• Total time - 37 hours 30 minutes or so
• Total time spent riding - 29 hours or so
• Sleep time - little more than 3 hours
• Time spent otherwise resting/refueling - 3 hours 25 minutes
• Time spent buying supplies in stores on the way - 55 minutes
• Time spent messing on course with mechanical tidbits - 35 minutes

Stuff ingested :

• 2 gallons Endurox (yum)
• 24 packets of Gu (yum, yum)
• 280 ounces of Gatorade
• 80 ounces of water, much of it from this fine artesian well ----->
• 4 poptarts (strawberry with icing) <---For real YUM
• 1 turkey sammich
• 1/2 bag Lays regular chips - You KNOW you can't eat just one
• 3 Red Bulls - 1 of which was sugerless
• 32 ounces of PEPSI
• 1 Diet Coke
• 2 cans of Starbucks double latte mocha java
• 1 large 16 ounce can of ROCKSTAR energy drink - HEAVY fuel man! Mix this 50:50 with Pepsi and its like ROCKET FUEL!!!!!!
• 1/2 Hershey Chocolate bar - regulars, no nuts
• 1 ALEEVE, 4 Tylenol, 8 Advil, 4 Motrin

With all done and most said it was an amazing experience that pushed me to, through and beyond my mediocre limits. The low points were :

• During the second lap at night in the pouring rain at the end of the downhills. I was just freezing. I never considered quitting, but I would've pulled off and got a room in a hotel in a second if one was open.
• At the check point near the 1/2 way point of the last lap (at about 330 miles). Heading up the hill to Wilmington I was ABSOLUTELY SURE I wouldn't go on. The soles of my feet were on fire, my arms and thigh adductors were cramping (from squeezing brakes and bike on the downhills), my shoulder hurt, both my knees were sore, I was running WAY below empty and had no energy.

The high points were :

Riding the last 75 miles. What was the big turnaround? I went into the last checkpoint with a bag of stuff I'd just purchased from a local store in Winchester - chips, candy, Pepsi, Tylenol, Advil, and RedBull. John C asked me what's in the bag. I just said "Something in here is going to help me 'cause I need it bad." I'd never messed with "alternative energy drinks" like RedBull or Rockstar before but they sure seemed to give me what I needed to get me home.

After cresting the last climb out of Keene Valley I was spinnin' like a mad man as Rodger came up along side and asked if I needed anything. At that point I was sure I had it licked at smiled and told him I felt great, I see him at the finish (35 miles ahead). Man those are some bipolar mood swings.

I was sure the lead 4 lappers would pass me coming in, probably on the Keene Valley hill. I actually was hoping to get a picture or 2 of them. Once I made it over that, it became a battle to stay ahead. With about 5 miles to go in the pitch dark Jaroslav passed me , with support vehicle in tow. I could just see the summit of the last climb as the blinking red tail lights of his support van crested it. I was spinning SO fast up that hill I knew if I stopped my right knee would seize up. The sky was finally clear at that point in time only, clear enough to see a beautiful full moon over Ticonderoga. The final downhill had tears of a different kind blowing out of the corners of my eyes.

RideOn

JB

# posted by JB @ 10:42 AM