Saguaro National Park/Casa Grande 300k Brevet

Obligatory Weather Comment:
I suppose that it is only natural as a brevet rider to complain about the weather. I was really prepared for wet 300k. As late as Wednesday the long term forecast called for 50-70% rain chances all day Saturday. I guess that's why they call it a forecast!

Conditions for this year's 300k turned out to be nearly perfect (except for a few blasts of head/cross wind in Marana and the last few miles). The weather was mild and wind was at our backs most of the day. All the rain gear I had been trying out over the past few weeks stayed in Moots Bag!The reflective riders before the start

Start

As I was preparing my coffee at 4:35 am for the drive down to Casa Grande, I received a text from Mike Rollinson, wondering if I was on the road yet. I called him back to ask him why he was up at that early hour, and he said he had been up all night supporting a relay road race. He wished me luck and I was down the road and at the Wal Mart in 45 minutes with plenty of time to get ready.

I jumped in with the fast group knowing I would get spit out early due the the stomach flu I had been pestered with all week. The group split after we turned on Pinal Parkway and I stayed in the back. We rolled into the first checkpoint at a little after 8. The fast movers were leaving as we arrived. I jumped on Roger Peskett's wheel and we worked together almost to the top of the hill. Roger was too strong for me so I watched him head up the hill. I stopped at the top for a couple of photos. There was plenty of snow on Mt. Lemmon!

I coasted alone into Tuscon and stopped at a new Circle K on Tangerine to reload. As I was refilling my bottles, Paul Layton and Wayne Churchman rolled in. We left together and made our way to Silverbell. Wayne excused himself from the group and Paul and I traded pulls until we neared Gates Pass, Paul dropped off to his own climbing pace. I arrived at the Kinney Road control and reloaded my bottles.

I normally would rave about Susan's wraps at this point in the blog. I decided due to the stomach and intestinal distress I had all week, I would stick to the liquid fuel that seemed to be working so far. So I was out of there pretty quick. Plus, the wind was from the south so I wanted to jump on and take advantage.

It was a great tailwind until I reached the Marana airport, where it became a fierce headwind. I stopped at the airport to call Debby and let her know I was feeling weak and to take a break. We talked for a while and I decided to get up and get going. Just then Paul Layton and Russ Cummings rolled by. I jumped on and caught them by the time they turned on Sanders road.

We worked together and our speed continued to climb with the growing tail wind. We stopped at the Dairy Queen to reload and we were back on the road. After a couple of rotations, I started to feel some cramps so I let them go and dialed back my pace. The wind was also making its way around the compass; going from blessing to curse!

Reaching Eloy the cross/head wind became quite annoying. When I turned North to 11 mile corner, my speed picked up and I made good time to SR287 with the wind again at my back. Turning west into the wind, and not being able to generate any power, I trudged on in to the finish as at whopping average speed of under 10 miles an hour for the last 9 miles!

Finish

I rolled in at 12 hours 7 minutes for the 190 miles. My second fastest 300k and only 25 minutes slower than my personal best for this distance. Being sick all week definitely reduced the on board glycogen and I suffered for it at the end. Plus, I was only able to consume about 200 calories per hour during the event, which also contributed to my lack of power at the end.

This week will be an easy week with the San Tan Criterium, then back to building distance for the 400 in four weeks!


On the Pinal Parkway, while the ride was still fun!

Steve Atkins