Big Dam Bridge 100 Ride Report

This was my third Century and I’ll have to say the best ever. My longest ride in training for this one was only 66 miles and the past two weeks I missed most of my mileage so I really didn’t know what to expect. We had trained hard at the shorter distance so I hoped that would help. I just knew I had to be conservative.

Heather, James, Gary, Rock, me, Curtis, Russ just before the start

We almost missed the start but were able to jump in the middle of the pack. The first 25 miles we rode somewhat conservative with Gary, Curtis, Rock, James, Heather and Russ. I think going out a little slower helped us a lot latter on.

Part of our group crossing the bridge at the start

We stopped at the Maumelle rest area so everyone could use the bathroom then we rode past the Mayflower stop. James, Russ and Heather turned around there as they decided to just do 50. We saw one crash before Mayflower then another really bad one at the intersection of I40 and 89. There would be more. Just past Mayflower we started hitting the hills. Rock started having some issues with her IT but stopped and stretched it out. Next stop would be the Fortson and Sayles rest stop to prepare for Billy Goat Mountain.

Gary, Rock, Curtis, me, fellow blogger Gabby and Gary

Billy Goat was hard but not as bad as last weekend when I rode it. Maybe it was because I already knew what to expect. I found that as long as I didn’t look up and just keep moving, the hills would eventually go away. They did throw a twist into the course. Instead of going out to Hwy 107 and then to Otto Road they turned the course up the mountain on another road that cut over to Otto. This road was terrible. It was rough chip seal and felt like you were riding on a gravel road. We had a long climb to the top of the mountain but it wasn’t real steep so it wasn’t that bad. Then it was a fast downhill. Halfway down the mountain there was a hairpin turn and the volunteers were set up there warning people to slow down and watch for loose gravel. Once you made the turn it was a long rough downhill into the valley. Here we saw another bad crash. We think someone blew a tire on the downhill and the guys arm was pretty scrapped up.

Otto Road was nice and smooth and we started pacing again here. We stopped at the aid station at the church and refueled. Rock got here cleats adjusted some. We saw another guy there that had crashed evidently. He had a bandage on his head but was still riding.

The ride on in to Conway was good but we had some wind to deal with. We had a big group of fast riders pass us and we latched on to their wheel for a while but they were really fast and we just really didn’t want to ride that hard. I really liked the new route around the airport. Made the traffic not as bad. We stopped at the Conway stop and refueled again.

Me at Conway

Curtis & Rock at Conway

Getting out of Conway was not as fun. There was little or no support through the red lights on Donaghey. We had to fight the traffic here but we got through it. Slowed us down quite a bit.

Then it was more hills again. There were a couple monsters between Conway and Mayflower but after doing Billy Goat they didn’t seem too bad. By this time we were close to 70 miles in and the hills did hurt. We planned to buzz through the Mayflower aid station and just refill with water but we got stopped by a train. This cost us a good 5-10 minutes. Then we did have to stop for water.

We picked the pace up a little on the last 25 and had the wind helping us some it seemed. The hills coming back seemed like nothing after the big ones earlier. We stopped at Maumelle so Curtis could get his jacket that he hid in the bushes.

By the time we were on the other side of Maumelle I realized that we were going to finish in less than 7 hours which would be a big PR for me. We were on the home stretch and all we had to do was keep moving. We crossed the finish line at 6:58 and we were 4 wide crossing which was pretty cool. We all stayed together the whole ride and never let anyone drop. I never felt like I wanted to quit the whole ride and never felt bad. My shoulders and butt was starting to get sore though. Curtis did an awesome job pacing us most of the way though we all did some pulling. After the finish I did feel a little light headed, why I don’t know. Tried to walk it off but that didn’t help. Thanks to Vicki, she had a coke in her car so that helped a bunch.

Fixing to cross the finish line together, me, Rock, Gary, Curtis

Gabby, aka Gab's a trucker finishing her first 100 miler

On nutrition I think I did pretty good. Probably didn’t drink enough during the first 25 since it was cooler. I ate one whole banana, 3/4 ‘s of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, probably 5 cookies at least. I really liked the Vanilla wafers and peanut butter at the Maumelle stop. Had pickle juice, ate about two ounce of Hammer gel, and some peanut butter crackers. I tried to take two endurolytes every hour, ended up only taking 8 though. Took 2 Sportlegs every two hours which I have no doubt helped my legs, especially on the hills.

Post race I had a big plate at Corino’s for dinner, Spaghetti, lasagna, and chicken parmesan plus salad and cake for desert. I ate all of it too! Almost got my 6500 calories back that I burnt.

It was a great ride, great weather, with great friends.

Final stats:

Official clock time - 6:58

unofficial bike only time - 5:55 - 17.0 mph avg. pace

6487 Calories burnt

Avg. heart rate 156 max 186

Starting temperature - 62 degrees

Ending temperature - 83 degrees and sunny

Sweltering Weekend

Here is a quick recap of some of my weekend which was probably the hottest weather we have had so far this year.

