part of the descent was on Forest Road 44, which I wasn’t quite as comfortable descending on as I was once we hit Highway 35, a major highway which had a good road surface and wide sweeping turns. From the turn onto 35 it was about 25 miles to the finish, with just one slight rise on the way down. I bombed down 35 – it was awesome having essentially no traffic on the road, and getting the whole road to myself. I felt like I was flying, and I hit my max speed of 45mph on this section. I felt fairly alert, but I did ask the van to use the PA system to talk to me on the way down just to help keep my mind engaged so that I didn’t fall into a trance and get sleepy. That did the trick.

My crew and I at the finish line in Hood River after 46 hrs 28min on the course

I pulled into Hood River and the finish line at 3:28am, clocking a total time of 46hrs 28min for 535 miles with over 40,000 feet of climbing and top temperatures near or above 100deg both days. I was 3rd female (out of 3 – 100% finish rate for the women – woohoo!) and 8th overall (out of 9 finishers – 16 solo riders started the race). Even though I was the only one on the bike, I don’t consider this a solo effort – this was a 5 person team – I couldn’t have done it without my amazing crew! Any crew going forward is going to have very large shoes to fill – and I’m not just talking about Pudu’s clown shoes! In all seriousness though, having such an experienced and entertaining crew was the best and most memorable part of this event. Everyone on the crew brought something different to the table, and at least from where I sat, everything went smoothly throughout. Anyone who’s fortunate enough to have Sandy crew chief for them is in for a treat – she’s the best at what she does, and I couldn’t have done it without her guidance and encouragement! She’s been an inspiration in my ultra-cycling career, and I certainly hope I’m lucky enough to have her crew for me again in the future! As for Fuzzy, he and his BikeVan are legendary in ultra-cycling and need no description – it was an honor and a privilege to have Lee on my crew, and to get to lead the BikeVan into Hood River and that finish line! Pudu got things done out there, and was a jack of all trades – when he wasn’t snoring and eating/buying gummy bears that is – I’ll never look at another gummy bear and not smile and think of RAO! And Mike, well he’s my soulmate, and I’m so glad he was able to be there and help me make it through this year. It’s in tough times that you catch a glimpse of someone’s heart and soul, and last year at RAO I saw to the depths of his and it solidified the notion that he was “the one”. Thank you to everyone on my crew – you’re all rock stars and I’m forever indebted to you! To steal Sandy’s quote – “I’m the luckiest person in the world”!!!

Click Here for More Pictures from RAO 2010

by Deborah Hoag

This is how the Stage Race works: Riders have to complete three of the most difficult doubles in the California Triple Crown. This year it was Mulholland, Devil Mountain, and the Terrible Two. The Total Elapsed Time from each of these grueling Doubles is then added together and the rider with the fastest overall time for all Three Doubles wins the Stage Race.

I have no idea why we decided to do the Stage Race on the tandem. We would joke that when we completed the Stage Race on our singles, we would do it on the tandem. Well, I finished the Stage Race in 2009 and David finished in 2007. After I finished, David reminded me about the Stage Race on the tandem. So, we bought a new tandem in Sept of 2009 and started training. We did not know which of 200 milers would be in the Stage Race for 2010; however, we had agreed we would do the race. In Feb, we found out it be the 3 hardest out of 5 -200 milers, Mulholland, Devil Mountain, and Terrible Two. During the training, we realized this was going to be the hardest thing we had ever done on a bike. We thought about not doing it, because the training was so hard. We worked on interval training, core exercises, eating right, preventing lows, riding together effectively, mechanical issues with the new tandem, and communicating. A week before the first 200 miler, Mulholland, we took the tandem to Bicycle Outfitters for a quick over look, and found out the rear rim was destroyed. It had less than 2000 miles on it.

The night before Mulholland, I felt we were going to have a great ride. There was one other tandem at the start, Karen and Mike, who had taken the Stage Race in 2004 and 2008. They started off fast and pulling the mast start of riders; however, when we hit the first climb, we past them and never saw them again.

There were two tough climbing areas, one had 24% grade and another 25% grade. We finished 2 hours before the time we thought we would, and earned a T-Shirt for under 16 hours. We had beaten the other tandem by 58 minutes. We now had two weeks before Devil Mountain Double. My favorite ride and David’s most hated ride.

The second leg of the Stage Race was Devil Mountain Double. The route starts in San Ramon and heads up Mt Diablo North, up Mt Diablo Summit and then descends down Mt Diablo South to Morgan Territory. From there the route heads up Patterson Pass, up Mines Rd, up the Back of Mt Hamilton, down Mt Hamilton, up Sierra Rd, up Calaveras, up Palomares and finally up Norris Canyon for 18,500 of climbing and 206 miles. We rolled at 5A with about 225 riders and no other tandems. We had done all the climbs during our training, so we knew what to expect. However, with the first climb being Mt Diablo the last 100 feet seemed easy compared to the training rides we had done. Then came Morgan Territory and Patterson Pass, we had no problems. After that it was Mines Road, where we realized this is hard and it hurts, and we had two more hard nasty climbs, the backside of Mt Hamilton and Sierra Road. We struggled up the backside, however, on the Mt Hamilton descend we had recovered and we felt ready for Sierra. Sierra Rd comes at mile 160, we started the climb and it was tough. I had told David, we may need to stop part way up. We reached the trees and David asked me if I needed to stop and I said no, that the climb is most completed. I guess it is a good thing I cannot remember, because we were only half way up to top of Sierra! Somehow we managed to make it up, and it was off to Sunol via Calaveras.  It was great to see Sheila Stevens there (freshly back from a long business trip)!  She told me we were head of her and Russ’s time by 40 minutes – another great modivator. We then headed down Niles Canyon, the hard climbs were over, but we two more climbs to finish Palomares and Norris Canyon. By the time we hit the Palomares descend, what Sheila had said about our time hit me. I had thought we were shooting for under 18 hours for a completion time, but we were looking for under 17 hours. We came in screaming to the finish with a 16:21 time. We were saying yes, one more:  The Terrible Two.

