Ride to Rescue - Redemption

Folsom To Rescue: Basic Route

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Profile sans 29 "flatish" miles to and from Folsom from Carmichael Park

After limping home from this ride with great difficulty last month, I set out to have a strong ride to Rescue yesterday. I didn't have any Acai Berry to spike my Gatorade with, because all I could find at 3 different grocery stores was Acai mixed in a concoction with other fruit juices, all of which had too much sugar to keep osmotic pressures in check unless heavily diluted.

I decided to let this to be kind of a "control group" ride for my Acai spike experiment, so I carefully mixed up Gatorade, but added some Power Electrolyte foil sticks to the mix. The front bottle a full 24oz Polar bottle, I mixed as recommended, except for the added electrolyte spike. The back bottle, a short 20oz bottle, I mixed a 3X liquid mixture in and used a marked cap to clearly indicate the concentrated mix.



This is a nice hydration strategy, especially when doing an O&B where the return is into the wind. When at a watering stop squirt some concentrate into the main bottle and fill up with water. Err on the weak side, even if you have to drink some off the top and then drink from the drinking fountain to get both the bottle and what's in your stomach diluted to the correct amount.

The general idea is to avoid sugar concentrations higher than 8% as the osmotic pressure then causes your stomach to draw liquid out of surrounding tissues, making proper hydration impossible. On most bikes the downtube bottle actually creates more wind drag, so at the turn-around point you can empty all of the excess concentrate into the tall bottle, put it on the seat-tube, and then add water to the small bottle to create a 1X mix. Just remember to swap the bottle caps in case you bonk and lose your mind. It will remind you which is concentrate (about 2X by then), and which is 1X.


Clear cap for water or 1X hydration mix. Black ring with 3 stripes for 3X concentrate

The only hitch in this strategy arose because a key drinking fountain at Rodeo Pk in Folsom wasn't working and I had squirted a bunch of 3X concentrate in my 1X bottle to make more, and THEN discovered it didn't work. At that point I had no useful hydration at all. I first tried the sink in the men's room - ICK - and I couldn't fit my bottle under the faucet anyway. I turned around and slowly cruised around the ball diamond/soccer field to see if there was another. There was, but this was about 4 wasted minutes that all went on my Sigma computer. Aaarrrggghhhh!

The first part of the trip was pretty uneventful, with a moderate tailwind, although the 5:00 o'clock traffic was pretty heavy. Since the climbing is almost all in the first half of this route, I was annoyed that the tailwind was actually making the air more-or-less dead calm as I was climbing between 5 & 15mph. It made my long-sleeve jersey a little warmer than was comfortable, but once I remembered it zipped all the way open I was able to dump most of the heat I needed to.

Once I got through heavy traffic across Green Valley Rd, and onto Deer Valley Rd I stopped, hydrated and ate most of a Smoothie Powerbar. I folded the last 1/4 or so under the foil wrapper and tucked it under my right short leg. I have learned from experience that I can eat on the go with just my right hand and mouth if I tuck bars carefully under my R short leg. I put the wrapper back in the same spot when done. No littering, no sticky hands, no "look mom, no hands" riding. It's good "cockpit management". I started off after a few minutes and took it pretty easy for the first 5 minutes.

After a short uphill and a medium downhill I coasted down, I was into a solid hunk of steep. There are a few hundred yards that are around 18% grade, but mostly it's 8% or so. My legs were good, my cardio was good, and no complaints from my stomach. With my cardio now stronger than my legs, my nutrition/digestion is benefiting from the extra bloodflow. All good. Everything was working well. Nice and solid. I rode up to the Rescue Fire Station in great shape. No bonks, no strain. This was more like it!

I took a long draw from the drinking fountain while talking to the fire crew, and then cracked open another Powerbar. I used the spotless bathroom, took off my gloves and washed the salt off my face. It seemed like the extra electrolytes were just getting sweat right out again. Humm. OK. No harm, no foul, but worth monitoring. I came out of the men's room and the place was empty. The crews were all scrambled and out the door. A half-eaten meal was still sitting on the table with a fork stuck in it. I mixed up a little more Gatorade, and let myself out the front door.

There are some long climbs, some of them in the 8% range on the climb back to the top of Deer Valley, but once warmed up I had no trouble with them. I didn't feel quite as strong though as last time when I was chasing down Bruce. Was it the missing Acai berry? A few miles later after flying downhill towards Green Valley again, I felt very strong climbing that steep little departure kiss Deer Valley throws at you just when you think you're done climbing.

