60 ft of climbing just before the finish doesnt sound bad until you do it with a head wind in 90 degree heat. Then it just plain sucks
Stage 8 and Sadlers Alaska Challenge: Done!!! Today was no joke. We went a total of 30 miles, and 4500 feet of climbing up Hatcher Pass. It may have been one of the most physically challenging things I have ever done. The whole race, both physically and mentally, was a challenge but today even more so. For 8 miles it was an extremely steep incline, sometimes 16% grade and at times it was a struggle to keep the bike going forwards, and not start rolling backwards.
Katz and I stayed together up until the start of the climb and then I got ahead by a little bit. I didn't think I was much of a climber before this race but come to find out I actually enjoy it. I think. We both managed to stay pretty positive throughout the race, instead of cursing the hills as we've done in previous days. We were on day #2 with no rain and the scenery was gorgeous. Especially as we kept going up and up, and oh, up some more the views got better and better. We ended at Independence Mine with a decent size crowd to cheer us on. As I passed over the finish line I pulled out my flag for a little wave and the reward of crossing that finish line was awesome. The view for one thing, but knowing that we had overcome the physical and mental challenges of all 250 miles, the rain, the bugs, the little sleep...we had done it and our race motto of 'Taking Alaska Down One mile at a time' was as apparent as ever. I finished in 3rd but after the race today it's so much more apparent that it's not about the place, but about the finish, and that we both did. There was a short awards ceremony after the finish where I got some flowers and a huge check like you see on TV. To be honest, I felt weird standing up there without Katz. She's the one that got me into this crazy insane adventure and I never would have done it without her. She's the one that helped me get up many a hills and the one who rode by me on those sucky, rainy days. We both won, we really did. I know I'll look back on this in a few years and be amazed at what we accomplished here. We rock. We just do.
We drove back to Anchorage and stopped at the first Starbucks we saw. We were deprived after 8 days without Starbucks. How we did it, I don't know. We have an awards banquet tonight and then our journey back home begins at 1:30am. Through Pheonix and then I'll be off to Chicago and Katz back to CO. We are more than ready to get home, bringing our sore muscles with us.
Right now we are back in the same hotel we started out in 8 days ago. Although the days went slow, and the races even slower, it's crazy to look back and have it be over. Just goes to show that life goes by too quick. Good thing I have these crazy adventures and good friends like Katz to share them with. So, this is the end of my Alaskan adventure. Thanks for tuning in.
Peace Out Alaska!
Today was a long day, stage 6. Before yesterday, today's race was 55 miles up and over Thompson Pass with an elevation gain of 3000 feet. After yesterday's race and the trials that come along with the rain, cold and wind the race was shortened to only 25 miles. We still had to do the 3000 foot climb but that's where we ended. If we would have kept with the original plan we would have descended that same amount and with the rain and cold, it can cause some safety and health concerns, as 2 people got hypothermia yesterday during the race. I didn't get a chance to wite yesterday so to be brief stage 5 was a 38 mile road race though Cordova. I did well and finished 4th, a few seconds behind Katz for 3rd. We averaged about 14mph and were pumped with our results. Back to today..
A shorter course it was. We started at 11am and were told we had 18 miles of a few hills but mostly flat before we got to the real climb. Katz and I started off together and for the first 18 miles we helped each other and switched off drafting every 2 miles. I appreciate drafting more then ever now. You get a few good minutes to rest a little, get some food, and take in the scenery. Today, even with the rain, the scenery was beautiful. We were in this winding canyon and there were waterfalls all around. It was gorgeous. A true Alaska moment.
The climbing started around mile 18 but the real serious climbing began at mile 20. By real climbing I mean a 9% incline for 5 miles.
I was feeling pretty good so I got ahead of Katz and did my best to climb hard. Rain and wind still present, I felt pretty good throughout the whole climb as I watched the odometer creep up oh so slowly. I finished a few minutes ahead of Katz and come to find out it was enough to bring me into 3rd palce overall, about 8 minutes ahead of Katz. That's the beauty of a stage race, we can flip flop times every day and just see who comes out ahead at the end. But today was a tough one, and I give props to all that finished.
