Brad Cilley's (Crew Member) Take on the Race

Originally Posted: 9/17/2006

Well now that I have had some sleep and can be somewhat coherent, but none-the less still unexpectedly emotional about what I witnessed over the course of the last year and culminating in 32 hours and 16 minutes, I wanted to pen a few parting words about Brett’s accomplishment at the Adirondack 540.

32 HOURS 16 MINUTES on the Bike with an average speed of 16.73mph in the Adirondacks!!!!!!!!!!!!

If anyone ever doubted that well designed and disciplined training is essential to performance on any plane (work or sport), Brett taught a lesson that crushes that doubt. It all started at the end of the Great Glenn 24 hour mtn bike race last year. Brett learned at that race that training and VERY importantly, NUTRITION, would have to be improved for any run at RAAM. The training began in earnest last fall, with weight training and time on the Bike. Training does not have to be a grind when you are in NH, have snow and characters like Dave Wentworth to accompany you on your rides on the snowmobile trails.

The impressive work began in February with the first road rides and carried on through until this past week. Brett’s epic rides through NH, ME, VT – still leave me shaking my head when I think about them. Often, Brett would be accompanied by friends who would ride 100 mile sections with him (and at least once by Mr. Wentworth for the entire ride).

Brett established his nutrition regimen over the course of all these rides and seems to have worked it out very nicely. He certainly can drink more Hammer, Ensure and eat more GU than anyone I know. Maybe it was the occasional Coke chaser that made it all work?

So, after contemplating all of this, here is my summary of Brett’s run up to yesterday:

Drive, Training, and Organization are key elements for success on or off the bike. Lance and now Brett have given us all lessons on these points.

Here’s one for you Hilary – Nutrition is incredibly important. Brett had spent months experimenting what would and what would not keep him going on the epic rides.

The love and support of a wife is required. I am convinced that there is no way Brett could have succeeded in reaching his goal without Lisa. I don’t mean to sound sexist here – just writing within the context of Brett and Lisa.

The support of friends. I am talking specifically of Brett’s cycling friends – you all know who you are. You are the people who come for the GSW rides, who come for the pizza, the people who come for the Un-official annual White Mountain Century, and those who have, over the years, spent time talking trash with Brett about taking the next town line. In many ways Brett has made us – after all, who else taught us to take every hill and would laughingly take us on Wed night rides which he aptly named “Pain and Despair”? I am also content to believe that in some small way we have also made him.

As you can tell, the emotion of yesterday hasn’t quite worn off, and maybe it never will – which is not necessarily a bad thing.

540 miles, 32 Hours 16 Minutes - Brett You The MAN!!

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The Adirondack 540

Here are some random thoughts about the race/my training

On September 15th and 16th I raced in the Adirondack 540, a 544 mile bike race. My goal was to qualify to participate in the Race Across America (RAAM) in June 2007. I not only qualified for RAAM, I won the race, completing the course in 32 hours 16 minutes, beating the existing course record by 42 minutes.

In preparations for the Adirondack 540, I followed a periodized training program designed to peak just before the race. I started my base training early in December, riding on the roads when I could and on the snowmobile trials (with my Mt bike) when the roads were too messy.

After base training, I started concentrating on longer and longer rides, gradually getting up to 300+ mile training rides. I then started doing double long rides, 200+ miles on Friday and Saturday. A favorite route was to cycle from my home, up to the White Mountains, over the five gaps and then cycle home (I would do the gaps twice on a 300 mile ride). A less favorite ride, but very effective training ride, was to cycle from my home to the Green Mountains in VT. This loop included the dreaded Lincoln Gap, which at 30%+ grade, is the toughest thing I have ever climbed.

I did speed work once or twice each week, riding a fast paced training ride with a group of Cat 1,2,3s each week, time trial training rides and the occasional race. I credit these workouts for the speed at which I was able to complete the ADK 540. In all, I logged about 9,500 miles and about 600 training hours (including non cycling workouts).

I showed up to the start line for the Adirondack 504, with the intention of breaking the record. I knew I could maintain 17-18 miles an hour for 300+ miles. What I didn’t know was how fast I could go for 500+ miles, but I had a plan. I was pretty sure if I kept my heart rate out of the red zone (177+ bpm) and kept fueling (450 cal hr), I could ride forever. I also had no intention of sleeping, or stopping for that matter. I knew from doing a couple of 24 hour mt bike races that I could function ok without sleep. I told my crew before the race, if my wheels weren’t turning, we needed to work quickly to get them turning again.

