12hrs of Santos - Race Report

I haven't forgot about you planet earth. I've been really busy, and really couldn't get to sit down uninterrupted and give the long winded version of my race report.

I got to Santos, and actually made a stop at the Santos Bike Shop to have Ryno put on a tire for me. Anthony Hutton was there, too. There was a young, cute female there that new here bike parts. A chick that knows her bike parts, somebody better take her off the market. I got to Vortex and did a lap that I thought was the entire race course, and it was smooth and fast. The false flats where not to difficult to manage, and I got really excited about how I would approach the race regarding my effort. Then I heard that I actually cut out the 1st 12 minutes.

So I went in back in to do an entire lap, and that 1st section was a doozy for the legs to get used to. It was technical, hilly, rough, jagged, and not much room to navigate on each side. All I was thinking was, "This is gonna be a bitch to ride at night". But after this assault on the legs, the rest of the course is smooth until it gets back to the reds, but they are much more easy to manage.

I went back to the hotel thinking that I just need to hold back on the first section, and ride smooth and consistent the rest of the way.

The next morning finding a decent place to park was a blimp, and I settled in right beside Ryno. I hauled all my things over to my tent that was set up right beside Joe V. and I must pat myself on the back for having one of the best places to make my pit stops. I set it up the day before, and waited until the next morning to say something to Dave, in hopes that he wouldn't have me move. Dave ok'd it, so I brought over the rest of my things.

I had 12 hours to manage everything, from effort, to food, to fluids, to attitude. I decided that I would ride with the who I thought were the front runners to establish a pace to settle into. I chat with some people at the start. Shout out to Dean T., T. Wiz, Bounds, John M., Ed Legerwood, and some dude that spray painted his hair like Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings.

Some dude said you can't have headphones in your ears. I turned around and said, "I'm a black dude". Before he could say anything I said, "All black men are bonafide paralegals, we know the crimes and the penalties." That got a laugh out of everyone. I then explained that if the earphones aren't actually in the ears, then it's ok. I always have mine wrapped around my helmet strap. Then I patted him on the back and say, "You ran right into that one".

We were all at the bottom of the quarry ready to go, and antsy as a result of the waiting for the last minute riders going to drop of their bikes.

Riders 5 seconds...................Horn! I take off behind T-Wiz but my ipod is bouncing and it feels like it may pop out. I'm not letting my 80GB ipod drop out of my jersey to get stomped by riders with cleats on their shoes. So I slow down, grab the ipod and keep it steady. Harvey cruises right pass me. Great! That is the wheel of interest to sit on the first lap. As he is really the only 12-hr guy that I know. We get to the bikes and it is chaotic, and I mount the X, and I'm off. Harvey is 20 meters up the road and I smash it to get on his wheel just before we turn into the singletrack.

My anxiety has the best of me as I have a HR that is about 10 beat higher than I want it to be, but I'm in a nice paceline. We pass a couple of people and we soon establish a core group that are fast, have good skills, don't mind their position, and have a nice flow. My HR is still about 10-12bpm higher than I want it to be. I'm not burning a match yet, but I'm downshifting to my own "Speed Pacing" after this lap.

Just before we finish the blues and about to go into the reds, I can see Kevin H. creeping up on us. Once we get to the reds, things slow down as riders space out. On the first climb, someone has to unclip, and we are all running it and I get passed by 2 riders. After that we keep it breezy until all of sudden 6-8 of us have made a wrong turn.

I wasn't even looking at where I was going, just the wheel ahead of me. We only lost about 10 seconds, and less than 1 minute we were rolling through the start/finish to dismount, run the bike through, and remount. I hate getting off my bike by the way. That lap was 32mins.

I haven't even had anything to drink, so I take a long swig(Definition of Swig - A long uninterrupted drink of anything) from my water bottle and get another one from Mrs. P. The riders bunch up as most of them are getting fed their water bottles. I got back in with Greg D. on my wheel.