I went wide and turned hard onto Green Valley at close to 20 mph. The wind hit me like a wall, but I got down in the aerobars and started working the gears while headed downhill. The shoulder is pretty rough in spots along this section, so I took the road I needed to be safe and was adding power at 102 - 116 rpms - topping out at ~ 37mph. I'm not sure I would recommend wasting energy on this kind of speed, but with heavy traffic it was a safety issue. At that speed they would just stay behind me until I could find a nice patch of shoulder and they they'd pass en'masse. Besides, you pay for that speed climbing up those hills on this O&B, so it's really a blast to go blowing downhill that fast. OK, it's an indulgence, but I kept the exertion level in check.

I hit most of the lights favorably, and then had to "sneak" through the Salmon Falls light on a stale red, but mostly I was lucky and could carry my speed right through a half-dozen intersections. The downhill from Salmon Falls Rd to the bottom that forms Bass Lake was steep and protected from the wind. I pushed back until my thighs were hugging the very back of the seat, hands in the drops, feet level with each other, knees hugging the bar. I stole a glance at my computer at the bottom of the hill - 41mph! Not bad for zero pedal power! :D

I crossed the foot bridge at Folsom and headed down the west side of Lake Natoma. Just before the long lake-side stretch I started drafting a rider in his 40's who was obviously in shape and was riding a PowerTap rear hub. I tried to talk to him, but he had his earbuds in, so I just stayed on his wheel. He made a few weak attempts to break away but I stayed glued to him, trailing by 7-10 feet - as close as is safe with no brakes on the aerobars. He started fading and I backed off a bit, and then passed him in a straight, shallow climbing section of trail. I could feel the tug of his draft as the wind shifted back and forth, so knew he was still back there and close.

As expected he was playing for time, intending to make his move on a short 500 yard climb of about 5%. He went past me and stood. I stood when he came abreast and started to hammer. I immediately had to back off as my quads started twitching again, but at a slightly reduced power, they held up just fine and we came to the top together. He turned and offered some encouragement near the top - "that's the spirit!" he said, a bit too loud, so I assume over the music. We rode all the way to the Hazel Ave corkscrew where I decided I'd pushed my luck with my quads enough, and shifted into my granny. He stood and hammered up onto the bridge and went flying down the chainlink tunnel, veering right onto the bike trail.

I hate that route, because you have to kill all of your speed to make the turn at the bottom, because you have traffic coming from 3 directions, and because there is a much cleaner and faster way if you go one more block down Gold Country and then drop down onto the bike trail a half mile later. There's also a drinking fountain right at that 3-way intersection, so it's a horrible and dangerous choke point. I was riding above and parallel to him and could see he was tired and resting, so of course I went for the kill. We got to the merge point with me a little ahead so he was more than happy to let me lead.

He stayed on my wheel as I picked up speed - I didn't want to drop him so I pushed the power up slowly. I almost never get to ride in company anymore. Mostly I'm too fast, and the few who are faster are racers and bitch if I stay on their wheel. We got within a mile of Sunrise and he asked if he could offer me some criticism of my bio-mechanics. I thought I knew what he'd say, but wanted his opinion. He was dead on. I rock my hips too much and my knees come out too wide. The first a very old habit developed trying to ride a frame waaaay to large in my teens, and the 2nd I think is due to a 172.5 crank and a 29" inseam. I thought he'd stop at the Sunrise park, but we ended up peeling off in different directions so fast I didn't even get his name. It seemed like we were well matched, so I hope we can ride together again soon. It's lonely at the top! :D

I got home and subtracted 3 minutes for the Rodeo Pk water foraging and a minute or so in the parking lot at the Aquatic Center talking to a guy who I thought might want to ride along (the computer doesn't shut off for 30 seconds once it gets a speed reading, so circling in parking lots and foraging for water at 3mph are counted in the ride time and pace) and got 3:35 for a ride time. That's about what I expected after Party Pardee, because to me they are similar in difficulty. Next time I will bypass Old Folsom and it's many traffic and ped obstacles, and just take the new Johnny Cash bridge over to the Beal's Pt approach and then return straight down the bike trail. I like 3:35 a lot better than 4:12, and that confirms my suspicions about how much time my "broken" legs cost me limping home last time. All in all, a very solid performance. Now to break 3:30...

