Mike's Bike Blog

Tour Das Hugel Report

2008-11-16T10:11:58Z

Let me start off by saying I DID IT! This has been a year in the making. It was last November when I first heard of the Tour das Hugel. At that time my longest ride was only 40 miles and I'd only had a road bike for a few months. For the past year it has been a lot of climbing repeats. I built up my mileage and have done 3 century rides this year. This past year I've climbed 207,664 feet in preparation, I rode most of the course hitting all the hills except for The High Road and Bullick Hollow. I did decide to ride the new bike, forgoing common sense. I knew I could get through everything in the first leg with the new bike. It was the second part that had me worried as I wasn't sure how I would be able to handle the steeper climbs without my triple that was on the old Fuji.

The start was windy and chilly, it never did warm up the entire day and the wind seemed to only get stronger. This was the windiest ride I'd ever experienced in Texas. There was more wind for the Hugel than my ride when Hurricane Ike blew through Austin.

The first leg, 38.8 miles was a blast. From the start the pack split into at least 2 segments. The first being the real hammerheads, the guys that were actually racing. I wound up into the second pack. When we hit The High Road this was a recipe for disaster. There were riders in all directions about an arms length apart. As we start the climb up High Road a rider on the right side almost goes down as he hit his wall. A few seconds later the rider right in front of me comes to a complete stop. I quickly avoid him, I think the person behind me might have hit him or he went down before he could unclip. I heard the tell tale signs of bicycles hitting the pavement. I passed a lot of riders on High Road. The High Road climb is .6 miles and the average grade is 8.6% and it maxs out at 19.1%.

When I rolled into the rest stop on Barton Springs I hear someone behind me say "I can't believe you bought that bike" I turn around and tell him "I didn't, it was given to me". At this point I notice he has the same exact Orbea Orca as me. I then proceed to tell him I won it in a contest. I fill up my bottle. He was riding with 2 others, they all had New Revolution kits on. One of the others had the blue Orca. I rode with them throughout the day.

At the end of first leg I felt great, I finished the first 38 miles (4118 ft. climbing) in 2'39:32. Back at Zilker Park I refilled my bottles, reloaded my pill capsules with Hammer Endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue pills and pushed off for the second part.

Part II

On Stratford my left calf started to have a twinge, I couldn't tell if it was a cramp or a muscle strain. It never outright hurt during the day, but it was a dull annoyance. For me the separation of if I could complete the ride was Smokey Valley. If I could get up Smokey Valley without the triple than I should be able to clear everything. As I rolled up to Smokey I was with a couple other riders, they really slowed as we got 1/2 way up so I accelerated around them, looking up there were about 3 or 4 other riders on the steepest section doing the zig zag. In fact almost every hill I saw people doing the zig zag. It really took a lot for me to get up Smokey Valley, at the top I wished I had a 26T cog (I'd later wish for a 27T). A wish I pondered at the top of Ladera Norte as well. However, with the confidence that I could tackle Hugel with the new bike a relief swept over me.

The next biggest challenge was Beauford. I hate Beauford, it's not the steepest or the longest, but the grooves and bumps just makes it downright nasty. I was with the New Revolution guys and a couple others. On Beauford it was the only time someone passed me on a climb. A fellow with a mountain bike drive train passed me with his triple. I caught up with him at the bottom of Jester waiting for the light on 2222. I chatted with him about his set up, he had a 12-28, he was regretting not putting on his mountain cassette (12-34). The next challenging hill for me was Courtyard. It took a lot out of me to get up Courtyard, in fact I had to take an impromptu 5 minute rest stop at the top.

After Courtyard I think I went numb. The rest of the hills didn't seem to hurt anymore, I just rode. Rest stop 4/5 on River Place had boiled potatoes! They had ones drenched in cheddar cheese and one with bacon! I opted to try the cheddar cheese ones. I did pull the cheese off before consuming them. Warm potatoes on a cold day really hit the spot.

