CruzLike
Guru
Calvin’s Challenge 2018
I began the ride thinking about, what is Calvin’s Challenge? On the surface it is a bike ride of many different durations 24, 12, and 6hr events. As I logged the miles, another challenge began to surface. Riding through the country side of rural central Ohio, you would expect to see some live stock. I passed cows, hogs (that’s a pig for you city folk) and chicken farms. All with their distinct aroma. After the third lap I noticed other lesser smells. There was some road kill rotting in the ditch in at least a couple locations along the route. I even smelled Pepe’ Le Pew. With it being spring and Saturday. Many decided to manicure their lawns. Ahhh, the fresh smell of grass in the spring time. I don’t completely understand this, but the norm seems to be, to spray the grass and anything else onto the road. As a semi pro lawn care provider and a cyclist. This just makes a mess with uncertain debris on the road. Maybe I should cover this on another thread. Maybe even on a lawn care site.
To sum it up. I thought Calvin’s Challenge was more of the olfactory challenge of how well you could stomach the ever changing odors wafting in the air than the physical challenges that come with biking at maximum endurance speed.
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I made it to the event not long before the start of the 24-hour event at 6pm. They started in 2 waves of about 15 riders each. Shortly after that, my wife Lisa and I, met Jeffery Ritter and his wife Jane at a Mexican restaurant in town. We had a good dinner and conversation. Jeffrey and Jane are interesting people.Race Day
We arrived at the Knights of Columbus (K of C) at 5am. We could secure a good parking place near the timer’s loop. This enabled Lisa, Jane and a new friend to camp out under our tent.
That hour flew by with bike preparation and riders meeting. I started in the second wave. This meant I was 1 minute behind the lead group. My knee jerk reaction to the waves was, we don’t need this, just let us go. I think there may have been wisdom in their experience. Not long after you get clipped in and settled you begin screaming down a hill at 30 plus mph, over a rough railroad track and up a similar sized hill you just came down. The bigger the group, the bigger the pile at the bottom of the hill.
It wasn’t too long after the first valley (described earlier) I saw the front of my group. I rolled on by them looking for the tail of the first group. Now there were 24hr riders and 12hr riders of the course it was common to pass one rider to see another ¼ mile down the road. Next!
We began the ride in the dark. About an hour after that the sun went behind the clouds. Not to be seen the rest of the day. This weather was made to order. Started out at 55 and made it to 72 without the sun.
The long loop was comprised of a mixture of terrain in the area. The long loop rode through 4 valleys. Each of them about 70ft deep. There was one hill that was about 70 feet tall also. Between the valleys on the first half of the course was rolling and the second half flatter.
I would have laid down a fast time for the first lap but something fell out of my pocket and I had to stop to pick it up. During that stop, a group of riders passed me. I had worked hard to pass. Small set back.
The second lap was even faster. I didn’t stop to pick anything up. Just after completing the lap Lisa would hand me a new water bottle and tell me my time compared to a schedule I had hoped to follow.
During the 3rd lap my pedal or Elemnt started acting up. My watts were stuck at 242. I stopped in the pits and changed the battery in the pedal. I started the lap and it wasn’t fixed. I then restarted my Elemnt. Luckily when it restarted it connected the ride where it shut off to where is started. I didn’t lose anything or have 2 rides. Bonus, the watts began registering again.
The next few laps were uneventful. I began to become familiar with certain sections of the loop. One section was slightly up hill but the light wind seemed to blow me up the hill effortlessly. There were two other sections that had a small downhill followed by a flat section. I would race down the hill and carry the speed for the next ½ mile. This bike is fast and thrilling to ride.
Even though I was eating a gel pack ever lap. I don’t think I was keeping pace with the drain on body. My head was becoming heavy as the energy drained from my body to propel my legs. I decided to take a small break. I drank about 40 ozs of Coke, water and V8. I also ate a cookie. After 20 minutes I was revived. That break lifted my pace on the following laps.
While resting I noticed a bright red DF with deep section Enve wheels. I commented to Lisa, I have passed this guy many times on the course and he passes me in the pits. I got back on the road. 1 ½ laps later I finally caught up with this biker. As I rolled past him and his friend, he commented “Go Cruzbike, you’ve been hitting it hard today. Jim and Maria should be proud.” He seemed to be aware Cruzbikes and their owners. Later in the ride he commented that he would hate to be riding his Encore on these hills.
When I finished my last 23 mile loop, Lisa told me the time as 5:02. That told me I would need to crank it up to get 4 short laps before 6pm. My second short lap she told me I did it in 17 minutes. I understood that to mean it was 5:19 and would be difficult to maximize the clock and make 4 laps. I was wearing down and was looking forward to having one lap left. I finished my second lap and Lisa told me it’s 5:30, you still have enough time to make 2 laps. One lap to go just went to two. My body said “crud”, my mind said “excellent”. It was just what I wanted. I could complete 4 laps in the last hour. That turned out to be a deciding factor in the standings. Don Rose on a Bacchetta was about 8 minutes behind me and could not complete 4 laps.
Prior to riding the course, I hoped for 250 miles. After I rode the course, I dialed that number back 243. That number became a little ambitious as I rode throughout the day. I ended up with 228. A little less than planned.
Here I am with my head "glued" to the head rest. I was spent.
About the bike. This in one rugged bike. I made 13 laps on the course that day. Each lap I crossed the rough railroad tracks, at 30+ mph, twice. This V took a beating. There were quite a few times I was airborne. It still seems to be all in one piece. Kudo’s to Cruzbike.
Special thanks to my wife Lisa. She did an excellent job pitting for me. She also gave me many hours to train for this event. I would like to thank Larry Oslund for a little post Sebring training direction. Jim and Maria for building a fast bike that is a thrill to ride and chase riders down.
Look forward to your next ride! Will you do anything before Mid Atl?
