03/17/2007

This morning was GABA's Mine Country Challenge.  They claim it's 96 miles, but I've never registered over 93 on my computer but the route does go through some very mountainous terrain and is indeed quite the challenge!  I didn't have any real aspirations for this ride other than to enjoy the challenge.  Today was especially difficult.  I got to the start pretty early and left about 20 minutes before the official start.  Mother Nature apparently just isn't going to cooperate this year because the ride started with a pretty strong headwind.  Combined with a very difficult climb out of Superior, that made the start really hard.  At least it was warm!  I made pretty good time and kept a pace that was hard, but felt good. 

I saw Mike Sturgill at the start, but he was doing the ride as a club ride with the Bullshifters.  I also saw Joe and Karen Zazzara with a group of friends.  They left while I was chatting with Mike about the upcoming 600k brevets.  So I rode alone for the most part.  I past Joe and Karen's group shortly after going through the tunnel outside of Globe, but I was feeling comfortable with my pace so I just wished them a good ride and kept going.  A few miles out of Miami a group of 7 or 8 passed me, so I jumped on the back for the remaining climb and the descent down into town.  The pace slowed, so I went to the front and pulled them through Miami to the climb that goes over the hill into Globe.  The pace was a bit much going up the hill, so I dropped off to ride alone again.  I had my 33 oz bottles, so I didn't stop at the first SAG stop in Globe.  That group had stopped, so I went by them.

I passed one lady as I headed out of town, but didn't see anyone else until two guys from Tucson passed me on the climb up to El Capitan.  The guy in back said "At least there's one good thing about this ride --- it's not cold!"  Anyway, they were climbing really well and I didn't even try to get on their wheel.  But they were stopped at the SAG when I got to the top.  I pulled in, filled a water bottle, ate a few halves of bananas then headed out, looking forward to a well earned descent.  Most of the descent was fast and fun.  I think I hit a high speed of 56 mph going down, but then the wind hit again and I was fighting a headwind through the flatter sections.  Just as I was about to enter the canyons leading to Winkelman, the police had the road closed off.  There was a group of cyclists near the front, so I went up to see what was going on.  Apparently a helicopter was landing in the road ahead to drop off something (not a medical helicopter), so we had to wait.  Second ride this month delayed by a helicopter!  What are the odds?  We didn't have to wait too long before they let us through.  We could faintly hear the helicopter, but I never saw it.

When we finally got going again, there was a lot of nervousness about the cars that had been stopped that were now passing us, so the group pulled off the road and waited for them to pass.  I little more warning before they decided to just stop would have been appreciated!  The dangers of riding with an unknown group of riders!  Anyway once we got going again, the group split in two, so I went up to the front group.  There was a really strong guy at the front and he kept the pace at over 30 for quite a few miles.  That was awesome!  But nobody can do that forever, so eventually he dropped back and we started rotating the paceline.  I would have been next in front, but we hit the SAG stop in Winkelman before I could take a turn.  Shucks. ;-)

I didn't stay long there either though and just filled a bottle, had a couple more banana halves, then headed out again.  There was a nice tail wind going, so I made really good time to the start of the climb near the Ray mine.  There's a really bumpy descent just before some railroad tracks and before the climb.  I was riding my 5.9SL (testing how I felt climbing with the compact crank I had Mike Cox install for me) and just after passing the railroad tracks my left arm-rest for my aerobars snapped off.  Crap.  I stuffed it in one of the rear pockets on my jersey and kept going.

When I got to the climb I slowed way down.  The efforts from the day were starting to get to me and the temperature was now somewhere in the mid to high 90s.  There was a tail wind, but it was just strong enough not to be felt, so I could enjoy the maximum amount of heat rising from the road.  Those two guys from Tucson passed me again but this time they looked like they were suffering a bit more.  I stopped at the last SAG next to the mine and filled a bottle with plain water.  Just as I was getting ready to leave that group of riders I left at Winkelman showed up.

The road is a bit flatter there, so I made decent time up to the last steep part on that climb.  Knowing that the "End of the World" climb was next, I took it really easy on the descent and the beginning of the climb.  The End of the World is 1.5 miles at an average 11% grade.  Ouch!  Throw in 95+ degree air temperature with little to no wind, and it's a brutal, brutal climb!  But it answered the question about the compact crank vs. a triple.  I'll take the triple, thank you very much!  The compact crank is an excellent choice for me on my "normal" long rides.  But anything with a significant amount of climbing, I'll switch to my 5200 w/ triple crank!  It was a very slow, hot, hard ride to the top.  I stopped twice, not to rest, but to get drinks and pour some of that water over my head.  I didn't trust myself at 4 mph to get my bottle out of it's cage.  I passed a couple guys who looked like they were just plain done.  They would go a couple meters, then stop and rest.  A guy in a SAG truck passed several times and asked them if they needed help, but they waved him off each time.  Don't know if they finished the climb, but they weren't in sight when I got to the top.  I hit my high speed of the day on the descent on the other side -- 57.1 mph -- and the wind that speed created felt SOOO nice!

The rest of the ride in was pretty uneventful.  I had a nice tail wind push me along and made pretty good time.  But I was definitely tired and dehydrated.  In the last few miles I started to get those twinges in my thighs that warn of impending cramping, but it never happened.  I got back to my truck and just sat on the tailgate for a minute recovering.  Then I started the truck with the air conditioner on full blast to let it cool off while I changed out of my cycling clothes.  It's been a while since I've ridden in this kind of heat and it'll take a bit to get use to it again.  I saw Adam Schulte at the finish.  He really didn't like the heat and decided to lay down in the shade of a van next to my truck for a bit.  With the wind at the start and that heat in the afternoon, I'd be willing to bet a lot of folks were faced with a tough choice of riding or taking a SAG ride to the finish..  I didn't stay to chat with Adam too long.  I really needed something cold to drink, so I left and headed to the Circle K for a 44 oz Thirst Buster.  And a package of ham.  And some Funions.  And another liter bottle of diet Pepsi since I knew that Thirst Buster wasn't going to be enough.

So, 93 miles in 5 hours 40 minutes which is about average for me on this course.  But this was by far one of the hardest Mine Country Challenges I've done just because of the weather conditions.  I was glad the ride was over when I got back to my truck!  I must not have been as tired as I thought either, because when I got home (after showering) I started laying a new laminate wood floor in the closet under our staircase.  We had an issue with our soft water conditioner leaking in the garage and the water seeped into that closet and ruined the carpet.  Annette and I thought that would be a good "test" area to see how hard it is to lay wood laminate since we want to do that in other rooms in our house.  Got it about 75% done before calling it a night and to eat dinner! :-)