Terrible Two is known for its nasty hot weather (over 100 degrees), but this year the average temperature was 78 degrees. The seven week break between Devil Mountain and Terrible Two created difficultly in our training. We both had a hard time peaking again. At the start of the ride, we could feel the intensity in the air with the other 227 riders. This is a race. Riders were warned about very bad roads and the technical descends on the course. We installed torn resisted tubes in the back and front (thanks to Russ and Sheila). On part of course there is gravel, and we wanted to avoid flats. Also a few years back Jennie Phipps and Craig Robinson had had a front blow out descending and crashed. They were in first place in the Stage Race, so, we backed off on the descents and took to heart Bill’s warnings. As it turned out one of the big stories of the day were crashes and we were not one of them. To finish first, first you must finish. The Organizer, Bill Octinger was there to shake our hands when we rolled in. I could hardly stand at the finish. And most important thing, I earned a “I Did It” T-Shirt (I wore it continuously for 4 days after the ride). We were done with the Stage Race and we had no food problems, no lows, no mechanicals, no drama, no events, and no problems on all three rides. We were prepared. Then we loaded the tandem into the back of the truck and saw the brand new rear tire that we had installed before ride with white treads showing and the side bead popping out.

Going into the Terrible Two, there were 47 riders that completed the first two legs of the Stage Race, after Terrible Two there were only 32 (4 women 27 men) that completed all three legs of the Stage Race. We were the only tandem.

Our finished times:

• Mulholland           15:21 60 minutes off the bike
• Devil Mountain      16:17 with 75 minutes off the bike
• Terrible Two           15:08 with less than 45 minutes off the bike
• Total of time of 46:45, 614 miles, 55,915′ of climbing.

Each of 3-200 milers was different as far as the ride; however, the weather was great for all three rides. Reflecting back on it, would we do it again? Perhaps!!!!

by Franz Kelsch

There has been a tremendous change in the technology for cycling lights. My first light was big and bulky and the battery was the size of a water bottle and very heavy.  It was difficult to ride on a very dark road. H.I.D. lights were much brighter but were very expensive and somewhat fragile. What changed everything for the cyclists riding at night was the high powered LEDs.

My first LED light was produced by BR Lights, C2-H model, which I wrote about it in a prior entry. That light has served me well through two Furnace Creek 508 rides and a couple of Devil Mountain Double rides. I have used it also on several night rides, both road and mountain bike. The BR light is all in one package, both battery and light. That means it can only be mounted on the handlebar. When mountain biking at night, I wanted a helmet mounted light.  With the Hoodoo 500 coming up, I needed a second light since you need two independent lights to be able to ride at night without the van following you.

You can pay a lot of money for a LED light but there is no need to now days.  I had heard a lot about the MagicShine light, so I decided to order one from GeoManGear.com.  I bought their Racer’s special which came with a 2nd battery, helmet mount and cord extension, all for a price of $129.99.

I was impressed with GeoManGear’s service because the light arrive in just a couple of days to our Utah home.  That night I mounted the light on my helmet and went out for a test ride.  The MagicShine has a nice mounting system, using a single o-ring.  It comes with two o-rings, one for a standard size handlebar  and a larger one for an oversized handlebar.

The helmet mount attached to my helmet using Velcro straps. I then used the smaller o-ring to mount the light to the helmet mount.  I used the extension cord so I could put the battery in my rear pocket.

The light has 3 levels, along with some strobe effects.  This photo shows how much the trail was lit up using the three different settings.

Doing some tests while riding near, I felt comfortable riding at 25 mph using the brightest setting, about 16 mph using the middle setting and about 12 mph using the lowest setting.  I wish the lower setting was dimmer so I would have an option with battery saving for climbing, where I do not need as much light.

The light and battery were less than a pound, but still a bit heavier than my BR light.

They claim the MagicShine is 900 lumens but I highly doubt that figure since they lights from Hong Kong are almost always have over inflated ratings. I did a test comparing each light at their highest setting, middle setting and lowest setting.  At the highest setting, the BR light which is rated at 325 lumens, seemed about the same as the MagicShine.

At the other settings the MagicShine was brighter but that also means it does not have a setting that would allow to ride all night on a single battery.  With the BR light, I can ride all night since the middle setting will give me 9.5 hours and I would use the high setting (3.5 hours) only for descent and the lower setting (20 hours) for the climbs.  But at one third the price, the MagicShine is still a good deal.

What do I like about the MagicShine?

• Price
• Mounting is very easy using one of the two supplied o-rings
• Can be helmet mounted
• Spare battery at a reasonable price

What do I  not like about the MagicShine?

• You need to cycle through all the settings in order.  If you are riding and wish to switch from the middle setting to the high setting, you have go switch to low, then to strobe,  another strobe setting, then off.  That is not very appealing while riding if that is your only light since it goes to no light before you can turn it on high.  If you just want to turn the light off, hold down the button for 2 seconds.
• There is a single indicator of a low battery.  The BR light has 6 stage of colors to let you know where you stand.

I have not done any extensive testing yet of the MagicShine light.  I am interested in how long it will last on one battery on the various settings.  But those tests need to be done while riding because the light depends on that air flow for cooling.

by Franz Kelsch

For many years I used a Polar heart rate monitor for both running and later for cycling. Starting with the Polar 720i, then the 625X, with footpod, it seemed like an ideal way to keep track of my speed and distance on both the bike and running. However I had become progressively disenchanted with Polar as a company. Even to this day they do not support their products on the Mac operating system, something that Garmin now does with all their products. They also seem to have lost the technology advantage they once had by letting Garmin move ahead with the use of GPS technology. Garmin’s early GPS units were bulky and seemed quite impractical but with each new generation they have continued to advance and their GPS units now have become quite small.

