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December 11, 2004 - PAGE 2
Coulda shoulda, woulda Section
a) Should have used Gatorade in all bottles and Camelback - I went with
1/2 and 1/2 in bottles and just water in the camelback
b) experimented with e-caps, as it helps to prevent cramping with all its
electrolytes.
c) not jammed at the 3 hour mark when I was feeling extremely confident
about my position and on a fast Tiko's wheel.
d) done more 53x12 1 hour intervals on the turbo trainer to simulate the
climbs. The hills around here are for the most part, sprinters hills, and
those mountains need excellent steady smooth long efforts.
e) weights to maintain muscle mass and strengthen the muscles that aren't
hit by our terrain
f) if there was enough time in the schedule, coming earlier to get used
to the heat.
Things that went well
a) used a heart rate monitor to stay in control and not get carried away,
especially at the start. Hit 173 (max is 183) for first 25 minutes of the
first climb. Averaged 165 for first couple of hours - goal was 160.
b) used Hutchinson Mosquito 1.85 on the back to help with the soupy red
mud, and Python on front - both tubeless with no issues.
c) tricky washed out clay descents were handled relatively painlessly thanks
to the dual suspension Santa Cruz, which turned out to be a huge benefit
in stages 2 and 3.
Stage 2 Details (San Jose to the bottom of Irazu Mountain in
the Coffee
plantations)
Woke up feeling a cold coming on, probably from the AC and the drain on the body from stage 1. But this is a common stage race feeling I could recount from an earlier stage racing life on the road. The typical stage race feeling is feeling like sh*t off the bike, and feeling normal on it. So our bikes are cleaned and ready to go in downtown San Jose at the start. A quick switch to a Python and Stan's on the back, some rolled down arm warmers, and knee warmers and we are all set for the eventual cold decent off the Irazu Volcano and all of it's boulders and rocks. But first, the ascent. There are 4 aid stations with the 3rd one at the very top. The plan is to pace a bit better than day 1, by taking it easy to aid station 2, and hammering between 2-3, and putting in a good safe decent from 3 on.
We started on the road for about 20k. I took the front a couple of times
just so I could say I lead the race :) The field splinted on the road climb
and I "let" the front group of 20 go, happy to sit in the second
group of 5. The heart rate showing 158 on the first climb and I'm
in about 20th, I was liking the pace early on and felt good about "redemption".
We went through some extremely steep sections, small ring x 32 till we
hit the main road climb to the volcano (middle ringx32). We had been climbing
for about 2.5 hours when we saw a sign for the top - 12k to go. Today I
had a guy from Colorado and another from Wyoming to talk to - unlike yesterday
when Spanish was the language spoken. The plan was in tact, and at aid
station 2, I dropped my companions looking to close out the 3.25 hour climb
to 10,000 feet and the top. 20 minutes of jamming and still a long way
to go, I started experiencing a power outage. No cramping, but the explosive
power was escaping me. To this point we could see the group in front had
split and we were catching the 10 through 20 group. But the climb was longer
than I planned on, and didn't have the power to finish it off. Instead
I got caught by a small group at aid station 3 including the Canadian Masters
Champion - Jean from Quebec. We hit the much welcomed decent, and I flew
by the group that had caught me, much to my delight thanks to the beautiful
dual suspension Super Light Santa Cruz. I also didn't know there was
another hour of climbing left. The combination of the effort from yesterday
and the altitude didn't leave me with the power needed through the volcano
section. Every downhill I'd catch Jeff, the climber from Boulder and he'd
pass me going up, till we finally hit the major decent of the day. At least
30k, of huge boulders all down hill. This was the reason I got a dual suspension.
It bucked you around at speed, but not nearly like those on a hard tail
single suspension. I flew over the boulders, and around the switch backs,
and through the coffee fields to the finish, caught one guy with 200 meters
to go, to finish about 27th. Jeff came in about 20 minutes later - this
attributes to the bike alone.
I was disappointed with the power outage in my legs, but happy with clearing
the decent, especially after hearing and seeing the blood and gory of others
- don't want to think about that :( No I.V. required today, but
the fabulous massage and great local food really helped me relax. I was
feeling all better now from day 1. We stayed at the most beautiful hotel
overlooking the mountains in little cabana like rooms.
Everything you'd expect from a Costa Rican vacation was included.
