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RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/22/2010 12:57:21 AM

goatstick

Posts: 523
Joined: 6/27/2009
Status: offline

Maybe this needs to be done in installments...

Plot :

I go to Fl to train
- run over a minivan, slight setback
- place 3rd overall at Sebring 24 Hr

invited to do RAAM with Bent Up Cycles team

2man HC600 with Greg Gross, trash achilles tendons - slight setback

train for RAAM with JV but tendon problem keeps me benched for quite a while.

ship out to LA to train with Bent Up Cycles. Learn I can actually climb some long, steep grades

------
Race:

Get tossed out of the RV for the 2nd shift of RAAM. Get to go really, really fast.

Go really slow up some steep roads.

Stomach goes haywire, have trouble keep power up.

Get to go really, really, really fast downhill, pitch black with a custom Surefire headlight. Get airborne a couple of times at 50mph on a black road patch. Get to dodge big potholes under same conditions. Maybe getting to close to too much fun...

Get altitude sickness. Fever, dizzy, Not Enough O2 up here!!! Have to hyper-ventilate to keep moving.

Go really fast pitch black again.

Go really fast through a bunch of towns in the middle of the night. Start talking to stoplights so they stay green for me. Apparently works, BTW.

Start recovering so get to go really, really fast.

Go really, really slowly up some really steep climbs.

Bomb down technical twisty dropoffs, pulsing brakes to keep them from fading and me under 50 and not off the road.

Crank, Crank, Eat, Crank, Sleep, Eat, Crank, Crank Eat, Laugh...
Laugh, Crank, Crank Eat, Sleep, Laugh More
Slow, Fast, Grind, Fast, Sleep, Eat, Laugh

Blow The Stops Out.

Whooooo hooooo!!!!!

Laugh, Laugh, Laugh. Almost Cry. Hug. Eat, Eat, Eat. Sleep.

Talk in sentences with more than a couple of words again...

< Message edited by goatstick -- 6/22/2010 1:00:19 AM >

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Post #: 1

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/22/2010 4:35:10 AM

andysinak

Posts: 488
Joined: 11/12/2004
From: Anchorage, Alaska
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Kent, congratulations to you, Dana, JV and Willie and the rest of the team on a great achievement. I bet you can entertain us with many more stories as you decompress.

andy

(in reply to goatstick)

Post #: 2

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/22/2010 4:57:06 AM

AeroDon

Posts: 1324
Joined: 6/18/2006
From: North Augusta, SC USA
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GREAT ride report!!! I got the whole story....if not all the details. Having raced w/ JV, I can imagine it quite well. I hope you guys didn't have to live on JV's Perpetum imitation concoction.....that's mean stuff!!!

Congratulations on a really great race....a major accomplishment!!!

Below, you'll see JV and Larry preparing our meal for RAO '07.....DON'T THAT LOOK TASTY!!!

_____________________________

AeroDon
CA 2.0 700c Ti Aero
TEAM BACCHETTA
ADEM headrests Support so you can Really Recline
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Post #: 3

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/22/2010 10:58:15 AM

goatstick

Posts: 523
Joined: 6/27/2009
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Thanks for enjoying my meticulously boring ride report. :^)

There is no way one could stick a week's worth of such intense yet often fleeting memories of such an event into a simple report. The facts will have to come out as we pour over our power logs and begin to sort out and correlate them with weird memories that are already somewhat out of order. So thoughts and feelings might have to do for now.

Firstly. We had a most fabulous team. The riders... Dana, JV, Willie. They are the best. We all were fairly close in terms of power and endurance. We each had some specific capabilities that stood out that were needed, yet when each of us faltered somewhat, the others were there to hold us up without thought as to who was supposed to do what or where. Not only was it simply something that needed to be done, it's like we were looking forward to picking up that extra stick. It was fun, even to exhaustion.

The crew. While a number of them stood out like shining beacons that will forever be in my memory, almost all simply did what was needed when needed, without complaint. 19 crew members means a lot of people doing what could have been perceived as an infinitely boring, thankless job. I knew not a soul between them before I headed out to LA and I know I've made some lifelong friends from several of them.

