Paul's 100 Mile Challenge - Colorado, Nov 26 2011

The 100 mile challenge I think is a great idea - though it started off as mum's challenge - so she had most input! However when she picked the date in November I knew it was not going to be a very good time for me - right in the middle of World Cup set up in Beaver Creek (my paying job heading up the dye team!) However it was mum's challenge after all - and she didn't want to leave it too long and lose momentum - she gave herself three months to train!! In the end it worked out OK as I had the day off - I had been wondering how I would fit in 100 miles after a day on the mountain! Only trouble was I had worked every day up till then and my bike had no chain. I had tried to go to the bike shop twice but had been caught out by Thanksgiving closing!

So on the day of the ride my first task was to buy a chain. The first shop I tried at 10am was still closed - but fortunately the second was open and so I was able to buy and fit my chain. I also wanted to buy some overboots for my shoes as I knew it was going to be pretty cold out there - however they didn't have my size so I had to settle for toe caps instead - assured they would work just as well!! It was then pointed out that I had snow tyres on my bike - which as it wasnt really that snowy out might not be a good idea - they would really slow me down! So I headed back to the apartment to change tyres and was finally ready to set off.

I headed off on the bike path and immediately found some snow!! Interesting riding through it with my road tyres! I took it easy to start with - just having fun and enjoying being out on my bike again - and being entertained by Richard's tweets telling me how mum, dad and the Roswell crew were doing!! The bike path became a little confusing and so I had to go on to the road. I realised that I was going mainly downhill and that my idea of riding out 50 miles and then back again might not be such a good one - 50 miles back all uphill? Maybe not!! So I decided to turn around when I got to Eagle. After about 10 miles I stopped to put on more clothes - it was much colder than I had expected - colder than it had been up on the mountain all week!!

32 miles at Eagle and I was feeling pretty good! It was uphill now when I turned so harder work of course! However I miscalculated the distance back to Edwards so by the time I arrived my feet were really freezing - to the point I was worried about frostbite! Anyway this made me ride even quicker to try to warm up! So at 55 miles (10 miles further on that I had intended to stop) I was freezing with an empty water bottle - so I had a huge hot chocolate and some water and started to recover - although it took ages for my feet to warm up! Then I rode another 5 miles back to my apartment to get a load of extra clothes.

Then I was ready to head off uphill through Vail to do the 18 miles out, leaving me the final 18 miles downhill - another good plan, or so I thought. Halfway to Vail and the bike path was closed and so I had to take the Highway - but I noticed a shortcut through a gate back onto the bike path - however I ended up riding through 2 inches of snow (again very interesting) only to reach another gate which was closed! So, back to the Highway! It was getting dark now so I exited the Highway into West Vail once again back on the bike path, covered in snow, headed towards Lionshead. At Lionshead to go any further it meant taking a very icy road which I decided was probably not a very sensible thing to do in the dark - I really didnt want to fall on the ice! So once again I turned round and as I was beginning to get cold again I stopped a couple of miles downhill at McDonald's for another hot chocolate and the chance to warm up again! Ended up sitting here for quite a while to let my feet warm up again.

After this McDonald's stop I had another 25 miles to go - in the dark - but I knew the first 8 at least would be downhill! After that I decided to turn uphill towards Minturn - just a few miles - a lovely little village - it was kind of cool to ride through it in the dark! Then I turned round to go back towards the apartment, realising I still wouldn't have done enough miles. I was thinking of stopping for a while but my toes were now only cold and not frozen and I really needed to get finished! So I carried on past the apartment and did a loop through Avon and back to Eagle Vail and then back down the main road - until I was finally finished!! It had taken 7 hours 15 minutes of riding - which is pretty slow - but then half of it was uphill at altitude and it was extremely cold!! I was pretty tired at the end - wished I had started earlier without all the delays - there were times when snow tyres would have been useful but overall the roads were clear so they would have slowed me down further! The most important thing was that I didnt fall. And it was a great challenge - really was a 100 mile challenge for me - not easy - but a great thing to do!! I am very proud of mum, dad, Julie and John for finishing their first century - a really great effort - and I look forward to the next one! But let's make it in the summer - please!!

25 Hour Race Frog Hollow, Utah

A bit late with this blog - the race was back in October! With hindsight I still wasn't ready for such a challenge, but I wanted to give it a go and was excited about the prospect. I arrived in Utah with Meg as my support in a rental car - looking around most people had far more support - RVs, tents, tool racks, spares etc etc. There was my hint I wasnt as well prepared as I should have been. Maybe I needed a little more gear! Woke up that morning not feeling great - the antibiotics are still making me feel sick - probably the anticipation of the race as well!! Was going to try to use the Hammer Nutrition through the day!

I had never tried a 24 hour race before and was looking forward to it but not sure what to expect. What I definitely hadnt expected was it to be so cold - with 2 inches of snow on the ground that morning! Made me a little worried straight away! But it did feel a little warmer as we arrived at the start and the sun came out. Maybe it wouldnt be so bad!

There was a 100 m dash to the start where I grabbed my bike and hopped on. I had no idea what the trail would be like beforehand! There was a fairly easy 5 mile uphill to start followed by an easy 5 mile downhill - disappointing - not the type of course I was hoping for (I prefer more of a downhill). Then there was about 3 miles of rolling hills with a steep, rocky, more technical section towards the end. The first three laps were good and I rode well - despite not feeling great - stomachwise. At lap 8 however I was in 5th place only 1 lap behind the leaders and was feeling pretty pleased with myself, especially as I was feeling so ill! It was getting dark at this stage so I put my lights on - excellent - really pleased with them. However on the 9th lap on the downhill section my front light went out and I couldnt see properly! My helmet light worked but this wasnt so great - I would turn a corner and see into the bushes rather than the trail head - not good! Then on the steep part of the course my front tyre popped and I fell, bruising my hip. But I fixed the tyre and went to use my CO2 cannister, screwed in the valve only to find the connection wasnt long enough! Never mind - I would use my pump - but no that seized up on me! So I ended up hiking along the trail until I could borrow a pump from a check point guy! At last I was on my way again! Although I pumped it up a little too much in the dark which didnt make for a comfortable ride!

I got back to the car and immediately set off for the next lap hoping to make up some of the lost time! I was not particularly enjoying the course, especially the rocky section at the end. I had been hoping for more of a downhill section - on the last lap I only had to touch my brakes twice on the whole of the downhill - so overall I was a bit upset with the way things were turning out! Not how I had imagined and my stomach was feeling dreadful!! I hadnt eaten properly and was struggling with the cold! My water bottle was frozen by the end of the next lap! I would get too hot on the climb up and too cold on the downhill! When I got back to the car I decided to sleep for a while - but after an hour I woke absolutely freezing - shivering like crazy - so I decided to put the heater on, take off some of my biking gear and sleep a little longer! Well - that was it - although I did eventually warm up I decided not to go back out again!!

I actually completed 12x laps though because we were parked just before the Finish line I forgot to check in on the last one so am recorded as only completing 11!! Never mind! Despite all this I still placed 9th overall - much better than I thought - though I was obviously disappointed in my overall performance! It just wasnt my day! I could have coped with not liking the course but not with being cold and sick!! I will keep taking the antibiotics and hope that when the course is finished (6 months from end of August!!) I can get my stomach sorted out and be back to full power for this sort of race!! I will definitely try another 24 hour race - and be better prepared all round next time!!