August Cycling Challenge 2014

Just wanted to check and see if anyone of you all will be at the Hotter N' Hell 100 this weekend in Wichita Falls, TX?

Wish I could but about 8 states away. Best of luck though! Let us know how it goes.

Well, it was hotter than hell. I think it got up to 105 or something. It was 101 when I crossed the finish line. Finished the event in right around 5.5 hours for moving time. 6.5 actual time I think. 100.89 miles with a 17.9mph average. The goal was 18mph and I knew I didn't get it, but didn't think I was that close. Honestly thought I would be high 16s or low 17s because we had a 10-15 mph with 20-25mph gust for most of the last 30 miles. It was pretty brutal. Glad I did it though.

Congrats! That sounds like a great pace for such a long distance in the heat. Were you able to draft of friends/people or was it all solo riding like tri/time trials? How much climbing was there in the ride?

08/01 - 62 miles @ 16.7mph w/ 2,800' climbing
08/03 - 105 miles @ 15.9mph w 6,050' climbing
08/05 - 66 miles @ 15.4mph w/3,600' climbing
08/08 - 72 miles @ 16.2mph w/3,100' climbing
08/10 - 130 miles @ 15.5mph w/7,400' climbing
08/17 - 106 miles @ 15.7mph w/6,100' climbing
08/19 - 63 miles @ 17.5mph w/2,850' climbing
08/22 - 62 miles @ 16.2mph w/2,850' climbing
08/24 - 152 miles @ 15mph w 7,450' climbing - new single day distance record!!

Average speed and climbing is approximate as my Garmin cyclometer started malfunctioning at mile 75 (within 2 miles of where my derailer broke last week) so I started running strava on my phone but the battery died before I made it home.

August Total: 817 miles and 42,200 feet of climbing


Goal #1 for August: 400 miles with 20,000' climbing --- REACHED 08/10!!!
Goal #2 for August: 1,000 miles with 50,000' climbing

Closing in on my goals. Just 216 miles and about 14,000ft left. I think I should just be able to make it.

08-01 14.4 miles ridden at 15.0 mph avg. with 1,241ft climbing
08-02 45.7 miles ridden at 16.6 mph avg. with 2,526ft climbing
08-03 54.5 miles ridden at 15.2 mph avg. with 2,392ft climbing
08-05 56.8 miles ridden at 17.0 mph avg. with 2,871ft climbing
08-06 41.7 miles ridden at 13.5 mph avg. with 3,758ft climbing
08-07 19.6 miles ridden at 13.4 mph avg. with 1,099ft climbing
08-09 36.8 miles ridden at 15.9 mph avg. with 2,443ft climbing
08-12 25.6 miles ridden at 15.3 mph avg. with 1,788ft climbing
08-13 50.5 miles ridden at 15.4 mph avg. with 2,966ft climbing
08-14 29.2 miles ridden at 12.8 mph avg. with 2,063ft climbing
08-15 100.6 miles ridden at 13.2 mph avg. with 9,977ft climbing
08-16 32.4 miles ridden at 13.8 mph avg. with 1,483ft climbing
08-18 30.6 miles ridden at 15.4 mph avg. with 2,106ft climbing
08-19 33.8 miles ridden at 16.6 mph avg. with 1,949ft climbing
08-20 27.6 miles ridden at 15.9 mph avg. with 2,365ft climbing
08-21 54.7 miles ridden at 15.0 mph avg. with 2,934ft climbing
08-23 100.3 miles ridden at 13.0 mph avg. with 10,008ft climbing
08-24 39.1 miles ridden at 14.3 mph avg. with 2,719ft climbing
08-25 90.6 miles ridden at 14.6 mph avg. with 4,560ft climbing

MTD Totals

884.1 miles ridden at 14.5 avg and 61,272ft climbing

Goals
1,100 miles
75,000 ft climbing
14 mph avg

Just wanted to check and see if anyone of you all will be at the Hotter N' Hell 100 this weekend in Wichita Falls, TX?

Wish I could but about 8 states away. Best of luck though! Let us know how it goes.

Well, it was hotter than hell. I think it got up to 105 or something. It was 101 when I crossed the finish line. Finished the event in right around 5.5 hours for moving time. 6.5 actual time I think. 100.89 miles with a 17.9mph average. The goal was 18mph and I knew I didn't get it, but didn't think I was that close. Honestly thought I would be high 16s or low 17s because we had a 10-15 mph with 20-25mph gust for most of the last 30 miles. It was pretty brutal. Glad I did it though.

