"Epic" is how Strava describes our suffer scores for this ride, and I would have to wholeheartedly agree. It almost was a word that preceded "failure" as to how this ride almost went, but in true BAM fashion, we completed the ride. This was despite the extra 9 miles added to the total route and temperatures reaching into the triple digit mark during GRR and Baldy segments. And with 11,400 feet of climbing...crazy!
Shannon and Verm met Todd and I at the hotel we were staying at, and we rolled over to the start to try and get in on the first wave. However, by the time we arrived, we were only able to get going in the 3rd or 4th wave. Here, we saw Craig along with some of his Sho-Air friends, but we didn't get to see Noah who had come out with Brad, Kevin and some others.
Our wave rode out as a group initially but we already started making wrong turns early on. Fortunately, people figured it out right away. We didn't really plan this ride out too much, but Todd and I had talked about how we really wanted to pull back a lot early on. In doing so, he and I got separated from Shannon and Verm at a light, so we made our way on our own with those who rode around us. We probably should have pulled back a lot more but I don't think any of us expected that the temperature would be as extreme as it would be later on.
Going up Euclid to Shin and ultimately Baldy, we were still passing more people than vice versa. We saw Verm at some point as we were climbing Baldy and slowly made our way toward him. Shortly upon getting on his rear wheel, he dropped a chain and had to pull over. I asked if he was okay, and I believe he indicated yes, so todd and I pressed on. It turned out, however, his chain got wedged between his spokes and cassette requiring the cassette to be removed in order to get fixed with SAG support's help. Bummer.
I felt pretty good near the top of Baldy and stood up on some of the last climbs slowly pulling away from Todd who was managing his watts carefully through his PT. We were separated before the climb up GRR, so I was on my own. For some reason, I always feel good going up this first ascent into GRR (maybe because I know there's a lot of downhill after), so I was passing several people on my way up and without too much effort. When I got to the top and did not see anyone I knew at the first SAG, I kept going.
The descent on GRR this time out was definitely a lot more fun than two weeks ago when we came up to train. No water on the road and the road was pretty clean. Everyone I saw ahead of me ultimately became a target. I was not pedaling too much on the descents to preserve energy, but I did like keeping the momentum on some of the ascents following a downhill, so I didn't mind working on those. I passed several people on the way down but I always like to wait until it's safe to do so. I got passed by 3 people, but I jumped on their draft and would pass and breakaway from them on a subsequent climb. Fun.
On tthe turn that headed to East Fork, I was by myself when I started the descent and made my way down past a few people, but getting by them was a little more challenging given how it was a little tighter and with more blind turns. I don't like taking too many chances to pass and risk startling the rider in front of me. Case in point, a guy had come up behind me and without calling out that he was passing me, and I actually wobbled a little since I didn't expect someone was there since he was passing me on a bend. He also passed some guys ahead of me who I ended up passing ultimately as well, but he did so by crossing the road on the bends whereas I waited until it was a little safer.
On East Fork, I got passed by a couple guys, but one guy slowed down shortly after and didn't want to keep the my pace or the guy's pace ahead of me. I ultimately closed the gap on the guy ahead of me, and sure enough, he pops off one one of the ascents on that road. I tried to slow my pace down to let others catch up where I'd have someone to ride with (or hide behind...ha ha). However, I was still passing people. Right before getting to the 39 though, a couple people had caught up and started to ride with me.
On the 39, I expected that a big group would catch up sooner, but the pace I felt good doing on it put me out on my own again. It took a while before a good sized group made their way up to me and started to pass. However, after hitting one of the final ascents before the downhill into town, they seemed to have gone backwards where I moved to the front and towed them over the hill and all the way down to the neighborhood.
Once we got in the neighborhood, I was finally relieved and I fell back into the pack. Two guys up toward the front appeared to me that they were trying to give each other room where I thought I saw one guy push off the other guy with his elbow. The next thing you know, both of these guys go down...hard. Fortunately, everyone around them were able to get around and avoid the crash. There were several who tended to the two who were scraped up but not seemingly too injured, so I kept going to the SAG where I saw Shannon.
The SAG, my first one had Coke! Sa-weet! The only thing was they were warm and the kids were pouring them into a cup half at a time. I had to take a few of them just to get my caffeine/sugar fill. I also restocked my bottles in preparation for the climb ahead and drank some of it hoping to finish it before the first KOM with one bottle only. Todd came in shortly after, but Shannon was ready to go at that time and took off shortly after Todd's arrival. I was ready to go shortly after that, so I left Todd to tend to his nourishment and proceeded on my own to GMR.
On my way to GMR, I was chugging as much of the 2nd bottle as possible. I was also trying to manage my pace but curiously still passed people here and there. Once on GMR, I started my ascent toward the start alone but I could see some people ahead of as I was coming to the Start timing matt for the KOM segment. As I neared, i began to dump the little remaining amount of my 2nd bottle and started to accelerate.
Early on, I started making my way passed several people. I actually felt better than the last time I climbed it two weeks prior, so I was definitely on higher gears and holding a better speed. A passed on guy in a Strava kit who complimented me as I did. After passing one guy in a blue L'Etape jersey, he got behind me and was riding with me for a while. I started to lose a little steam and he went by me only to have me do the same and jump on his rear wheel. I sat on it for a while to recover and thanked him after I passed to take a turn up front. He passed me again and I passed him one more time after a quick descent, but he passed me and just stayed ahead of me all the way to the finish of the KOM finish line. I ended up passing one other guy just before hitting the finish line and I don't think he liked it very much. Oh well.
