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Bagdad 400 km Ride Report, April 30, 2007 5:06am start - 5 min stop to help stranded motorist - 25 min stop to change punctured tube in rear wheel 8:55am - Roberts Market Place, Prescott Valley - RT 3:19:00 - TT 3:49:00 - Distance from start: 40.2 - Avg spd: 12.1 * Followed Jeb's coaching advise to slowly ramp up your pace; broke it up into hourly segments, first hour nice and easy, second hour turned it up a bit, third hour went to a good comfortable, sustainable pace. 8:55am - Rear tire problem, you didn't remove all the chunks of glass embedded in tire before changing flat a few miles before reaching Roberts Market Place. Took care of that but looks like glass sliced through tire wall and tube won't hold air. Tried replacing with new tube, still won't hold air. * Mental mistake: you tried to get more miles out of a set of tires that had reached end of life. After Sue Gorela offered to stay with your bike, you drove Sue's car to Dirt Works (closest shop). You got there at 10:10am but they don't open on Mondays until 11:30am. After getting directions from some local folks, you drove all the way to Prescott (about 30 mins) and the two guys at Bike Smith took care of you with a new 700x25 IRC tire and tube. Bought two additional spare tubes. 11:44am - back on the road 2:49:00 after reaching Roberts Market Place 1:35pm - Skull Valley General Store - Reached summit in 1:16:00 and the store 35 mins later - RT 1:51:00 from last checkpoint - Distance from last checkpoint: 41.1 - Avg spd: 22.2 * This was your moment of glory, you beat the checkpoint closure by 9 mins only. This was your fastest time trial ever. I know the numbers show this but I think the distances on Susan's cue sheet are off. Looking at your computer while riding, you were only doing between 8-12 mph while going up Skull Valley. Did you really make it up on the descent? * Mental mistake: you took too much time at the checkpoint, 1:35:00. Work on cutting down long stops to no more than 25 minutes. You could have saved 70 minutes by doing so - you left at 3:10pm! 6:29pm - Bashas Grocery Store, Baghdad - Approx. 5 mins or less in two stops; one to transfer water bottles you bought at Skull Valley to Sue and one to take on all the gear that Sue carried for you. * After several discussions with our RBA, Susan Plonsky, I realized that handing off water bottles to my support person [between checkpoints -SP] was in violation of support rules. Also, though I found it pumped me up to have Sue follow me toward Bagdad where she was to provide support (she didn't know the way there), I am clear now on the rules - no follow vehicles allowed. "Make sure you know the rules before you play the game." CB - RT 3:19:00 from last checkpoint - Distance from last checkpoint: 44.4 - Avg spd: 13.4 * Good solid effort on this leg. You really took advantage of every fast section and descent. Felt strong turning the big gears throughout. It was inspiring to have Sue Gorela follow behind in her car - motivated you to go for it. * Signs of fatigue were beginning to show before reaching Baghdad, though. Got more difficult to get over some moderate grades. You ran over a full-grown rattlesnake with both wheels when you were tracing the white line - front wheel startled him and he began to rattle and rear up for the strike! * Mental mistake: you were zoning out, not looking ahead and watching the road - you could have avoided that snake. * Mental mistake: you took too much time at checkpoint. You weren't really that hungry but you had a sit-down meal of chicken parisian, pasta and roasted veggies - a quick food grab for the road or nothing at all would have been the better choice. Could have saved you another 30 mins. Instead, you took 40 mins at this stop - you left at 7:09pm. 11:36pm - The Country Store, Wilhoit - Reached outskirts of town at close time of 23:36 - Approx. 15-20 mins later, reached Wilhoit town sign - Approx. 15-20 mins later, reached Saloon & Cafe on right * Never saw the Country Corner Grocery Store. * Mental mistake: you should have called Susan when you realized that you may have missed the Country Store - perhaps she would have taken your time from the Saloon & Cafe, instead. Or, could she have given specific directions to the store? * Mental mistake: though you were extremely tired approaching Wilhoit when starting out of town up Hwy 89 toward Prescott, you should not have stopped to nap for 25-30 mins. Had you not wasted time at previous checkpoints, you could have made it in time to next checkpoint with enough time left to rest/sleep there. * During this period, you started thinking about calling Susan and abandoning the ride. 4:06am - Circle K, Prescott - 40 minute stop at Circle C food-mart - approx. 2 miles from checkpoint - RT 7:47:00 from Bashas Grocery in Baghdad - Distance from Baghdad: 67.4 miles - Avg spd: 8.65 * Mental mistake: stopping at Circle C to change batteries and go #2. You basically gave up, figuring what's the use in trying to reach remaining checkpoints in time, since you're already DQ'd. You could have pressed on to Circle K checkpoint, changed batteries there, since there was enough light from street-lights to keep going, and you could have held back on going #2! - Circle K stop approx. 30 mins - left at approx. 4:36am * Mental mistake: you took to long at this checkpoint, you weren't deliberate about what to buy so you could get going again. Should not have taken time to buy and drink a 16 oz coffee and breakfast burrito. At this point, you were pretty discouraged and began to realize that you were in jeopardy of not finishing before final close at 8:00am. * Started feeling soreness in groin during this period - tried to locate jar of Bag Balm but couldn't find it in your hydration pack. 9:55am - Rockin River Ranch, Camp Verde - Stopped a few minutes to shed safety vest and jacket - RT 5:15:00 from last checkpoint - Distance from Prescott: 56.6 miles - Avg spd: 10.78 Grand Totals : - RT: 21:31:00 - TT: 28:50:51 Lessons Learned: * Prepare for all weather conditions, expecially when you don't know the area. * Study course area ahead of time - any wildlife, reptiles, insects you should know about and especially what to do * Always use gear, accessories, parts, etc that are not at end-of-life, especially things with high-wear potential (e.g. tires). * Prepare gear for rides early - don't wait till night before event, get plenty of rest the night before and leading up to the event. * Before ride, ask official if the cue sheet is confirmed accurate based on actual ride over the course. * Study cue sheet ahead of time - plan ETA-1, ETA-2 and pencil in these times to allow you better monitoring of where you are to your ride plan. * Delay gratification when you feel the urge or your mind tries to convince you that "You deserve it". You can always celebrate and rest later but AFTER the ride is over and in the record books as a qualifier. * Be deliberate and always mindful of the time when stopping at checkpoints - be polite to others but don't get into lengthy conversations. Summary: * Total off bike time of 7:21 is main reason you failed this 400K Brevet as a PBP Qualifier - even with 2:49 down time for rear wheel new tire/tube at Bike Smith, its evident that you still could have qualified by conserving time at stops (25 min long breaks, 10 min short breaks). |
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