This is not over... We'll be back. And we'll be getting it right next time! :^)

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Post #: 4

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/22/2010 3:53:47 PM

diesel

Posts: 714
Joined: 2/26/2008
From: Lakeland, FL
Status: offline

Congratulations Kent. What a great experience for you all. That pre-ride parking lot was rather exhilarating, was it not?!!

Way cool that you guys did well.

Diesel

_____________________________

Allan Duhm
Ti-Aero
CA 2.0 2010
UMCA 5068 RUSA 5235
Florida State Champion 2011 Senior Games 60-64 / 5K and 10K TT
TEAM BACCHETTA
Team RAAM Sarcoma Powered by Bacchetta Bikes 2012

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Post #: 5

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/22/2010 5:57:37 PM

REOstevewagon

Posts: 313
Joined: 6/14/2006
From: Frisco,Tx
Status: offline

Kent, & the team Bent-Up, congratulations. The non racers were following as much as we could. Sounds like an epic journey, which is what life should be all about. Thanks
for entertaining us.

And to think, you trained,sacrificed to climb endless grades, go really fast at night, battle altitude sickness & oh yeah, eat pre-mixed food , sleep deprivation, battle the elements, & all you guys had to was pedal 3,000+ miles.

Any foot messages?

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Steve Petty
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Post #: 6

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/22/2010 6:04:22 PM

goatstick

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Joined: 6/27/2009
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The parking lot one went right over my head. Might be that I'm losing my memory though. That happens a lot when you start getting old. Good think my legs still work ok, no? :^)

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Post #: 7

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/22/2010 6:09:07 PM

goatstick

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Joined: 6/27/2009
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Thanks, Steve. Not sure our race qualifies as epic, but if it does, I'm thinking 'epic' means there's so much stuff happening all at once that you have no idea where you are or what day it is. All that matters is the thing you are trying to accomplish and the great people who are there with you.

Hey... We need more bent teams out there next year... Who's gonna step up to the plate, eh? (Steve) :^) Start that RAAM training NOW!!

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Post #: 8

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/23/2010 12:34:18 AM

psychling

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Joined: 7/14/2008
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Agreed there is a need for recumbent teams next year. But the solo recument racer is where the wonder lies.

- Dan

quote:

ORIGINAL: goatstick

Thanks, Steve. Not sure our race qualifies as epic, but if it does, I'm thinking 'epic' means there's so much stuff happening all at once that you have no idea where you are or what day it is. All that matters is the thing you are trying to accomplish and the great people who are there with you.

Hey... We need more bent teams out there next year... Who's gonna step up to the plate, eh? (Steve) :^) Start that RAAM training NOW!!

(in reply to goatstick)

Post #: 9

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/23/2010 8:29:04 AM

diesel

Posts: 714
Joined: 2/26/2008
From: Lakeland, FL
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Re: parking lot comment. I just thought all the excitement and activity in the parking lot, with all riders, support vehicles, etc. crammed in there together was, well just plain cool. That was when you really knew you were part of a special event. BTW I'm game for a Bacchetta team effort.

Diesel

_____________________________

Allan Duhm
Ti-Aero
CA 2.0 2010
UMCA 5068 RUSA 5235
Florida State Champion 2011 Senior Games 60-64 / 5K and 10K TT
TEAM BACCHETTA
Team RAAM Sarcoma Powered by Bacchetta Bikes 2012

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Post #: 10

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/23/2010 9:40:38 AM

goatstick

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Joined: 6/27/2009
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Oh yeah! The parking lot start... I think I just tried to block that out. I think I'd rather have snuck out the back door to start the race. So glad Dana was the one who took on that task. In my mind it was mainly his race anyway. I was a little uncomfortable with it all.

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Post #: 11

RE: RAAM - Team Race Report - 6/23/2010 10:09:23 AM

goatstick

Posts: 523
Joined: 6/27/2009
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quote:

ORIGINAL: psychling
Agreed there is a need for recumbent teams next year. But the solo recument racer is where the wonder lies.

