CruzLike
Guru
As I review yesterday's ride at Sebring, still a little hung over and relaxing in the easy chair. I had a lot of fun and there were other times.
One of the bonus items that happen at these races is, seeing your friends. Whether it's your CB family, Strava, Zwifters. They were all there and fun to see in the flesh.
Friday afternoon, in the past, there has been a CruzBike ride. It was kind of a shake down of your bike and body after traveling, by riding the short loop. This year there was a rash of blown tires on some of the group. So the group was a little smaller that usual. Around 4pm Jeff and I got out and played in the wind while on the “new ” short loop.
I made 2 laps and Jeff made 3. The wind was howling close to 20. I optimistically expected the weather to be even better for race day.
Race day is here. A date that I have been preparing for, for the last 3 months. I've been doing a TrainerRoad program to build endurance and strength. I also rode Tuesday nights on Zwift, with the CB crew, in a racing series. And a little easy 40 mi. rides outside. One other thing that I did was training at elevation this year. I was able to train in Florida. I was completely acclimated. Check
At the start line, all the eager riders wait as the timers clock counted down to the pre-race announcements, then the race. While time went by in the calm early dawn, the mosquitos were having a rare treat of many partially clad, thin skin targets to feast on.
In contrast to the past events. This years event had staggered starts based on the category you were riding. This difference will affect my day more that I knew in the moment. Larry called the start of the event at 7:15a and the 6, 12 and 24hr drafting riders were off. Myself included.
Just after getting clipped in an settled on to the bike I assessed the group. John Schlitter was out 100ft ahead of Maria and myself. I told Maria, “let's get John”. I was excited to be in the front group. In the past, all the riders start together and the faster 100 milers tend to pull away from me, riding the 12hr event. As we left the short loop and began the 36 mile loop. I was leading. Maybe not the best place to be. It was exciting. I pulled a couple of riders with me all the way into town. That leg is mostly up hill. I didn't know who's light was blinking in my rear view mirror. It was nice to hear Maria's voice call out “right turn” as we prepared for a turn. As we left town, Maria rolled by and told me to take a rest, and Maria took a 4 mile pull. John was the other rider in our group. We rode together the rest of the lap. All of us taking turns pulling.
I finished the first long lap on schedule at 1:31 about 23.9 mph. Maria dropped out of our group because she was riding on a team. John and I rode the short loop once, looking for others to ride with. We couldn't find any takers, so we started lap 2. Riding into town was a little different this time. We had 40 miles of energy out of our legs and the wind was coming alive and in our face. Half way up one of the hills John commented that we may have made a mistake by riding the long loop. The short loop is much flatter than the long loop. We shared the pulls pretty equally. It was nice to ride in the draft. You ride back there until you feel like you can go faster then the leader. You crank it up, pass the leader and start running 50 watts more to go about the same speed. I start to expect this.
Another highlight of the 2nd loop was on Arbuckle Creek road. This road can mentally wear on me. This is a 10 mile stretch of open road. Wind can be your buddy or make the road twice as long. On this lap the wind was a little cross. The first 3 miles John lead. As I passed him, he commented about a upright bike that we were chasing. He pointed forward and said he has the hammer down. This guy was probably ½ mile ahead. I get in front, crank up my extra 50 watts and start my pull. One thing I've noticed about myself, either on the road or on Zwift, I like to chase riders down. I like to see the gap shrink. It's hard to turn off. I kept the watts up and over time I watched the phantom dark rider become an orange jersey. Close to a ¼ mile away. My time pulling was over. When John rolled by, he gave me some props. He tapped me on the shoulder and told me I had the hammer down. I was in the zone and not thinking about the big picture, oops, I don't want to give anything away.
John and I both resided to finish the rest of the day on the short loop. That was nice because it gave me a chance to be near my crew and get some water and refreshments to boost my energy. By this time of day, it was 11:30, sunny and 15mph wind. I was at 74mile and 3:15hrs. The best part of the day is over. Now windy, warm and legs are wobbling a little. As I began many short loops. I had difficulty getting back in the groove. My calves were cramping. I made a few slow laps working them out and getting water and fruit from the crew. I kept plugging away even thought each lap was a little slower than the last.
The two most exciting things that happened, While passing though the pits there were many tents or canopies set up. In the high winds, I watched one, just in front of me, tumble into the road just behind me. A second later it could have been different.
The other strange thing was a nature sighting. I saw an object in the road ahead of me. It looked pretty big so I wanted to avoid it. It was a foot long turtle that was crossing the road. I'm sure he thought, Wow! that was fast. As I rolled by.
I ended the day with 127 miles. First place recumbent for the 6hr drafting. Check
This was Larry Oslund's first event. He has revived the Sebring bike ride. The new venue was well received.
This ride would not have been nearly as successful as it was without my crew. My loving wife Lisa, and Hardy and Connie Swinson, all the way from Ga., were directly supporting and cheering me on. Others in the CruzBike camp were cheering each lap.
