EPIC TRAINING SYSTEMS
Endure, Excel, Achieve
2009 Trans Iowa V.5 Race Report Page 3
We help athletes
achieve their goals
to win, race, or be
fit, and to discover
for themselves our
passion for cycling.
achieve their goals
to win, race, or be
fit, and to discover
for themselves our
passion for cycling.
CHECKPOINT #3 (mile 217) TO THE FINISH (Mile 314) Jeremy and I rolled off together and it was time to face the demons. If you haven't done overnight Ultras the next few paragraphs are going to go over your head. But if you have then we are brothers in arms. First phase or symptom is the overall fatigue. The calorie and fat deficit from the 20+ hours of riding really come into play now. If there has been extreme heat or cold during the previous daylight hours you are typically in really sad shape before you begin your overnight adventure. The heat has left you dehydrated most of the day and you pray for sunset. On the other extreme, the cold of the day has required more calories to keep your body core temperature where your body likes to function. Second phase or "symptom" comes in the form of your battle with the Sandman -- your sleep deprivation battle. The battle between your conscious mind and your Circadian rhythms. You play games now where you trade two seconds of shut-eye with misguided hopes of magical alertness that will follow. You wonder why you can't have this type of sleep when you're at home on your comfy bed. It continues to worsen as you believe you can actually ride with your eyes closed and nothing will happen. But then you snap back to reality as you find yourself inches from impending doom-- the ditch on the side of the road or heading into oncoming traffic. Then your conscious mind takes over and you become rational. You pull over and think if I can take a 10 minute power nap I will be ready to go. I don't know if this happens to you but as soon as I pull over and dismount I'm WIDE awake and there is no way I can catch a nap. So I get back on the bike and start the cycle over. This cycle repeats itself for hours and hours. For me this weakness manifests itself between the hours of 2am and 5am. No amount of caffeine, sugar or calisthenics (yes I've done them and push-ups) on the side of the road helps. Some overnighters are better than others but at varying levels I experience all aforementioned "symptoms" of sleep deprivation. Jeremy and I rode, walked and trudged through gravel and B roads through the night. We were inseparable and many times we went, what seemed like, hours without talking to each other. It's incredible the bond you can create when suffering with someone else through the dark of night. The bond is unspoken. The respect is earned and given without question. We are in this together and we'll come out the other end together. Sounds melodramatic? Go do an unsupported overnighter "out there" and report back. We were on the bike 24+ hours when we came to the Hwy 30- Hwy 63-- W Ross point of our race. We were lost. We had come out of a B-Road and couldn't find W Ross. We went up a long gentle climb (but a climb nonetheless) and then down the hill back to were we started. Yep we were lost. I was very frustrated. This is the final phase of the battle with the overnight demon. This is when your resolve is tested. This is what separates the heros and the also-rans in our story. The hero, in his weakest and most vulnerable state, must slay the overnight demon. Someone lesser and not up to the task will just break down on the side of the road. Picture if you will, two fatigued, sleep deprived, and hungry cyclists on the side of the road in the dark of night with a cue sheet that only has the essential left and right turns with no other descriptors to aid you. You look at your computer and compare with the other rider. You try to act in control but inside you are first frustrated then you're seething because there should be no doubt. You seek clarity. You doubt yourself wondering if you missed a turn. You wonder if you were alert enough to notice anything that would have kept you on-course. Time precious time ticks away as you waste time trying to find your way. You know you are quarry to another rider/riders coming behind you so you dare not tarry. This was not the first time we were off-course that night or that day for that matter. But there is that one time in every race you remember the most and this was it. Finally, I said let's find food (I was starving AGAIN) and then we'll figure it out. Lo and behold when we pull into to a gas station in Toledo (I think) there are three (I think) other riders one of which is Ben Shockey. It was 4:48 am (time stamp of the photos lol!) of Sunday morning and we were about 50 miles from the finish. I ate a roller dog. I should've had two. I just didn't know how my stomach would react to it. Ben informs us that they have found the W Ross turn and that we are close to it from the gas station. We all (five riders I think) rolled off together but Jeremy and I were feeling good so we found our pace which was just slightly faster than Ben's group. The countdown has begun. We are counting down the miles and the clock is still on our side to be considered official finishers. I'm in a strange and unfamiliar role. It has been years since I have had to worry about making the finishing time on an event to be considered an official finisher. But this is Trans Iowa and things are different for me here. Soon after leaving Toledo you could just see the beginning of a sunrise. It is amazing the hope and relief that first light brings to a downtrodden and defeated cyclist. To that overally fatigued cyclist, the colors in the sky are just as beautiful as a sunset. First you see just the outer edge of this fabulous fireball. Then as if the curtains are opened, and the leading actor takes his mark on the stage, the sun , oh glorious sun blinds you with it's brilliance. I felt refreshed. I felt like this new day would wipe away all the pain and suffering of the previous 24 hours. I felt like no matter what happened next I was going to finish now. We were only a "club ride" away from the finish. All was going well for Jeremy and I. The new day had dawned. We were resupplied and more importantly back on course. Wouldn't you know it, his rear der cable snapped or something like that. We pulled over to repair it and even though he urged me to go on without him I insisted that I would stay with him and we would cross that finish line together. As we are repairing Jeremy's bike, here comes Ben's group and they have picked up another rider, Charlie Farrow. They stopped asked if we needed anything and then rolled on. One more fuel stop at Belle Plaine (39 miles from the finish) were we see Ben and Charlie's group. Once back on the road I was on fire. I was a horse heading back to stables. We hit some flatter roads before another section of those GD rollers. But I was Big- Ringing them and feeling on top of the world. Jeremy was not feeling the same. I had made my decision a couple of hundred miles ago that Jeremy and I would finish together and so I throttled back. We crossed the line with a couple of hours to spare before the cut-off. I was Trans Iowa V.5 finisher. My placing didn't matter as much as being able to say I finished. The cowbell and the cheering brought up so many emotions but all I could do was smile ... and smile. Photos courtesy of K. Steudel |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
|
Custom Search
|
|
|
|