I previously wrote about the Garmin Edge 500 compared with the Polar 625X for cycling. It turned out that the Garmin Edge 500, which was primarily built for cycling weights no more than the Polar 625X.  See my previous post for the detail comparison.

One of the nice features of the Garmin Edge 500 was the quick quarter turn mount. The new Garmin Forerunner 310X, has an optional “Quick release mounting kit” that is designed to convert their Forerunner running watches to use the same quarter turn mount, allowing you to use it on both your wrist and on the bike.

I ordered the kit for about $25 from Amazon and received it today.  It comes with a wrist stap  (the part I was interested in) as well as a bike mounting kit and a back for the 310XT to convert it to the quarter turn mount.  Using only the strap I was able to attach the Garmin Edge 500 directly to my wrist.  The orientation on your wrist may not be the idea way, but it is workable.

It might look a bit geeky, but not as much as the early Garmin Forerunner running watches.

So how much does the strap add to the 2 oz. weight of the Garmin Edge 500?  Turns out not much, bringing the total weight from 2.0 to 2.6 oz.  The difference is less than the weight of the footpod I use with the Polar 625X.  It is almost the same as the 2.5 oz weight of the Garmin 310XT.

Is this combination the same as using the Garmin Forerunner 310XT?

Garmin Forerunner 310XT

If one is primarily focused on running, or on tri sports, then getting the Garmin 310XT might well be worth the price.  For those who are mostly focused on cycling and do some running, then the Edge 500 does work as a workable solution if you want a GPS to use on your runs.  It will not show your pace in any readout.  Even using the speed, in mph, is not very useful because it seems to be erratic.  But I found the pace readout on the Polar 625X to also be useless and ended up using the average speed over the course the of the run, which the Garmin Edge 500 will do.  So if you own a Garmin 500 and want to have some type of GPS unit for running, you can get there with a small investment.  Even without a footpod, it seems to be quite accurate and unlike the Polar 625X, the distance measurement does not seem to be greatly influenced by the pace being run. After the run, I can download the data to my Mac computer and see my average pace, and a map of the run.  It makes it much easier later on to remember where you actual ran.

You also get some features that the Garmin Forerunner 310XT lack, including barometric pressure altimeter and temperature readout, although I am not sure that the temperature reading on the Garmin Edge 500 is very accurate.  I realize that Polar has some newer running and cycling devices than the Polar 625X, but their unwillingness to embrace both the Mac and the standard Ant+ communication with their components, has kept me from spending any more money on Polar products.  They seem to have a lot of different products, too many in my opinion.  Try to pick out from the Polar offering and it is way too confusing.

Of course if you have no Garmin device now, you could go with the Garmin Forerunner 310XT, and use the Quick release kit to mount it on your bike or your wrist.  But I primarily bike and the Garmin Edge 500 is well suited for that.  You might also read my other post on using course on the Edge 500.

That first blast of cold wind almost blew me back into the car.  Why hadn’t I worn warmer clothes? It was in the mid 40’s but that wind was vicious. Later I’d thank that same wind as it seemed to always be at my back giving me a little push up some of the harder climbs. But now I was cold and a bit afraid that I’d bitten off more than I could chew: 141.5 miles with over 14,000 feet of climbing in this thin air. Fortunately, I’d ridden up with Eric Wessler, so I had someone with whom to share this challenge. It was nice to tuck in behind him now and then during the first twenty miles to the foot of Kingsbury. It was 6am and the sun was just peaking over the hills to the east across the Nevada plains.  The changing colors and patterns of light took my mind off the cold and the immensity of this ride.

We got to the base of Kingsbury and as previously arranged Eric went ahead at his faster pace.  I was determined to take it easy and not burn out on the first climb, so it took me an hour to ride the seven miles to the top.  Waiting for me was a well oiled team of Alta Alpina club members.  The first one took my bike, the second filled my water bottle and the third attached my Kingsbury sticker. This happened at every rest stop (with the exception of Carson which we’ll get to later).  I felt like I had made a pit stop at the Indianapolis 500, and was ready to go in less than five minutes.  As I was getting ready to leave, one of the club members asked if there was anything else I needed.  Trying to be clever, I asked if he would mind peddling my bike up Carson for me.  Without missing a beat he asked when and where he should meet me.

Descending Kingsbury was great with a smooth road and little traffic.  After a few miles of gentle rollers, we began the long slow climb up highway 88 towards Carson via Luther.  It was past 9am and those clouds that had looked beautiful a few hours before now looked dark and ominous. But unlike last year, the weather held for the entire ride.  Plus there was more traffic and less shoulder.  I had met Brian Birkeland at the Immigrant Gap rest stop but left earlier than he and his riding companion.  In fact, I didn’t see anyone in front of or behind me most of the way to the Luther turn off.  But then part way up Luther I saw a familiar face as Eric whizzed down the mountain.  I met a hefty rider at the top of Luther who was just doing three passes so only had Blue Lakes left.  Eric and I had driven that route the day before and gone for a hike to get a bit acclimated.   So I told him that it wasn’t very steep (not true) and that it ended at the fourth gate because the real steep part was still covered with snow (true).  Later as I was struggling up some 10% grades on Blue Lakes, I realized that I had not been paying very close attention from the car.  So when I saw my hefty friend descending, I was glad he gave me a friendly ring of his bell and not the finger for misinforming him about the difficulty of the climb.  But all of this happened after Carson.  I was struggling near the top of Carson Pass.  It seemed to go on forever, and even though the views were spectacular, I was beginning to have doubts about being able to complete the ride in the time allotted.  Then just as I was feeling discouraged, the tailwind picked up and seemed to lift me effortlessly up the last few tenths of a mile.  This was not the last time I would have a “helping hand”.

