Old Town 1000k - By The Numbers

Loop 1

4:06 AM to 5:28 PM Friday

12:17 rolling time, 1:05 stopped time

16.5 mph rolling, 15.3 mph overall

Norm Power: 232  

~ 8584 Calories Expended

Distance: 203.3
Climbing: 13,875 ft.

Avg HR: 140 bpm

Avg Cadence: 68

The challenging first loop was 204 miles and had 14,000 feet of climbing.

I managed to keep my heart rate below threshold for the entire duration, and as a result was able to continue processing fluids and calories without a hitch. It helped also that the latter half of the loop is predominantly downhill. Notice the lower power for the second half. This left me feeling great at the end of the first double.  My cadence was low, and would remain so throughout the ride.

Loop 2

5:28 PM Friday to 1:48 PM Saturday

 

12:05 rolling time, 8:15 (!!) stopped time

16.2 mph rolling, 9.7 mph overall

Norm Power: 211

~ 7758 Calories Expended

Distance: 195.7

Climbing: 9,650 ft.

Avg HR: 126 bpm

Avg Cadence: 62

I started the second loop with almost 6 hours off the bike. I don't know how necessary this home nap/rest time was, but since I was going to be traveling unsupported I felt that it was the smart thing to do. I maintained consistent power, and kept the calories coming in. I had no problems staying awake over night, as I had slept over 4 hours in my downtime. My main problems in the night were the <40 degree temps, with strong winds, throughout the night.I spent another hour off the bike in Hemet, and had an additional hour for other brief stops and stop lights. My heart rate had settled at this point into the 120s, very low for me, but typical of my sustainable ultra pace.

Loop 3
1:48 PM Saturday to 3:35 AM Sunday

12:47 rolling time, 1:00 stopped time

17.1 mph rolling, 16.1 mph overall

Norm Power: 189

~ 7628 Calories Expended

Distance: 219.8

Climbing: 4634 ft.

Avg HR: 121 bpm

Avg Cadence: 61

This out and back along the coast has very little total climbing, but it is distributed mostly in pesky ups and downs through Orange County that, along with copious stop lights, rob speed and take extra energy. Despite my deteriorating mental and physical state through the latter half of the loop, I maintained very constant power, and very low heart rate. Though my power was significantly lower than the other loops, I find that as I tire it becomes much harder to pump out watts on flatter terrain, and I am happy with this as an "infinite" steady state.  This explains my lack of stomach issues: I was relying very heavily on fat stores for energy, which is exactly what I wanted. I estimate I consumed less than 1500 calories on this whole section, while expending over 5 times that. Notice how much lower my speed (blue line) was for a relatively constant power: the return trip may not have been all uphill as it seemed, but there definitely was a headwind on the way back.

Overall 

37:14 rolling time, 10:20  stopped time

16.6 mph rolling, 13 mph overall

Norm Power: 213

~ 23973 Calories Expended

Distance: 618.6

Climbing: 27,914 ft

Avg HR: 129 bpm

Avg Cadence: 65

What a ride. I proved to myself that for such events, a crew is not necessary, but makes a huge difference. I found that with proper nutrition and pacing, I am capable of settling into a steady state for very long periods of time. I would have liked to do this with much less than 10 hours of stopped time, but now I know that I was within my limits, I will be more comfortable to push this in the future. Although it is still years away,  I feel more justified now in my dreams for solo RAAM.