In the past I've avoided Bullick Hollow because there's no shoulder and there can be a bit of traffic on it. Bullick Hollow is 1.1 miles with an average grade of 3.2%, max is 18.7%. The traffic wasn't a problem, I'll have to add it to my routes. When I got done with the Dam and heading back on 620 I half jokingly thought this was my bailout point as I was only about 10 miles away from home. I had come this far and the only thing between me and finishing was Big View and Jester.

I was not looking forward to Big View, but I knew the initial part was the worse. All I had to do was get through that and then the rest wouldn't be that bad. I was in the zone, Big View posed no threat. All that stood between me and finishing was Jester.

At the bottom of City Park Road I turned right onto 2222, obviously the wrong way. I had to turn around. 1/2 way up Jester I briefly contemplated stopping at the outhouse to pee, figured losing the 10 bottles of water I'd consumed would help with the climb. I passed on the pit stop and went right up Jester. I conquered the worst of the worst. I'd done it faster in the past, but no other times had been sweeter. Now all that was left was to get back to Zilker. Something that was easier said than done.

The last 7 miles really seemed to drag, 360 was slow and just like the entire day it was windy. My Garmin started warning me that it was low on batteries, this had me worried as I wasn't exactly sure of the way back to Zilker Park. I missed the turn on Wilderness and went all the way to Bee Caves. I pulled out the cue sheet and I had somehow printed out the initial one that had an error, it was the one that omitted Wilderness. I went down it anyway and did find my way back.

In the end it took me 8'24:11 to complete the entire 110 mile Hugel. I climbed 12,815.5 feet. One of my biggest takeaways from the ride, I hated the downhills. Towards the end when I would be coasting down the hills my legs would tighten up, the initial spinning up would hurt. I much preferred to keep my legs moving. The organizers and volunteers put on a great show. This was one of the best supported rides I've ever been on. Remarkable seeing as there is no entry fee. I surprisingly feel pretty good today, my legs are a little tight, my left calf hurts a bit walking up stairs. My goal for next year is to finish fast enough to get a medium shirt.

The Bike is here

2008-11-14T09:11:12Z

For the last few days my wife has had to endure me calling a couple times a day. Normally she would not mind, but she knew I was just calling to see if the Orbea had arrived. Yesterday it finally made it's way from the Orbea US headquarters to my house.

Like a kid at Christmas I frantically opened the box and peered inside. I really didn't know what I was going to get besides it being an Orca. I had sent over a bike I created using the Orbea Made to Order Web site, but RoadBikeRides.com had already arranged a deal with Orbea. Luckily I got the size and color I wanted. The bike came with Dura-Ace components, I was hoping for Sram Red, but hey I won't argue with a free bike. I'll probably end up selling the wheelset that came with it as well. The Mavic ksyrium sl that it came with are a $1,000 wheelset, but my powertap won't lace to it.

I also made one other change at least for the time being. When I took the bike down to Austin Bikes to get built I had them take off the Dura Ace cranks and put on an Ultegra SL Compact crank. I might put these back on later, but for this weekend I'll need every bit of help up the hills.

Yes you read that correctly, I'm going to break my own rule about riding new gear in a big event. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt the Tour Das Hugel with the new bike. In all actuality I'll probably have fewer problems with the new bike than I would have with the Fuji. With the Fuji I couldn't shift into my 26T cog because the shifting mechanism was problematic, it has difficulties shifting off the cog. I really have to finesse it. Plus I've always have had shifting problems where the chain will come off and lodge between the cranks and the frame.

Maiden Voyage

All I can say is wow. The bike is fast! With the Fuji I really have to work to get my speed above 22 MPH, when I hit 24 mph on a flat I'm at my threshold. Tonight when I took out the Orca I was going between 24 and 29 MPH with ease, well at least it wasn't taxing my heart rate. With the PowerTap, the old wheels and the Ultegra crank the bike weights 18 pounds. The shipping weight was measured at 15 pounds. The Orca is lighter than my Fuji without wheels but a good 3 to 5 pounds I'd guess.