Near Carson Pass

Then there was the Carson Pass rest stop.  I was the only rider there but the three club members didn’t seem to notice my presence.  Unlike the other rest stops, there was no rack for your bike, so I leaned it against one of the tent poles.  Later a gust of wind blew my bike over, but it was saved by a large water bottle.  It was wedged awkwardly between pole and bottle, and I had a cup of soup in one hand, but I was given no assistance.  However, this was my only negative experience with the support staff.  Everywhere else they were extremely friendly, helpful and appreciative that I had chosen their ride.

On the way down from Carson Pass the route turned right up towards the shortened Blue Lakes climb.  I was pretty beat by this time and very glad that the climb had been shortened.  I saw Eric again and he stopped to chat a bit and give me some much needed encouragement.  The rest stop was at the fourth gate, and the views were terrific.  I ate quite a bit of food and took some extra time to see if I could get my legs working.

Near the Blue Lake Rest Stop

I’d completed almost 90 miles with 50 remaining but was close to exhaustion.  The next 15 miles were mostly downhill with over a 2000 foot elevation loss.  I was hoping that the lower elevation and food would do the trick.  And in fact, I was feeling some better by the time I turned onto highway 89 toward Markleeville.  About this time I saw a group of riders gaining on me.  It turns out they were Alta Alpina club members.  One pulled up beside me and said, “You look like you could use a push”, and he put his “helping hand” on my shoulder and pushed me for about 200 yards.  After this help, I felt so good that I tucked in behind them and drafted for the next mile or so.

Just before arriving back at the start at Turtle Rock Park, the route took a left turn up Airport Rd.  This extra six miles had been added at the last minute to make up for the closure of the top part of the Blue Lakes climb.  The club members had told me that it was only a 500 foot climb which was true.  However, the route continued down over the peak and descended another 500 feet.  It was a pretty area and the grade wasn’t too bad, but I was getting very concerned about the 6:30pm cut off at the top of Monitor.  I was going to stop at Turtle Rock to talk to someone about the various cut offs and whether or not it made sense for me to attempt the fifth pass.  But there was a little rise up to the building where I might find someone to talk with, and it seemed a bit crazy to take the time and energy to find out.  So I turned around and continued on towards Monitor.

It was about seven miles to the base and another seven miles up to the pass. I stopped briefly at the rest stop at the base of Monitor and saw some of the eight pass folks who had just finished Ebbetts.  On my way up I calculated that I just needed to average 5mph to make the cut off.  This seemed reasonable for the first mile or so, but then things slowed down.  I had never climbed Monitor (or any of the other passes), and wasn’t prepared for the sections of 8-11% grade that seemed never ending.  I stopped twice to rest which I hardly ever do while climbing.  Each time I stopped I had to have a good talk with myself about continuing.  It would have been so easy to turn around.  I was well below my 5mph and was pretty sure I’d miss the cut off.  But about two thirds of the way up I was passed by another rider who told me that they had extended the cutoff half an hour. And sure enough, even though I missed the cut off by eight minutes, I got my sticker.

Monitor Pass

I stayed in the tent at the top of Monitor for 15 minutes before attempting the descent.  On the way down I noticed that my bike felt a bit wobbly; the steering didn’t seem quite right.  But when I stopped I realized that I was shaking (from exhaustion and cold), and that it wasn’t the bike that was a bit wobbly.  So I took it easy and stopped a few times to take pictures, and I felt much better by the time I was at the base of Monitor.

Monitor Descent

The return to the start wasn’t as bad as I had feared, but my pace was slow, and for some reason I had decided that I wanted to make it back by 8pm.  This was half an hour after the original cut off, but I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be DNFed if I made it by then.  So at 7:57 I put my bike on the rack at the finish and by 7:58 #480 had checked in.  Apparently, my Kingsbury sticker had come off, so I was a bit shocked when they listed me as completing only four passes.  But they took my word for it that I had completed five.  Eric had said he was going to do six passes if possible, and he showed up about fifteen minutes later having done just that.  They had some pretty good food for us at the finish, so we just sat around and compared notes for awhile before heading back to our place at Kirkwood.

This was the hardest ride I’d ever done and the closest I’d ever come to quitting.  At the finish I swore I’d never do it again, but on the way back to Kirkwood we were already talking about which passes we’d include in our ride next year.  Since some of my riding buddies are doing the Death Ride this year, I had considered seeing if I could get an entry.  But after the Alta Alpina Challenge, I think I’ll pass.

The event started much the same as the 200k and the 300k leaving from the Golden gate in the wee early morning. This 6pm start was in the daylight without rain, this was a good sign. Art Cruz had asked if we could ride together because he had never done a Brevet out of San Francisco and the cue sheets had a lot of turns that could get him lost. Not haven ridden with Art in a number of years I was a little concerned about our possible different riding styles.

The ride started right on time and soon we were able to settle down, once you are on the bike many of the worries seem to go away. The ride out to the first checkpoint 2 Point Reyes Station was cold but nothing we had not prepared for, things were looking good. After a great Chocolate bread pudding that was just out of the oven, I knew I was in heaven, things could not be better riding and eating life was wonderful. I was right things would not get better, soon we started to get the jest of the ride, rolling hills and a constant headwind and I say that with a capital H.

Art and I found that we rode well together and grouped together with other riders during the more winder portions of the ride. The next checkpoint 3 was Peet’s coffee in Petaluma, things were still going well and the Latte with heaps of sugar hit the spot, on to checkpoint 4. We were starting to get a little tired of the rollers and the headwind they seem to sap the strength. Checkpoint 4 was in Healdsburg and it was getting late in the day so there was no soup at Safeway something my mind was hoping for the last few miles. I was able to make up for the lack of soup with a great croissant chicken salad sandwich.

The fun Begins!

Coming out of Healdsburg you go up to Cloverdale where the climbing begins, not like the rollers are actually climbs. Art and I were riding with a group of six when we started the climb, although it was only a 1300ft climb the grade wore you down. I was the first to the top and was feeling good the rest did not fare as well; the blood was running from the wounds of those that overlap wheels on a slow climb, nothing fatal just more battle scars. The run out to Checkpoint 5 proved be harder than expected, 93 miles between checkpoints and the sun going down. The ride support people had set up a bag drop about 30 miles from Ft Bragg and it was a God sent. Something to eat some extra water and the adding of lights and we were off for Fort Bragg, well after some messing with my rear derailleur, things not shifting right.