Since he is racing the 6-hr and Joe V and Victor are up the trail, I start looking for a place to let him pass. I choose a bad place to let him pass and when I pull over he is already on the outside of my wheel and can't bring it back in. I here a "THUD", and when I look back he has one hand down, and the other hand still on the handlebars. Shit! I was trying to give him the best line to pass me, that is why I went out wide. Riders are passing, and I don't have the gall to just ride off on Greg, as he is off his bike trying to let his pain subside so he can get back to riding his race speed. I ride up the trail, and wait for him just before a steep climb, and when he passes I give him a push and apologize again.

Then I settle into my own pace, and I get through the technical section and I'm not attacking the false flat but I'm keeping a real nice pace. The burn in my legs are gone from the first laps that included the run, my breathing is not labored, and the power in my legs feel good. I ride that entire lap by myself, and bring it in at 45 minute lap.

Bob Mc is now at my tent and he waves me off to slow down, and hands me my 2 water bottle, and the first thing I notice is how sweet and salty it is. I have my blend of powder and salt solution in the bottle, and it was not that sweet in training. But I slam the first one down right out of leaving "The Reds", and I keep it steady. About 18 minutes into that lap I get passed by Kent Lofton and he has a nice pace going. Because he has 2-digit number on his leg I jump on his 2-man train.

He is smoking it like he is doing the 6hr, and I decide not to let him go. I go into the top of my endurance zone, and I'm flirting with the red zone, but I hold it. After about 10 minutes, the guy sitting on his wheel pulls over for me. Kent keeps the pace going and I'm not in the red. He is really a fast rider, or he is trying to drop me. I decided that I will stay on this wheel.

I finish out that lap with a 44min lap, and I get 2 more sweet ass water bottles, and I'm off. I get into the trail and I can't find Kent. Damn, he is gone. He must have turned up the gas, so I just settled into a nice pace. About 10 minutes in Kent comes by riding through, and I jump on. About 20 mins in he downshifts and the pace is easier to manage. There are sections that he turns it up and I'm in the red, and other sections that I'm about to run him over.

I finished out the lap, and I ask for 2 gels, and I'm reluctant to ask for water bottle as I can't take the sweetness. Bob Mc starts to jog and he hands me my water bottle and puts the other one in the back of my jersey. Even though it was really sweet, I needed them. I got back in and I'm by myself for about 6 minutes until Kent rolls up on me. He actually pits a lot longer than me, and that is why I'm in front of him at the beginning of each lap. He is actually quite cordial and he offers me a water bottle and gel each time he passes me. As soon as we finish the red section, I don't feel so good. It's not my legs or the tale-tell signs of cramping coming on. It's not the burning in my legs that normally forces me to slow down. It's my STOMACH. It's starting to bubble like a volcano.

We passed Anthony Hutton the lap before, and bridged back up to us, so we had a 3 man train going before 2 other riders bridge up to us. I pull out of the way to let the riders by, and when I do Anthony had been gapped a bit. My stomach is feeling so bad that I just shut it down and go a much slower speed. I have cracked a bit due to a weird acting stomach, but I can see Kent about 10 seconds up the trail. He must have something going on because he should be gone with the wind. I'm surprise that he is not gone because I have backed it off to a crawl. When I finish the lap I'm about 5 minutes behind the time from the lap before. I tell Mrs. P that I'm going to make a pit stop.

I come in and explain to her that the mix is too sweet and to just give me water until I ask for anything else. I actully sit on my bike and try to gather myself as I still have a long day ahead of me. My stomach aching, "I gots ta Boo Boo", and Mrs. P blurts out into laughter. She said, I wish I had the camera on, that was priceless". I hit the Little John and I know I'm in trouble as it was just water. OK, my stomach is not working, it's just flushing.

