Wit has been exhausted by this point. All that remains is the will.
Total Distance: 560.2 km (348 miles)
Total Time: 21 hours 45 minutes
KJ: 10,860
Day 3
As a nearly full-time criterium racer, the idea of a hundred miles of training in one day is daunting. When you train for a 60-90 minute-long event you look out at your stage racing compatriots who regularly put in 100+ miles with awe. The total distance of 200 km (126 miles) was announced at breakfast along with the plan of the ride. My longest previous ride was the 104 miles of Rouge Roubaix in 2006. I felt the anxiety mount. After breakfast we participated in a presentation with a licensed counselor about mental health and the value of therapy for athletes in working through stress and anxiety. I felt seen, and the anxiety was managed.
We kitted up and gathered for a pre-ride talk. I told everyone I was not gonna quit but this was going to be a stretch for me. Road captain Zach Gregg instructed me to set up an office at the back. I obliged because you never argue with the road captain. Another critical role Gregg played was the calorie secretary. Every 30 minutes the alarm started beeping and you saw Gregg reach into his pocket to grab some food. He announced he was eating and strongly suggested we all join. Just imagine a rolling dinning room table with a full team eating at once.
The plan of the day included a 100 km ride out to the base of Stone Mountain, a 7 km TT up to the top before turning around and heading home a slightly different way to hit the grand total. I started to feel some cracks in the armor toward the base of the climb; but I told myself good lies to keep it positive. Plus, with an even number of guys in the group, and me as the designated back of the pack, I was able to regularly welcome a new guy into my office for a chat.
The climb was a test of sweet spot. It was a super steady effort until we hit a straight up wall for a pitch. The hard thing about longer climbs, is settling back into a good pace after going above the red into plaid. The descent down the climb was a sweeping beauty of buttery pavement and what were likely good views off to the side; but I didn’t dare take my eyes off Tim Savre’s wheel right in front of me.
The promise that was made at the outset, was that the way home was “downhill.” That promise kept me motivated as the kilometers ticked away. We paused at 150 km and my motivation was high. I had really started to crack about 20 minutes prior when we crossed the threshold from my longest ride of the year (140 km). I was solid as long as each hill was less than 90 seconds long. When the “ups” got longer I started needing a bit of help. The Project Echelon guys were all about giving me that help. Hand slings, pushes, positive words, it was all freely flowing from Monk, Ricky Arnopol, everyone.
It was almost like clock work. We hit the 160 km (100 miles) mark and the support went out from under me. The guys were working a rotating pace line and it was getting punchy. We hit a solid roller and I popped. The team car rolled up next to me, I got a solid tow for a few miles and settled into a solo pace. I held what was a normal pace for me for the next 15 km following the breadcrumbs on my Karoo 2 back to the start. With somewhere around 30 minutes to go the bottom dropped out and the lights went off. We had officially hit survival mode; but I would not quit. The words of earlier encouragement rang with me still. I visited the dark place but pulled through to the end. The sheet cake that was in the fridge motivated me to the end.
Sadly I failed to plug the Karoo 2 in the night before so 53% of battery will buy you 176 km without any power saving features.
Day Four
We have been eating incredibly well here. When I finished up last night there was a stack of perfectly cooked steaks with potatoes, salad and fresh baguettes waiting. I devoured them instantly. I cleaned myself up and came back for a birthday sheet cake. About an hour later a group of us ordered second dinner— an emergency pizza. The night of sleep that was to come was very much something I looked forward to.
I drank a ton of water and several bottles of Hoist as part of my recovery. That meant that I had to get up a couple times during the evening to go to the bathroom. It was at that point in time that I realized what I had done yesterday. Standing up has never been a threshold effort before; but I guess that is just where we are now. Oh, and today is practice crit day. I guess we are going off the empty everything approach.
When we left for the ride it was build as a 2-hour 35-mile leg-opener for crit practice. Somewhere along the way it turned into a 3+-hour 60-mile “opener.” We were given about 15 minutes to top off our bottles and refuel. I went looking for some food in the kitchen and saw some emergency hot dogs and tortillas that were calling my name … desperate times and all.
The ride over to crit practice was another 40 minutes with some excellent “pathlete” practice. On the way back the sun had set so we got our twilight practice in too. There was a Chipotle order placed before the evening session started, so you can imagine our joy when we returned from the ride and there was a 20 person supply of burritos and chips waiting for us.
There is a surprising level of adaptability in the human body. I’ve seen this for a long time. After the first effort in a series you can feel a little sting in the muscles, but it is a manageable one. The next couple dent the armor. However, around numbers 3 or 4 the body adjusts. It is almost as if the body says to the mind, if you keep feeding me and paying attention to recovery, I can keep going, I can power through. I’ve hit that first adaptation, four days into this series. Mentally and physically I am tired, I can feel the strain on the body; but I’m not broken.
Day Five
Knowing today is a rest day got me through a lot yesterday. I hope two good nights of sleep will help me prepare for the final three days to come. However, my legs have never been this fatigued just from bike riding before. We put in another 150 km yesterday. Had I known that this was going to be the case at the outset of the ride I’m not sure I would have mentally been strong enough to do it. I’ve been asked probably 20 times how my legs are feeling by the guys. Each time it helps me feel better. The positivity of guys surrounding me is was keeps me going.