Congrats! That sounds like a great pace for such a long distance in the heat. Were you able to draft of friends/people or was it all solo riding like tri/time trials? How much climbing was there in the ride?

You were able to draft a bit for the first 50 or so miles. After that everyone was too scattered. You were lucky to find 3 or 4 people to pace with. Most didn't really know how to ride in groups. The last 30 into the wind on this one was 90% on my own, and the few groups I was in, I did most of the work anyway. This ride is known for being a flat, windy, hot ride out here. Not a lot of climbing. I think it was 1900 feet in total.

Here is the start line. 13,000 riders willing to do this to themselves.....lol.

Goal for August will be 250 and I will go for it!

8/20 - 4.7
8/23 - 36.1
8/24 - 5.5

Total so far 46.3

Has been another bad biking month.

August Goal 175 miles

8/2 17.3 miles @ 13.7 mph for 76 minutes
8/3 6.2 miles @ 16.1 mph for 23 minutes
8/3 10.8 miles @ 12.7 mph for 51 minutes
8/4 8.4 miles @ 13.9 mph for 35 minutes
8/5. Rest day legs are shot!
8/6 20.3 miles @ 13.3 mph for 91 minutes
8/9 19.2 miles @ 12.7 mph
8/10 10.1 miles @ 14.2 mph
8/11 rest day
8/13 3.9 miles @ 16.4 mph GOT A FLAT ARGHH!
8/15 11.8 miles @ 13.6 mph with 523' climbing
Going to try and work on climbing more!
8/16 6.5 miles @ 12.5 mph Ride with my daughter
8/17 24.7 miles @ 12.5 mph with 651' climbing
8/18 6.6 miles @ 15 mph with 186' climbing
8/21 11.6 miles @ 13.6 mph with 232' climbing
8/23 10.4 miles @ 12.8 mph
8/24 20 miles @ 13.7 mph with 758' climbing
8/25 19.3 miles @ 15.6 mph with 577' clbing

August Total: 207.1 miles
Goal met ill keep going!

August 1 - rode 11.5 miles for a duration of 00:45:20 (XC Race Warm-Up Practice)
August 2 - rode 6.95 miles for a duration of 00:35:00 (XC pre-ride lap)
August 3 - rode 21.71 miles for a duration of 1:52:02 (XC race)
August 5 - rode 8.61 miles for a duration of 47:30
August 8 - rode 44.02 miles for a duration of 2:48:46
August 9 - rode 18.7 miles for a duration of 1:09:44
August 10 - rode 18.5 miles for a duration of 1:19:23
August 12 - rode 17.33 miles for a duration of 1:53:20 (mountain bike taper training)
August 14 - rode 31.2 miles for a duration of 1:50:45
August 16 - rode 4 miles for a duration of 00:20:00
August 17 - rode 16.41 miles for a duration of 01:15:15 (XC Race**)
**Goal reached in yesterday's race as I got 1st Place. And I set a new threshold heart rate value during the race which bumps up my training zones a bit.
August 19 - rode 17.9 miles for a duration of 1:09:17 (taper rep intervals)
August 20 - rode 58.5 miles for a duration of 3:40:25 (practiced my endurance race nutrition/hydration)
Augus 22 - rode 17.3 miles for a duration of 1:13:13 (XC race warm-up practice)
August 23 - rode 18.5 miles for a duration of 1:17:38 (XC race pre-ride/leg openers)
August 24 - rode 42.2 miles for a duration of 3:10:43
August 25 - rode 17.8 miles for a duration of 1:11:34 (taper reps with Zone 3 & Zone 5 Intervals on the mountain bike)

August Totals: 371.13 miles for a duration of 26:19:55

***August Goals = race well in mountain bike races on my calendar for the 3rd, 17th, 24th, and the big "50 miler" on the 31st. That's a lot of mountain bike racing for one month meaning I will have to taper and recover as best as possible this month to pull it off.
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Thanks for the info strassenkoenigin and steffenson! Makes sense. Hornsby, that was an amazing pic! Thanks for posting that. How in the world did they get started without a massive pile-up.

Well, if you can get to the front of the pack you can start off relatively smoothly and get up to speed. My problem was that I was about 1/2 of the way back. The first riders started off at 7:05am and they let them go. Then you just kinda start inching your way at about 8mph to the line. The first 5-10 miles are very slow with not a lot of options. Next year, I will definitely try to get to the front and be in that group. The lead group and winner only finished with a 18.9mph average so that made my 17.9 not feel so bad. That was moving time though. I spent about 30 more minutes off the bike at rest stops then the leader did.