Wind is howling coming into Ft Bragg around 10pm temperature around freezing and can’t get worm. After putting on two polypro under layers arm warmers and two jackets I decide it is too cold to ride on. Thanks to Art and six plastic bags and one large paper bag under my jersey I was ready to go.

After messing with my rear derailleur again we were off, much in hopes of finally getting to ride with the wind and not into it. 181 miles of headwind was enough for me. We made it back to the Bag drop and were greeted buy some of the greatest volunteers ever, hot bean soup “yes I finally got my soup” and hot Chocolate and best of all and roaring fire. It soon became apparent I was toast I had thrown up everything I ate at Ft Bragg and the soup looked like it would have the same fate. Art was ready to ride and we had 50 miles to Cloverdale to a Hotel we reserved for the night. Think time line here it was 2pm and it had taken us 4 hours to do the 50 miles from Cloverdale. We said our good bye and Art road off in the freezing weather a better man than me. One of the volunteers’ must have felt sorry for me because he offered me his tent and sleeping bag. I closed my eyes only to be awakened by the volunteer telling me it was 4pm time to ride “what the f@*k” I obeyed my commander and got back on the bike, after playing with the derailleur.

No tail wind and bitter cold I was praying for a climb to heat up the body, why is it that it seems to be the only flat 14 mile stretch in the whole ride in front of me. Shifter not working very well only have my two climbing gears but still have the front chain rings, thank God I have a large spread a 34 and a 54, and this will be the saving factor for the whole ride.

Watching the sun rise was glorious but the ride back to Cloverdale became a daunting task, one large climb and rollers that never seem to end. Coming into Cloverdale and seeing other riders made my day. The stomach was not altogether right but ordered pancakes and eggs anyway, got about one third down and felt better. Surprises never cease here pulls up Klay Cardona he had got 5 hours sleep and left an hour and a half after me from the bag drop and made the cutoff at Cloverdale with 15 minutes to spare.

Feeling better and the wind at our backs Kley and I dropped the hammer and make the run to checkpoint 6 Guerneville. We make it there with an hour and fifteen minutes under the cutoff, things were looking up. Still had the shifting problem and again messed with the derailleur this time deciding to oil the cable housing with sun screen, this did not work for when I pulled on the cable it broke in two. It had broken inside the shifter “not good”. Kley and I looked for a bike shop to no avail. I finally just pulled it up tight so that my rear derailleur was on a middle gear and tied it off. We were off; on the flats I would spin above 100 to keep up, using the 54, and grind out the hills with the 34 my life saver.

Pulling into checkpoint 8 brought another surprise there was Art, we got to hear Arts tale of sleeping on the concrete floor of some post office, he did make to hotel in time to shower before checkout. We made a pack to finish this thing together for without each other we would not be here. After tightening my derailleur cable some more to get me into a better climbing range we headed out of Point Reyes station to the finish. With the lower range I could not keep up on the downwind legs, I have to give it to the fixed gear people they are nuts. Only four climbs left with the lower gear I could grind out without walking but knew that the last climb up to the Golden gate would do me in.

At last climb, I talked Art and Kley to go on ahead because I would most likely walk most of it. Pulling the derailleur cable up as hard as I could I was able to get almost all the way up to my climbing gear. I was determined I was going to make it. Coming around the last part of the climb before you cross the road and cross the Golden Gate there was Art and Kley not willing to cross without me, a perfect ending to the most grueling rides I have ever done.

We hit the checkpoint finish line at 8:13pm and all got the same time, 36 hours and 13 minutes.

The rollers added up to 23,342 ft of climbing, total distance 375 miles, knocked off the bike twice by the wind. This was a once in a lifetime experience that has taken me as close to the edge as I would ever wish to get.

After transferring the course to your Edge 500, select Training from the Menu, then select Courses

Next select the course file you wish to use.

Your Garmin now has three additional screens.

The first one shows the hill profile behind and ahead of you.  This is quite useful as you are making a long climb since you get a visual clue of the grade ahead.

The nextr screen which I use primarily is the course on a simplistic map.  You can use this to navigate you way along the course.

The arrow shows where you are and the line shows what is ahead.   If you look at the screen above, it is easy enough to see you bend to the left and then a right turn is coming.  The course keeps getting updated as you move along so you can tell you are getting close to the turn.  At the top of the screen, once you are on the course, it will show the total distance to the end of the course.  If you get off course, you will receive a warning message.  Even if you are off course, but near the course, you can see your location by the pointer and the course line off to the side, and easily find your way back.

The third new screen is only there if you take the time to enter course points in Garmin Training Center.  This involves entered every turn, picking an icon to show left, right, summitt, etc, and the name of the road you turn on.  You then get a live, constantly updated route sheet.

One problem I have noted is with an out and back course.  If you did not go fully to what it thinks is the turn around point, on the way back, it seems to think you are off course and wants you to return to the turn around, but the line still shows and you can follow it back.  It is just annoying to have it flash “off course”, then “found course”, repeatedly.

by Franz Kelsch with contributions by Steve Saeedi – last updated: May 12, 2010

Years ago, as runners and cyclists, we would sometimes keep a training log in a notebook, or maybe one of those free booklets that Runner’s World magazine gave free if you renewed. I started to keep my workouts in an Excel spreadsheet, which I keep up through today. Computer based programs were released and as manufactures starting to sell devices which provided for data upload, they usually included some program to work with their device.

There has been a recent explosion in the number of websites that allow you to track your workouts online. With the growing popularity of GPS enabled devices for cycling and running, most of these sites allow you to upload your workout directly from the device, making the process much simpler. Why would someone use a web based approach to a training log? There are a several of key advantages to using a web based program. First it is device independent. To this day, Polar still has not released a Mac version of their training program. Some programs have been released only on a Mac. None of these work on mobile devices, such as smart phones. All these limitations are solved by using a web based approach.