Bartender, Set Me Up!

Rowing team on Lake Natoma viewed from the "hitching post" off south side bike trail

After banishing the flu bug with a nice high fever, I took a ride to Beal's Pt again, and found something very unusual - water! Folsom Lake is blue again! It hasn't been this full since last spring, so the prisoners at Folsom Prison are enjoying a much "bluer" view while paying their debt to society. I had used the last recovery day putting new cleats on my shoes, adjusting the pedal tension, and raising the seatpost 4mm. I also took a few more links out of my chain and broke out my very favorite shorts, the Novara gel shorts.

Novara is REI's house brand, and for the first time in years, decades even, REI's house brand products are on par with anyone else's. The chamois is quite thin, about 4mm or so, vs the 7-11mm of Pearl Izumi, but that is some amazing gel. I sometimes get sore after a long, 4hr + ride wearing them, but it's at worst a dull achey sensation, not a sharp, chaffy burn-through. It also stays planted very well, not having the tendency of the PI shorts to want to squirm off to one side of the saddle or the other. I had to stop wearing them in Nov because when the temps drop below 40 degrees the gel gets too hard and stiff to be comfortable. The gel also absorbs a lot of cold and your privates are then pretty much sitting on an ice pack. I was happy to be getting reacquainted again with an old friend.

I had resolved to take it easy - at least for the first 5 miles or so, to give my body a chance to warm up and get reacquainted with the bike and adapt to the new seat position. With the thinner chamois and higher seat I expected the forward aerobar position to be a lot more comfortable, but was a little worried about possible pain in the back of the knees - the sure sign of a seat that's too high. I had also moved the cleats a bit to try to adapt the cleat better to my left foot's outward wander, and wanted to make sure I had it set right before I started hammering down the power.

The first part of the ride was slow, and even a bit weak. In spite of stepping up the effort level after 10 miles, I didn't set any new records to the split behind Bicycles Plus where the bike trail ends at the back of their parking lot. I used the stop at a couple of lights in old town Folsom to take long pulls off my Gatorade bottle, and hoped that would put me in good stead for the climb up to Beal's.

I used myself as a Guinea pig, spiking my Gatorade with Zola Acai berry drink. My goal was to see if I could reduce inflammation and increase performance by adding at least some anti-oxidant to the glucose produced from fat, liver glycogen, energy bars and Gatorade. It's somewhat insidious that the very process of oxidizing glucose to produce ATP in the muscles also produces free-radicals that can lead to a cascade of cell oxidation. One of the downsides of consuming the highly targeted foods we need for high output over extended periods of time, is many of the natural compounds that normally are attendant with our foods are omitted - fiber and antioxidants especially.

I used 2 scoops of Gatorade instead of the normal 3 for a quart (which is not at all helpful for filling a 24oz bottle, as a quart is 32oz) - which would have been perfect for 21oz bottles - and then dumped about 10oz of the Zola juice in the top of the Polar bottle before heading out the door. If I had worked out the strength of the mix I would have known better, but doing some algebra here it's obvious why the mix was too strong and gave me the mild cotton-mouth that too much sugar in a sports drink always brings on.

Fortunately, I had also brought a 16oz bottle of pure water, well, OK, tap water. Pure water would be distilled water, and that is of interest too, as it's lack of minerals or anything else in solution would lower the osmotic pressure of a Gatorade mix and may allow for more optimal fueling. Another experiment for a future post.

Alas, coasting down onto the replica of the old train bridge, with it's wood floor throbbing out a dull clatter, and making the turn uphill towards Folsom Dam, I just didn't feel as strong as on that amazing ride a month ago when instead of going up a 7% grade at 9.5mph, I somehow managed it at 16.5mph. After 10 days off with the flu and more, I was reasonable in my expectations and focused on finding a good rhythm and settling into a good form.

The asphalt is still pretty broken up at the start of the bottom steep but when a guy on a cyclocross bike with disk brakes passed me I decided to take up the challenge. I closed up a 25 meter gap in 90 seconds, and then stayed in the aerobars spinning up to 112 rpms to keep from having to move my hands down to the shifters while going through rollers and tight turns. I was on his wheel tight all the way to the construction zone where I passed him. It put a smile on my face, but it was far from my best performance.

