by Greg Wellman
Wake 4:10am
Weight 179lbs
Temp 20c
Bike: Cannondale Caad5, aero setup (13.75cm drop from seat to pad tops, 5cm bb setback), Campy Eurus wheels, Mich. Pro Race tires, SLR gel flow saddle, Look Keo pedals. Flat kit in seat pouch, 2 tubes, 2 CO2, allen keys...
Clothing: LG bib shorts, tank under-shirt, Lantern Rouge team Jersey, Shimano TR02 shoes, no socks.
Nutrition:
Breakfast - 3 poached eggs, 2 slices toast, 2 double espresso macchiato, 4oz cranberry juice.
Plan - 2x 500ml bottles with 10 scoops of Perpetum each (5hr per bottles), 2x Hammer gel flask mixed 4 gel shots/1 water, 2x Cliff bars, 1x 750 Gatorade mixed 2/3 strength. Wanted to test Hammer gel and Perpetum for suitability at Ironman. Take Perpetum and gel until last two hours then gel and Gatorade.
7.5L water
Actual - 9 liters water, 800ml of Perpetum mix, 1 Cliff bar, 2x hammer gel flask, 1x 750ml Gatorade
Start with 1.5L Camel back, one 750ml water and one 500ml Perpetum in the
cages, One gel flask and one cliff bar.
Ride by the Numbers:
Start 6:10:13am
Lap 1) 119.14kms, 3:05, AvS 38.7
Stop 1 9:18am, 10min - Refill 1.5L -
Lap 2) 75.75km, 2:05, AvS 35.4, 5:23 total
Stop 2 11:38am 22min, 195k - Refill 1.5L and both bottles, drink 1L
Hand-Up 250k - Perpetum bottle, Gatorade, gel flask, 750ml water
Lap 3) 72.59km, 2:08, AvS 34, 7:59 total
Stop 3 2:11pm, 18min, 267km - Drink 750 water
Lap 4) 59.73km, 1:45, AvS 33.8
Finish 4:16:31pm - 10:06:18
327.88km, AvS 35.4
Temp 33c
Weight 173.5lbs
The Story:
Start from Square One, NW corner of the parking lot. It's already warm at 5:45am. No one is wearing warmers or covers. We get pre-race instructions from Owen. There are course changes bringing this year's distance up to an official 200 imperial miles. We are reminded to ride safe, not break any traffic laws.;-)
People apply sunscreen although the sun is barely up. Riders range from three teens in matching team jerseys to some older tourists. I'm checking out the younger and middle age, looking for the fast guys. There are a few that I recognize from the Donut Ride, Kevin is very fast. As far as I know he is a bike courier who commutes by bike including from Cabbage town to the start at Square One that morning. From the TBN pictures of races past, I spot a few more characters. I am a rookie, not knowing what to expect but hoping to finish in the front.
We pull on to Burnamthorpe at 6:11. The pace is mid 30s for a few minutes, until the first downhill. A rotating pace line forms, holding 40+ until the first climb, in 45 minutes. It's only 100m gain but splits the group. At the crest the lead pack goes right back over 40km/h. There are eight guys pulling and a few hanging on. Not much socializing as we settle in to the pace. Peter, who along with Larry completed 470 miles in the Michigan 24 Hour challenge last weekend, is snapping pictures from all angles. Peter is about 6'5" and is carrying a lot of stuff. Nothing on the bike, a sleek Ti job from one of the custom manufacturers, but has a big back pack, a CD player on his belt and the camera bag on his hip. Guess he knows what's best as this is a cool down spin compared to last week.
The pack keeps rotating with very short pulls at the front. I go from taking regular pulls to the back to conserve energy and talk to Tony and Martin. Larry begins to survey the group. He introduces himself and asks if I'll be along for the day. I tell him I'll hang on a long as possible. The pace is uneven with accelerations on the pull and others falling back too fast after. Jerome suggests I let up a little after pulling through. Another guy was going off the front every time up there. I later find out that he was only going to Welland. He would have been fine for the full distance.