Yes, the solo RAAM riders are essentially different creatures than the rest of us, but that's really a completely different race than the team races. Few us of will ever be able to afford to race solo much less have the personal ability to do so, plus the solo race may not be something all of us want to do from the standpoint of the type of race it is. Hey, I really like to go fast. That's the kick I get out of this stuff. The ultras where you can still power up a bit are fun for me but I really get a kick out of the team efforts where the power management happens at a much higher level and I get to work it with friends, new or old. The first 2-man I raced (Tejas 500) with Greg Gross was a pure blast. I got to hammer it out each 26.4 mile lap for 10 laps. Now that was pure fun. 4-man RAAM was close to that. More the fun and excitement of working with our fab crew and riders than the power stuff but having Big Bill on the horn
with his huge booming voice cracking jokes about me blowing through small towns at 30+ in the middle of the night is something that will stay with me for a long time, and I'll be cracking a grin every time I think about it. Watching Wille just motor along totally unperturbed by the world around him like a little supercharged 2-cylinder diesel engine throughout the entire race was just a kick. He was the real Energizer Bunny... Pulling Dana out of the van each swap with this huge smile on his face despite the exhaustion showing in his body... Cranking it up for a hot swap as JV came flying down a hill always with his words of encouragement for me. It's not about me. It's about us.

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Post #: 12

drifting back to consciousness ... - 6/23/2010 11:21:41 AM

psychling

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What with the frenzy before, during and after RAW abating (slowly) I'm left with a few impressions and some really hilarious memories:

Allan Duhm taking control of this pig-headed Scot somewhere in the middle of the night in the middle of the desert, standing (he's tall!) 2 inches from my face, telling me that HE was in f###ing control of this race and that I was going to do what he told me to do. I couldn't help but shut up, stare at him and .... do what he told me to do. Damn! I needed that and he was more than up for the challenge;

We're screaming through the `DIPS' of the desert at 2AM with a hurricane force tailwind when the van pulls aside me and tells me to pull over. "Dan. The hatchback came open and couple of boxes of stuff fell out about two miles ago. We're going back to find out what fell out. We're leaving Jame (my son) with you and will be back soon." Son James and I in the pitch black of the desert. He looks up at the vast spread of stars and the Milky Way above us. And then he takes out his keychain flashlight and aims it at the stars "to see them better." !!!! An unforgettable moment.

Between Blythe and Parker. Dawn finally breaks. We are about to go over a bridge over a dry creek bed. I decide this would be a good place to stop, stumble under the bridge to take a much needed dump. As I'm situating myself so as not to get bit by a snake, not to expose my tucas to any hungry animal in a hidden hole, finally ... there I am relieving myself. I look in front of me at a sign about 15 feet away: "NO DUMPING." First thought came to mind: "So, try and STOP me!"

Hotter than hell down from Parker to Salome. Telephone polls for 55 miles, sucking the consciousness from us. Jeff Clark rolls the window of the follow van down, pulls along side me and says: "So, Dan. What was your favorite Christmas?!" Almost fell of the bike laughing.

I had so much fun. The crew was so incredibly understanding and firm with me.

Coming out of Borrego Springs we had to go through one of those circular intersections where you keep circling until you choose the road you're supposed to go down. First, I'm told to go down THIS road. Then, about 4 miles later the van pulls up and says we made the wrong choice. I ride back and the crew tells me to go down another road. I'm about 6 miles down that road (actually all of these roads were really quite interesting ... I enjoyed the whole thing) and the van pulls along side me and says: "Ooops! Wrong road."

They pile me into the van, drive me back to the circular intersection, figure out the almost inscrutable route map and I'm off again. That, too, was fun.

"What was your favorite Christmas?" at 107 degrees in the blazing sun.

A hoot. Just a delight.

