Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Plan - 2013

NOW

459 Express Goals

Raise money and awareness for/of the Paul Ruby foundation

Finish as a team in just under 5 hours. Ultimate: entire team finishes together 4:59ish

Have a blast riding together and supporting each other on a 100 mile ride!

 

NOW

 

Raise funds for the Paul Ruby Foundation:

+ Basics: http://www.sub5century.org/news/update-07232012/

+ Tips from last years top fundraisers: http://www.sub5century.org/news/fundraising-tips-from-kara-jim/

+ Using LinkedIn: http://www.sub5century.org/news/how-to-use-linkedin-for-fundraising/

 

459 ‘Kit’ – We don’t have a special jersey… spend your money on donations. However, I would like us to look like a team. Please wear a sub5 jersey if you have one. Otherwise, try to wear a jersey that fits in with the sub5 jersey… something light blue/light red. Mike wore a Discovery jersey and Craig a blue/gray jersey that fit in well. Black shorts are preferred. Also, the sub5 temporary Tattoo goes on the right calf facing ‘out’ (for the pics!) Basically, imagine you are going to place it in the middle of the meat of your right calve, then move it 90degrees around your leg to face out away from your bike. Mark will need to shave that portion of his leg. If you don’t have a sub5 tattoo, I’ll have them available Sunday morning.

 

Make sure you bike is ready. Plan out what you need in your jersey and cooler. Think “Grab n Go” pit stops. My cooler will have

1.      6 pre-filled bottles (2 for each lap).

2.      A gallon of water to chug from during the pit stop.

3.      PBnJ sandwiches, clif bars – just in case I want them

4.      Iced tea to chug from – caffeine for the last lap

My jersey pocket will have 8-10 various gel packs – 2 per lap and extras

 

BEFORE

 

6-7 am Packet pickup/Sign in

Find your ‘ride partner’ and place your coolers in our tent

Sort your bike out – don’t forget your water bottles

Warmup/stretch/meditate whatever you do to prepare

7:00 – Captain meeting

7:15 – Announcements

7:30 – Teams will start fastest first. I estimate 459 will start between 7:45 and 8am

 

100 @ 4:59 RIDE

 

This team is ready! We communicate well, understand the common goal, work well together and we have the legs and endurance to hit our goal. Here is the plan, info, and reminders for a great sub5 ride 9/8.

 

Ride Partners

I am assigning ride partners for two reasons. First and most importantly, so we ensure everyone is ready to go after pit stops. Don't be left behind when the team rolls out of the pit stop. (yes, it's happened :( ) If your assigned partner or the pair in front/behind of you is missing/not ready, call it out! Second, this is the order we will start each lap. This line up should get us up and out of the high school area, and get us moving down those first two down hills with some good speed. We can make adjustments to pairings and order, if needed, while we are moving, but we will start each lap in the following order. Also, if we put our coolers in roughly this order we can avoid some pit stop confusion.

 

Cpt Paul – Mike Dienhart

Craig – Carlos

Tim – Paul Cochran

Jeff – Dan

Mark – Mike Davis

Julie – Bobby D

Ben – Mike Jeffries

Steve - Scott

 

The Basic Pace Plan

Lap 1 – 1:35 21mph

Pit stop 1 – 4 minutes (last 3 years it’s been 3:30)

Lap 2 – 1:37 20.7mph

Pit Stop 2 – 3 minutes (last 3 years was 2:30 average)

Lap 3 – 1:40 20 mph (mile 90 is when people really feel the effort!)

 

We will primarily use the double pull off line. We will switch to a rotating line on Harmony road from Getty until we make the turn onto Hampshire road. That stretch of Harmony road has several curves, holes, and rough road on the whole climb from Harmony hills road until Hampshire road. We will avoid going 4 abreast on that section. If the wind is significant and a direct headwind, will switch to a single line.

 

Check Points

This will be on my handlebars and I will call out how we are doing. This is based on calm conditions.

 

 

Lap 1

Lap 2

Lap 3

IKE-POPLAR

0:37

2:16

3:58

Riley-I90

1:06

2:47

4:29

Pit IN

1:35

3:16

4:51 (big timber)

Pit OUT

1:39

3:19

4:59

 

Pit Stops

The pit stop will be on the parking lot road. We will have our own tent on the grass along the road.  Let’s be quick! Use the flushing, top-of-the-line porta-potty first… or better yet, not at all. J I expect some riders to use the porta-potty on the first stop, and none on the second stop. Then Grab-n-Go. Most likely you will need to lay your bike down to access your cooler. As soon as you have grabbed what you need, line up with your bike on the road. You can drink/eat while you stand or later when we are moving. As soon as we are all lined up and accounted for, we roll out! We’ll have at least 2 helpers in the tent, and they can tidy up after we leave. Let’s be quick, but not frantic. Efficient, effective, and then Let’s GO!

 

Accommodations – In a 100 mile ride there is a good chance several team members will have an issue/rough patch. We have a large and strong team, and the team can afford for riders to occasionally sit on the back to rest/regroup/refocus/eat. If you are having trouble ( or think you will have trouble ) pulling through on the front, it’s best (for the whole team) for you to sit out. Better that than disrupting the flow. Let the team know you are “out” of the rotation. When you are feeling better, let the team know you are “in” and ease back into the rotation.

 

Other situations:

1.      Dropped water bottle – forget about it, the group will keep moving, someone will share and/or you’ll wait until the next pit stop.

2.      Dropped chain/mechanical – depending on how far ahead of schedule we are, the group may soft pedal, or even slow, but very doubtful the team can afford to stop

3.      Flat tire – you are on your own at that point. Fix it, and join up with another trailing group if you can.

4.      Cramp - depending on how far ahead of schedule we are, the group may soft pedal and see if you can work it out. After it subsides, just hang on the back.