We have much much more climbing to do in the next 2 days so it's really anybody's race. Tomorrow is the longest day at 54 miles and it has a substantial amount of climbing. Then stage 8, the last day is around 30 miles with a 4000 foot climb in there over Hatcher pass. Something to look forward too (sense the sarcasm)
On a good note, the sun does actually shine in Alaska. Of course it waited until after the race to end and while we were driving to the hotel but the big burning ball of gas actually came out for once. There were even a few blue sky patches in there. It was a miracle. And even more of a miracle is that the forecast for tomorrow is coudy, but no rain. Hallelujah. Cross your fingers it stays that way.
Bedtime now. Peace Out Glennellyn!
Today was an awesome day. One of many firsts, beautiful scenery and just an overall great day.
We started off the day with breakfast served at 7am by the Salvation Army in a pkg lot surrounded by the Alaska mtns... can the day start much better than that?
We headed to the race start after bfast which was right underneath a glacier on the mountain side. I was set to start my time trial at 9:10. This was my fist time trial and I was a bit nervous moving up to the start line. I was starting out first for the women so I had no one to catch but that was OK. I was on my own until about mile 6 when the women kneelers pased me at a pretty speedy pace. Like I said before, they are a bit out of our league... Katz had started a minute behind me and she passed me right before the turn around point at mile 7. I kept her in my sight and managaed to catch back up and pass her at about mile 10. I held her off until the end but I didn't make up the minute I had started ahead of her. So the final results were Katz, 3rd and Me, 4th. I had come in 18 seconds slower than her. The 1st and 2nd place kneeling riders were 9 and 12 minutes ahead of us. So, yeah, they are speedy. The 5th woman came in a few minutes behind Katz and I so we were holding a retty respectable 3rd and 4th palce. And to add to the course, in true Alaska style we saw a coyote on the course. No bears yet..
We got a quick break for lunch and a little rest before we headed into downtown Seward for the criterium. Like the time trial, this was my first criterium. It was a .67 loop that you do 20 times but we finished when the fastest rider in our group finished. The top 3 people in each category get bonus seconds, 1st was 30 sec, 2nd was 20 sec and 3rd, 10 sec. The clock started and the two kneelers immediately took off leaving us again to vie for 3rd, 4th and 5th. The course was a bit hilly with a few good turns in there and I was feeling pretty good. I was having a blast and ended up in 3rd gaining 10 bonus seconds. The 4th and 5th place riders got no bonus. So, this morning I was 18 seconds behind Katz but since I came in 3rd and her 4th, I am now only 8 seconds behind her. So, the end of the day's results are Katz, 3rd and me 4th, behind by 8 seconds. Its going to be a good race between Katz and I. We are both very competitive people and as much as we want to win on the course, we will both be genuinely happy if the other wins. After all, out goal is to have fun and to finish. So far so good. Plus, we have some pretty sweet looking jerseys. We had some made for the race and love them.
After the criterium we had dinner in the town of Seward and met some of the locals. A town of 3000 located right on the ocean, surrounded by mountains. You can't beat the scenery. The weather was pretty decent all day. A bit wet as it's supposed to be all week but luckily it didn't pour on us, just a little sprinkling and wet roads. Let's hope for no worse tomorrow.
Each of us riders are assigned to a support vehicle. Katz and I were given a team name of Team Diva with our driver Yasuka from Japan. Yasuka doesn't speak much english and we were a bit hesitant at first as she drives us everywhere, helps with our stuff, the course, etc.. and the language barrier was a slight issue. However, she has grown on us and now we LOVE her. She helps us with everything and anything and we totally lucked out with her. We all make quite the team.