I went out fast on the first lap, “some dogs can’t help but chase cars.” With other racers around, I couldn’t help but put the hammer down a bit. I went right to the front, and set out to put some space between myself and the other competitors. I averaged about 19 miles per hour on the first lap and put 45 minutes between me and the next competitor.

I did get a little scare, when I stopped for a quick maintenance break on lap one and Mark Pattinson, who was doing the two lap race went zooming by. I quickly asked my crew to give me my bike and proceeded to chase Mark down. When I got beside him, I asked him how many laps he was doing; he said two, crisis over.

After the first lap, I settled down some, knowing that I couldn't keep up a 19 mile an hour pace for the entire 544 miles. I got into a grove and ticked away the miles one peddle stroke at a time, sustaining myself on Hammer Sustained Energy, Gel, Ensure, and Cokes supplied by my able crew (Lisa, Brad and Jim.) The last 12 hours I spent doing time splits in my head to be sure I was going to break the record.

My overall impression on the event was great. I thought it was well run and a great introduction to Ultra Cycling. I am so glad I hung out after the race and had a chance to really meet and talk with the other participants. I didn’t realize how much RAAM experience was there and I received a lot of great advice and encouragement.

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Past Training/Race Reports

August 16 2006

Great Glen 24 Hour Mt Bike Race

In preparation for the Adirondack 540 (RAMM qualifier) I decided to race in the Great Glen 24 Hour Mt Bike Race as a solo racer. For those of you not familiar with this race format, the idea is to complete as many laps of the race course as you can in a 24 hour period. The rider with the most laps wins.

I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to practice sleep deprivation, suffering, and falling off my bike. As it turns out, it was also a great chance to test my nutrition, endurance, lighting systems, mental preparation, short selection, so on and so on..., under race conditions.

Here are the stats/results:

Place: 2nd place (solo age 19-39)
Laps completed: 20
Miles: 170 aprox
Feet of climbing: 15,600
Sore buns: 2

(Not too bad for a roadie) I chased the eventual winner all night, keeping a steady pace, hoping that he would fall apart and I could get past him. Most of the night I was within about 20-25 minutes of him and at one point within a couple of minutes. His crew told him I was closing in; he picked up his pace and pulled away from me again. As a relatively inexperienced mountain biker, all I could do was keep riding my tempo and I started focusing on solidifying my 2nd place.

As fate would have it, Leo (1st place) and I were camped right next to each other. We shared a few beers the night before the race, breakfast the morning of, and our crews worked together to get us both to through the 24 hour grind.

Speaking of crew, I have to say a big thanks to Terry Roach, my crew for the race. He kept me fed, informed and motivated. These races are won and lost in the pits and Terry was a big reason for my success.

This will be my last big ride before the Adirondack 540. I will ride a century or two (maybe one 200 miler), but the next month I will focus on speed work and recovery, so that I will show up on the start line as strong and rested as I can.

Link to 24 Hr of Great Glen

http://24hoursofgreatglen.com/

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July 30, 2006

Ride Report - Double / Double

This weekend I did two back-to-back double centuries. Once again, I headed out from my house and rode up to the White Mountains to do the traditional route, (Kinsman’s Notch, Bethel/Sugar Hill, Crawford Notch, Bear Notch, the Kanc, finally over Gonzo’s pass and home.) Day one went fairly smoothly, with the exception of the bee that stung my calf, on the way up the Kanc, and the pouring rain that started just as I began to ascend Gonzo’s pass. It did cool me off, but the river that flowed down the mountain slowed my climb and decent.

Day two was a repeat of day one. I decided to that the same exact course, so that I could plot my decline from one day to the next. It’s one thing to feel bad; it’s another to be able to quantify it.