There is the additional advantage with the movement to social networks. If I put my workout in my own log, it is not visible to anyone else. With the web based options discussed here, you can share those with your friends who are using the same web based application, over social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and embed code inside your own blogs and websites. The social aspect is enhanced with many of these sites offering a Leader board so you can compare your training with your friends or even all users of that site.

Just a couple of years ago web applications were very limited. That has changed significantly and some of the best web based applications, such as Strava, using Ajax features to give you the feel you are using a local based program. In addition, most all of the web applications are free to use, funded by advertising. So is there any downside to using a web based application? The answer is yes and it is common to the movement to the cloud for both data and applications. Your data is stored somewhere else. It is often impossible to export it out. If the site shuts down then you have lost all your data. So you may wish to keep a local copy of the data using the program that came with your device. My Excel spreadsheet has lasted for well over 10 years, as technology has come and gone.

We are looking at the following web based applications. This is not an all inclusive list, but does include many of the popular sites that allow tracking of workouts.

• Garmin Connect – A free only site geared to those using Garmin GPS devices but does allow manual input .  Also allows for GPX update of Garmin and non-Garmin workouts. Also provides elevation correction for devices that don’t have elevation or barometric altimeters. Can export activities in any number of formats.
• Strava – A subscription only site that allows GPS upload and manual that automatically shows how you are doing compared with other users climbing the same hills.  For devices that don’t have power meters, Strava will calculate and chart wattage for devices that have barometric altimeters. Cannot export activities.  They recently released an iPhone application.
• Plus 3 Network – A free site that allows both GPS upload and manual input.  It has a unique aspect that let’s you earn money for your selected cause, based on your miles.  Each of the optional causes has a sponsor who pays the money.  You earn money based on your miles and/or time depending on type of workout. Cannot export activities.  They have an iPhone application.
• Daily Mile – A free site that is more geared to runners. Allows both GPS upload and manual input.  A Facebook type social network approach to sharing your workouts.  Cannot export activities.
• Training Peaks – A free site, with premium option, that allows GPS upload and manual input.  Some very detailed analysis tools.  You can print workouts but not export the data.
• Ride With GPS – A free only site (provision for donations).  Excellent mapping tools.  Allows upload of GPS files for plotting courses and downloaded of courses to GPS devices.  For devices that don’t have power meters, the site will calculate and chart wattage for devices that have barometric altimeters. You can export individual workouts in a number of formats.
• Map My Ride and Map My Run – Free sites, with various premium options.  Geared toward those who wish to map out their running and cycling courses that can be downloaded to GPS devices.   They do support upload of workout information but do not support uploading from a Garmin Edge 500.   Heavy advertising on free sites is intentionally annoying to encourage you to pay for on of the premium options.  They provide iPhone applications (both free and paid) that allow you to use the iPhone’s GPS to track your route and upload it.

Below is a summary table followed by a detailed review for each site with many screen shots included.

Garmin Connect

If you connect a Garmin device to your computer (either Mac or PC), and click Upload, the workouts are automatically sent to Garmain Connect.  The map of the course and workout details are shown.  You can view the data by splits and also on some of the included graphs.

There is a player option that shows your workout parameters as the pointer moves along the course.  You can easily share your workout on Facebook and get some code to embed the workout in a website or blog.

You can search for other posted routes in your area and download the route to your Garmin device.  There is a nice calendar view that makes it easy to find a particular workout.  It shows the total miles per week, but it adds cycling and running miles together.  There is not tracking of miles on a year to date basis.

The data closely matches the input from the Garmin device, including your split times, calorie estimate and distances.

Strava

This is the only site being reviewed that has no free option, which will make it not an option for many users.  It accommodates other types of workouts but is best suited for cycling.  At this point, it is the only site, other than Garmin Connect,  that will upload Garmin Edge 500 files by simply clicking Upload.  Other sites require browsing to the FIT file or do not support the Garmin Edge 500, one of the newer Garmin devices.

If you drag the pointer along the elevation profile at the bottom, it will show you location on the map and some of your key data at that point in the workout below the map.   This site has a Leaderboard that ranks all users on a week to date based on such things as miles and climbing.  One of the unique features is it will use the uploaded GPS data to see that you climbed a particular hill and show how you compare with others who did the same climb, and provide for an automatic KOM listing.  Below shows the ranking in Strava for the Metcalf climb (in California).

There is also a map for the hill climb and if you run the pointer along the profile, it shows where you are at that point in time compared with the KOM leader.

It is easy to share your workout with Facebook. The site will estimate your power output along the course, unique amongst all the sites reviewed.  You can get graphs for the whole ride or for a particular split.

There is a unique calendar view, with a graph of  miles for each day, with a link to the workouts that day, making it easy to find a particular workout.  It shows your total miles, but adds running and cycling miles together.

You can track which bike you are riding, but beyond that there is no way to track equipment usage.  Strava users can join clubs and see how they are doing with other club members.  You can also have selected Friends.

A unique aspect of Strava is it’s estimate of average power output for the entire ride, or one segment, such as a climb.  Another nice feature is to find local routes, climbs and other athletes.  This could be of great value to someone cycling in an area they are not familiar with.

Plus 3 Network

This site is unique in that it now only allows you to upload your workout, but has a sponsor/cause system so you earn money for your selected clause, paid by the sponsor.

As you do any activity (run, cycle, walk, even volunteer time), you get earn “Kudos”, and therefore more money for your cause.  If you upload a GPS file instead of manually inputting your workout you get more Kudos per mile.  The site does have some graphs for your workout, but only for the entire workout and not by split.  It offers a calendar view of your workouts, but there is not a good way for you to see such things as your accumulated miles over the year or month.  It adds all miles together, regardless of the type of sport.

