2016 Almanzo 100

 

The forecast was calling for a cold (start at 35, warm to 50) and windy (start at 15 mph, raising to 20+ mph) day.  I was carefully watching the forecast and knew the weather conditions would make the race difficult.  There is something about riding in the cold with extra layers, I never ride as well as on a warm day.  I blame it on the extra layers of clothing causing increased wind resistance and resistance to leg movements.  I was telling myself, the wind will help as much when going with it as it will hurt when going into it.  I know this is a lie, my average speed is never as good on a windy day as on a calm day.  These were the little tricks I was playing with my analytical mind to ensure I made it to the start line of the Almanzo 100 in Spring Valley, MN on May 14.
On race morning, the sun was out, but it was cold.  There was a 15 mph NW wind at the start.  Luckily, the ride to the start line was SE, so I could continue the lie to trick myself into starting this 100 mile gravel beast.  One thing I tried to remember, everyone races in the same conditions, so the weather conditions favored no one.

I have historically done a poor job of pacing myself in this long race.  The excitement and pack riding in the first third seem to beg me to work too hard, which causes considerable pain in the last half of the race.  In my humble opinion, pacing yourself is one of the best uses of a power meter in events longer than a few minutes (this finding is supported in the book Training and Racing with a Power Meter – 2^nd ed. By Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan).  My power meters of choice are the reliable and accurate devices available from PowerTap.

Near the start in Spring Valley, MN.  Image courtesy of TMB Images.

In the first 25 miles I was riding with a couple guys on Cannondale bikes.  They seemed more than willing to pull through the sections where we were going into the wind, so I stayed on their wheel.  My reasoning was, I may be working slightly above pace, but I was able to go much faster into the wind.  The pace was correct for the sections where we were going with the wind.  At about mile 30, while I was climbing a long hill, I noticed a couple racers had stopped ahead.  When I rode by them I could see it was my buddies on the Cannondale bikes and they were eating.  I was surprised they thought they needed to stop to eat so I asked them if everything was OK.  They indicated they were fine, so I rode on.  I could not help but think they may have been riding above their 100 mile pace as well.  I saw them once more, when they were stopped, and then never again.  Suspicion confirmed!

 

From about mile 50 to mile 66 I rode in a group of about 10 racers.  By this time the wind had picked up to a 20+ mph force.  I was not able to ride above 10 mph into the west or north wind.  With the group I was able to ride at 11 to 12 mph.  They were a great help.  As we entered Forestville State Park they all turned off to their support crew.  I pedaled on looking for new friends.

To my surprise, the river crossing at mile 81 was dry.  I have crossed this river when it was waist deep, but usually it is shin deep.  I found one or two people to work with but there were no large groups by this point in the race.  I needed something or someone to keep my mind off my tired legs.  By this point I was very tired and unable to generate much power.  I did notice my fluid consumption had increased.

 
My nutrition and hydration plans were to consume a large bottle of Hammer Perpetuem (1/2 strength) and a Clif bar in the first 39 miles, in miles 40 – 75 and from 75 to the end.  I also consumed ½ a PB&H sandwich and a banana through the race.  This would have provided ample calories to get through a 7 hour race.  Planning for the proper hydration is more difficult.  On a cold ride I don’t need the same quantity of fluid as a warm ride.  In training I have easily ridden 3+ hours on a single bottle on a cool day.  In the first 40 miles I was not sweating much, so did not need more than a single bottle.  As the day warmed I was not shedding my warm clothes and began to sweat more than I realized.  At the end of the race I was not able to weigh myself to confirm my state of hydration.  Based on the way my power faded and how thirsty I was for several hours after the race, I am sure dehydration was impacting my race.

A late race climb.  Image courtesy of TMB Images.

Despite my dehydrated state I was able to set a Strava Segment PR on the large climb at mile 90 named Oriole road.  This is a beast of a climb covering ½ mile and gaining 250 feet.  A guy I was riding with said there were sections where the pitch was 20%.  I attribute this PR to a new lighter Trek ProCaliber mountain bike.  The last 25 miles contained about 23 miles into the wind.  This was demoralizing to say the least.

I finally made it to the finish line in 7:02.  This was my second slowest time ever and a bit disappointing.  I continued to remind myself how average speed is slower on windy days.  When the results were posted I learned I placed 80^th out of 504.  My opinion of my effort improved as this was a higher place, relative to the field size, than last year when I was nearly 30 minutes faster.