I actually felt pretty good on the second day, and was keeping up with the pace I had set the day before. Unfortunately, on Bear Notch, I broke a spoke on my rear wheel, and the wheel started to flap behind me like a flag in the wind. I backed off the cable as far as I could and opened the brakes all the way, but it still rubbed a little when I sat down and the wheel would compress. I continued on with my wobbly wheel, over the Kank and Gonzo’s pass, determined not to let another double/double fall short because of equipment failure. Here are the stats from the two days: (Note the big heart rate drop)

Day 1:
Distance: 217 miles
Average speed: 17.1 mph
Climbing: 12985 feet
Avg Heart Rate: 145
Time in the saddle: 12 hr 41min
Time door to door: aprox 13 hrs 30min

Day 2:
Distance: 217 miles
Average speed: 16.7mph
Climbing: 12710 feet (where did the other 200 feet go?)
Avg Heart Rate: 129
Time in the saddle: 13 hr 12min
Time door to door: aprox 14 hrs


You will notice that my heart rate got pretty high day 1 on the first big climb (Kinsman’s). As I started to climb, I looked up and there was a group of cyclist spread out on the hill. I picked them off one by one as I climbed over the notch. Some dogs just can’t help it, they have to chase cars.

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July 14, 2006

I headed out early Friday morning (3:30am) with the intention of riding 400 miles. The plan was to ride north to Lincoln, go backwards around the traditional White Mt. century route (Kinsman’s Notch, Bethel/Sugar Hill, Crawford Notch, Bear Notch, the Kanc,) then ride the 100 mile, five notch loop again, climb over Gonzo’s pass, and then head home. That would give me the first 300+ miles. I would then do a couple of loops closer to home to complete the 400.

My ride was almost cut very short. At around 5am I hit a curb in New Hampton, sending me flying off the bike, into a heap on the side of the road. I had put a wobble in my (brand new) front wheel and bent the large chain ring. I was able to straiten the handlebars, open the front brakes and continue on.

I then rode up to Franconia to meet Dave Wentworth, who was spending the week camping with his family. I used Dave’s pliers to straiten out my chain ring and then Dave joined me for one of my loops through the notches.

Heat and wind were the stories of the day. After climbing out of Franconia, we descended into Bethlehem, where we met up with a strong tail wind that pushed us all the way to Bartlett at an average speed of 22 mph. After a quick stop for water and a Coke, we turned and climbed up Bear Notch. This is when we really noticed just how hot it was, and the only shade on the road was on the opposite side of the street.

At the end of Bear Notch, and 130 miles into the ride, we turned west, and now the wind that has pushed us along, was doing it’s best to keep us from getting up the Kanc. Unfortunately, it gave us little relief from the midday sun that was baking our brains.

We continued up the Kanc, then over Kinsman’s and back to Dave’s campsite. I then headed out by myself to do it all over again. Thankfully, the wind and the sun died down making the second loop through the notches easier, even with an additional 100 miles in my legs. I climbed over Gonzo’s pass and headed home, rolling in about 11pm (my speed on the bike was great but I spent too much time off the bike.)

At this point I decided not to head back out. I wanted to do 400 miles to prove to myself I could. I had had a great ride all day, kept my heart rate under control, and stayed on top of my nutrition. I had no doubt that I could do another 85 miles. Knowing that I could do it, made it seem less important to actually do it. I think the training benefits of doing 400 vs. 313 would be marginal at best, so I decided to go to bed instead (and to tell you the truth, I was a little concerned about getting run over by some drunk at 1 in the morning.)

Overall a good and successful ride on a challenging course. Here are the stats:

Distance: 312.6 miles
Average speed: 17.5 mph
Climbing: 18435 feet
Time in the saddle: 17 hr 51min
Time door to door: aprox 19.5 hrs


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July 1, 2006

Ride report – the double-double century (that wasn’t)

As I have been preparing for RAAM 2007, I have shared with you my progress as I have completed longer and longer rides. I guess it’s only fair that I share with you my failures.

This weekend, I planned on doing two back to back double centuries. The plan was 200 miles in the Green Mountains of VT and 200 miles in the White Mountains of NH.

Day 1:

Friday stared out great; I hit the road at 5:30 am, averaged 19 mph for the fist 40 miles up to West Lebanon, where I met up with Tim Young and Terry Roach (aka Chief). We then rode to Vermont, over Rochester Gap, Middlebury Gap, Brandon Gap, back over Rochester Gap, and then back to West Lebanon where I parted company with Tim and Terry.