Friday night - I started the so far most boring class ever in my fire department career. 80 hours of Driver/Pump Operator. Friday nights class was 6:30pm till almost 9:30pm. We did have a great instructor, former Cabot Chief Gary Meadows was our teacher and he always teaches a great class even if the content is boring. When I get done with the class I will be "Internationally Certified" as a driver/pump operator. Just means I am trained as much or more than any paid firefighter out there and I could go anywhere in the world to do it.

Saturday - Went back to class at 8am. Yawn. Part of the class was actually how to properly wash a fire truck and why you don't use gasoline of other toxic chemicals to clean the upholstery. OMG......it was so boring and elementary. I was assigned to the engine company in case we got a call and we were actually wishing someone would do something stupid so we could get called out of class. I know this was just the first part and since this is a required class from FEMA in order to get a grant on a truck, we figured the only reason they have some of this stuff is because some podunk department somewhere probably got a new truck and actually cleaned their seats with gasoline...lol. Pretty bad. Lunch was the highlight. Stouts diner on Hwy 107. We all got cheeseburgers and these were the biggest, greasiest burgers around. They were good. The clientel was more interesting. Some of the people coming in there looked like they had just came from the movie set of Deliverance. Pretty scary looking characters. We also had some FD Groupies hanging out for us. A group of young girls had to have a tour of the fire truck. I'm sure we are all on My Space now.

Our Fan Club

Annette ended up going to Forest City with Michele to watch Gary, Curtis, James, Rock and Cindy participate in the triathlon there. They had a lot of fun. Rock and Cindy placed 3rd in the team event. I wish I had been there instead of where I was.

As you can see, Annette and Michele was trying to encourage Curtis!

I think they jinxed Gary who usually gets ALL the attention. He ended up having a flat on the bike portion but he was still able to finish though he wasn't a happy camper.

Rock, David Wonn, James, Gary

I finally got home about 5pm, and we never got even one bs medical call. Go figure.

Sunday - I was dieing to ride Sunday but we had a practical to run through at 1pm so I was going to have to go early. I found out Saturday night that Gary and Curtis were riding at 6:30am and then again at 9:30am from Cabot. James called me and said he was doing the 9:30 portion so that sounded good to me. I figured I could do one hour out and one hour back.

Gary and Curtis were waiting at the school when I got there. James was running late as he had to wait on Michele to get back from her and Annette's long run. Ended up Gary and I took off. Curtis said he and James would catch up to us. It had already started getting warm and there was some wind. We headed out 89 towards Keo. We didn't really have a tail wind but there were times we were easily pushing 24-25mph. We made it just past I40 before James and Curtis caught us. I know they had to fly to catch up and we did slow to about 16-17 for a little while. After crossing 70, it was a nice ride, no traffic. I hit the one hour mark at mile 18 and told them I was turning back. They were going out 25 and back. Curtis decided he would ride back with me. The ride back was slower at times but the heat had gotten to the almost unbearable point again. Luckily I had enough water to get me back. My tri bottle was already empty and I had drank about half a bottle of my acceleraide mix. We stayed pretty steady going back till we hot the store at Furlow then Curtis picked up the pace a little. Or maybe I started slowing down. In either case, I fell back and didn't hang with him. My heart rate was very high and I wanted to get it down. I didn't feel like I was working that hard but evidently the heat was getting the blood boiling. There are a couple small hills on this route that will slow you down and with the heat they did me. I was sweating more than last weekend which I didn't know if that meant I was better hydrated or it was hotter. I think it was both! I ended up finishing the ride with 36 miles in 2:03. Just under the 18mph average.

I got home at noon, had to be at the church parking lot at 1:00 to drive fire trucks. I wanted to quit right then. This was the worst class and now I had to do the emergency vehicle driving practical again which I have done at least 15 times in the past. Mostly consists of standing around in the parking lot waiting your turn at the wheel. Lucky for me, chief assigned me to work the diminishing cones portion of the course. Only thing was, no air condition in the brush truck we were using. I worked about 20+ firefighters through the course, and probably used at least one bottle of gatoraid and one water to get through it. Let me tell you, it was hot. 97+ in a parking lot with no shade. Yuck. Finally when I got all those guys through I got to drive some. I took E65 through the slalom course of cones to show the boys how its done. Most were just easing through but I added a little speed to mine. Weaving in and out of cones and not hitting them is tough in a fire truck. The it was a road test, down the service road and back up the freeway. The Asst. Chief was with me and when we hit the freeway he told me to give it all she had and see how fast we could go. Well, today 65 would only hit 68mph. Usually its about 70-72. Finally the class was over. By the time I got home I had to be dehydrated. The girls were in the pool when I got back so I jumped in for a few but I headed for the AC after that. I was burnt out and done.