One of the bonus items that happen at these races is, seeing your friends. Whether it's your CB family, Strava, Zwifters. They were all there and fun to see in the flesh.
Friday afternoon, in the past, there has been a CruzBike ride. It was kind of a shake down of your bike and body after traveling, by riding the short loop. This year there was a rash of blown tires on some of the group. So the group was a little smaller that usual. Around 4pm Jeff and I got out and played in the wind while on the “new ” short loop.
I made 2 laps and Jeff made 3. The wind was howling close to 20. I optimistically expected the weather to be even better for race day.
Race day is here. A date that I have been preparing for, for the last 3 months. I've been doing a TrainerRoad program to build endurance and strength. I also rode Tuesday nights on Zwift, with the CB crew, in a racing series. And a little easy 40 mi. rides outside. One other thing that I did was training at elevation this year. I was able to train in Florida. I was completely acclimated. Check
At the start line, all the eager riders wait as the timers clock counted down to the pre-race announcements, then the race. While time went by in the calm early dawn, the mosquitos were having a rare treat of many partially clad, thin skin targets to feast on.
In contrast to the past events. This years event had staggered starts based on the category you were riding. This difference will affect my day more that I knew in the moment. Larry called the start of the event at 7:15a and the 6, 12 and 24hr drafting riders were off. Myself included.
Just after getting clipped in an settled on to the bike I assessed the group. John Schlitter was out 100ft ahead of Maria and myself. I told Maria, “let's get John”. I was excited to be in the front group. In the past, all the riders start together and the faster 100 milers tend to pull away from me, riding the 12hr event. As we left the short loop and began the 36 mile loop. I was leading. Maybe not the best place to be. It was exciting. I pulled a couple of riders with me all the way into town. That leg is mostly up hill. I didn't know who's light was blinking in my rear view mirror. It was nice to hear Maria's voice call out “right turn” as we prepared for a turn. As we left town, Maria rolled by and told me to take a rest, and Maria took a 4 mile pull. John was the other rider in our group. We rode together the rest of the lap. All of us taking turns pulling.
I finished the first long lap on schedule at 1:31 about 23.9 mph. Maria dropped out of our group because she was riding on a team. John and I rode the short loop once, looking for others to ride with. We couldn't find any takers, so we started lap 2. Riding into town was a little different this time. We had 40 miles of energy out of our legs and the wind was coming alive and in our face. Half way up one of the hills John commented that we may have made a mistake by riding the long loop. The short loop is much flatter than the long loop. We shared the pulls pretty equally. It was nice to ride in the draft. You ride back there until you feel like you can go faster then the leader. You crank it up, pass the leader and start running 50 watts more to go about the same speed. I start to expect this.
Another highlight of the 2nd loop was on Arbuckle Creek road. This road can mentally wear on me. This is a 10 mile stretch of open road. Wind can be your buddy or make the road twice as long. On this lap the wind was a little cross. The first 3 miles John lead. As I passed him, he commented about a upright bike that we were chasing. He pointed forward and said he has the hammer down. This guy was probably ½ mile ahead. I get in front, crank up my extra 50 watts and start my pull. One thing I've noticed about myself, either on the road or on Zwift, I like to chase riders down. I like to see the gap shrink. It's hard to turn off. I kept the watts up and over time I watched the phantom dark rider become an orange jersey. Close to a ¼ mile away. My time pulling was over. When John rolled by, he gave me some props. He tapped me on the shoulder and told me I had the hammer down. I was in the zone and not thinking about the big picture, oops, I don't want to give anything away.
John and I both resided to finish the rest of the day on the short loop. That was nice because it gave me a chance to be near my crew and get some water and refreshments to boost my energy. By this time of day, it was 11:30, sunny and 15mph wind. I was at 74mile and 3:15hrs. The best part of the day is over. Now windy, warm and legs are wobbling a little. As I began many short loops. I had difficulty getting back in the groove. My calves were cramping. I made a few slow laps working them out and getting water and fruit from the crew. I kept plugging away even thought each lap was a little slower than the last.
The two most exciting things that happened, While passing though the pits there were many tents or canopies set up. In the high winds, I watched one, just in front of me, tumble into the road just behind me. A second later it could have been different.
The other strange thing was a nature sighting. I saw an object in the road ahead of me. It looked pretty big so I wanted to avoid it. It was a foot long turtle that was crossing the road. I'm sure he thought, Wow! that was fast. As I rolled by.
I ended the day with 127 miles. First place recumbent for the 6hr drafting. Check
This was Larry Oslund's first event. He has revived the Sebring bike ride. The new venue was well received.
This ride would not have been nearly as successful as it was without my crew. My loving wife Lisa, and Hardy and Connie Swinson, all the way from Ga., were directly supporting and cheering me on. Others in the CruzBike camp were cheering each lap.