The site supports some social network features.  You can request another user to be your “friend”.  The site provides a leader board that starts each month and shows how many “Kudos” each person has earned.  You can compare yourself against your friends or everyone on the site.

The social network features are limited and it is not easy to post your network to Facebook.

Daily Mile

When you enter the site you feel you might have entered into Facebook by mistake.  The site is heavily oriented toward social networking.  Many people (including myself) post a lot of work out information on Facebook, but having a site dedicated to those who really might be interested could be useful.

The site offers good tools for showing your miles per week, month and for the year.  They have a calendar view to find your workouts.

There is a leaderboard where you can compare yourself with just your friends, or all users of the site.

The site provides for GPS upload but does not currently support the Garmin Edge 500, so I have been unable to test the mapping features.  You an attach gear, such as running shoes, or a particular bicycle to each workout and then track the mileage on that particular piece of gear.  There is no way to export your workouts.

Training Peaks

Training Peaks probably offers the most features of any of the sites, so many that you can get lost in the site.   It allows you upload GPS data (including browsing to Garmin Edge 500 FIT files) and manul input.   It also allows uploading of Polar HRM files, one of the few websites that supports this.  There are three main views of your workouts, Calendar, Spreadsheet and Dashboard.

The dashboard allows you to add “pods” and track nutrition.  The site allows you to view your data over many different data ranges, such as last 28 days, last 14 days, this week last year, last two years and many more.  For those who are interested in how their training is racking up, this is an excellent site.  It is also the only site that makes it easy to see how  much of your effort is between different sports, while most sites just add all miles together.

There is a very detailed map and graph view.  The graph is very detailed, almost too much so.

You can easily share your workout with others, such as Facebook.  It will even create a shortened URL to use.   You can attach gear, such as running shoes and bicycles to workouts and then track the mileage on that gear.  There is no way to export your data, other than to print it.  I did not evaluate the Premium options because the costs for premium seems to high for post users.

Ride with GPS

This is a free site with excellent mapping tools but none of the annoying advertising like Map My Ride/Map My Run.  It does ask for donations.  You can view your workouts in table or calendar view.

You can upload data directly from a GPS device, or use their excellent mapping tools to draw the course.  If you draw a course, it will create the turn by turn route sheet, although it has errors at times.  Unlike MayMyRide, everyone an print the route sheet.  It has good provisions for embedding the map in a website or blog.  It is also easy to share your workout on Facebook.  Although you can manually input a workout, it wants to know the route, so this site is not recommended for those who do not have a GPS and don’t want to draw out every route they use.  This is understandable because the site is more oriented to mapping than to tracking workouts.

For your workouts you can view the map, workout data, and some graphs.

It will show your activity totals by week, but combines miles from various sports.  There is no feature to see your miles over the course of a year.

MapMyRide and MapMyRun

This site allows you to draw a map of your course, or upload a Garmin GPS file or Polar HRM file.  It does not currently seem to support the Garmin Edge 500 so I had to export to a TCX file to upload.

The main screen has four sections, nestled in excessive advertising.

This screen capture shows how cluttered the screen can be.  The map of your workout is small compared with the excessive advertising.

If you click on the map from an uploaded GPS file, or one you draw, you get a good map view and a nice profile view at the bottom that shows you the percent grade along the route.

The MapMy series as several iPhone applications that allow you to use the GPS in the phone to track your ride/run/walk and upload via the 3G network to the MapMyRide website.  You can export routes, including the ones you draw, to various formats.  MayMyRide has strong mapping tools and allows you to draw maps even on bike trails, something most mapping websites do not support.  A new Leaderboard is being added.  There is strong support for sharing your information via social networks or embedding some code in a website or blog.

There are three paid options, $30, $60 and $99 a year.  Of all the sites, MapMyRide seems to be the most commercialized, which has some advantages in terms of features, but with the downside of the constant nagging to get you to pay something.

In another post I wrote about the many cycling power meters that are available to measure in real time the power a cyclists is applying to the pedals. This article provides some of the science behind cycling power and formulas that are being used on the Ultra Cycling website to estimate power for those riders who do not have a power meter. If you are one of the many cyclists who mistakenly say that the effort goes up the the square of the speed, you might want to read this article.

Work, Energy and Power

These terms all mean something different, but are indeed related.  A basic understanding is needed before we move on to discussing Power in cycling.

Work refers to an activity of a force being applied and movement over a distance in the direction of the force.  If you cycle up a hill you are doing Work. The typical unit of the force being applied is newtons.  One newton is equal to the amount of force required to accelerate a mass of one kilogram at a rate of one meter per second per second.

Energy is the capacity to do Work.   The source of energy came come from potential energy, as when descending, or energy produced by your body. The typical unit of measurement is the joule. One joule is the energy exerted by the force of one newton acting to move an object through a distance of one meter. The calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It is still used for food energy, referred to as Calorie (capital C).  This is called a kg calorie, or 1,000 gram calories. One gram calorie equals approximately 4.2 joules so one Calorie (as in food) equals 4,200 joules, or 4.2 kj.  The body is not that efficient in using the energy in food and only about only 18 to 26 percent of the energy available from respiration is converted into mechanical energy. Considering this efficiency, 1 Calorie of food consumed (4.2 kj energy) can produce 1 kj of energy to the pedals.

Power is the rate of using Energy.  If Energy were money in your pocket, then Power would be how fast you are spending the money and what you bought with your money would be the Work accomplished. The typical unit of Power is the watt.  One watt is equal to 1 joule of energy per second. When we are taking about Power output when cycling, as measured in watts, we are taking about the rate we are expending Energy to moving the bicycle and rider forward (Work).  If the cyclists is applying a power of 100 Watts to the pedals, that means 100 joules per second, or 360 kj per hour. To replace that energy, the cyclists would need to consume about 360 Calories of food per hour.