ETA: and there were a ton of pile ups. I witnessed 2 crashes and saw the aftermath of at least 5. Not sure how many happened in total. That combined with the massive amounts of flats, the sag wagons had their work cut out for them.

Thanks for the info strassenkoenigin and steffenson! Makes sense. Hornsby, that was an amazing pic! Thanks for posting that. How in the world did they get started without a massive pile-up.

Well, if you can get to the front of the pack you can start off relatively smoothly and get up to speed. My problem was that I was about 1/2 of the way back. The first riders started off at 7:05am and they let them go. Then you just kinda start inching your way at about 8mph to the line. The first 5-10 miles are very slow with not a lot of options. Next year, I will definitely try to get to the front and be in that group. The lead group and winner only finished with a 18.9mph average so that made my 17.9 not feel so bad. That was moving time though. I spent about 30 more minutes off the bike at rest stops then the leader did.

ETA: and there were a ton of pile ups. I witnessed 2 crashes and saw the aftermath of at least 5. Not sure how many happened in total. That combined with the massive amounts of flats, the sag wagons had their work cut out for them.

That start up pic looks frightening. As I would never have a chance to get to the front of the pack, I avoid these mass events. Too many inexperienced riders and you risk getting yourself injured or your bike smashed. But you did really well. Was it at least some fun?

Actually the front of the pack are usually where the experience riders are so they usually know what they are doing. Back where i was at was a different story. So much cross wheeling and quick braking for no apparent reason. I blew by all the rest stops and didn't stop till mile 52 just so I could get out of the mess.

I did have a good time. The last 30 miles were definitely a mental battle due to the heat, wind and slow pace, but all in all, I had fun. I went with a friend of mine and we car pooled. I didn't even think about how much faster I was than him so when I completed around 2:15 pm, I didn't have his car keys so I had to wait for him to show up before changing and putting on some shoes and what not. He didn't end up finishing till 6:15pm. That made for quite a long day. Luckily they sold beer so I got pretty drunk since I did happen to have my wallet.

I just purchased the pictures from the event so I will post some of my pics up when I get home and get them downloaded. I just looked through them and I couldn't help but laugh. Nearly all of them I have this look of misery on my face if my head isn't completely down from being tired. Lol.

8-1-14 20 miles
8-2 25
8-3 27
8-4 20
8-5 31
8-7 22
8-8 20
8-9 34
8-10 15
8-11 20
8-13 30
8-14 15
8-15 21
8-16 36
8-17 15
8-18 20
8-19 16
8-20 30
8-22 22
8-23 37
8-24 15
8-25 20
8-26 15 MTD 526

You were able to draft a bit for the first 50 or so miles. After that everyone was too scattered. You were lucky to find 3 or 4 people to pace with. Most didn't really know how to ride in groups. The last 30 into the wind on this one was 90% on my own, and the few groups I was in, I did most of the work anyway. This ride is known for being a flat, windy, hot ride out here. Not a lot of climbing. I think it was 1900 feet in total.

Here is the start line. 13,000 riders willing to do this to themselves.....lol.

Wow. There you are!!!
Well done.
Wow. So many people.

August goal: 250 miles and 15 cycling days

So far:

8/2: 17.84 miles.
8/5: 20.80 miles
8/9: 8.49 miles
8/13: 16.39 miles
8/14: 15.33 miles
8/16: 17.49 miles
8/22: 11.47 miles
8/24: 11.99 miles
8/26: 29.74 miles

To go: 100.46 miles and 6 days.

I've been focused more on running this month due to a half marathon last weekend, but now I'm going to make an effort to catch up on my biking miles (I'll probably end up 2 days short, however). One of these days I'll figure out how the balance the two.

Got some pics from the race Thought I would post.

Got some pics from the race Thought I would post.

Dang! Kudos to you for wearing a black helmet in that type of climate. I would have gone for all white, or as light of colors as I could wear to keep my head and my core temp down.

Regardless - great job in the sufferfest!

I only have one helmet. Not sure that I would call it kudos. More like I am just a cheapskate and don't want to buy another one...lol.

8/1 16.0 miles
8/2 16.5 miles
8/4 15.5 miles
8/5 16.15 miles
8/7 18.0 miles
8/8 20.0 miles
8/9 16.0 miles
8/11 18.0 miles
8/12 20.0 miles
8/13 23.0 miles
8/14 25.6 miles
8/15 17.3 miles
8/18 18.6 miles
8/19 25.6 miles
8/21 23.2 miles
8/22 21.2 miles
8/23 17.6 miles
8/25 22.3 miles
8/26 21.3 miles
8/27 24.2 miles


MTD 396.05