200 on 100
Vermont is spelled with a capital “V”, surely no coincidence. With the loads of mountains and climbs available, it had to start with a “V”. I mean, if it was mountainous enough to draw a runaway “loose” nun who left the church for a sailor, it must be good, right? (Great nordic skiing there””Trapp Family Lodge, if you are there in the winter months as well).
Anyways, being a seventh generation “V”ermonter myself, who was raised on a family farm on Rogers’ Hill in West Newbury, VT (which was hand cleared and settled in 1763 by my G-G-G-G-G-Grandfather and still owned by my father) I have a deep love and feel for VT, liberal politics notwithstanding. So when I heard about the 200 on 100 “Dumptruck of Awesome” that was available, I just knew that I had to do it. And not only that, I knew that I had to share this beautiful “Ode to the V in Vermont” with all of my best cyber-cycling-soul mates. Okay, soul mates might be going a bit far there, but you get my meaning.
So, enough with the intro.
Break out the rollers, get on the trainers, find your winter gear; lay off the seconds, nurse that one glass of booze, hold the toasting to one drink, dodge Cupid’s chocolates and shoot the Easter Bunny because training for this bastard started yesterday and you’ll be paying for it on the 28th of June, 2012 in spades!
See you in the pre-dawn hours on the Canadian border with our eyes firmly fixed on the prize of the Massachusetts border. Let’s drive this dump truck like Mel Gibson leaving the compound in a post-apocalyptic world, baby!
Route and location details on the Cogal Event Page.
My sag plans have fallen through. Can I hitch a ride back to North Troy (where I’ll be leaving my car) with anyone? Room for what’s left of one bike and what’s left of one me. Thanks in advance.
@Steampunk
Dude! I already have you hooked up. CanuckChuck is bringing both of us back to North Ferrisburgh or Burlington (whichever is easier for him) the night of the ride and then my VMH is picking us up and you’re crashing at my place. Then, the next day, I will run you up to North Troy.
Roger Murdock: Flight 2-0-9’er, you are cleared for take-off.
Captain Oveur: Roger!
Roger Murdock: Huh?
Tower voice: L.A. departure frequency, 123 point 9’er.
Captain Oveur: Roger!
Roger Murdock: Huh?
Victor Basta: Request vector, over.
Captain Oveur: What?
Tower voice: Flight 2-0-9’er cleared for vector 324.
Roger Murdock: We have clearance, Clarence.
Captain Oveur: Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?
Tower voice: Tower’s radio clearance, over!
Captain Oveur: That’s Clarence Oveur. Over.
Tower voice: Over.
Captain Oveur: Roger.
Roger Murdock: Huh?
Tower voice: Roger, over!
Roger Murdock: What?
Captain Oveur: Huh?
Victor Basta: Who?
@Buck Rogers
Thanks very much! I’m very grateful. When I saw your last, I felt uncomfortable imposing for an extra ride north the day after.
@roger
Touche’!
Just wait until the alcohol starts to flow, this is going to be one HELL of a Cogal!!!
@Steampunk
Seats have been reserved for you and Buck for a return trip up North. So no worries there. Route still TBD though.
@Roger @Buck Rogers
Let me know if the big yellow bus of awesomeness will make a stop in the Burlington area (and where). I wouldn’t mind availing myself of that service as well to get the full 200 on 100 Cogal experience.
Rolled 122 K this morning in 4 hours 10 min. Not screaming fast by any means but I went out solo knowing i was going to do a long ride. Felt great! Also managed to get in just over 350 k in the last 7 days. Feel like I am building nicely. Only problem is that my bike #1 heads to VT Wednesday with the minivan not to be seen again until mid-June. #2 (CX bike) will be in use for the next two weeks and then it is off to France and limited riding until THE DAY on Rt 100.
Getting more excited day-by-day!!!
@Steampunk
Man, as long as you do not mind possibly having to drive a leg of the two hour trip up there as my legs might be a pair of cramped up pretzels, I’m all for it!
oh yeah, and the hangover might figure into it a bit as well!
@CanuckChuck
Thanks, Mate! I do feel badly about not providing sag support. I thought I had that all lined up.
@Buck Rogers
Alternatively, we could ride back to North Troy together and I could drive you home again. You know, just to get the legs right. Thanks again!
@Buck Rogers
Put in 90k @ 3hrs yesterday and almost 300k over the last week. Will put in a short ride tomorrow and then Tuesday I’m heading out to take on Rattlesnake Point, which will feature in the Ontario Cogal (tops out at 22%; 14-17% overall, depending where you look). Might tie that into a longer ride just to get the distance in my legs. Another 100k on Thursday, and then Sunday is the Ontario Cogal. The route got whittled down a bit, but we’re still doing ~185k. No time to taper before riding more in preparation for Vermont.
Is anybody thinking about any dietary/nutritional preparation? Or supplements? I’m tempted to try beta-alinine again (now would be the time to start). And realizing that calcium, magnesium, and zinc tablets help with the fatigue in the guns after a long ride.
