Race Report for Highland Rim Classic from DavidB (May 29)

HIGHLAND RIM RACE REPORT-2006


EQUIPMENT

BIKE: Colnago CT1, Power Tap on a Zipp 303, Velomax Circuit front wheel.
HEART: Lactic Threshold at 153, Maximum at 166-7, did see one tick at 168 last year (as you will soon see this is relevant).

BACKGROUND

Last year on the 57 mile road race I encountered severe muscle cramps about two thirds through the race and was just able to hang on to the finish.

Since then I have been trying to figure out how to escape the cramping. So last summer on a not particularly hot day, I tested my water consumption on a 2 hour 45 minute lower endurance pace ride and was quite surprised to discover I lost a gallon and a quart, 10 pounds of water. Believable for a 300 pound lineman, but surprising for a lean cyclist.

"Crampnomore" a web site that advertises in "Bicycling" claims that sodium causes muscles to contract and that potassium and perhaps magnesium cause them to relax. Thus cramping is caused by a shortage of these two latter elements. A survey of medical journals was far less conclusive, believing it was due to water or electrolyte imbalance at the cellular level, but had little definitive information or solution.

The head trainer at the University of Memphis, in a lengthy conversation with me, laid out alternative strategies for dealing with cramping, including the University of Oklahoma football team`s (Alka-Seltzer), but they all revolve around hydration and electrolytes.

ROAD RACE 2006

My hydration and electrolyte strategy before and during the race included 3 cans of V8, which contain a total of 2,640 mg of sodium, 2,160 mg of potassium, 1 potassium tablet and 2 magnesium tablets, 2 bottles of Accelerade, 1 bottle of Gatorade, a banana, two packs of Power Bar Gel which containing 90 mg each of sodium and potassium, and an additional 28 oz bottle of water. All of this was on top of my normal diet which included carbohydrate loading beginning Thursday. Fortunately it was a cool day, with temperatures in the 50`s.

You have heard me say I do not like riding with 30`s and 40`s, and this race was a classic example. Rarely are races tried to be won in the beginning stage, but this one was. It exploded from the start, and it was a scramble not to get dropped in the first mile. I held on through the first 15 miles to the big climb, and then, of course the peloton spread out. I climbed with a 50%2B guy who I thought I should be able to stay with and with Skip Higgins who rides with Indiana Masters out of Indianapolis, an awesome rider who was soon to smoke the field. After reaching the top of the climb I was soon caught by a 40%2B rider who was hell bent on catching those up front. It was all I could do to hold his wheel as we hit 30 mph at some points. He complained that I was not taking a pull, I explained reality, did give him a rest, but at slower speeds, before he put the hammer down and I eventually had to let him go. I was soon overtaken by a group of 5 who I rode through the feed zone with but about 2 miles later, at about the 25 mile mark, cramps began developing in my hip flexors, and soon spread to my inner thighs and then my quads. I tried to recover by skipping pulls, massaging, pounding, stretching, none of which worked, but to make a long painful story short, I dropped off this group, rode for 20-30 minutes by myself in the strong winds up on the rim at lower power levels, until another group caught me. I struggled and stayed with them, but on the gentle climb to the finish line had to watch them ride away because the only way to stop totally locking up was to apply very little power. Unfortunately one of those riders was in my age group, a rider who originates from the Alps, but now lives in Canada.

After the race I checked my numbers and was surprised to see my heart rate average only 8 ticks below LT for the 2 hours, 40 minutes. I was eager to download the race and study the data.

It was almost shocking:

3 minutes into the race I had spent half the time above LT.
12 minutes into the race I had still spent over half the time above LT.
15 miles into the race, over the rollers to the major climb, we averaged just under 25 mph.
At that point I had spent more than 11 minutes over LT.
The next 21 minutes during the climb I was over LT, 19 minutes of that above 160 with several recorded peaks of 170, a new record high.
The data also showed that as I buried the heart rate needle, power steadily declined through the climb.
At 84 minutes into the race I had spent 49 minutes over LT, with an average at that point just 1.5 beats below LT.

I would not have believed this is even possible.
No wonder my legs rebelled. Lucky my heart did not.
Is it reasonable to expect fluids and electrolytes to eliminate the rebellion?

Must I now teach myself to let people ride away from me on climbs? That will be difficult!

TIME TRIAL

I returned to the motel room to attempt a recovery. I consumed a liter of Pedialyte, a quart of chocolate milk, a bottle of Endurox fortified with glutamine, a Pepsi, ate 3 bananas, repeatedly used the roller stick on my leg muscles, and tried to sleep, which was frequently interrupted by trips to the bathroom to relieve my bladder.

The time trial is just 2.5 miles long, up the mountain at an average 8% grade. I expected that Indiana Skip, starting a minute back to overtake me by about mid way up, at least I hoped it would not be before then. When he did not show it encouraged me. At 2/3rd of the way I was getting excited, and pushed hard to the finish. He did not catch me, but he of course beat me, I am proud to say by only 20 seconds. He told me that he gained on me for 2/3rd of the climb, but then I started pulling away. The power of the mind. The good news is that this was my first opportunity to compare this year`s riding with last year, and improved my time by 49 seconds. Average heart rate for the 15:25 was 158, but apparently not enough time to develop problems.

CRITERIUM

The criterium was moved back down town on the rebuilt streets, and reversed from the direction it used to run because of the numerous serious injuries on Dead Man Curve. I fully expected Skip to win so my goal was to beat the Canadian, which would move me into second place in the GC. I was sure I could because I easily beat him in the TT and was miles ahead of him in the RR until my legs quit, and even then he rode in just ahead of me.

Riding skills and fitness can place one in position to win races, but there is still such a thing as learning how to actually win.

So far I have mastered the skill of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Through much of the race a couple of 50s were leading, with the Canadian third, me marking him, and Skip sitting on my tail. I developed what I though was a good winning plan. If these positions held going into the last lap, I was going to sprint at the beginning of the long down hill backstretch, going to the front, making it difficult for the Canadian to work his way through the two fifties in the three following right, left, right turns. Being in the lead I could just keep the power on and make the final sweeping turn up the hill to the finish line.

At the top of the backstretch, observing that we were already going pretty fast, I abandoned my plan. Then half way down I decided to go ahead with it, but by then it was too late to pass all the riders, so I could not set up right for the turns, and worse yet did not keep the hammer down. This let the Canadian catch me, cut inside on the sweeping turn and just beat me to the line.

FINAL RESULTS

RR third, TT second, CRIT second (4th including the 50`s), GC third, all finishes ahead of other TN riders for the state points race.

Regards, David