The Traverse 2008

Figured I'd write down my experience from this past Saturday while it was still fresh in my mind.

I wasn't too excited about The Traverse this year. I felt like I hadn't been riding all that well prior to the event and I knew it was going to be hot during the ride. I tried not to think about it and kept telling myself to treat it like a normal Saturday ride with my friends or maybe a docent ride.

Race started out ok. It was a fast pace from the beginning. I consider those opening miles "free" in the sense that they are fairly flat and so why not push? Once the climbing started I settled into a pace I thought would be good. My plan was to never dip below the middle ring on the climb up and to get a good time to the top. I wanted to have a good time to encourage myself. If I rode up to Beek's in an hour or more I would have been bummed and it would have messed with my head. I figured I'd try to push a bit to get a good time and start things off on a positive note.

I'm always aware of where my buddies are on rides like this and at the start of the climbing I was ahead of Matt and Andrew, but behind Doug, Troy and Jason. I was pretty happy to be ahead of Matt and Andrew at the start, but that didn't last long. Both of them passed me a mile or two into the climb and that was the last I saw of them for quite a while.

I ended up catching Doug and Troy after Hidden Valley which was encouraging. I got passed but a lot of riders going up to Beek's, but I'd catch up to most of them later. Haha.

Time to Beek's was somewhere between 55 and 56 minutes. Pretty good. I felt great other than having to pee which I decided not to do (wastes too much time).

From Beek's to the Motorway was pretty uneventful. I kept waiting for Troy to ride up behind me, but it never happened. I also kept looking for Andrew or Matt on the climbs ahead of me, but I never saw them. I didn't even bother looking for Jason.

I was a little worried about some of the descents on Main Divide with my new tires but things went pretty well. I felt confident and the tires gripped perfectly. No real issues.

I ended up pulling into the Motorway at about 2:03 I think, which was only one minute faster than my time last year. Not so great. I was actually really discouraged at this point. I could not understand how a years worth of solid training had made me only one minute faster.

From Motorway to Four Corners I actually felt pretty good. I hadn't been on that part of Main Divide since last years race so I was curious to see what it would be like. I was happy to ride most of the climbs in an aggressive gear and managed to pass quite a few people.

I was really happy at how I felt. Last year cramping started a few miles before Four Corners and this year I had no cramping and no signs of cramping. I tried to stand up on the bike often to keep the blood moving. I remember cramping on Vision Quest and wondered if it was partly due to the fact that I had been sitting for two hours without standing up to stretch my legs very often.

Right before coming into Four Corners I kept looking at my ride time and wondering if it was good or not. I really had no idea what a good split to Four Corners was. Last year I had all my times lined up and I had specific goals, but this year I just wanted to push and work hard and see what happened.

Got to Four Corners at about 2:59 which seemed good to me. I was still ahead of Troy (which I could not believe) and Doug, but was behind everyone else. "Oh well. Good for them. They've all worked hard and deserve to be doing so well." is what I remember thinking.

My plan was to cut down on time spent not riding this year, so I just wanted to stop long enough to fill up on water and pour some cold water on my head. Maybe even eat some fruit, but nothing else.

I was shocked to see Andrew and Matt eating and resting a bit when I rolled in to Four Corners. I was in a hurry so I didn't talk to them that much. I was feeling good and wanted to keep riding to get everything over with. One of the volunteers helped me fill my Camelback and exchanged my old water bottle for a Cytomax bottle and I was almost gone. Right before I was ready to leave someone offered me a frozen orange and I decided to grab one and eat while I rode. Man it was good.

The trip to Santiago Peak was decent. I usually feel really strong on this section of Main Divide, but on Saturday I was feeling "just ok". I managed to not cramp, but my legs were starting to get raw.

I passed a few people that were walking their bikes and kept chasing another Velosport rider (my team) for a few miles. I just could not drag him down.

Descending from the peak was a lot slower than I wanted to go. I've been getting a lot of pinch flats lately so I tried to take it easy and pick good lines to avoid flatting. Also my front tire had lost a lot of air after my ride on Thursday and I was worried it would go flat on me even though I couldn't find any leaks before the race.

I was pretty tired from the descent when I finally reached the Holy Jim checkpoint. I swear there are definitely times where I'd much rather climb 1,000 feet than descend 1,000 feet.

My first cramping issues happened shortly after the Holy Jim station. I was still chasing the Velosport guy in front of me and I was trying to discourage him by standing and riding in really high gears, but I think it only encouraged him to chase me. We went back and forth a bit before I think I eventually dropped him. I honestly can't remember. I ran into so many teammates (red/white Sho-air jersey) that I can't keep them straight in my mind.

I have had issues with cramping for a long time and I've learned how to deal with them so they didn't bother me all that much. The trick is to just keep riding. I've learned to slow my cadence just a tiny bit and to gear up. It seems stupid to gear up, but what kills me is less resistance.

The worst thing I've learned is to stop and get off the bike. That will almost guarantee a full lock and force you to just stand there in agony until your body relaxes. If you keep riding after about five minutes the pain goes away and your legs are ok again. Well maybe not ok, but you can keep riding. It's probably different for other riders, but that's what has worked for me.

Right before "The Wall" Matt caught me. Bummer. I was really hoping to stay ahead of him, but it was not to be. It was funny because at a few points going up the climb Matt was walking his bike about as fast as I was riding. I was trying really hard to just spin and not push because of the heat and my sore legs.

After cresting the climb I had put a small gap between Matt and I that I thought would hold up. It didn't.

I cramped a bit more right before West Horsetheif, but nothing too serious. Right before getting to WHT I saw Jason riding and yelled at him to encourage him. I don't think he heard me or didn't understand what I was saying. Hahaha.

I also saw Napolean D from GeoLadders riding right behind Jason and was very encouraged. He has always seemed like a fast rider and I was excited to be near him so late in the ride.

Jason and Napolean stopped at the WHT aid station but I just kept rolling. Matt caught me again around this time and Napolean also caught up and the three of us rode to Trabuco to start the descent.

Right before dropping Trabuco I stopped to get some water from Warrior Society Volunteers because I was completely out. It was such a relief to drink and pour some cool water over my head.

The trip down Trabuco was a lot slower than usual for me. I was trying hard to pick soft and easy lines to avoid flatting and I was also pretty tired which hurt my bike
handling skills.

I ended up walking a few sections on lower Trabuco before coming out to Trabuco Creek Road. Napolean had gone ahead of me down Trabuco and was now stuck after walking over the barrier at the end of trail due to cramps. He said "Cramping sucks" to me to which I replied, "Agreed." Hahaha. I took that as my chance to pass him and finish ahead of him.

The trip out on Trabuco Creek Road was horrible. It was hot and there was a headwind which just added to the misery. Even though I had a full suspension bike it felt like a hardtail. I hate whining about this since some of my buddies actually did ride hardtails, but it still was horrible.

Finished at about 5:29 for total time with a ride time of about 5:26. It was good enough to get first place in 18-30 Intermediate and I actually beat out the first place guy from 18-30 Expert as well.

I felt like a jerk later when I heard two guys looking at the results and saying that our category was full of sandbaggers. Haha. Oh well.

I'll post some lessons learned later if I have time. Congratulations to Doug, Jason, Matt, Andrew and Troy for attempting/finish the ride. It was super hot (over 100 degrees easily) and the course was not all that fun. Rides like this build character, right? Haha.