This is the moment, when my double-double century started to fall apart. At the 175 mile mark, riding through Lebanon I took a wrong turn out of the traffic circle. I rode about five miles before realizing I was on the wrong road. Instead of doing the smart thing, backtracking to the traffic circle and taking the correct road, I continued on, thinking I knew where I was going. I would cut over in Grantham and only add five miles or so to my trip. Unfortunately, I was very wrong; the road I was on went to Claremont and nowhere else. By the time I knew where I was, I was 25 miles off course and my options were few. All I could do was race the darkness home. (I had left my light in Terry’s car saying “I won’t need it unless something goes terribly wrong) and it did. I peddled into my driveway just before 9 pm, happy to be home but with only an hour to eat, shower, and prepare my kit for the next day. I fell into bed at 10.

Day 2:

Up at 5 am, on the road at 6. I peddled north towards Lincoln, where I would meet up with Tim, Terry, Al and Phil. I didn’t feel too bad, considering I had done 233 miles the day before. Although, the steep rolling hills on route 175 did challenge my not-yet-recovered legs. Right on time, at 9:30 I rolled into Lincoln. This was the last thing to go as planned on day two.

As we left the visitor’s center in Lincoln and headed towards the Kanc, Al says to me, “Brett, it looks like you broke a spoke, your rear wheel is out.” I acknowledged Al, but kept riding, figuring a broken spoke wasn’t that big a deal.

We started climbing the Kanc and I struggled to keep up with the other four. I knew I was tired from the day before but my ego was crushed as I watched them all ride away from me. As I labored up the first half of the Kanc, I looked down at my rear wheel and saw that it was not a little out of true, it was a lot out of true. I reached down and opened up the rear brake. Miraculously the peddling got a lot easier. I caught back up to Tim and Al and rode to the top of the gap.

We proceeded down the other side and at the turn for Bear Notch decided to stop and get a better look at my rear wheel. This is when we (Tim) discovered that I didn’t have a broken spoke, but the spoke had pulled through the rim. He straitened the wheel as best he could, and although the Sherpas were saying turn back, we continued over Bear Notch.

I got my first pinch flat from the damaged rim, on the back side of Bear Notch, the second one at the base of Crawford Notch. With a packing peanut found at the side of the road, a piece of cannibalized rim tape and a dollar bill, Tim patched up my wheel (the repair held together for the rest of the ride, great job Tim!) Battling a stiff headwind, we rode onto Twin Mt for lunch, where I told the guys I was packing it in and heading down Franconia Notch. Tim and Terry came with me, and excepting defeat, Tim gave me a ride home from Lincoln. Thanks Tim, if you hadn’t been there I would probably still be wandering around the White Mts.

Here are the stats for two days:

Day 1:
233.1 miles
Avg speed: 17.3
Ft climbing: 13505
Time in the saddle: 13 hours 32 min

Day 2:
134.8 Miles (75 miles short of my goal)
Avg speed: 16.2
Ft climbing: 7785
Time in the saddle: 8 hours 21 min

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June 16, 2006

Rider Report 300 miles

Here are the stats:

Miles: 300.3
Avg speed: 17.8 mph
Feet of climbing: 13370
States included: 3 (VT, NH, ME)
Time in the saddle: 16 hrs 54 min
Time door to door: approx 18 hrs

I planned on doing a 270 mile ride, but I got a little lost in Maine. I was within spiting distance of 300, so I decided to extend the ride to 300. I have added arrow bars and they really let me crank up the speed.

I have also added the Hammer Endurance drink to my mix (Thanks to those who recommend that I check out the Hammer nutrition products.) I think I have the nutrition thing dialed in.

I felt good all day. (Except, when I had some girl pull out of the Dunken Donuts in W Leb and then stop right in front of me. I missed her by inches. It scared the crap out of me.)

In Conway, I had some guy catch up to me at a red light. He said “looks like you're out for a long one.” I said “Yeah, I at 220 now and have a have about 80 to go.” He replied “MILES!!!!!!” Felt good to blow his mind a little.

I am planning of doing a double/double century (two double centuries back to back) at the end of the month (Fri 30th, and Sat 1). If anyone is interested in meeting me on the road and doing part of one of these rides (you could do a century) let me know. I would love to have so company. This won’t be as casual as the century we usually do at the end to the year. I will have a lot of ground to cover and will need to keep the stops brief/infrequent.

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