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Post #: 13

RAAM 2011 - 6/24/2010 8:07:26 AM

24hrracers

Posts: 2352
Joined: 2/28/2006
From: Westerville Ohio
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quote:

Hey... We need more bent teams out there next year... Who's gonna step up to the plate, eh? (Steve) :^) Start that RAAM training NOW!!

At one point last Fall, there was at least 4 recumbent teams on the drawing board. There was even a point when it looked like there might be two 4 person Bacchetta teams.
If there is any interest in a RAAM team for 2011, then, what you need to start doing now is organizing and figuring out a way to pay for RAAM, not training.
What I kind of figured out in my 2 years of trying to put together a team is;

-The racers need to be somewhat close together for training and team building.
-Trying to build a team with email doesn't work, there needs to be some face time.
-You'll find a lot of riders more than willing to be on the team, just let them know when to be at the start.
-I was mistaken when I thought that 4 racers would mean that all the work of putting together a team would be divided 4 ways.
- Start with the money and then everything else will be easy.

To have good luck next year you need great planning now.

_____________________________

Larry Graham
Team Bacchetta
RUSA #114
CA1 #0002
CA2 700c
Giro26ATT disc
Co-Owner Calvin's Challenge
www.calvinschallenge.com

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Post #: 14

RE: RAAM 2011 - 6/24/2010 9:40:27 AM

steamer

Posts: 326
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From: Altoona PA
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Travis Prebble of Recumbent Journal has recently posed a vid he put together from when he met up with the Bent Up team near time station 50 last Friday.

http://www.vimeo.com/12815252

Be warned that it's a long video (30 minutes or so). If you log in to Vimeo, you can download it for transfer to your system or personal media player of choice.

It can also be viewed at RecumbentTV.

_____________________________

Tom
'08 Giro 26

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Post #: 15

RE: RAAM 2011 - 6/24/2010 4:30:41 PM

rcpinto@aol.com

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Very nice video...it captured a great snapshot of RAAM's racer and crew effort, willpower, confusion, happiness/crying, camraderie, sleepiness, danger, and the completely insane amount of team planning, cooperation and flat out luck needed to complete 4 man RAAM.

Congrats again to JV, Kent, Willie and Dana and their great crew!!

Rich

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Post #: 16

RE: RAAM 2011 - 6/24/2010 6:04:11 PM

goatstick

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Joined: 6/27/2009
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Fade this race will quickly be
Deign the loss and dignity
Fall the height; Raise the fog
Might is torn; Day is gone

Lone we stand; Lone we ride
together held by words so kind
What will be; What will stand
Kindness knows tomorrow's land

Power memories dream alone
Fueled by friends who rode on home
Admiration seeks a goal
Knowledge pushes; Pain unknows

Simple little words remain
"Thanks" and smiles, remembrance howls

"When I grow up, I want to be like you"

I cry

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Post #: 17

RE: RAAM Team Race Report - 7/2/2010 7:33:37 PM

goatstick

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Ok. Things are starting to settle down a bit. I finally made it back home last weekend and got to do a couple of 60 mile rides before Tropical Storm Alex hit. No riding for several days so I caught up on sleeping and eating!

I loaded the power logs from the Garmin 500 into GoldenCheetah. There were a bunch of them. I didn't have time to review them during the race so just copied the files straight from the Garmin onto a SD card. I wasn't really able to keep track of things as one would have wished. There were times where all or most of the pulls during the segment Willie and I were out were all stored in one file without breaks. I started trying to recharge the Garmin between pulls at least during the night as I had to run the backlight in order to barely see the power readout. When I didn't recharge the pulls tended to get thrown in together. Lesson 1... I also forgot to turn the 'record' button on at least 3 times that I remember, so at least partially lost those pulls. Lesson 2...