We just got back from our nightly 30 min massage. Yes, we learned today that there are massage therapists with us along the trip to work on us every night. Boy were we pumped. So to finish the night off, Katz and I went and got outdoor massages, under a canopy, listening to bongo drums, in Alaska. Oh, what a day.
Tomorrow we head to Hope, AK for a 36 mile road race. There is definate climbing but it's not too too bad. If anything today was a bit of a wake up call that this week is going to be a toughy as today was supposedly the easy day.
Time for a shower, then to bed. Good Night.
I am writing this from Seward, Alaska where stage 1 of the Sadlers Alaska Challenge begins tomorrow. The travel was quite the journey as I traveled from Chicago to Pheonix to Anchorage yesterday. A total of 20 hours from door to door as Katz and I arrived in AK around 2am relieved to see both bikes and bags, finally hitting the sack at 4am. THis morning we to to met some of the other riders and drove the 2 hours to Seward, AK with our support vehicle. Let me just say that Alaska is gorgeous. Even with the rainy, cloudy day, the mountains and the lakes and the green is just beautiful. The weather forecast doesnt look so hot this week but I'm hoping for 1 good day not just for the race, but for the scenery as well.
Katz and I checked into the Seward Lodge and went to our nightly logistics meeting. TOmorrow is both a time trial and a criterium, both which will be a first for me. The time trial is 14 miles starting at 9:10am. Katz starts a minute behind me at 9:11. Then the criterium is 20 .67 laps around the city of Seward starting at 2pm. It will be interesting just given the fact that I've never done either of them. As I've previously written, there are 5 women racers. Two of them are super fast, both Paralympic medalists and ride what's called a kneeler where they kneel as they ride. One is from Germany, the other from the Netherlands. The remaining 3 of us are all from the US and we ride longseats where we ride sitting down with our legs out front. The kneelers are typically much faster but given the experience level, I think they may be faster in either.. My goal is top 4 and for those not so hot with math, that means not last. We'll see how it goes.
Tonight at dinner we did learn how to fend off a bear. No joke. Act big and talk to it in a stern voice. "Bear, please don't eat me" Let's hope I don't have to try that.
After dinner we got to get on our bike and make sure everything was A-OK before tomorrow. So far, so good. I was a little worried as my method of travelling with my bike may be a bit, well, ghetto. Instead of a bike case, I use a big roll of saran wrap. But hey, it worked just fine. Look for the picture on my profile.
I'll update as much as I can. If you want real results the website www.sadlersakchallenge.org is having close to real time results.
I'm can't believe Im actually here with day 1 tomorrow. I know I am ready. This past week had an unfortunate and tragic event where my Paralympic swim coach was killed in a climbing accident. With the services and a trip to CO I have been off the bike for a good 6 days. We'll just consider it a heavy taper... But that being said, this week is for him. Jimi Flowers. All 267 miles.
Well, here we go... Wish me luck.
I am officially qualified for my Alaska race! Last week I participated in the Ann Arbor 1/2 marathon and had to average 12.5 on the bike. I knew I could do it but was still nervous before the start. I was the only wheeler as they called it so I was on my own, starting 2 min before the runners. I had my wn police escort which was awesome until the very end when we merged with the 5K run and I had to weave around the mass of people. I crossed the finish line in 48 min with an average of 16.0 mph. I shouldn't have been worried and it felt awesome. I was wishing it was a full marathon so I could really compare my time to what I've done previously. SO now that that's done I am officially headed to Alaska in just about 5 weeks now. I know the flat Ann Arbr doesn't cmpare to 6 days of hard racing with a total of 16,000 feet of climbing but any vote of confidence I can get is a good one. Last week I had to sign a waiver that In Alaska the race directors weren't liable for moose and bear. Let's just hope if they come after me it's on the downhill. If they see my on the uphill, I'm screwed.