Diet, im glad you brought that up. To counter all the weight ive been losing, ive stocked the freezer with coldstones icecream and blueberry bagels. Feel free to adapt the bagels to your tastes.
On the topic of supplements, does anyone have post ride recovery supplement recommendations? Anything worth taking in Hammer Nutrition’s Recovery Cupboard? With 4 days between big riding events, I’m looking for any recovery advantage I can get.
@CanuckChuck
FRS Healthy Protein (bottles) fueled by Quercetin. Free trial online? frs.com
(Jack Black voice) FRS is awesome!
I’m a big fan of FRS already, especially for the awesomeness and bodaciousness of their chews and concentrate drink (although the rest of my family cannot even stomach the smell). I have not tried their protein drinks–will look into them. Thanks for the recommendation.
@CanuckChuck
Best, in my opinion, to stick to real foods if you can. Make sure you maximize your protein and carb intake (you’ll want to replenish both). Also calcium, magnesium, zinc, B-complex vitamins, etc. I’ve also learned that eating within 30 minutes of getting off the bike really helps to spur recovery. The longer you leave it, the longer the body starts to devour itself and the slower the recovery. (real Drs. are cringing at this advice…).
@CanuckChuck
Chocolate milk, of course!
@Buck Rogers
+11!
Just bought some Nuun tablets with the Ca++, Mg++, etc in there, but tastes like the drink we use to treat cholera. I’ll bring plenty for everyone.
My wife makes a mean french crepe; folded up with sugar, they are a nice ride food. Packs flat.
Chocolate milk after every ride.
@xyxax
Cholera??
Instead of the traditional chocolate milk, I’ve been drinking Bolthouse’s Mocha Cappuccino. High in protein and carbs. And tasty after a ride. The mild caffeine pick-me-up isn’t bad either.
@CanuckChuck
Protein FRS taste good yes, but when pouring into glass w/ ice, add some orange juice. Protein bottles stay in cooler on ice, at finish it is the best first thing to grab.
@Steampunk
Bolthouse’s Mocha Cappuccino in a bottle sounds like a good thing. Will try it on A+ group (my return) in June.
@Steampunk
I haven’t washed my hands since I was last in Haiti.
Here, shake.
Just rode 157kms @ 26.5kph, pretty much in the wind for 95% of the time. Felt great, especially the feet (unlike the last century) so that is boding well for VT (aftermarket insoles = good). I even feel I could have gone faster (27 to 27.5 average?), but didn’t want to leave my buddy behind as he was suffering something fierce in the traditional Eastern Shore head wind. I was dreading VT after my last century two weeks ago but now I’m psyched! (I hope won’t regret those words).
@CanuckChuck
Nice one! I’m not able to get out for more than 3-4 hours at a time. I’m feeling stronger, but I worry about tripling the amount of time on the bike (again: more worried about the amount of time than I am the distance or the power). This Sunday: Ontario’s Cogal has been trimmed a bit, down to 183km; hoping to get through that in one piece, along with a couple of 100k rides during the week. If I can survive ~400k next week, I’ll have a better sense of where I’m really at. Then try to average 250k/week through June.
Riding more and more, despite some lingering discomfort in my right knee (it doesn’t hurt when I ride).
30km – 50km – 80km this week, and +100km on monday, hopefully I’ll be able to keep raising those numbers consistently. I do need to climb more though.
@2000dB
You and me both. A memorable bike shop quote, “Once you can climb, then you’ll ride anywhere.”
@CanuckChuck
Bloody well done!!! I’ll be drafting off of you come the 28th!
@versio
You and you and me three!!! I have been logging some miles but the other day when I put in 122 k’s, there was only a little over 500 meters climbing. Man, south Texas is FLAT!
@Buck Rogers
South Carolina has some hills and major climbs. George Hincapie lives in Greenville, SC most likely to be near Ceasar’s Head and Brevard, NC.
@versio
Ceasar’s head is in SC??? I always thought that it would be in Rome. (Sorry, couldn’t resist!)
@Buck Rogers
There’s an annual ride (straight climb) there also. Hincapie never misses it.
Inspite of a stubborn cold ,I was eager to ride the new bike with the new zipp 303s Sunday with a goal of 10 hrs. In the saddle. At 8hrs. I had a dried apricot throat, no comfortable adjustment on the seat, and a nagging pulled muscle on the outside of the knee. Maybe only 600 meters vertical . Sobering. Now it’s the day after, not sore but oh so tired and very cautious about the knee. So although multiplying the vertical multifold and adding another 100 km Im trying to remain positive and focused. This is going to be one hell of a day!
@Tim
8 hours in the saddle..awesome! (What’s that in metric?) Just finished a century+ (about 120 mi/190 km) yesterday – definitely need more saddle time before 2much.
Happy training, all.
@cal
200 km
@Tim
My ass still really hurts. It needs to MTFU!
@Tim
I’m thinking your over training and need rest… I am a big fan of going hard for shorter stretches and then really taking the time off to fully recover before going back to going hard longer than last time. It seems you have done a lot in the last few weeks so chill and then one more big push 3 weeks before and taper off to be well rested on the day?