Tour de Rock - Helping to Fight Cancer

Bloggers unite!! I need your help! This Saturday June 14th Annette and I will be participating in the 5th Annual CARTI Tour de Rock bicycle tour. Annette will be riding her first ever 30 mile ride and I plan to do the 50-62 mile route. All proceeds will benefit programs and services for cancer patients treated at the seven CARTI locations throughout the state. This is for a great cause and is a great event. To make things even sweeter, we have formed a Cabot Cruiser's Team and currently have 20 bikers with more planning on joining before Saturday. The team with the most members wins a traveling trophy and right now we have it won hands down but there is still two days left. This is going to be a FUN ride and best of all, we are helping others!

Please consider donating to CARTI and help us bring the fight to cancer. All donations are 100% tax deductible. If you are in the Little Rock metro area you can also join our team. Part of the entry fees are even tax deductible.

Use the link below to make your donation and sponsor Annette & I in our ride to fight Cancer.

http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=254&AID=204&PID=33765

Last Ride of the Year

Today was my last bike ride of the year and it was a good one. I met some of the Cruisers at Mt Carmel Baptist Church at the usual 1:30pm Sunday ride time. It was sunny but just a little chilly around 52 degrees. I wasn't sure if I had enough or too much as far as clothes on. On top I had a moisture wicking beanie under my helmet. I had a long sleeve under armour shirt on then an LG long sleeve biking pullover to keep me warm. I wore my tri-shorts with my cw-x tights on top of them. I figured this would be enough. Its a good thing I had at least this much because it was actually perfect. If it had been any colder I would have been pretty cold and uncomfortable.

We ended up getting just over 22 miles in at a leisurely pace. There was only 6 of us that showed up. One of the objectives of todays ride was to ride with Charlie W. who was about to hit the 10,000 mile mark on his bike for this year. Thats right, he has rode his bike or will have by tomorrow, 10,000 miles this year! I don't think there has been a day this year that he hasn't ridden. Even if the weather was too bad to ride outside he would get some miles inside on the trainer. 10,000 miles is a lot of miles on a bike. Some people don't get 10,000 miles a year in their car. And this is not his first time either. I think he did it last year too. I think its totally amazing. It looks like I will end up with about 836 miles for the year. Not much compared to Charlie. When I left the church Charlie said he needed 40 miles and he was going to ride another 20 today. I have no doubt he will achieve his goal. Guess its time to start thinking about some 2008 goals for me.

Big Dam Bridge is tomorrow!

It's now just a matter of hours before the start of the Big Dam Bridge 100. I am probably about as carb loaded as one can get. If I have a flat it is because my tires no longer can hold my extra weight. Well, it's not really that bad. We did load up for lunch at Larry's Pizza along with several other local bikers doing the ride. Afterwards Annette and I went to Dickie Stephens Park to get my registration packet and look at the Expo they were having. I was a little disappointed in the Expo as there were only about 4 vendors there when we went. I did go ahead and buy me an official BDB Jersey. I needed another one anyway, though I won't wear it on Saturday since they say its bad luck to wear the race jersey/shirt on race day. Not sure if it is or not but I need all the luck I can get and I'm all about stacking the odds in my favor.

Here is a photo of the super cool jersey



Since I was pretty much worthless at work today and we were already in North Little Rock, I decided to head up towards Conway and follow some of the BDB route. Didn't look too intimidating until we turned on Rocky Gap Rd. off of 89 in Mayflower. Quite a few hills on this stretch but I have still done bigger so it should not be a problem. We ended up in Conway, fought the traffic around town and went by the Sporty Runner. Annette got a really cool new blinky light that had a magnet that holds it to your shirt or whatever. After that I had to stop by The Ride bike shop. I was wanting some gel gloves for the ride. The ones I had been using didn't have much padding so I figured now is the time to upgrade. With 100 miles ahead of me I need all the padding I can get! By the way, the people there are super nice as are the people at Sporty Runner. I will do business with both of these places again as they seem to not only want your business but ask if they can help you and are willing to answer questions.

After dropping $30+ dollars at The Ride, we cut back cross country on Hwy 286 following the BDB route again. Otto Rd is going to be interesting for sure. I had already done the hills on Fortson Rd so I know what I have there. Man, this is going to be a long ride for sure! I'm putting my Garmin on the bike as last night I finally figured out how to change it over to bicycle mode. I can get some good data from it after the ride that will help in future training. I am still debating on using the virtual partner for the bike ride and setting it up to go a certain MPH. Either way it will compliment my Cat Eye speedometer. Only thing I wish I had now was one that showed cadence. I may take a digital camera with me or if nothing else I will have my camera phone with me. It's just hard to remember to take photos sometimes so maybe I'll remember at some of the rest stops.

If you can't tell, I'm excited and can't wait to get going on this ride! 100 miles is a long way to pedal. I just want to have fun, have a decent time and most of all finish feeling good.