: 2022 COAST TO COAST

Monday, June 27, 2022

2022 COAST TO COAST

Sometimes when $#!t hits the fan you just have to stand there and take it like a man…

Going into the 2022 Coast to Coast I was feeling pretty good about things. Nutrition on longer and harder rides seemed to be working and I was happy with how I was responding to training. I would have liked to of gotten in some more 150+ mile rides but the work/life schedule the past few months has been better suited for 100+ miles rides so I opted for quality over quantity this time around.

0-60 miles… A new first part of the route which included some CONE-AZALIAish style gravel was a nice change. I don’t mind getting on the front early on for a few minutes here and there to help establish an honest pace for the day, but I also tried to be smart and stay a few spots off the front as much as possible. We got off to a good start and personally I was hoping to bank a little time in the cooler weather before things started to heat up mid-day. An hour or so into the race 2019 winner Adam Hill (5th place) flatted and unfortunately, we wouldn’t see him the rest of the day. Turns out he had a few stops to get the flat fixed but might have had the ride of the day, as he worked his way back to 5th place overall. At checkpoint #1 there was no need to stop, and I headed through alone but would be joined shortly after by a dozen other riders who made a quick or no stop at all like myself

2:49:19 split | 21.4 mph | NP 193w | 2.8 w/kg | 138hr

60-109 miles… At 78 miles the course hits its first seasonal road and in years past some separation has happened here. I got on the front and started pressing a little (7:14 min | NP 263w | 4.1 w/kg | 174hr). Within a minute or two it was down to Ben Kalis (1st place) and myself. I started to look back a few times and noticed there was no one in sight, so we eased up until we could see someone coming. I didn’t want to complete separate from the group but when we exited the seasonal road it was just down to myself, Ben, and Jared Dunham (2nd place). We agreed to let up and just rotated pulls at a nice pace and hoped some of the group would catch back up, so we were not having to do all the work for the rest of the day. Well, no one caught us and soon Jared had to ease up, so it was down to Ben and myself. Not at all what I had envisioned happening (or wanted) but that’s the way the cookie crumbled this year. I was sticking to my nutrition plan that had been working in training and by the checkpoint #2 I had finished my 2 liters of Infinit Go Far (840 cals… roughly 170 cals/hr), 2 bottles of plain water, and some solid food (180-250 cals/hr). Before the checkpoint I told Ben I was going to roll through and grab my stuff and then take a quick whiz down the road once we got back on gravel and I’d wait up for him.

2:34:39 split | 19.0 mph | NP 205w | 3 w/kg | 151hr

109-178 miles… It was starting to really get warm, and it was getting harder to get in much solid food and getting down fluids was getting harder as the miles ticked by. By about 130-miles all I could get down was small sips from time to time and I was starting to get some cotton mouth. Ben was taking stronger pulls at this point and when I got on the front I wasn’t as useful… and the wind was starting to become more noticeable on tired legs. We started to hit the sand of the seasonal roads and I was starting to lose my ability to focus but was able to keep up for most of it. We had to get off and walk 2-3 times but luckily road most of the sand. There were a couple times I picked the wrong line and Ben was able to open a gap and I’d have to claw my way back to him, which was way more effort than I wanted to give knowing I was slowly falling apart… but I just hoped I’d bounce back and maybe it would all be worth it. Heading into checkpoint #3 I was on my own and literally crawling along. My plan is to always keep stops to a minimum, but I was ready to call it a day, so I stopped and sat down to get all the sand out of my shoes, put some cold rags on my head to try and cool off… and was able to get down some Gatorade from the aid-station. My wife and daughter were pretty thrown off being this was the first time seeing me in this state (they weren’t at 2021 Sancho or 2020 Crusher to see those disasters… which was probably a good thing). As always they were the best support crew a guy could ask for and got me what I needed, and I was soon on my way again. Unpacking post-race I found out I was only able to get down .5 liters of my second hydration pack, which wasn't good. Deep down I really wasn’t sure if I could make it to the finish or not. Two things that kept me going was 1. I knew even though the course has some decent hills the last 30+ miles, the main elevation profile was downhill and 2. The temperature had started to drop, and the sky was clouding up. Without those two factors I am not sure I would have made it.

4:20:40 split | 15.9 mph | NP 165w | 2.3 w/kg | 147hr

178-213 miles… shortly after getting out of the aid-station, Jared caught me as we were still in the trails, and it felt like he flew by me as I was crawling along. The only way I could keep moving was to keep my heart rate under 130 most of the time… so I’d spin up the hills in the easiest gear I had, and I’d coast the downhills to try and regroup. I couldn’t get in any calories or fluids at this point and was just take swigs of the Gatorade and spitting it out. There were many times I was ready to just stop and take a break but every time I looked back there was no one there and I couldn’t believe it… so that gave me enough hope to just keep pedaling even if I was crawling along. With 15 or so miles to go I started to come up on some of the 100-milers. Having them out on the course lifted my spirits a ton. Even if it was just for a few seconds, being able to give them some kudos and encouragement took my mind off the mess I was in. With 5 miles to go Troy Andrews (3rd place) rolled up on my and scared the $#!t out of me. I hadn’t looked back that long ago and didn’t see anyone. I was rolling along at about 10mph on my own and I wasn’t sure if I could hang onto his wheel, but I gave it a go because I really just wanted to be done. I had to keep telling myself to suck it up (and some other choice words) but made it to the finish with him. I was going to try and sprint down the final stretch but as we made the final two tight turns into the parking lot, I soon found out Troy had superior cornering skills and I was left in the dust before the final sprint even started.

2:32:16 split | 13.6 mph | NP 111w | 1.6 w/kg | 128hr

0-213 miles… well for how bad the wheels fell off the last ¼ of the race, I am pleased and feel lucky that I was able to hang onto 4th place. This was a similar experience to Sancho last year with the heat and getting dehydrated. I really tried to stay on top of fluids all day long, but I seem to get too a point where my body just shuts down and it doesn’t want to process anything any longer. Maybe it was the two bottles of plain water that threw off my electrolytes. I’ll probably try some electrolytes in my bottles moving forward instead of plain water. Thankfully making some progress in this area and now time to regroup to get ready for The Crusher in July.

12:32:53 elapsed time | 17.2 mph | NP 176 w | 2.4 w/kg | 142hr

Some fun facts on the amount of time the top 5 stopped along the way (according to Strava)…