No Blood, Too Much Sweat And All My Gears!
This year’s Blood, Sweat & Gears had its ups and downs for me and I’m not talking about the mountains. The conditions: 80 degrees, no rain (go figure) and winds 10-20 mph. But don’t get me wrong… the UPS certainly outweighed the downs. I’m very happy with my ride and, as always, I had a blast.
It was the 10th Anniversary for the event and the crowd was huge.
Here’s a shot of the people in front of us… the start line is way up by that blue tent. And here’s a shot of the cyclists behind us… can’t see the back of the line. 
The organizers say it was the largest crowd ever. The century was sold out at 750 entries and I believe the 50 miler had close to 500 cyclists. Here’s a shot of me with buddies Brian and Will, they both ride for the NC State Cycling Team. That means I saw them for the first two, maybe three miles of the ride and then they were off… too strong for me!
My time was a bit slower this year at 6 hrs 44 mins but my success came with the climbing. Last year, I had to come to a stop or risk falling over sideways while trying to climb Snake Mountain. This is the point where the gradient hits 20%.
This year, I made the climb! Notice my joy in this picture I took just after the crest:
In my effort to make the climb, I pedaled past so many people walking their bikes or weaving back and forth across the road. The weavers were trying to make it up foot by foot while doing their best not to fall over. One guy had stopped and was standing next to his bike with his head down on his handlebars. He was even swaying back and forth. I could relate to their pain but at the same time I was doing my best to focus on the road in front of me and to keep the rhythm of turning my pedals over. Halfway up Snake, my quads started seizing up but I was NOT going to stop. I kept pushing through. That was about mile 65, I think. As I descended, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then my hamstring locked up on some rolling hills at mile 70. I stopped, stretched, massaged and was back pedaling a few minutes later. I could tell the Powerade being served on the course just wasn’t cutting it… not near enough electrolytes to replace what I was losing. Fortunately, another cyclist who I deemed GREAT gave me four electrolyte pills at the 83 mile mark aid station. I took off and a mile later my other hamstring locked up. I stopped, stretched, massaged and was off again for the next climb… George’s Gap (8-9% average gradient). Thankfully, that was it for the cramping. I felt a lot better in the final 19 miles. I even had enough to push it up to about 22mph the last mile and a half to the finish.
Here’s to next year!
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Comments
Wow, sounds like a killer ride! I can totally identify with the “weavers”, although having to get up the hills that way is happening less and less.
Great job!
Donald, bro, great job out there. It was cool meeting you. Man that was one tough ride. I underestimated that ride and didn’t train properly and boom the snake just up and bit me. I had to walk a good section of Snake Mtn. I put a write up about the ride in my blog, http://robsimazquest.blogspot.com.
You had a really good time. 6:44 is really doing something. I kinda melted down and came in at 7:34. It looks like the fastest guys were ~30 mins slower than last year. Conditions were brutal. Sometimes you had to lean the bike into the wind in order to remain stable.
Next year, I’m definitely getting in way more training miles and definitely losing some weight. That ride is one ride not to be taken lightly.
Will– Thanks so much. That’s a good rule and the last two moutain centuries I’ve ridden now I haven’t borken that rule. I truly believe this ride cannot be as difficult as something you have in Europe though. I really wonder I would survive something like the Tour de Enfer. You too are strong… but still if you say you couldn’t hang with me that’s OK… you’ll have me waiting at the finish with some really cold beers. My two much faster buddies were waiting for me… with an ice cold chocolate milk. Great recovery drink! Then the beer.
Uncadan8– Thanks… I’ve done the weaving before too. I just worked on my strength this year. Hill repeats hurt but they really help.
Rob– Thanks pal, you too. I was wondering what happened to you. I thought you took off and left me in your dust. Hey… I think you did well for having a couple of extra pounds and not getting in that much training. It was tough this year… the headwinds… sidewinds… the detour… you’re right… the top finishers tell the story compared to last year. Just celebrate your finish! That’s a great accomplishment. I’ll check out your blog post. Great meeting you as well.
Great job! 20% sounds rough. Great job on riding it. I think it is harder to walk your bike anyway. So what is next?
HI CAROLE– Thanks for visiting. Good news … maybe you burned some calories just while reading my post so now you don’t have to exercise today. 
Oh, I burned 4,510 calories on the ride. I”M HUNGRY!