It seems that 200 to 250k is going to be the reasonable part of the day but after that things like saddle comfort/seat height, stem length, etc. will rear their incremental niggley heads and muscles will start screaming for relief just when we get to the longer grades and are running out of food, light and jokes… Can’t wait!
35 days to go, 15 left to build base/distance so nows the time to pile it on but not get run down.
@Tim
Yea, I was thinking that it’s too bad with all these Dr’s on the ride there isn’t one proctologist so that we could have road side triage for this issue on the ride…
@Rob
I decided early on in my career that no one could ever pay me enough to work in men’s asses. Those proto doc’s definitely earn their pay!
@Tim
Well done!
I do well until about 6 hours and then it REALLY starts to hit me.
I have been building a bunch of kilometers for the last 6 weeks and right now my legs have that really heavy feeling, no real pain but you can tell as soon as I give them a few days off that they are going to come back so much stronger.
That’s the trouble with this ride and distance: Training adequately but not so much that you injure yourself. It’s a hard, fine line to tread.
Man, this is going to be one hell of a day and, in the words of the immortal Obi-Wan, “the jundland wastes (or Route 100 in Vermont) are not to be traveled lightly.”
@Buck Rogers
At least if we go blind or contract Enterobiasis from shared water bottles we will be in good hands?
@Buck Rogers
Me thinks the young Jedi afraid he is?
@Rob
Or if we are blinded by a shitstorm.
Just arrived in Paris for 2 serious weeks of detraining. Hope it pays off in the battle for the “Most Rested” jersey.
I can smell the blood in the air. Too loosely quote mtv’s real world, this is when the man with the hammer stops being polite, and starts being real.
I’m doing the inverse taper, which is stacking on distance right up to this sick joke known as 2muchon100.
@Rob
Ontario Cogal this Sunday. ~185km. It might be my longest ride before Vermont. I’ll be interested to see where my form is at (feeling good in spite of a chest thing and a bit of a sore throat at the moment). But no serious aches or pains, which is good. And also hoping to get myself past that intermediary hump. I find that somewhere between 1200 and 2500k on the year, my body starts to feel a bit sluggish and heavy (Ã la @Buck Rogers comment). Looking to be north of 2500 before the end of June, which should be fairly straightforward and not require too much extra riding. June should involve a series of 100k rides (twice a week) at a relatively comfortable pace, some moderate climbing, and then some shorter jaunts on the weekends. At this point, I’m fairly resigned to the notion that either I have “it,” or not.
My coach, an ex pro coworker suggested nothing but light spinning two- three weeks prior. He said the risks of being overworked and under rested are far outweighed by any gain from long mileage or hard hammering that close to the big day. “you are where you are in terms of fitness.what you want to develop is the mental fortitude and confidence that you’ll need after 200 k. Because you will be suffering at that point regardless. Well rested and limber legs are far less prone to injury at that crucial point when the brain says enough is enough.” so that’s my plan, sounds good for me, and it’ll be what it’ll be.
@Steampunk
It sounds like you are on track with only a slight reservation, thinking that you might want to do a few big k rides after the cogal, just to cement the form… But not to over do it close to, as Tim says above.
@Tim
I am all for this approach because I have heard for years that if you have not done that base work prior to 3 weeks your not going to add it on and may over train and come into it tired.
Having said this last night I was reminded that the Chatham, NY hilly 160k is June 10th and I am tempted to do it as my last hard effort. It’s a little close but I will have recovered from the Long Island flat (hopefully fast) 200k and my thought is that if I rest in between and after, meaning easy short rides, it will be a quick way to hardening up for 300+k!
Really all this is sort of irrelevant because no matter how well we prepare, unless we have been training this distance after 250k it’s going to be a test of how elegantly we can handle the misery… My worst fear is that I will become an incoherent/ babbling/ drooling mess.
On a bright note – last night on the Tuesday group ride I was able to stay near the front and actually had a conversation with Tim’s friend Brian. THIS guy is our ace in the hole, man he can climb verticle, he can stay on the front forever at mind blowing speeds and he is not only nice he is egoless! We talked about how the best plan was to get the group riding well and not to go out fast but steady, 28-29 kp/h.
All in all it should be a great day!
@Steampunk
I liked your idea of riding the first half of 2much as training for the second half.
Sounds like everyone has a good plan, and it may not be the legs that scream the loudest torwards the end.
@xyxax
@Rob
xyxax! I land in Paris in 10 days. How long are you there for? I am there for two weeks, flying out on the 14th (but actually leave Paris for Roubaix on the 9th)
Rob, I am doing 210 k’s on June 10th so I do not see why you should not do 160 hilly k’s on the same day, that way, if it is a bad idea, you will not be the only one who is an incoherent/babbling/drooling mess. You know, the whole misery loves company thing.
I am also all about rolling along in the 27-29 kph range for as many hours as I can, hopefully in some form of slipstream, as this puppy is going to catch up with us around hour 8 to 10 and punish us for the last two to four hours after that!