We miss the Hwy 27 turn but loop around quickly and catch the riders from the back of the pack who made it. This happens quite a few times. I was using a GPS that was .8km off the printed directions until that point. The sign at the corner had a different street name but if you looked down the road you could see the Hwy 27 sign. Navigation duty was then passed to Katharine. In 3:05 we have covered 120k and make the first stop in Wellandport. At the stop Michael asks if we have dropped below 40 yet. Katharine can hang on at 40kms, is that hot or what? She refills her bottles with diet Pepsi, others get Gatorade and food. I refill the water pack but am waiting to meet with Lonnie in the car to get another Perpetum bottle and gel. Peter is handing out candy.
After the stop, the pace is steady at 40 on very flat terrain, we found our rhythm. The ride is scenic and cool as we travel along the Welland Canal. In Welland we miss a turn again and loop around. We slow quite a bit to navigate the city streets and soon are on our way to Niagara Falls. Along the river the air is cooler and as we pass the falls we receive a welcome shot of mist. The ride along the Niagara River is beautiful with the gorge on one side and orchards on the other, but people are running out of water. Soon we are in Niagara on the Lake for our second stop. The store has 4L bottles of spring water. We each buy one. Outside, I call Lonnie and find out if she is at the Falls just 15k away. I want to stick to the plan but it's been almost 6 hours and had only 5 hours worth of food with me. I eat a Cliff bar and finish what is in my gel flask.
Things were going well overall. No one had a flat and the group stayed together. We take off under 40kms, until Dalhousie. At that point I was over an hour behind on calorie intake so decided to sit-in and wait for Lonnie to dive up. We turn inland again and the heat gets intense. In the orchards, there is no shade. At about 227km we realize we had passed another turn. Backtracking adds a few more kilometers to out journey. On track again we arrive at a 100m climb. My legs show signs of weakness, cramping the length of both quads. This begins my low point for the day. Just about everything is cramping and I am now 1.5 hours behind on calories. Fortunately for me the group is tired too, not many volunteers to lead and the pace drops to the mid 30s. Kevin comes back looking for help to lift the pace. He was disappointed that our hammer-fest was slowing down saying "this is pedestrian, it's supposed to be an all-out, tongue in the spokes, out and back". Unfortunately I can't help.
Then at about 7:22 into the ride Lonnie pulls up behind the pack. I drop back and my son hands Perpetum, gel and a Gatorade out the window. I'm over 600 clories behind schedule. I take a big drink of the warm, bland Perpetum and give the gel flask a big squeeze. Within a few minutes I'm feeling well enough to go forward to help out. Surprisingly Kevin says he is tired and retreats to the back. A few minutes later he back. At 268k we stop again. Lonnie pulls up and I change bottles and drink a full one on the spot. Conversation turns to how many calories our HRMs say we've burned. Alex says he has eaten 4000 calories along the way. No one thinks that is a good thing. He then agrees saying "maybe that's what wrong". You never would have known there was anything wrong with him on the road, rarely ever misses a pull. Just before we leave I take another large swallow of Perpetum and hand the half full bottle to my son.
Over 60k to go and we've been riding for 8:16. 1:44 to break 10 hours and 1:52 to set a record. The course trends uphill and in to the wind going home. I feel weak again but the group is optimistic we can finish strong. As we approach Hamilton I feel that something is wrong. My stomach is not digesting, can't even take in water. To the back again, just behind the pace line. We travel through some very nice places along the lake. A beach, huge homes in Burlington and Oakville. For an hour there is a knot in my stomach, then it starts to come up. The overdose of Perpetum must be set free. I pull out away from the pack and spit it out. Things start to go better, I'm left only with cramps. Kevin reminds me that your eyelids never cramp, focus on that.
In the home stretch Larry, Peter, Jerome and Kevin talk about breaking the record. The pace goes up. I get in to help and we take the ride along at 40k again. We hit almost every light, each time we sit there watching six lanes of suburban cross traffic. Every chance we get the pace goes back up. Some of the group is dropping off the back. We get to Duke of York Blvd and turn up to the parking lot. Another two lights of mall traffic and we are home. 322 +5kms in 10:06:18, a new Hairshirt record.
A few celebratory minutes in the parking lot then group starts to break up. Tony says goodbye for another year, Kevin rides off, Larry makes a call to try to get out of work. He says he isn't feeling up to it but looks like he is ready to ride again. Alex and Michael are laying almost asleep on the grass. Beside them are Jerome, Peter and Katharine all thinking about the day we just had. A sunny day and an epic ride.
-- Greg Wellman