My running has resumed and I LOVE it. I will post a picture of my sweet new running leg if youre interested. I had to take a few weeks off to work with my socket and such and I didn't realize how fast I could loose the endurance. That and my back muscles had gotten somewhat accustomed to my running ways but starting out again it was a bit painful. I sucessfully did another straight 1.5 miles around the track and was excited. I really really want to make it to 2. I have another 5K on June 18 and am going to do all I can to run the whole thing. Another amputee friend of mine from the Iraq war is also learning to run and I hope he'll do it too. As we all know, having the company makes you try that much harder...
I have had to do some of my longer rides insdide this past week. I was spolied with the weather when I got to go outside for a few weeks. Having to be back inside, on the trainer almost killed me. Well, not really. But on my suposed to be 4 hour ride I couldn't stand to be on the bike a minute longer than 2:45. As my coach said, I am getting soft... I have another 4 hour ride this Thurs and am praying for good weather. If it would only warm up already. I have another Soldier Ride this weekend here in Chicago so I'll have my long ride on THursday and then riding with th group on Sat and Sun.
I had my first swim meet since Beijing. DUe to time constraints and having to get down to FL for a triathlon with the Challenged Atheltes Foundation I was only able to do two races, the 50 free and 100 back. The 100 back is not my race so I wasn't too comcerend. But my 50 free time was within .5 seconds of my best time ever and I was plesantly surprised. Fr not swimming as much and focusin on biking I was expecting much worse. Maybe there's hope yet.
I did the FL 70.3 on a relay and I was again the swimmer. My swim was fantastic. I was going for under 30 but once again I was just over. But it felt great and I actually caught and passed one of the pros that was in the wave ahead of me. I was loving it.
That's all for now. Cross your fingers for good weather so I don't get too soft...
Here's a sneak peak of what our new Climbing videos will look like that will come out this fall! That's me in the pain cave just so you know.
This past weekend was a fun filled weekend of the beginner's road skill camp as well as the shooting for our new Climbing DVD series the new building was a hoping place.
Our Road Skills camp is designed to help athletes of all levels to hone their ability on the bike, whether that is clipping in and out at stop lights or their comfort level in a group and utilizing multiple types of pace lines all riders are welcome. The camp went off flawlessly and each athlete left leaps and bounds more proficient in handling and comfort in a group compared to when they left. On day one of the camp our group or cyclists looked more like solo riders and by the last day we were a proficient pacelining team. The age ranged from 35-67 years and a great deal of fun was had by all!
After Camp wrapped up at noon on Sunday I got ready for our Photo shoot for climbing DVD #3. This was a high intensity workout that will help each athlete no matter their ability to increase their climbing power. I have never been in a photo shoot like this and was amazed at the time that it took for each 60 minute workout. After a total of 2 hours on the bike in the morning for camp and another 2 hours in the evening with some VO2 work included I was WORKED! 9:00pm finally rolled around and I headed home to grab some dinner and hit the hay. All in all it was a great day and an even better weekend with a fun group of campers!
Cheers!
During his European training camp, Lance spent some time in Italy and rode the nearly 60-kilometer individual time course that is sure to be a decisive stage in the 2009 Giro d'Italia. One of the biggest questions about the time trial is whether it's better to ride a time trial bike for the aerodynamic advantage, a traditional road bike because of the significant climbs and technical descents, or if it's best to create a new and special bike that attempts to combine some aerodynamic advantages with a more road-oriented geometry to improve climbing and descending performance. During this particular segment of the reconaissance ride, Lance was working on finding a good place to hold on to an aero bar setup while climbing.
The Madone climb near Nice, France played a big role in Lance's early success at the Tour de France. Although it's been a long time since he's lived in Nice, he was in the area during his European training camp and couldn't resist having a go at it.
Three weeks after Lance broke his collarbone, I joined him in Aspen, Colorado, for a weekend of training. He completed solid rides packed with hard climbs, at elevations ranging from 9,000-10,000 feet in elevation and a bit higher. His collarbone injury is not slowing him down, his power is still very good, and he's able to climb out of the saddle with weight on his handlebars. One of the workouts you'll see in this video is a varied-cadence ClimbingRepeat, where Lance's cadence ranges from 50rpm to 90+ during a sustained climb. It's a very good way to replicate the ever-changing demands of climbing in real events.