Forces in Cycling

There are certain forces opposing motion of the bicycle that the rider needs to provide energy to overcome. These forces are:

• Rolling Resistance. This  is friction from contact with the road. It is affected by the bike quality, tire, road surface, tire pressure and weight of of the ride and bicycle.  At very low speeds, on a flat surface, this is the main force.
• Air and Wind Resistance.  Air is a fluid (although one with low density) and any object moving through the air will encounter friction. It is a function of the speed of the bike plus the wind speed, the area and shape of the cyclists and bike, and the speed being traveled.
• Gravity. When climbing the rider needs to put in sufficient energy to “lift” their own body weight plus the weight of the bike. It is is a function of the grade and speed.  As the elevation increases, the potential energy increases.  This potential energy can provide energy back whenever the cyclists descends.

Power is the work required per unit of time to overcoming the net forces acting on the rider and bicycle. If you add each of the above forces and multiple by the speed, the result is the power required. The power is applied by the pedals and equals the force applied to the pedals times the velocity of the pedal movement.

Estimating Power Output

Those interested in the math can read further on how to estimate the power required to overcome each of the forces on the cyclists. These are simplified formulas dealing primarily with static forces and do not take into account all items that affect the forces such as wind, impact of turbulence, mechanical fiction in the drive train, etc.

Rolling Resistance

Terms

• Frl – Force, in newtons, caused by rolling resistance
• Prr – Power, in watts, to overcome Frl
• Crr -  coefficient of rolling resistance – typically 0.004 but can be as high as 0.008 for bad asphalt or as low as 0.001 for a wooden track.
• g – acceleration due to gravity – 9.8 m/s2
• Wkg – mass of the ride plus bicycle in kg
• Vmps – Veloicty in meters/sec

Formulas

• Frl = Wkg x  g x  Crr
• Prr = Frl x Vmps

Example

Take a rider and bike combined weight of 165 lbs (75 kg) traveling at traveling at 20  mph ( 8.92 meters per second), using Cff of 0.004 and with g being 9.8 meters/sec/sec.  The force would be:

• Frl = 75kg x 9.8 m/s2 x 0.004 = 2.94 newtons.
• Prl = 8.92 m/s x 2.94 newtons = 26 watts

Since the power is proportional to speed, the same rider traveling at 5 mph would require 6.5 watts to overcome rolling resistance.

Air and Wind Resistance:

Terms

• Fw – Force on rider and bicycle due to wind drag
• Cw – drag coefficient, typically 0.5
• Rho – air density in kg/m .  Depends on temperature and  barometric pressure. Some typical values are sea level: 1.226, 1500m: 1.056 and 3000m: 0.905
• Vmps – Speed in meters/sec
• A – effective frontal area of the rider and bicycle in m^2.  Typical value is 0.5.

Formulas

• Fw =  1/2 A Cw Rho Vmps^2
• Pw = Fw Vmps

Example

Take a rider and bike combined weight of 165 lbs (75 kg) traveling at traveling at 20  mph ( 8.92 meters per second), with no headwind, using Cw of 0.5, Rho of 1.226 and front area of 0.5. The force due to wind drag would be:

• Fw = 1/2 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 1.226 x 8.92 x 8.92 = 12.19 newtons
• Pw = 12.19 newtons  x 8.92 m/s  = 108 watts.

If you at traveling at 5 mph, instead of 20 mph then:

• Pw = (1/2 x 0.5 x 0.5 x 1.226 x 2.23 x 2.23) x 2.23 = 1.7 watts

Gravity:

Terms

• Fsl – Force in newtons due to the pull of the rider and bicycle down the slope
• Psl – Power in watts required to overcome the force of Fsl
• Wkg – Combined weight of the rider and bicycle in kg
• g – Acceleration due to gravity, 9.8 m/s^2
• GradHill – gradient of the hill, in decimal, the ratio of the rise to the horizontal run.

Formulas

• Fsl = Wkg x g x GradHill
• Psl = Fsl x Vmps

Example

Take a rider and bike combined weight of 165 lbs (75 kg) traveling at traveling at 5  mph ( 2.23 meters per second), climbing a hill with a grade of 12% (GradHill = 0.12).  The force due to gravity would be:

• Fsl = 75 x 9.8 x 0.12 = 88.2 newtons
• Psl = 88.2 x 2.23 = 196 watts.

Combined Forces

Formula

• Total Power = Prl + Pw + Psl   or Total Power = (Frl + Fw + Fsl) x Vmps

Examples

Using the values we already calculated in the above examples:

• Flat Road, 20 mph:  Total Power = 26 +108 = 134 watts.  Here most of the power is used to overcome air drag
• Flat Road, 5 mph: Total Power = 6.5 + 1.7 = 8.2 watts.  Here most of the power is used to overcome rolling resistance
• Climb, 5 mph, 12% grade: Total Power = 6.5 + 1.7 + 196 = 204 watts.  Here most of the power is used to overcome gravity.

Some cyclists mistakenly say the power needed goes up by the square of the speed. Although the force due to air drag goes up by the square of the speed, the power required due to air drag goes up by the cube the cube of the speed.  Speed has a linear impact on rolling resistance force and no impact on gravitational forces.  Remember to get power we multiple the force by the speed.  Air drag forces already have the square of the speed in the formula so to get power your multiple by speed once again.

Real World

The above calculations are based on a simplistic model and exclude the effect of wind and some other dynamic forces.   Wind is very seldom zero and even on a circular course there is net loss of power due to wind, assuming wind is constant. There are also factors influenced by aerodynamics of the type of clothing being worn, the type of helmet, the biking position, turbulence caused as the air flows past the rider.  Except in the case of a tail wind, all these other factors will increase the power required. For climbing significant grades these additional factors are small compared with gravity and can be ignored.  However for flatter terrain at high speeds, some additional watts or power output will usually be measured.

References:

• Analytical Cycling
• Saris CycleOps Website
• Bicycle Science, by David Gordon Wilson, April 2004.