Twitter

If you haven't noticed I've started using Twitter. I'm using it mainly to update on my rides and bike related things. Tomorrow during the Hugel I'll be twittering my progress. On the right side of the blog page you'll see my twits. Follow me on Twitter.

2008 Hugel Map and Cue Sheet Posted

2008-11-13T07:11:59Z

The Tour Das Hugel organizers have posted the route for Saturdays ride on the Hugel yahoo groups page. No big changes from the 2007 route, the order has changed for a couple hills Adorondak Trails has been taken off the route this year, but the entire length of Big View has been added. This year's route appears to be about 107 miles, 1 mile more than last years route. If anybody is planning on doing the ride but are not part of the yahoo group leave a comment and I'll email the 2 PDFs to you.

Hugel Count Down

2008-11-10T09:11:52Z

The countdown to the Tour Das Hugel has began, the ride is this Saturday. Last Saturday I did a couple laps on the Volente Loop, plus I threw in 3 climbing repeats up the Twin Creeks hill. In total it was 3700 feet of climbing, a pretty good tune up. On Sunday I was going to for an easy ride, but it turned out to be a little more energy intensive than what I had wanted to do. The ride down 620 turned out to be harder than I was expecting to ride due to the wind. None the less it was a good ride.

Everything seemed to be coming together, legs feel great, however, this morning I woke up with a head cold. As the day progressed the aches and pains started to settle in and it seemed to be turning into the flu. I was planning on taking this week somewhat easy anyway so I should be good. I can concentrate on recovering from all the training along with water loading.

If you're not familiar with water loading, it is mainly making sure that I'm not dehydrated before I even start on Saturday. An interesting "Did you know?" is that most people are dehydrated and don't even realize it. When we are in a chronic state of dehydration our bodies try to compensate. I try to drink enough during the day normally, but this week I'll make sure to drink appropriately. Just so you know you can't just drink a gallon or two the day of your race or event, like everything it will take a few days or weeks for your body to react.

Starting tomorrow I'll start the loading process with Hammer Race Day Boost. I had great success with Race Day Boost coupled with Hammer Anti Fatigue Caps when I did the Outlaw Trail 100. Race Day Boost has antioxidants and glutamine which will hopefully help in my fight with the flu. According to Steve Born at Hammer Nutrition, "One of the benefits of glutamine is that it helps support optimal immune system function, which is highly desirable during your taper, a time when many an athlete finds themselves getting sick."

On another note, I got word from Tyler that my Orbea Orca is ready and Orbea should be shipping it out tomorrow. I doubt I'll get it in time for Hugel, but even if I do I probably won't ride it. I don't want to be introducing new variables at the last minute, I know all the nuances of the old bike. Like I said I'll be surprised if it gets here in time anyway.

PedalHard.com

2008-11-04T05:11:13Z

Over on Road Rash Jason had an entry on ex-Pro Racer Kevin Livingston's PedarHard.com site. He has a good number of instructional videos worth watching. What really caught my eye when the first video popped up was how familiar the scenery looked. It looked a lot like the Mt. Bonnell ride. Not only is the ride video shot here in Austin but when Kevin talks one on one with the camera it was shot on location at Mellow Johnny's.

See any other portions of your favoirte Austin routes in the videos?

Compact vs Double Cranks

2008-11-02T07:11:02Z

I spent yesterday afternoon down at Austin Bikes checking out the Orbea Orca, they have 1 in my size with Dura Ace components. I road 2 other Orbea's the Onix models. The Onix in and of itself was a great ride, but my goal was to ride Ultegra and SRAM Rival compact cranks. Both of these bikes were in compact crank configurations. This was my first time trying out compact cranks.

My Fuji has triple cranks, I typically don't use the small ring very often unless I'm going on a mega hill attack. My knees like the lower gearing that the third ring offers. In my testing I went up 7th and 9th street over by Austin Bikes several times testing all 3 groups. 7th is the steepest around the shop that I was able to ride, it averaged 6% with the max at 10%. The compacts offered the low end that I was accustomed to with my current triple. The double of the dura ace still got me up the hill, but I definitely had to work harder, not sure how my knees would hold up with repeated climbing with the double.