Downing more of the spiked Gatorade I stayed in the aerobars, opened my diaphragm and focused on getting my wind back. By the time I made the right turn and headed for the swamped section of the trail where I soaked my feet, I was ready to hammer again. After gingerly trying to forge the flooded bottom of an underpass without hitting anything nasty that might be submerged and hidden, I got out of the saddle and launched up out of the dip and kept the power down until making the final right turn that starts the final climb.

I made one last check behind me to see if cyclocross guy had taken the ad-hoc gravel bypass to avoid getting wet feet, and found myself alone. I had noticed that I could safely slide my elbows as much as 2" forward to get more power in a climb by pulling my hands up until they are half off the bars. Settling in I saw a rider about 500 yards ahead near the top, and made a challenge of catching him before he finished the climb. Not very likely, but I liked the audacity of that hope.

Things went a little better here, and I managed to hold 12.5 until the final 100 yards when I dropped back to 10.5mph - and more importantly - caught the other rider just as he was making the turn for the parking lot. I had hit my legs a lot harder than I intended to, but at least I had something to show for it. It was also mid-afternoon, so no need to hurry home for a change.

Rolling up to the concessions building, long closed now, I was almost blinded by the brilliant blue coming off the nearly full lake. Ok, it's still 20-30 feet below maximum, but at least it's looking like a lake and not like a rutted jeep trail in early May. I drained my water bottle and then walked to the drinking fountain and refilled it and topped off my Gatorade mix. I laid down on the seat of a picnic table and stared up at the sky while I straightened out my back and stretched my neck.

The warmth of the sun on my face was a welcome change from cold, windswept winter days. I closed my eyes for a few minutes and caught my breath. When I opened them I was looking at tan-yellow trees with tiny, bright green buds just coming out against a robin-blue sky. Just then a red-tailed hawk glided expertly along the water's edge 1,200 feet above, skirting the shoreline where the dense, cold air over the water met the shoreline, warmed, thinned and rose in a constant updraft. The hawk was very still in flight, barely a dip or twist as he glided silently across the twig-laced foreground and brilliant blue background. No camera. My bad. This time of year is just gorgeous in California, I have to get a skinny camera for these occasions as they are not to be missed, and my A640 is a bit bulky to safely travel in my jersey pocket.

After a long 30 minute rest I broke open the Energizer Powerbar and chewed it slowly, waiting for it to dissolve in my mouth before swallowing. After reading up on maltodextrin last month I have resolved to use the salivary amylase in my saliva to help break down this starch, instead of spitting out what can be a rather ropey wad. (Gross! I know! ... in my best Craig Ferguson) Taking a few long draws off the water bottle to wash down last of the Powerbar, and dilute it a bit in my stomach, I rolled across the parking lot, powered up the driveway and headed downhill.

After some sparing going down the descent, I hit the flats past Nego Bar and settled into the aerobars for the backstretch of the ride home. I could feel the Powerbar's snap in my legs, and a quick glance at my computer confirmed my subjective impressions. I was holding 19-23mph into a bit of a headwind and passing bike after bike. In fact, from Negro Bar home nobody passed me - a trend I am growing fond of!

At Bannister Park one of the local girl's X-country teams was competing. There was a crowd of about 250 screaming "Girl Power" as I came up that little stretch of 12% grade and as I was about to pass the last of the crowd, noting the girls were turned and already halfway across the soccer field, I raised an arm and shouted "Grey Power". I laughed at what was actually a pretty good cheer, waved, and tried to hide my gasping breath.

The final stretch home from Bannister Park to my front door has a half-dozen long rollers, which I was able to attack and roll right over. I had no idea how the ride had gone in terms of my race against the clock, but hit the stats button as soon as my foot came out of the pedals as it keeps recording zeros for 30 seconds after I stop. I was pretty happy when I saw the numbers, and scaled the stairs, bike in hand, tap-dancing around my neighbor's black cat, anxious to check my ride sheet. I was pretty surprised to find I had just recorded my best time ever to Beal's and back. It wasn't my strongest day, but the aerobars still made it my fastest because I had cheated the headwinds on the return leg so effectively.

It's been about 30 hours now since I finished my ride, and I am quite intrigued that my legs are in pretty good shape. I hit them a lot harder coming home than I really should have, much harder than I usually do, but have had no discomfort and so will continue with my experiment putting Acai juice - about 2 double shots per 24 oz bottle - in my Gatorade made with 2 level scoops of powder. This could be big!