I reviewed the data for a while and the more I looked, the more depressed I got. I remember when I was sick. I remember when I was struggling to just make 160W and it simply was bad. I remember it took several days to start recovering but when reviewing the data, it started to come back in detail and I finally had to move on to the last couple of days when I finally started really recovering to keep from being disgusted with my effort. I remember thinking how I was letting my teammates down because I was so weak. I'd get out there, determined to push and it'd gradually fade to the point where I could at least keep pedaling. At least there was only one time when I had to throw in the towel. It was while climbing the switchbacks NE of Prescott. Willie and I had climbed the Hwy 89 grade up from the valley towards Prescott and I took over again a little ways south of town. We were generally doing 30 minute pulls, which works out to be around 8-12 miles usually. I pulled through town, north of town, through the big divided highway section that was much like an interstate during what looked like rush hour. The power log through that section was just wild. I remember the big rollers and traffic and crosswinds and everything that was getting thrown at me. I knew I could make it the rest of the pull though. But it didn't end. Further. More. Longer. Something was wrong. I was getting trashed. Why was I out here so long? Why wouldn't they tell me what was going on? Finally, not too far from the big crest up 89A on the steepest switchbacks about a half-mile from where Willie was apparently waiting and about 10 minutes past when they last said they'd be doing a swap, I knew I was toast. I was looking at the last big switchback and knew that if I tried it, something would break. Luckily for me, they had called to bring Willie closer and we did a cold swap. I was sick. I was mad, but I couldn't be mad at anything really. I had gone far past what I had planned in terms of power reserves several times, and I knew something had gone wrong with the swap plan but I didn't know what. Then they told me they had screwed up on the next rider swap with the RV. They forgot that section of road was off-limits and the RV had to drive tens of miles around by another highway and double back to do the rider swap. They had to pack me in the van and head off to meet the RV, leaving Willie to finish last bit of the climb, bomb downhill through Jerome to Cottonwood and wait there for the vans to bring Dana and JV. I was heartbroken. I couldn't believe we were having to leave Willie out there for so long. It soothed me a tiny bit knowing it was mostly downhill, but man, you don't just leave a rider out on the road like that.

Overdoing that stretch really adversely affected me physically and mentally. My legs and stomach were so completely trashed by that pull (and the altitude sickness that hit me the next day) that it took a couple of days of horribly low power before I started coming back a bit. One thing that really helped me mentally was that Willie had to bow out of his last pull a couple of days later. The crew was prepared for disaster since they didn't think I could finish the pull to the RV. They asked me if I could, and I said yes, but I'd have to drop my power to make it. There was something special in them talking with me about it. Sort of my chance of trying to make up for leaving Willie out on the road south of Jerome and as I did the last pull I realized I was getting stronger. I cranked it up to a reasonable power level that surprised even me and finally saw the RV in sight with everyone cheering me on! I remember thinking "What is all the commotion about?" I later realized that was the only time I ended a pull at the RV, so maybe that's how it was for Willie and JV a lot of the time. I mentioned that to Dana afterward as he finished one pull at the RV also and he said he had the same reaction - "What's going on?" :^) So I guess if you want a lot of fanfare, always end your pulls at the RV! :^)

But still, reviewing the power data left me pretty depressed. I was really hoping to do better out there, though my speeds were actually pretty good, I think that was mainly because I was generally noticeably more aerodynamic than the other riders so did pretty well on the flats and headwinds.

What would I do differently? I don't exactly know at this point. I know in training with JV I had a really hard time meeting my power targets. Training at home in Texas, there are only short, steep grades which don't really give you an opportunity learn to hold a specific power target well. JV was wanting me to do extended 300W pulls and that meant typically over 30mph which I just couldn't sustain for 20-30 minutes. I didn't have tall enough gearing to have enough resistance to handle 300W at those speeds and it was depressing me and worrying JV. It wasn't until I got out to the LA area and started doing those extended 9% grade climbs at 260-300W that I realized they were *cheating*!!! :^) It was trivial to pull 290W uphill at 9mph for several miles. That's like pulling 200W at 30mph with a tailwind out here! JV keeps telling me that power is power and I know what he means, but unless I have enough of a headwind or climb, to my body *right now* 300W uphill is totally different than 300W flat ground.