The problem with the compact I seem to be giving up a lot of the medium gearing. It seems that with the compact I'd be in the large ring for most riding and only using the small ring for steep hills. I might be giving up too much with the compact.

So the question is, if I went with the double and then had multiple cassettes that I swapped out for hills, maybe a 12-28 would I have enough range for the hills around Austin? On the flip side, should I go with the compact and get a different cassette for flatter rides?

I'm open to suggestions and insight that will give me the best options.

I Won an Orbea Orca

2008-10-31T10:10:24Z

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! The race on RoadBikeRides is over and I'm the winner of the Orbea Orca!

I'm not sure yet on the particulars on the prize, all I know at this point is the value is set at $5,400. I'm hoping I get to use Orbea's made to order web app to put the bike I want together.

Smokey Valley Part Duex and other vertically challenging hills

2008-10-29T09:10:31Z

I gave Smokey Valley another ride today and I'm happy to report I was able to breeze up it without resorting to zig zagging at the top. Here's the evidence:

Once I got to the top of Smokey Valley I turned right on Ladera Norte and proceeded to the top of it. I then went back down and then back up. In all I climbed Smokey Valley, Ladera Norte, Far West, Cat Mountain, Mt. Bonnell, Lookout Mountain and Mesa. It came out to be 2255.5 feet in this 14.47 mile route.

::See the route::

Greystone - 360 Time Trial

2008-10-28T08:10:35Z

For today's lunchtime workout I did my Greystone/360 route as a 30 minute Time Trial effort. The time trial starts after I cross Mesa Drive on Greystone. For the 30 minutes I averaged 18.14, my normalized power was 292, average power was 258.

The only notable thing on the ride was when I was heading down Mesa towards the end of the Time Trial, I see a rider ahead of me which gave me a nice carrot to chase. As I was approaching the light at Spicewood Springs he slowed at the red light and then ran the light. The rider nearly got run over as he went right in front of a car making a left hand turn who had the turn arrow. I caught him shortly on Mesa, get this he was in full Garmin/Chipotle kit. Not only was he in full kit, but he had a team issued Felt along with a Garmin 705. I was going to say something to him about the light, but kept on going as I was still going on my Time Trial effort and passed him at 23 mph so didn't want to slow down to chat. He did sure look the part though, besides the fact that I caught him and passed him. You never know the pros might be in town for the Tour de Gruene. Word has gotten out that local rider Lance Armstrong is signed up for the team time trial this weekend.

On further investigation it could have been Garmin-Chipotle rider Pat McCarty who resides here in Austin. Pat if that was you, don't run red lights, APD is out enforcing bike related traffic infractions plus it's dangerous and gives us all a bad name. Second if you want a rematch let me know, however I prefer it be on your recovery day.

Mt. Bonnell

2008-10-28T07:10:38Z

On Monday I did the entire length of Mt. Bonnell. It was my first time on Mt. Bonnell heading toward 2222, I've gone the other way heading down Balcones and catching Mt. Bonnell near the park and going down it. This time I wanted to go up it. This is a fun route and scenic with some great views of the river and the 360 bridge.

The entire route is only 9.55 miles, which is good for a lunch time ride, it gives me time to get a shower in before getting back to work. The climb isn't overly difficult at all either, the total route is only 862.7 feet of climbing. There is a steep section with a 17% grade at mile 4.6. At mile 7.4 there is another steep section with a 15.4% grade. As you can see there are 2 distinct sections to Mt. Bonnell, the first one is down by the water treatment plant is only .4 miles in length with an average grade of 10.3%. The second section is on the other side of 2222. It is .7 miles from 2222 to Mountain Villa Drive with an average grade of 3.8%. The climbing isn't done once you turn onto Mountain Villa, there's another .6 miles with an average grade of 3.8% with a max of 10.7%.

At this point if you need another climb turn right and head down Mesa and come back up. Like I said this is a nice little ride, next time I'll go in reverse, I think going counterclockwise will add more climbing.

