Mid Atlantic Ultra 2017
- Thread starter Tigerpaw
- Start date
Doug Kline
Guru
Not signed up yet, but I'm thinking 12 hour.
LarryOz
Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
This event should be the next best thing to the Cruzbike Retreat later in the year!
Doug Kline
Guru
I signed up for the 12-hour. I've gotten my DF up over 200 miles in a day 4 times with 208 miles being the longest. I was too painful to go any further. My goal is to PR with more than 208 miles.
Jeffrey Ritter
Well-Known Member
I'm registered for the 12 hour. My first Ultra race. Hope to do my best and will be sure to cheer on the cruzbikes I see out on the road!
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Which bike you taking?
Doug Kline
Guru
It's completely flat on the Mid Atlantic course...solo riding...with winds...so the V20 of course. Although I haven't been on it since cannibalizing parts for the S40.
LarryOz
Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
Everybody that is going to the Mid-Atl. I have a friend "Gerry " who is looking to share hotel room with if anything is available. We have gone to lots of UMCA events together and shared rides and lodging to and from. I already had plans for Washington though, so he is looking for someone else. Please let me know.
Thanks
Thanks
I did NOT expect to win this race. I almost decided not to even make the trip because I have been nursing my right knee, which I injured a couple of weeks ago running stadium stairs at the local high school. And then about a week ago I caught my grandson’s cold and have been going through the sore throat/ runny nose/cough sequence… currently in the night-time cough can’t sleep phase. So did I have a lot of excuses or what?! Oh, did I say I haven’t been training on the bike much, because I’ve temporarily switched to running while getting ready for the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike/fundraiser next month? Then why did I go? …I wanted to help Larry win. I knew he could probably win without me, unless Team Schlitter showed up, and then he would probably need my help.
Maria and I left our house this morning at 4:00 AM and when we pulled into the parking lot where the race starts at 6:45 AM, we saw the three Team Schlitter racers (Jesse Groves, Alex Strouhal, and Sandor Kormos). These guys work well together and are very strong racers.
I told myself I would work one lap hard (25.3 miles per lap) and if my knee started hurting I would drop out. I took two Advil right before the start. The Advil must have worked because I found myself in the second and third lap chasing down break-aways by Alex and Sandor. Larry was doing a lot of pulling, and I would take over to give him a break. Then at the end of the third lap, Larry got his first muscle cramp. The incredible TT performances he has been doing must have left him depleted. I found myself on the 4th and final lap with Team Schlitter and a guy on a Carbent. For the first part of this lap, there was one or two of the stongest DF racers still hanging on, but they soon fell off.
Don’t ever count Larry out. Somehow he caught back up to our group. Hooray, Larry was here to save the day. Then another cramp hit him, and he dropped back. Then he recovered, and then he came back again. Each cramp hurt so much that he screamed in pain, a sound that carried all the way to the front of the paceline, where I was exchanging pulls with Jesse, our speed around 20 mph because we both wanted to save something for the finish. With Larry’s final scream, I knew I couldn’t count on Larry to win this. So I needed a new plan, and fast.
That’s when I saw a good opening. There was one small climb, about 3 miles before the finish. As that climb approached, I pounced. I figured a climb, even a small one like this, would give me my best shot at a clean break. Alvin Maxwell, the race director, was watching from a car and he said I opened about a 15 second lead on the group. Fortunately I was able to hold it all the way to the finish, to earn the white jersey of the UMCA 100-mile National Champion.
Here is my Garmin data for the last 10 minutes. You can see where I attacked at about 4:02. Peak power was 582W.
Alex came in 2nd, and, amazingly, Larry came in 3rd. Again, don’t ever count Larry out. He just barely nipped Jesse out for a podium spot.
Other notes:
During and after the race, the Team Schlitter racers were very sportsman-like. Team Cruzbike and Team Schlitter did not cooperate in the pulls very much. Attack and go slow, attack and go slow, seemed to be the modus operandi, but that is a viable strategy, and it certainly helped drop a lot of the DF racers. Our overall time would have been much faster if we had cooperated in a sustained fast rotating paceline, but that might be too much to ask for.
Larry and I got to be on a podium together again, which is always fun.
There were six Cruzbike racers, many doing the 12-hour and we got to cheer some of them on as they came through the pit area. So great to see so many of the Tribe racing.
Maria won the women’s 100-mile race in 5:19 (my time was 4:09).
My only intake during the race was water and electrolytes. I’m well into my second year of a low-carb diet and my body is now good at burning fat.
Equipment notes - Boyd tubeless wheels (60 mm rims), SRAM ETap, and compact Q-rings.
Maria and I had to leave for home, so we do NOT know how the 12-hour racers finished. It was getting VERY hot in the afternoon.
That's all for now. Larry might need to offer some corrections, but this account is to the best of my memory.
Jim
Maria and I left our house this morning at 4:00 AM and when we pulled into the parking lot where the race starts at 6:45 AM, we saw the three Team Schlitter racers (Jesse Groves, Alex Strouhal, and Sandor Kormos). These guys work well together and are very strong racers.