CHRIS– Thanks dude! Yes… I really need to go back and just train on that mountain. If I can increase my speed on that… I’d be a monster.
WHAT’S NEXT? 24 Hours of Booty later this month. Here’s my link: http://www.24hoursofbooty.org/site/TR/Bike/General?px=1005102&pg=personal&fr_id=1050
Then I ride the Cheat Mountain Challenge in West Virginia in August. http://www.wvcf.org/cmc/
Congratulations on the good ride, Donald! This is your warm up for Cheat Mountain (although there are no inclines like the Snake there) and we can expect you to just fly out of the gate.
On long hot rides I always bring a handful of E-Caps from Hammer and take a few every hour. They replace all the missing electrolytes and work very well for me. I am still using Gatorade (mixed from powder) to hydrate but I think that HEED from Hammer works better. It does not taste like much of anything so you don’t get that cloying, sweet taste in your mouth for hours.
You should be proud of yourself. I’m coming down next year and make you aim for 6:15!
LESLIE– Thanks so much! Yeah… I think I’m headed for the store today to get the Hammer E-Caps! I’m not going through that again. The frustrating part was I had some samples in my bag but I didn’t put them in my jersey because I hadn’t trained recently with them and didn’t want to risk an upset stomach or something. I look forward to next year… come on down… and I’m ready to aim for that 6:15! I think I’m kind of glad to hear there isn’t a climb like Snake in the Cheat Challenge.
Congrats Donald! What an adventure – I’m really jealous I wish I could have been there too.
I run a mix of pure maltodextrin in my bottles – no electrolytes. I’ve never cramped up on a ride so I guess GU is all my body needs. Some friends swear by the electrolyte pills though.
ARLYN– Thanks… and yes a true adventure… rides like this can be painful yet addictive. As far as the cramps… I’ve covered everything. My diet was good that day… the same as what I always eat prior to my ride and during. I’m going to try the electrolytes during training over the next couple of weeks because I have another big ride in the mountains in August.
http://www.wvcf.org/cmc/ It’s the Cheat Mountain Challenge.
HI JUDI… Killer ride and a blast. On the food thing… as I was saying to Arlyn above: I can’t figure why it would have been food because I kept my diet the same. All nutrition I’ve used on past rides just like this one. Maybe I could have used more?
You made it! I read some of the comments here , and yes I have to agree that cramps are a dehydration problem but when you look at a ride like this, muscle fatigue is not out of the question. This isn’t a normal exercise, its pretty insane for the human body and you must have taxed it pretty good to cut that time.
Here’s a tip, and you can try this on the next longest training ride you do.
Try keeping your cadence a notch higher with a slightly smaller gear than usual. And ofcourse, eat and drink. High cadence has worked for me on many long rides, the key is not to letting your body push a heavy gear and cross the red line at some point.
But congrats anyway. Solid ride!
Fantastic accomplishment! 20% grade would make me tremble, weave and I’m sure crash.
I agree with the dehydration theory but feel it might have been complimented with some muscle fatigue. It sounds like the wind stepped the difficulty up a notch, and as we are all riders the wind is that unseen enemy we tend to forget until it’s in our face or side.
I’ll send some stuff I use when I send out the jersey, which should be here on Monday.
What style and format of hill repeats have you been doing?
RON… Thanks! Althought tough with the cramping… it was still a lot of fun. I trained like that and did keep a higher cadence in a smaller gear on a good part of the ride. It baffles me becasue I have never had hamstring lock-up like I did. Maybe a little calf crampping but never hamstrings. As for the gear on Snake Mountain, I was climbing in 42/12… and wishing I had that “magical 11th gear.”
IAN… Thanks so much! I forgot about the jersey. That’s very cool and I’m excited to see it. Did I ever send you an address?
As far as hill repeats… I have some decent ones near my home but they’re no mountain ascents. In addition to my training ride… I’ll hit a big hill three to four times and push it a little harder each time. That’s about it. I did read about a hill exercise from Chris Carmichael just recently in the latest Bicycling magazine. I may try that too.
I also try to get over to the mountains every now and then for training. Hope all is well with you!
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Donald,
Congrats on such a big ride!
My only rule on things like these is no walking …. no matter how slow I have to pedal.
My biggest trouble on these big days is not puking while drinking bottle after bottle after bottle of overheated sport-drink – but it’s necessary.
Unfortunately I estimate from your time, that you are too strong for me to hang with on these big events
Again, well done,
Will