I need to start writing more as I keep forgetting what my workouts were like 3 weeks ago. From now on it's every 2 weeks.
What stands out most in the past few weeks is my ride last weekend. I actually got to ride outside and it was thrilling. I couldn't have been happier with the great weather, the views of the Chicago skyline as I rode by Lake Michigan and some good tunes. I was in armbike heaven. That probably had to do with the fact that it was an easy ride and I was just cruising, taking in the great day. But it's days like these that I get to thinking about how much I love what I do. Down to the damn sweaty legs, I love it all. It was a great day.
Aside from that ride, my armbike workouts have gotten much more intense lately and I am feeling it. A good feeling, one of hard work lots of sweat and some sore muscles. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate this weekend and I had to do my longest ride yet indoors on the trainer. Thank god for Netflix. I had two long 20 min intervals of hard riding and by the 2nd one I was pretty spent. The last hour I was just cruising but that's when it got mentally tough. I can only assume that it would have been better outside with an actual destination, but it took all my willpower to stay on the bike for that last hour. I ended with 37 miles total which is my longst ride by far. Im Alaska our longest day is 55 miles, but that's after some other 45+ mile days in there. Add some mountains in there and I'll be going much longer than 3 hours so it's best that I start my long periods on the bike now. Hopefully the weather will cooperate there.
This week I have more tough rides. I usually do 2 days of riding, a few days rest then my long ride. This week it's 3 days straight of 2hr ride, a 1.5 hr ride and then another 3 hr ride. This is somewhat due to the fact that I am going to be out of town and we are trying to squeeze it all in but Im excited for the challenge.
Up until yesterday I was pretty frusterated with my running. Not so much the running but my running leg socket. Every time I ran for over 5 min it would slowly start to take of layers of skin in areas that no one would ever want skin rubbed off. (I'll leave that to your imagination). To add to the discomfort, the plastic then started cracking so every step I took resulted in being pinched in those same areas. Not comfortable to say the least. After switching some things around I had a slightly improved socket yesterday and got a good 30 minutes in. I did 2.3 miles which is the same distance as earlier that week in 35 minutes. I took 4 breaks but they were small ones, 30 seconds or less, and I ran the 1st mile straight. As long as I can get a comfortable socket I am confident that my running could preogress pretty significantly and I am looking forward to that. I signed up for my first 5K on April 25th and my goal is to run the whole thing stopping as little as possible. We'll see how it goes.
Swimming is still good. Not much changes there. If I have to miss a workout throughout the week, it is typically a swimming one but I still enjoy it as much as ever.
Last weekend I tried rock- climbing for the first time since I lost my leg. It's been something I've been wanting to do and I finally got out there and did it. It was awesome, I've never felt so much forearm weakness in so little a time but I loved it. I plan on going again as soon as I can.
Next weekend I am going to swim on a relay in a 70.3 CA triathlon with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Operation Rebound. A bunch of wounded vets that come from all around to compete in triathlons together. Another favorite activity of mine and I always enjoy the open water swimming opportunity. I'll let you know how it goes next time.
Two weeks.
Capped off a big Tempo block Sunday with 4x20 Ts. Weather was rainy and cold Saturday so headed out Sunday afternoon when it was just windy and cold. It had snowed the night before and even though the conditions were a little rough and I had enough layers on to make it to Everest Base Camp, the scenery was beautiful. I was climbing a 3 mile climb on a Southwest portion of the Cumberland Plateau. It is close to the most visited State Park in TN called Fall Creek Falls. After 3+ hours on the bike and knowing this coming week would be recovery, I thawed out with a Cafe Moch and rewarded myself with "Convenience Market Pizza". I'll try to remember this day when chasing a break in August.