But trying still changed me. JV's training brought up my aerobic sustainable power level noticeably even it unfortunately wasn't very visible until the very end of the race. It also brought down my anaerobic max power a bit for now as he simply forbade me from doing those high-powered accelerations and rollers. At least until my last couple of pulls. I told the crew JV wasn't around to yell at me now and my legs were up to power so I whacked out some short steep climbs at 450+watts and some big rollers at over 650 watts. Bill, my chase van driver later said "Man, you didn't even slow down for those things!" which made me feel a little better also. :^) I still accidentally pop out a 900 watt whack every now and then without thinking but I'm working on improving my aerobic power level mostly. I did pop out a couple of 450W ~half mile climbs in a group ride with our best climbers breathing down my neck last Saturday so maybe I can bring my extended 500W whacks back into existence and maybe have the two meet somewhere in between. that would be really cool. Thanks JV, and I'm sorry for the grief I gave you trying to figure out what was wrong with me. :^)

< Message edited by goatstick -- 7/2/2010 8:20:31 PM >

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Post #: 18

RE: RAAM Team Race Report - 7/3/2010 11:52:35 PM

24hrracers

Posts: 2352
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From: Westerville Ohio
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Your write up reminds me why I hate my PT. I was far more successful without the damn thing. I much prefer to race by "feel". The only place I find the PT useful is when I'm stuck inside training on the rollers. BTW, I popped off a 1050 watt flat sign sprint the other day, so I know what you are talking about when you talk about not being allowed to be turned loose. I never understood what JV was talking about when he said to do my climbs at 200 watts, there are hills here that I'd be at 450 watts in my lowest gear soft pedaling just to keep the watts down but not have to get off the bike and walk.
After the NC 600k I didn't even download the data. I didn't download the The Ohio TT Championship data either.
I guess that this old dog can't learn new tricks. I start a 1000k ride Thursday and there will be no PT on the bike.

_____________________________

Larry Graham
Team Bacchetta
RUSA #114
CA1 #0002
CA2 700c
Giro26ATT disc
Co-Owner Calvin's Challenge
www.calvinschallenge.com

(in reply to goatstick)

Post #: 19

RE: RAAM Team Race Report - 7/4/2010 1:44:44 AM

goatstick

Posts: 523
Joined: 6/27/2009
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Thanks... Where I live it really is simply a lot easier to just power over the rollers, as short and steep as they are. Requires a lot less total power, but I also learned a lot about using the power meter to climb longer grades with my tall gearing. During RAAM, JV set my max at 240W and on my last pull I averaged 240W so I kinda blew that one out the window. But I also know he picked my max for the race well. If I hadn't had the problem with the alternate fuel they got for me than I was used to, I think it would have been a decent max for me. As it was, I was down around 170W for several days at best from the severe digestion problems. During night I often couldn't read the meter so basically wasn't using it then and that might have contributed to my lower power numbers but I would have been really happy averaging 200W...

Would have been nice for the Garmin to lose that part of the data though. It lost my race data for both Sebring and HC600 where I did well and of course, the time I do badly it saves it. Of course, the next two times I get on the bike and do great after RAAM, it loses it. Obviously conspiring against me...

I know what you mean about new tricks though. I'm still trying to determine exactly how to use it for extended training. I can really see how it can help with training where you have long, steep climbs, but it doesn't seem quite as direct a training aide where I am now. The power meter really helps me out in other ways and I use it for assistance in planning defenses against attacks with the DF guys and getting my flatter hard pulls more consistent so I know it really works, but I have to determine how to either change me or change how I train with it. It's just a tool, if a pretty good one. Have to determine how to use it though. Before RAAM training I was hoping to average 2 century rides a week this year but that's likely out the window and with riding as bad where I am now it'd be really hard to make it up. Noone around here to do century rides with on a regular basis so there goes that incentive...

What head can store 1000k worth of power data at once anyway? The Garmins sure can't.
(Hey Matt!!! still interested in the project?)

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Spherical Cows, Dude! Ranch Racing
CA2.0 "SoulCrusher"
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Post #: 20