I probably should have stopped at the following SAG, but not seeing Shannon I kept going. "Big mistake, Indie!" (Indiana Jones Temple of Doom). I slowed down a lot after that KOM segment to try and save up for the final climb, but despite this, my left leg started to cramp pretty good. Rather than trying to pedal through it, I didn't want to risk injury so I stopped just to give it some time to recover. I tried to down the rest of my bottle and down some shot bloks, along with getting some gels in me, and this helped just to be able to keep me going. I was still going slow and not even trying to mix it up at this point as I just wanted to make it to the next SAG. Hints of cramps still kept hitting me, so I was both on and off the seat making my way through GRR. I think it was around this time that the temperature hit 100, so I would also pass others on the road resting or trying to relieve their cramps. At one bend in the road, I saw Shannon resting on some rocks also trying to recover from some cramping. We talked about how this would not be ideal for a charge up Baldy, and had he wanted to skip it, I would have joined him for sure.
We decided to keep going to the next SAG and decide from there, so we went on. I was spinning a little faster when we first started, so I had gapped Shannon early on. However, I had to stop again because of a cramp, so Shannon got by me again in his managed pace. I got going again and on one of the short downhills got by Shannon again. I thought he was behind me but I turned around later at some point only to find it was someone else. I talked to the guy and he thought there was only 1 mile left on the ride. I don't think he liked when I told him he had at least 5 miles to go and it would probably be the worst 5 miles of his life. HA HA
We made it to the next SAG with Shannon arriving shortly after, and then Todd arrived seemingly beat up as well. It turned out all of us shared the same fate of multiple cramps during and after GMR where riding up GRR was the most humbling section to do. I was waiting to hear one of them say let's skip Baldy under these conditions, but that was only wishful thinking on my part.
After several Cokes, drinks of electroytes and ater, Shot Bloks, and snacks, we decided to keep going and just survive the rest of the ride. Seriously, it was that bad. The three of us started making our way up to the lifts and some time after going over the start timing matt, we came up on a guy who was stopped and it was then that I began to cramp again. I was just behind Shannon at the time, and Todd was behind me. I stopped just ahead of the guy and as Todd passed, I told him I was done and couldn't possibly make it up the rest of the hill. He kept going but at his own pace as I turned around to start heading back down to the village. When I did, I asked the other guy what he was doing since he started walking up toward the lifts and he told me he wasn't going to quit. Well, this pretty much got the best of me so I turned around again and started to make my way up...again. At this point, there was no turning back.
Now stopping is another thing, and I did have to stop 3 more times just because I just couldn't shake the cramping enough and the thought of it fully locking up at a 18% or more grade just scared me. Despite stopping a couple times, I was able to close on Todd in his survival mode. LTJ was not going to stop, so he did exactly what he had to do to just keep going. I even made my way past Todd but upon doing so locked up my legs again. With us coming up to the final climb, I decided to rest enough where i could take one final charge up the hill. Todd pushed through and kept going non-stop all the way up to the top. He was even energized after the top of the last 400 foot climb before entering the parking lot switchbacks to an awaiting Shannon. When i was finally able to go, I succumbed to doing whatever it took not to have to stop anymore, so I began delivering the paper to both sides of the road. One guy who did not want to succumb to paperboying pushed on, but his pace was so slow that I looped around him to pass. Once I got to the top to enter the parking lot, I was done. I didn't even change gears from the lowest just because my legs were toast. I was just happy I got to the top.
Not a lot of people were up there, but it was nice to be greeted by Todd who had a cup of Coke for me as I arrived. He and Shannon were loading up after that treacherous climb, so I joined them and began eating anything I could stomach. I had cleaned out everything I brought up with me in the form of gels and Shot Bloks, so I wasn't going to head down without anything.
Despite eating, we still didn't spend a lot of time up there and were all eager to begin heading down the mountain. Todd and Shannon took the lead originally, but just before the quick little rise that headed down for more switchbacks, I jumped ahead of Todd in a full tuck to get as much momentum from the descent just before it. The descent seemed to have gotten my adrenalin to spike, so I lead us down to the Village and then down Baldy Road. One guy had jumped on my draft after I passed him and his girlfriend and we nearly missed the turned to Shinn Road. I got on there and waited to ride with the others, so after regrouping, we were taking turns rotating as we made our way down that road. We ended up making a wrong turn and had to climb back up a little to get back on track, but other than that, it was mostly downhill and my legs were back under me. I actually no longer cramped and didn't mind doing work up front and closing gaps here, but it was for fun more than anything else. It was only just before we reached the end that my hamstring started hinting of cramping again. Good enough...it was nice for the three of us to finish as strong as we did. On the L'Etape FaceBook page, I was in the picture of those getting the finishing medal as pictured below:
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| Team BRCM finish |
Our times were respectable albeit not our bests but definitely had people recognizing the strength of our team through different parts of the course. Shannon did get 10th for his age group, and he and Todd was in the top 100 ranking for combined KOM, so congratulations to both of them. Noah had a strong KOM2 and also finished in the top 100 as well. I'm happy we all just finished safely and got it done. Good job, team!
P.S. While we were all happy to have finished such a grueling ride, Shannon was not able to join Todd and I for the post ride meal since he returned to his truck to find out his truck had been broken into. This was such a bummer for so many reasons, so I hope those who would do this get what's coming to them.
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