I came in 5th!!! Missed 4th by 4 miles. The ride started for me at 7:07 am at the Imperial Lodge in Maupin, OR. For a while I was the virtual "lantern rouge" jersey holder.
I always start slow -- not by choice, that's just how the machinery operates. Slowly I start to catch riders. By SR44 I caught a couple and on Hwy 97 I caught a few more on the looong rollers. After 85 miles I felt pretty good and rode hard. After doing the 111 mile long loop, followed by the 26 miles short loop, I was ready to hang it up -- Terri had said earlier that's all you needed to be an official finisher.
Sandy Earl refilled my bottles, one with water and one with Sustained Energy and a couple of Endurolytes (electrolyte replacement tablets). She put me in the shade to cool off "in case I wanted to start up again".
She said to just go out and do a "victory" loop. Well I got started and managed to eek out two loops and 19 miles toward a third one when time ran out. I grabbed a couple wads of beef jerkey and drank some Diet Coke on one of the refueling stops -- it did the trick. At times I felt good and could hammer; other times I soft pedaled until the "lights" came back on.
 |
| Sandy Earl and Mark (after 138 miles) |
In case you didn't know, Sandy Earl is a champion of RAO and holds several 12 and 24 hour TT records. Her deep experience makes her a crew-chief extraordinaire. Thanks Sandy! (Her rider, John Henry Maurice, took 5th place in the 24 hour TT -- he's training for the Furnace Creek 508.)
Apparently my slow climbing pace that put me at the back of the race early was what helped me advance later in the race. My climbing speed was fairly consistent throughout the race.
The top three finishers were impressive in how fast they could go so late in the game! Chris, a nationally ranked time trialist from the UK, wore booties and a pink skinsuit, along with matching pink hair. Absolutely amazing -- he averaged nearly 18 mph to take the win!! He blew past me on a descent in Tygh valley, but I managed to catch him in the hills. We went back and forth a few times and after we got back to HQ he put the big hammer down in the hills out of Maupin, never to be seen again!
I had a good time and glad I rode the entire 12 hours (minus one break at the HQ).
According to my Polar:
elevation gained: 12,675 feet
average cadence: 59 (usually average between 59 - 61)
calories consumed: 8383 (can I have dessert?)
total distance: 187.1 miles (I rode partway toward the finish after the 12 hours was up)
Also see
ROF website: http://www.raceacrossoregon.com/roftt
Sandy's site: http://echidnadreamingcycling.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment