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.

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712 Replies to “200 on 100”

  1. @Rob
    Right. Tempted to try to go a bit further the week after the Cogal.

    May 27: 185k
    May 29: 100k
    May 31: 100k
    June 2: 30k
    June 5: 160k
    June 7: 100k
    June 9: 30k
    June 12: 120k
    June 14: 120k

    …and so on. It will depend, largely, on how I feel at the end of Sunday’s Cogal. If I feel comfortable, I may just maintain a simple rhythm. If no, I may look to do another week or two of harder riding. At the moment, I’m climbing well (for my weight) and recovering well. I’m a morning rider, and have no trouble bouncing around with kids through the afternoons and evenings after a 100k ride at the moment (which tells me I could be pushing harder or going further). But I’m happy with my pace at the moment. We’ll see if the Ontario Cogal sobers me up.

  2. @Buck Rogers
    I’m leaving for home June 5, so we’ll just miss each other, but I am softening up the French for you like a ripe Camembert.

  3. Desperate times in gay Paree after 10 days off the bike: went to my first-ever spin class.

  4. @xyxax
    I hope you just put on all the friction and stood grinding for the hour? If your still in Pari why not get a city bike and do some hill repeats on the Champ de Lyse?

    I do have a good re-entry ride for you back state side on the 10th, 170 k, 2000 meters so stay strong and see you in June.

  5. @Steampunk
    Zut, I needed a steeky bidon; I didn’t bring water and was sweating so much that by the end I was getting a little light-headed sitting up in the saddle. I looked fucking pro though. Except for the running shoes. And not knowing what “steeky” means.

    @Rob
    I kept yelling “DUMPTRUCK” which struck some as odd.
    A nice climby ride in paradise chez toi will do the trick nicely. Are we on for the 10th or weekend of the 16th? I’ll shoot you a mail.
    And kill that Lon Guyland century.

  6. @xyxax
    enjoy paris mate! will have to share the meaning of ‘steeky’ when you’re back stateside.

    I’ve never been to a spin class, but from what folks tell me, it’s not a laughing matter as one would presume. Maybe I’ll give it a go this winter.

    Month is coming to an end and trying to hit 1100km. at 800km currently and need to get acclimated to this weather. Having just started cycling last fall, not really used to purposely trying to sweat up a storm on such hot and humid days.

    Still trying to kick the dunkin donuts post ride ice coffee. It tastes utterly horrible, but DD has a hold of me in a fashion that’s hard to break!

  7. @roger
    Thanks Roger. It’s a nice job perk.
    1100 km is, as the folks say in these here parts, bo-coo. Solid solid work. As is your organization of this little jaunt. For that, I say we all chip in to buy you a set of rollers to keep you out of spin class this winter IF YOU STOP DRINKING THAT FUCKING DD ICE COFFEE.
    sorry, that was the jet lag talking…

  8. @roger
    Just went over 1000 k’s for May yesterday. No ride today or tomorrow with lonnnggg work days but will get one more in on Thursday. I will be a few K short of 1100 for May but overall for the year I am currently at 3300 k’s.

    Leave for Paris Saturday and after this Thursday I will not ride again until the 10th of June. But, feeling good, no lingering injuries, now just need to nurse the form and show up strong at Paris-Roubaix and then heal up for the 2Much on 100! Love it when a plan comes together!

  9. Much to everyone’s surprise, this is what I envision the trip as, even have it nailed right down to my nationality!

  10. @roger

    Much to everyone’s surprise, this is what I envision the trip as, even have it nailed right down to my nationality!

    Cannot open the pic for some reason here at work but if it is a picture of Dante’s Sixth level of Hell, I agree with it!

  11. @Buck Rogers
    wrt the photo, I think it might depend on your personal definition of hell. One or two rules violations, too. But I’m no expert.

  12. @Buck Rogers
    Nice work! I’m only at 2000k, but good gym work through March means I’m feeling strong. Guns got a nice workout Sunday at the Ontario Cogal, but would have been happy to keep hammering when it came to an end after 185k. Will try to get in another ride tomorrow before hunkering down in a workshop for the following couple of days. But basically where I want to be: feeling fit, strong, and confident.

  13. @Steampunk
    I woke up in the middle of the night and it came to me in a flash. And to think I was part of the Enigma project.

    I did 20 minute intervals on my own (in the back) during their class this evening and the lady running it came up to me afterwards and told me I was distracting the others because I wasn’t following her directions. T’es un peu fascio, toi, non? Yeesh.

  14. @versio
    Man that Dude is a FREIGHT TRAIN coming through!!! That’ll be Steamy at km #300 pushing us all into the cheap seat-road gutters!

  15. @xyxax

    @Steampunk
    I woke up in the middle of the night and it came to me in a flash. And to think I was part of the Enigma project.

    I did 20 minute intervals on my own (in the back) during their class this evening and the lady running it came up to me afterwards and told me I was distracting the others because I wasn’t following her directions. T’es un peu fascio, toi, non? Yeesh.

    Yeah, but was she cute???

  16. @Buck Rogers
    Towing. This isn’t a race. But the premise is sound: the faster we go, the faster this will all be over, the sooner the pain will cease. It’s how I climb, too…

  17. @Steampunk

    @Buck Rogers
    Towing. This isn’t a race. But the premise is sound: the faster we go, the faster this will all be over, the sooner the pain will cease. It’s how I climb, too…

    Trust me! I will be the one in the back yelling “piano, piano” as I think my only hope of surviving this beast is to go … not exactly slow but not fast, and to keep it steady all day long. Go fast early, die mid-way would be my thought. As for climbing, I haven’t seen a hill in about a year so i am doomed on that front!

    @xyxax
    Staying in the Northeast section of Paris, a bit out of the city center. My gite is on the avenue d’Italie. You’re headed home soon, correct? Bummer that she wasn’t a hot instructor. Not sure about how women feel about hot guys but whenever there is a hot woman around, always seem to find some extra energy and have just that much better of a workout.

  18. Hey y’all. After this weekends 140 mi. Ride with rob on dead flats on long island there are a few things I’d like to share at the risk of sounding overbearing. Time , distance and food.That’s what success or failure boil down to. 230 mi. For me it would be psychologically important to have 130 mi at my back by 11 am or at the very latest noon. This would require a 20 mph pace. To do so , pulls need to be short, no more than 3 mins. Those with doubts stay on the back out of the rotation. Pee/food stops every every 30-40 mi. Brief only 5 mins. Bring good prepared food/fruit/protein for stops for the sag to carry. We should also have a large amount of water in the sag. I’ve found sport legs pills to reduce the likelihood of cramping. Take them 10 mins. Before every long break (@ 130 mi. ,170,190)
    The last 100 mi. We will be entering a zone I have never experienced. I would like to feel as though I have a good 8 hrs to get through it. We heard many reports of large surface cracks running down many of the descents. Very dangerous. Well be wasted by then.
    Eating regularly at least every hr. in the beginning and every 1/2 hr later will help stave off our bodies feasting off themselves. I’m open to suggestions and this is what I’ve come up with this far as a strategy. Sorry for the lack of km. distances I just don’t think like that yet and couldn’t take the time. Hope everyone is doing well.

  19. Sorry to let you guys know but I’m going to have to back out. I know, Rule #5 yada yada yada, and I know I instigated the whole damn thing with Bucks help, but my training went down the tubes last month, mostly due to the weather, but also a move and some other minor issues. If it were a flat 200 I could do it, but this is not by any means flat.

    This isn’t 100% right now, but its damn close. I’m going to make a big push the next couple of weeks, and if I’m feeling better come taper time I might be in again. But its doubtful guys, and I really let myself down by getting off my training plan.

  20. Tim – Wait, there are Long Islanders, or at least folks riding there, in the house? I never knew!

    Hmm, this ride has me so sad I live in the south these days. Otherwise I’d hop on over from NY. Haven’t done much riding in VT, more winter sports, but after a wedding there last summer, I’d love to. Then again…200 is gonna be rough!

  21. @Tim
    Thanks””good advice. I’m happier with fewer stops (every 100k or 60 miles), say, that last just a little longer, too. The more stops””however brief””are going to slow us down a lot.

    I think you’re right in wanting to start fairly strong. 130 miles = ~210km; getting that done in 6 or 7 hours could be a tall order, but it is the flatter part of the state. It seems to me that the lone thing I’d want to add (and you implied it) is getting organized fairly quickly. I imagine it will take us maybe half an hour to find our legs first thing in the morning, but it will be essential to develop some kind of a functional paceline quickly (this among a group of people most of whom have never ridden together).

    @King Clydesdale
    That would be a huge shame, mate. Work hard!

  22. @Steampunk

    @Tim
    Thanks””good advice. I’m happier with fewer stops (every 100k or 60 miles), say, that last just a little longer, too. The more stops””however brief””are going to slow us down a lot.

    I think you’re right in wanting to start fairly strong. 130 miles = ~210km; getting that done in 6 or 7 hours could be a tall order, but it is the flatter part of the state. It seems to me that the lone thing I’d want to add (and you implied it) is getting organized fairly quickly. I imagine it will take us maybe half an hour to find our legs first thing in the morning, but it will be essential to develop some kind of a functional paceline quickly (this among a group of people most of whom have never ridden together).

    @King Clydesdale
    That would be a huge shame, mate. Work hard!

    I’m with Steamy on this one. Fewer stops and for a bit longer, around 15 minutes every 100 k’s.

    I am completely against killing the pace at the start. Maybe we will need two groups from the get go b/c I will not be going out too fast. My plan is to go steady and long. I have never gone longer than 110 miles at one time but i have run non stop for 9.5 hours and i passed tons of peope over the last two hours who just died after starting out way too fast. I still say a 28 to 30 kph pace all day is much more realistic, at least for me, right from the start.

    I think that trying to do the first 130 mies in 6 hours is completely unrealistic If you are trying to do that, you can ask at the beginning who can hold that pace and ride with them. I plan on having a great time and trying to do that pace from the start is not going to work for most of us. There most liklely will be at least two very different abilities on this ride. I will be in the slow and steady group right rtom the start and I most definitely plan on finishing.

    King Clydesdale: Man, that’s what the sag bus is for. Go as long as you can, set a personal distance best, and call it a day whenever you have to without shame! You’ll still be there for food and beer, man!

  23. @Buck Rogers
    I plan to bring plenty of food- and drinkstuffs with me, but I think it will actually serve as a bit of a morale booster to have one or two of those stops coincide with a café or side road restaurant where one can get a sandwich, coffee, pie, snack, etc. Not a long stop, but enough to get off the bike and take in a bit of local food that’s not been in the back of a van all day…

    @Buck Rogers

    King Clydesdale: Man, that’s what the sag bus is for. Go as long as you can, set a personal distance best, and call it a day whenever you have to without shame! You’ll still be there for food and beer, man!

    This. Totally this. But don’t go tempting us with cold beer from the sag vehicle.

  24. @Buck Rogers
    Slow and steady here. Must have the discipline to stay that way. I want to have legs for the big climbs that occur after 150 mi. Lots of food and drink in the sag wagon. Salt. Periodic but short breaks. Working together will be advantageous. Over and out.

    @King Clydesdale
    Be there. Seriously.

  25. No better way to punish yourself for falling off the training than to smash pedals until you cant turn them any longer.

    After that, hop in sag and cheer everyone else on

  26. @King Clydesdale

    And just to chime in with one more bit of unwarranted advice, riding with the group will allow you to do things that going solo is much harder to achieve.

    Recently I’ve been doing a lot of ~100-110k solo rides that sometimes felt like slogs at the end, while my most recent imperial century felt like a rather easy 160k by comparison, not only because I properly fueled (to prevent bonk in the middle of nowhere), but I fell in with some good pacelines that carried me faster than I would have been able to go alone, at about the same effort.

    I say you give it the ‘ol college try!

  27. @Buck Rogers

    @rogerJust went over 1000 k’s for May yesterday. No ride today or tomorrow with lonnnggg work days but will get one more in on Thursday. I will be a few K short of 1100 for May but overall for the year I am currently at 3300 k’s.
    Leave for Paris Saturday and after this Thursday I will not ride again until the 10th of June. But, feeling good, no lingering injuries, now just need to nurse the form and show up strong at Paris-Roubaix and then heal up for the 2Much on 100! Love it when a plan comes together!

    Breathing calmly and deeply so as not to throw my laptop out of pure, green jealousy.

  28. @versio

    Cannot get over an amazing Moser moment to bridge the gap (9:10) “A Sunday In Hell” Reverence for race no.60 from this race alone.

    Mosers move there is one of my favorites in the history of Cycling. Incredible. It also speaks to the notion of the “right” speed for the cobbles. Each section, depending on their roughness, has an ideal speed and when you hit it, its like you’re floating. In that scene, he obviously has it, and it just blowing by everyone else.

    Now, if it was those of us on Keepers Tour, seven seconds later, the camera would find us going 1/3 the speed having hitting a cobble sideways and killing our momentum.

  29. @Buck Rogers

    @Steampunk

    @TimThanks””good advice. I’m happier with fewer stops (every 100k or 60 miles), say, that last just a little longer, too. The more stops””however brief””are going to slow us down a lot.
    I think you’re right in wanting to start fairly strong. 130 miles = ~210km; getting that done in 6 or 7 hours could be a tall order, but it is the flatter part of the state. It seems to me that the lone thing I’d want to add (and you implied it) is getting organized fairly quickly. I imagine it will take us maybe half an hour to find our legs first thing in the morning, but it will be essential to develop some kind of a functional paceline quickly (this among a group of people most of whom have never ridden together).
    @King ClydesdaleThat would be a huge shame, mate. Work hard!

    I’m with Steamy on this one. Fewer stops and for a bit longer, around 15 minutes every 100 k’s.
    I am completely against killing the pace at the start. Maybe we will need two groups from the get go b/c I will not be going out too fast. My plan is to go steady and long. I have never gone longer than 110 miles at one time but i have run non stop for 9.5 hours and i passed tons of peope over the last two hours who just died after starting out way too fast. I still say a 28 to 30 kph pace all day is much more realistic, at least for me, right from the start.
    I think that trying to do the first 130 mies in 6 hours is completely unrealistic If you are trying to do that, you can ask at the beginning who can hold that pace and ride with them. I plan on having a great time and trying to do that pace from the start is not going to work for most of us. There most liklely will be at least two very different abilities on this ride. I will be in the slow and steady group right rtom the start and I most definitely plan on finishing.
    King Clydesdale: Man, that’s what the sag bus is for. Go as long as you can, set a personal distance best, and call it a day whenever you have to without shame! You’ll still be there for food and beer, man!

    Buck, everything you said there (save for the fucked mixing of the metric and imperial systems) is exactly correct for super-long rides. An extra few kph for the first few hours just might get you home a half an hour earlier or 3 hours later.

    At the very least, you boys are riding in a bunch with people you dont know. Go slow early to socialise. 320kms (with more than a few hills?) gives you plenty of time for heroics later on. My two cents worth is that you do want to stop long enough to refill water bottles from time to time. 100ks on two bottles (presuming you aint getting handoffs from the sag wagon – not recommended with a bunch of riders who dont know each other!) will leave you pretty dehydrated later on.

    When I have done long group rides, i have found a very short stop (quick piss and bottle change) on the two hours followed by a longer food stop on the next two hours and so on and so on – is an effective way to go. Go hard early and you will fuck over a few blokes and never see them again…

  30. Buck, Steamy, @All,

    I think between Tim’s 20 mph and Bucks 28 kph the group will find its own speed. There will be those of us who can do more and some who are hanging in and that means that an organized pace line will level the group – strong guys up front doing pulls and slower sitting in in the back. This is not a race and between Tim wanting to get over a hump by a certain time and Buck wanting a steady pace there is what will actually happen on the road. By that I mean after the first half hour we will know what the group is capable of and adjust accordingly.

    On the L.I. ride we were feeling good because there were no hills ( or at least none like at home) and our group was not interested in a fast pace so Tim and I were held back but this was great because at the end we had mojo left. And just to let you know our pace was 18.5 mph…. I for one would not do that for the next 90 miles (I am doing miles because it was L. I. And I believe kph is not allowed on the Island).

    Looking forward to the day, it’s going to be great.

    @King Clydesdale
    Don’t sweat it and do what feels right – if that is come ride until the legs stop all good but if not you have palace of honor here because it was your idea to get this rolling!

  31. @Rob

    Buck, Steamy, @All,

    Looking forward to the day, it’s going to be great.

    No matter what we say or strategize or plan, this is but one certainty.

  32. @Marcus. Holy shit, I must have been deep in the Sauterne as Marcus and I almost agree on something! I completely agree with you Marcus on the water bottles. I usually go through around one 24 ounce bottle per hour. I am couting on getting hand offs from te sag, but now that i think of it, that will not be easy from a moving bus, might even be a bit dangerous. Might need stops every two hours or so.

    @Steampunk
    I plan on starting with a bunch of food but also plan on hitting a couple of stores along the wy, not just sag food.

    @Rob
    Rob, you are the voice of reason here. I am all for pace lining, but not trying to go too fat. The group will work itself out on the road for sure.

    @Jeff in PetroMetro
    And Jeff, they’re predicting rain and a high of 20 C and winds of 30 kph for Paris Roubaix on Sunday. Yes!!! The cycling Gods do love me!!!

  33. My $0.02…

    – 100km on two biddons is way too long. If it’s warm, one bottle per hour is what I should be going through. I got dehydrated on a hard ride two weeks ago and it was miserable and I do not want this to happen this time. So in my mind, quick water stops every 60kms or so will be needed. Either that or we learn to receive bottles from a moving vehicle (which I have never done).

    – I too don’t want to kill it during the first half of the ride. I personally believe that psychologically, the first half will be harder than the second half so lets not make it physically harder as well. Granted, for most of us, we will be riding beyond our longest distance during the second part, but at least mentally, we will know we are over half way there, that we are truly getting closer to the goal with every pedal, and that what ever distance remain, we have ridden before. I also think that any distance beyond 322kms (the 200 mile mark) will also be tough because at that point, the goal of “200” will have been reached and any further distance ridden is really just to get us “home”. (Note that I am an Engineer, not a psychologist nor do I play one on TV.)

    – The route is around 358kms. Break it down as follows: 161kms by noon. 322kms by 7pm. 342kms by 8pm (as I said above, I think those 20kms are going to be hard mentally and physically as there are some short steepish climbs in this stretch). 358kms by 8:30pm as the last 16kms are downhill. No contingency built into this time line, but at least the pace is very comfortable. And for what it’s worth, I picked up a set of 600 lumen lights so I’ll be ready to finish in the dark (on bad roads) if need be.

    – As I review and study the route, I’ve marked a few possible food stops on the route map 222.2 on 100 route (disregard the vertical shown on ride with GPS–it’s way too high). We should definitely plan to stop at Village on the Green at km ~206, which is where the Trio stopped (4:07 in 200 on 100).

    As it has been said before, regardless of how fast/how slow/how often we stop (or not), this is going to be one hell of an adventure!

  34. Man, all this planning & pregame discussion would have me pysched out for the ride. I’ve always like to just prepare, prepare, prepare, then make it happen.

    But hey, I’m not smashing out 200 like you lads!

    Best of luck. Hmm, I should be heading north to eastern Canada right around then for my honeymoon. Should I try & convince the VMH to let me bring a bike along and have a day to myself for this ride? A honeymoon in hell!

    On another note, the South has positively fucked me up. Yesterday was 16*C and windy. I actually considered bring a gilet along for the ride. I’ve gone soft big time!

  35. Sorry if I missed it…but how many hours of saddle time are you lads estimating this ride will take?

  36. @Rob
    I also suspect that @Tim‘s 20mph pace and @Buck Rogers‘s 28kph will amount to much the same thing when it comes to a paceline. The effort required to maintain 28kph solo translates into something like 30-35kph in a group. That might be a tad fast to sustain over 12 hours, but it’s something to keep in mind and hold a plausible target. If that sounds intimidating, I’m not sure we’re able/ready to do this (especially over the flatter first half of the ride).

    @CanuckChuck
    I’m an historian, not a psychologist, but the hills on the second half of the route scare me a lot more than the fact that we’ll be 200k into a 358k ride (i.e. more than halfway there). Anything that eats into our pace (like hills) will be a major obstacle. Hell: by 10:00, I expect to be starting to think about that first beer at the end of the ride. By 16:00, I’ll settle for not being sick of tasting my own bile.

    For what it’s worth, I’d really like to be done in 14 hours. That’s my goal.

  37. @Ron
    14-15 hours, but with about an hour’s worth of stops in there. That’s my (somewhat ambitious) target. 14.3 hours translates to a 25kph pace; I think that’s too slow. I don’t say that to be arrogant, but more that the major demon won’t be our speed but overall fatigue, which will creep up from extended time on the saddle. I’ll be as tired after 12 hours of riding regardless of whether I’ve ridden 25kph or 30kph in a group. If that’s the case, I’d rather be going a bit faster to be finished sooner. The agony can stop when we get to North Adams, so let’s get there faster…

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