I get back out on the course and I feel like I have a parachute behind me. I'm trying to push the pedals to get my HR in the 140-150's, but I can't. I'm actually in the 130's, but it's burning like I'm in the 150's. I then decided to ride in that zone which is my fat-burning zone until things turn around. But I feel like crap. I get passed by a former teammate, Larry Beute, as he his riding for a team out of St. Augustine/Jacksonville. He says, "I'm drinking Fuji Water", and I just laugh. That is a kick in the ass to me drinking the 9.5 Ionizer Water. How I"m riding right now, I honestly say, "Don't do SHIT that Pacer is doing". I finish that lap out 8 minutes slower than last, and I make another pit stop. This time I pit for 12 minutes trying to get fluids back into my body that will jumpstart me back into race zone.

I pass Kent and Anthony, and they must be having some type of melt down too, becuase we are all about 20 minutes behind the pace we were doing earlier. I go into the course and my HR has dropped another 10 beats, and I'm now riding in the 120's. Shit! This is just funny now. I feel like I"m riding ok, but I'm reminded that I riding really slow when I rider blows pass me, and what was even worst was I just could not get on anyonne's wheel for 10 seconds.

When I get to my normal time check at 20 minutes I'm actually at 27 minutes, and I know I'm just stinking up the trail with my pace. I look down and my HR is 116bpm. I'm not speed pacing, I'm freaking "Speed Walking". I'm sure my wife can run faster than this, I am able to hit all the climbs in the red section before the end of the lap, but I'm just creeping over them and don't have much power to keep the pace after. I know that I'm in trouble if this is the pace that I'm going to be riding at night. I envisioned myself riding at night, and because I'm riding so weak I would lose control over the bike and ride off one of those cliffs and fall 40ft right in front of my tent to a laughing Mrs. P and barking Lance.

I get through the red section, go through the start/finish, and I know I have to pull the plug. I get to the tent and Bob is there to do a check on the bike. I let them both know that I'm not even riding at all now, and I'm nervous about the prospect of slow pace riding at night. They both suggested I shut it down. I take a seat and I recount with Mrs. P how the laps went bad all of a sudden.

I started brainstorming what had transpired. I wasn't riding fast enough to hurt myself so soon. I then tell her that the mix was way too sweet that I prepared. "Which bottle did you prepare?", she asked. "I prepared the first 7 bottles", as she had a confused look on her face. She then said, I put powder and salt solution in all those bottles you had on the table. What?! I had put powder and salt solution in those bottles the night before. We both just took about 10 seconds to let it soak in. I had a double dose of my blend, and salt solution. She looked over at me and said, "My bad". I then said, "I want a DIVORCE, I'll see you at the courthouse", and we both laugh.

Is the overdose in the water bottles the real reason why my race when sour? Or did I push too hard? Those questions will be answered in 2 weeks when I do the Hospice 100. Nah Riders! This bad performance ain't gonna break my spirit. This training program includes the Hospice 100, so I am going to finish it. I can say sitting their at the tent with weak bowels and a race that had fallen apart had me rethinking if I can actual pull this off. By the time I got to Olive Garden with Mrs. P, I was in good spirits as I knew I could revamp the protocol.

What's new with the protocol. What food I eat at the Hospice 100 will be taken out of my hands, and placed into the attractive hands of this young lady on the right.

That is Eddie and Namrita Odea, if you have been living under the singletrack. Eddie shot me a email yesterday and wanted to offer some advice on what to eat on the bike from his wife, Namrita Odea. She is one of the queens of 12hr, 24hr racing, and she does it on a dang singlespeed, that's gangsta. She is completing her MS in Nutrition, so what a perfect person to give me the REAL. I've proven that I'm incapable of running the JOINT with regards to food, so I'm going to hand it over to Nam.

I still have some problems holding down food, even after 4 days, so whatever happened really has set the stomach back. Yesterday I went out and did my normal 2 hour workout and I was riding just faster than my best time for the 1st hour, the second hour the rain came and I had to cut it short. So my legs are recovered, but I do have just a bit of soreness in the knees.

I'm going to go out today and see if can do 6 Hospice style laps at Markham and ride a nice pace. Mrs. P did some video from the race, and as soon as I get the cord to download it to my computer, I'll upload it.

I'll keep you posted.

Pacer Out!