 

Lessons Learned

Safety – Do not cross the center line. Stay on the road. The right hand turns onto Walker and Eisenhower are tight and narrow, slow down and take it easy and safe through these 2 turns. Note that as we tire we will not be as alert/focused and everyone needs to give more room. The last 10 miles are when riders will certainly be struggling. Keep your head up and be aware of what is happening.

 

Communicate – encouragement, all aboard, take the lane, soft pedal, ease up ½ or 1 cog, slowing, clear, I’m out, I’m in, Mark is whining. If we are in a single line pass up/down the communications.

 

Heading north on County Line road, the road has numerous chuckholes leading up the I-90 overpass. Spread out and call out the big ones! Bleed the speed up the overpass since we have a hard, right turn over the crest. No sense killing it up that hill.

 

Harmony road between Harmony Hills and Hampshire roads is rough. The middle and right side of the Harmony road is rough/patched/holes.  Note that it’s worse under the shady trees.

 

When you are on the front with a cross wind, move your lane position (as far is safe/reasonable) into the wind. That is, if the cross wind is from the left move closer to the center line, if the wind is from the right, move closer to the shoulder.

 

The slow line of a rotating line should be on windward side, and the fast line on the leeward (protected) side. If there is not a significant cross wind, it doesn’t matter.

 

On a double pull off line with a cross wind, you can even out the effort with your partner if you switch left/right positions when you get to the back of the line.

 

Keep the two lines close enough together so that we punch a single hole into the wind. However, not bar-banging close. J

 

Aug 11 –

Key pointers we learned that day:

1) During the right turn onto both Walker and Eisenhower roads we crossed the center line on the exit of the turn. We must slow down to 10-12mph and make absolutely sure we do not cross the center line. These are blind turns to what is coming down the road, and we don't want any one hurt.
2) Keep in mind on the 'graveled' portion of Melms road, it is hard to determine where the gravely road ends, and the gravel shoulder starts.

Aug 3 –

Key pointers we learned that day:
1. Be aware when the road/shoulders narrow. Call it/point it out and move over well in advance.
2. When you're in the left line you need to keep an eye out for hazards for the right line and move over in advance so the right line has room to move left and avoid the hazard.
3. Do not cross the center line into the oncoming traffic.
4. Once the group is established on a downhill section, the front MUST keep pedaling normal effort. Otherwise the line will be riding the brakes burning energy.

 

Group efficiency through a turn

If you are on the front approaching a turn call out ‘hold your line’ and stop the pace line rotation. (if you are in the back, check behind and call out ‘take the lane’ if it’s clear). Before the turn, gently move to the left side of the lane for a right turn, and move to right side of the lane for a left turn. Maintain speed and sweep through the turn. Note that in most cases, simply turning and leaning your bike will slow your speed sufficient for the turn. As you straighten up note your speed and (if you can safely) glance back to see any obvious gaps in the line behind.

To keep the group together it is CRITICALLY important that the lead riders do not accelerate until the ENTIRE group is through the turn. If you are on the lead during a turn, maintain whatever your minimum turn speed was until the last rider exits the turn. E.g. if you come out of the turn at 17mph (everybody else will go at least that slow), then maintain 17mph until you hear the ‘all aboard’ signal. Then gradually begin accelerating to normal pace and restart the needed rotation for the new situation. If you are on the tail of the group, call up ‘all aboard’ as soon as the tail has completed the turn and regained contact with the group. If the captain is on the tail remind him to call it out… he tends to forget. If you are in the middle of the lineup, do not call out all aboard unless you are passing up the info from the tail.

 

Keeping together up the hills

There aren’t very many hills, however hills are the most likely place to gap/drop a teammate. On the training rides, I’ve let the team find their pace, and while we’ve mostly stayed together, we always went up faster than we need to. The ‘sleeper’ hill up Harmony can be taken at 18-19mph, we can crest the Higgins hump at 12-13mph, and ride 17-18 mph up Big Timber, slowing to 15mph on the steeper bits. We can do this and still stay on schedule. So let’s keep our 1st and 2nd lap enthusiasm in check and save our legs for the 3rd ‘pay day’ lap.

 

The Good News

We have a strong, organized team and we have practiced the course. We’ve met and exceeding our pace goals. The course corners will be swept, and the corners/intersections will have a volunteer waving us through if there are not cars. I honestly think the whole team can finish together under 5 hours, if we work together, watch our pacing, encourage each other, have decent weather, and a just a little luck.

 

Let’s Do It!

 

AFTER

 

Celebrate with us and other sub5-ers at the Old West Steakhouse! All riders, volunteers and significant others are invited. Believe me, you will be hungry… an old shoe will be appetizing afterwards. Fortunately, there is GOOD food available. And prizes too!

 

 

Post Ride Party - Old West Steakhouse, Union IL

(Copied from sub5 eblast) We will have a party immediately after the event for all riders and volunteers. The Old West Steakhouse is providing us with their pavilion area (behind their banquet facility). They'll serve an all-you-can-eat menu of barbequed pork and chicken, hamburgers and soft drinks for a mere $16 per person. We will have introductions, announcements and drawings for prizes. Plan on joining in on the fun. The OWS is 6 miles north of HHS on Route 20. You must RSVP with Mark Ackerman/Paul Meier if you're planning to attend this event. You must be present to win prizes during the drawing.

 

1 comment:

  1. Hey Folks: What do you eat the night before and in the morning?

    ReplyDelete