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February 26, 2007
CSC Training Camp Day IV
So day four of the training camp was the pinnacle day. We decided to skip the ride with Team CSC and just head out on our own for a 100+ mile day. The riders were Kevin, Brian (ZIPP), and Ian (Local Rider), and myself. Ian was our tour guide so to speak and we headed out about 9 AM. The weather was perfect, not too hot and sunny. We headed out of the hotel and onto a road called Heckler Pass. It was about a 30 minute climb and once over the top we had about a 4 mile descent down a nice and windy road. I broke 42 mph and was just having a blast. You could see straight to the ocean from the top of the hill. Once we got to the bottom we actually started to work our way back towards the mountain range we just came over. The plan was to ride Eureka Canyon road. This is about a 10 mile climb that was not too steep, but had a couple of challenging sections. My goal was to ride within myself and just slug up the mountain. Some of the other guys took off and rode their pace, but we all met up again at the top. The ride up was gorgeous as the rode was lined with large redwood trees and had almost no traffic accept for other cyclists. As we got up towards the top the roads really deteriorated as there had been some mudslides a while back that had not been really repaired.
From the top we had about a 40 minute descent towards the ocean. Originally we had thought we would take it easy, but once we got onto the main road that would take us to the ocean, the road was too nice not too open up the legs and just bomb the hill. As we were driving down the hill at about 45 mph, these three motorcycles came blazing past us on a long sweeping right hand turn at about twice the speed we were pulling. For some reason, I felt a bit of two-wheeled vehicle camaraderie with them. The best part of the descent is that we pretty much were able to own the road as we were going the same speed of traffic.
We ended up in a town called Soquel for lunch after about 3 hours on the bike. We were 60 miles into the ride at this point and we were all hungry and ready for a bit of a break. The town was right on the pacific and had a great pizza place that sold it by the slice. Kevin and I grabbed some pizza and for the first time in probably 10 years I had a large regular Coke. We all ate along the boardwalk watching the waves of the Pacific hit the shoreline. After about a 1/2 our legs started to get a bit stiff and we were all itching to get back on the bike.
Ian had some extra energy and really started to push the pace heading back to the hotel. We had 40+ miles to go and we had to go back over the same mountain range as we did in that morning. We headed down the coast towards Sunset State beach and then we turned east towards the mountains. We did some echelon work on the way back and were clicking along at 22 mph. As we hit the hills, I started to fade and the group as a whole slowed so I could get back on. Kevin was great and constantly dropped back for me. Little did I know I would have the biggest challenge ahead of me.
We were only about 20 miles from the hotel when we hit a road called Mt. Madonna Road. It turned up at a constant 10% grade for about 3 miles. I started out strong and was leading the group knowing that at some point I would fade to the back. I got about 1/2 way up when I lost my rhythm and really started to struggle. There was absolutely no respite on the climb and my legs were having to pull and push with every pedal stroke. 3 times I actually pulled over to the side of the road to catch my breath, let my HR go back down, and give my legs a breather. I never walked the bike and that was my goal. The group was about 3 to 4 minutes ahead of me. I was really jazzed to get up and over the hill in one piece after such a long day. A 6 mile descent was ahead of me and I learned a big lesson over those miles. That lesson was that no matter how tired your body and mind is, you have to muster the strength to stay mentally and physically alert on a fast descent. About 1/2 way down my body started to recover from the hill effort and I was able to match the pace of the group. I think everyone was ready to end the day after 6 hours on the bike. Personally I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. I had just ridden what was probably the hardest 100 miles in my cycling career. Growing up in areas with few mountains, most of my 100 mile efforts were on rolling hills vs. mountains. I gained a ton of respect for those with capabilities to fly over the hills. I also gained a lot of knowledge on how to train with power. Throughout the day I made sure I was trying to stay below my threshold power limits to conserve energy and I found that it worked very well.
When we got back to the hotel we did a bit of an extra spin to get the juices out of the legs and do a proper cool down. Once I got back into the hotel I was dead! My legs, body and mind were just tired, to the point that I could not just lay down and fall asleep. I had to pack as well and remove the power tap from the bike and return the bike to the CSC mechanics. After an hour of clean-up we all headed out to a great local mexican joint for a huge burrito and a couple of beers! It was the perfect end to a great week of training!
That was the camp, the best 4 days of riding I had gotten in in years and it gave me the itch to try and do something like this every year, even if it is not via the CSC training camp!
Posted by kermisch at February 26, 2007 9:04 AM