I told myself I would work one lap hard (25.3 miles per lap) and if my knee started hurting I would drop out. I took two Advil right before the start. The Advil must have worked because I found myself in the second and third lap chasing down break-aways by Alex and Sandor. Larry was doing a lot of pulling, and I would take over to give him a break. Then at the end of the third lap, Larry got his first muscle cramp. The incredible TT performances he has been doing must have left him depleted. I found myself on the 4th and final lap with Team Schlitter and a guy on a Carbent. For the first part of this lap, there was one or two of the stongest DF racers still hanging on, but they soon fell off.
Don’t ever count Larry out. Somehow he caught back up to our group. Hooray, Larry was here to save the day. Then another cramp hit him, and he dropped back. Then he recovered, and then he came back again. Each cramp hurt so much that he screamed in pain, a sound that carried all the way to the front of the paceline, where I was exchanging pulls with Jesse, our speed around 20 mph because we both wanted to save something for the finish. With Larry’s final scream, I knew I couldn’t count on Larry to win this. So I needed a new plan, and fast.
That’s when I saw a good opening. There was one small climb, about 3 miles before the finish. As that climb approached, I pounced. I figured a climb, even a small one like this, would give me my best shot at a clean break. Alvin Maxwell, the race director, was watching from a car and he said I opened about a 15 second lead on the group. Fortunately I was able to hold it all the way to the finish, to earn the white jersey of the UMCA 100-mile National Champion.
Here is my Garmin data for the last 10 minutes. You can see where I attacked at about 4:02. Peak power was 582W.
Alex came in 2nd, and, amazingly, Larry came in 3rd. Again, don’t ever count Larry out. He just barely nipped Jesse out for a podium spot.
Other notes:
During and after the race, the Team Schlitter racers were very sportsman-like. Team Cruzbike and Team Schlitter did not cooperate in the pulls very much. Attack and go slow, attack and go slow, seemed to be the modus operandi, but that is a viable strategy, and it certainly helped drop a lot of the DF racers. Our overall time would have been much faster if we had cooperated in a sustained fast rotating paceline, but that might be too much to ask for.
Larry and I got to be on a podium together again, which is always fun.
There were six Cruzbike racers, many doing the 12-hour and we got to cheer some of them on as they came through the pit area. So great to see so many of the Tribe racing.
Maria won the women’s 100-mile race in 5:19 (my time was 4:09).
My only intake during the race was water and electrolytes. I’m well into my second year of a low-carb diet and my body is now good at burning fat.
Equipment notes - Boyd tubeless wheels (60 mm rims), SRAM ETap, and compact Q-rings.
Maria and I had to leave for home, so we do NOT know how the 12-hour racers finished. It was getting VERY hot in the afternoon.
That's all for now. Larry might need to offer some corrections, but this account is to the best of my memory.
Jim
Tigerpaw
Well-Known Member
I'll attempt to write this while I'm dead tired. The morning started by meeting Jeff Ritter, his wife Jane and friend Jolynn(sp?). We drove to the start area and setup everything with about 30 minutes to spare. 0700 the 12 hour race began. I was fiddling with the Garmin and got trapped in the pack and missed the opportunity to draft the speedy front group. So solo riding was to be for me. I had set a goal to possibly make 230-240 as my training has been pretty good since Sebring. It was muggy but temps OK for the first couple of laps. On my third lap, the ole HR started creeping with the same power levels. Still, I did not stop in the pits and grabbed a bottle on the fly. On lap 4, the head/cross winds from mile 13 to 22 or so started affecting my performance. I still got my 5 hour 100 ( bonus), but it came with a price, forcing me to stop. Jane and Jolynn to the rescue. They stuffed some pantyhose with ice and draped it around my neck and stuffed it my shirt. Funny thing happened, looking at my Garmin, the ole HR dropped almost instantly. So, off we go again, HR down, power up, great!!! At mile 7 the ice was gone, and by mile 13 the HR was climbing again. Did I mention those stinking winds? Ugh. So, stopped after lap 5, you know the drill, the outstanding lady crew iced me down once again. Off I go!! Well, mile 7, you the drill, repeat. So, stopped after lap 6, feeling very wiped out. Stretching, ice, fluids,etc. still spent. At around 1530-1545, the cycling gods smiled upon us, cloud cover rolled in and dropped the temps.... awesome! Jeff climbed on his steed, freshly packed hose round his neck, me, on mine and iced down once again. We finished the lap with 1 1/2 hours to go. I made the command decision, go for it! Lap 8 was probably equal to my first laps of the day and left me 15 minutes for bonus miles. 
The day ended with 208.4 miles and a shiny bling 2nd place finish in my age group. So, I feel OK since I made lemonade with a ginormous weather lemon. However, it would not have been possible without the wonderful crew. Now off to rest.
The day ended with 208.4 miles and a shiny bling 2nd place finish in my age group. So, I feel OK since I made lemonade with a ginormous weather lemon. However, it would not have been possible without the wonderful crew. Now off to rest.