Distance	9.67
Speed (avg/max)	14.95/37.69
Power (avg/max)	202/822
RPE	4

View Route

Popcorn the Miracle Recovery Food

2008-10-24T09:10:56Z

In a surprising announcement today it has been revealed that popcorn can enhance your recovery time after an endurance event like cycling. My sources also tell me that for the most benefit the popcorn sold by Cub Scouts offers the most benefit. I'm also told that in some people that consumed the microwave light version they lost 5 pounds.

Just by chance my 2 cub scouts are selling popcorn as a fundraiser for their pack.

You can order your popcorn online at orderpopcorn.com, be sure to use TEQ1FWG as the affiliate number.

DISCLAIMER: These claims have not been evalulated by the FDA nor is there any scientific evidence to show any superhuman benefits to consuming Cub Scout popcorn after endurance events or at any other time.

Smokey Valley

2008-10-22T06:10:43Z

Today I did battle with Smokey Valley, one on one, man versus hill. I've ridden most if not all the monster hills Austin has to offer (Jester, Beauford, Bluegrass, Lost Creek, Courtyard, City Park, Toro Canyon, the 3 Sisters). Not at any point up any of those hills did I once think I might have to bail out. Today that thought crossed my mind.

Smokey Valley is not long by any stretch, it's only .3 miles in length, but the grade is what will get you. The average grade is 13.2% and swoops up to 19.6% at the top. Other hills seem to have roughly about the same grade, but no other hill have I had to resort to the Zig Zag technique to get to the top. If you are not familiar with the zig zag, it is when you go up the hill at an angle not straight on.

One thing that might have contributed to the difficulty is the fact that I'm still having shifting problems when I go into my lowest gear on the rear cassette, I can't shift back up. So I haven't been shifting down. I'll have to give Smokey Valley another go next week and see if I find it as butt kicking as I did today.

See the image below as my Garmin recorded my ride, note the zig zagging at the top of Smokey Valley:

Outlaw Trail 100 - 100 Miles

2008-10-18T02:10:07Z

We were truly blessed with wonderful weather today, it was absolutely perfect. It was a tad windy, but I didn't think it was too bad, it was definitely better than when I rode the route last August and not nearly as windy as last year.

I had the goal of riding a century in 5 hours and 30 minutes. To tell you the truth I didn't think today was going to be the day. At the end of my ride in Thursday my knee started to ache a little. Friday it didn't go away so I didn't ride at all. This morning when I woke up it wasn't sore at all, for the first 50 miles I didn't want to push it, I averaged 17.7. At about mile 30 I some how pulled away from Dan and Jared, they were gabbing about mountain bikes and the next thing I know they are no longer behind me. I jumped in with a few other riders and we took turns pulling and then by Bartlett it was just me and a lady with a Fleet Feet kit. We rode together till a bit after the Granger Lake rest stop. I was doing the math in my head and if I averaged 20 mph I could come in around 5:30. I was feeling really good so I decided to push it up to 22+.

The second 50 miles I ended up averaging 19 mph, which isn't bad considering the last 50 has a lot of sections into the wind. I sprinted to the finish at 5:20:23, my active on the bike time was 05:12:04.

Next time a sub 5 hour time!

The Svein Tuft Story

2008-10-16T08:10:48Z

This is a really great story of Svein Tuft from his humble beginnings to the Bejing Olympics.

KOM

2008-10-14T04:10:22Z

If you've been following along you know one of my goals is to ride up the hill on Limecreek (the 3 Sisters) in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. On Saturday I rode up it in 3 minutes and 35 seconds. Today I rode out Limecreek for a couple of climbs up the Sisters.

My first go up it I clocked a time of 3 minutes and 30.38 seconds! Thus by rounding down, which I'm told is the norm, I've met the goal! I'm pretty stoked, now it's time to get it even lower. I'm thinking 3 minutes flat.

Even though there was a burn ban in effect I was on fire going up the Sisters!