Breathless Gameplan

After discussing how we'd both like to ride Breathless Agony this time around, we've decided to do a few things differently than last year. Hopefully, this will lead to me launching Reuben into the last section of climbing so that he can max-out his effort. He's better suited for these sorts of events than me, so I'm excited to set him up for a good time improvement over last year. Anyway, I was given a 15-minute penalty on Mulholland for missing a sticker stop, so Reuben's already in better position. Of course, we're in the bottom third of the pack for the King of the Mountains, but it'd still be great to see one of our names climb a bit in the rankings.

Section 1: Redlands, across Timoteo Canyon, through Moreno Valley, up Jack Rabbit Trail, ending at the base of the Oak Glen climb. This section took us about 2:15 last year, but we'll look to cut it to round-about 2 hours flat by taking advantage of pacelining on the flats through Moreno Valley. We're also going to conserve our energy going up the back side of Timoteo Canyon, as that's always been a climb that's hurt us.

Section 2: Oak Glen climb/descent. This section features the steep Oak Glen climb at 6.7% grade over 5 miles. The first section of the descent has some very technical turns (last year a guy got bloodied up from a hard tumble near the town of Oak Glen), but then flattens out for some high-speed descending. We've agreed that Reuben will probably go over the top of this one a bit in front of me, but I'm going to absolutely bomb the descent to catch him. Last year, this Section 2 took us 1:40 including rest stop time, but after doing the climb in 52 minutes (1:15 including the downhill) earlier this month I'm feeling pretty confident that we can do the section in less than 1:30. I fatigued a lot on this climb last year, so I will still be cautious!

Section 3: Ranger Station to Angelus Oaks, via Damnation Alley. This part was the death of me last year. It's only 12 miles, but it's 3000 feet of elevation gain, making it the longest climb in the event. For whatever reason, the miserably long and straight portion nicknamed Damnation Alley does a particularly good job of living up to its name. Last year, my body totally locked up there, with cramps in my quads, hamstrings, and calves. This time, I'm going to stay better hydrated and pop the electrolyte pills beforehand, instead of after the cramping begins. I've climbed this route in 1:35 during training, but it took a little over 2 hours during last year's Breathless Agony. I'm hoping for about 1:45-1:50, but will consider anything under 2 hours sufficient. Again, Reuben will likely arrive 2 or 3 minutes ahead of me, but hopefully I can recover quickly instead of spending 30 minutes working cramps out at the Angelus Rest Stop.

Section 4: Angelus Oaks to Onyx Summit, via Barton Flats. The first half of this section is mostly flat, so I'll sit on the front and let Reuben draft as much as possible. I'll try to hang for the first half of the last climb of the day and then send Reuben on his way to see the reaper. My work as domestique will be done and I can go at my own snail's pace from there. Of course, maybe that won't happen. Maybe I'll have the legs this time around, but there's just no way to tell ahead of time. Last year this section took us 2:30. This year, we'll be looking for just over 2 hours flat.

Overall, we are much better prepared, having done more off-season training and completing the Mulholland Challenge and Mt. Diablo this month. For comparison, last year I did 150 miles of riding in April. This year I'm just shy of 600. We'll be looking to improve last years times from just over 8:30 to somewhere in the realm of 7:45-8 hours. Despite early forecasts for rain and possibly snow at the top, the weather now reads mostly sunny and temperatures in the mid-sixties for most of the ride. Can't get much better than that. Now all that's left to do is let the suffering begin!

Mt. Diablo Century

Despite having done several 3-hour rides since Mulholland, I've been taking it pretty easy overall in the last two weeks. Two days before Diablo I went out for a spin and came back 3 hours later with 50 miles on the ole odometer, which put me in a very confident mood.

Reuben and I decided to ride the Diablo Century unsupported, since it features half the climbing of Mulholland Challenge or Breathless Agony. We didn't think there would be much challenge to 100 miles and 6500 feet of climbing now that we're joining the ranks of the KOM riders. After a stellar first 50 miles that featured a speedy ascent of Morgan Territory and some pacelining to Sunol, things took a turn for the worse.

Realizing we'd forgotten sunscreen and had become a bit hungry from killing it through the first half, we stopped at a store for supplies. Upon returning to the route we missed a turn and ended up riding 6 miles down a valley road into a nasty headwind. By the time we'd retraced our steps back to Sunol, we'd wasted an hour and become noticeably fatigued. Nearly 3 hours later, we followed the wrong marker up a 15% grade. More fun. Sun blazing down on our burnt faces, we crossed the finish 9 hours in with an on-the-bike average of 14.3mph. Bring on the Chipotle and alcohol!

The Diablo Century was an often beautiful, but deceptively difficult event. Hopefully that will translate to the perfect final training ride before Breathless Agony this coming weekend.

Mulholland Challenge 2010 Results

We came, we saw, we conquered! It took 10:37 (9:15 on the bike) to finish, but Reuben and I both successfully completed Stage One of the King of the Mountains Series.

For me, the defining moments were: the sick paceline on PCH in the morning, going up Topanga and Old Topanga like they were anthills, the jarring misery that is Little Sycamore/Cotharin/Yerba Buena, feeling worn out...at the bottom of Decker, making it to the top of Decker and passing riders along the way, taking forever to reach the top of stunt while simultaneously realizing I was one "sticker" short, flying to the finish yelling "there's no such thing as pain," Reuben crossing the line on an entirely flat tire, finding out Mulholland was 13,500 feet of climbing this year.

Looking forward to Diablo later this month, followed by Breathless Agony and Heartbreak in May. Should be epic!

Preparing for Mulholland

Since my last post, I got over the bug I had and went for a mini-camp in the Bay Area with my buddy Reuben. I did Mt. Hamilton in San Jose in the first day, then met up with Reuben for Mt. Tam and Sonoma on days two and three. Totals for that weekend were 126mi/11,000ft elevation gain.

The next week I was on vacation, and though Johanna and I brought our bikes, we didn't do as much riding as I had hoped. Still, it was a great, active week of hiking and cycling, and a much-needed change of pace.

This last weekend, I previewed the Breathless Agony route by tackling Oak Glen and Part of Angelus Oaks. Day two was I cold, epic ride up Latigo/Mulholland/Stunt in the Santa Monica Mountains. Total mileage for the weekend was 77mi/9,000ft elevation gain.

Now I'm tapering into this weekend; just a couple more easy rides in Santa Barbara. Getting excited!