Fireweed 200 – Big Girl Legs!

This past weekend my friend Sarah and I embarked on a 200 mile bike race from Sheep Mountain Lodge, on the Glenn Highway to Valdez – one of the most picturesque locations in Alaska.  The race would be the first for Sarah, and the 2nd for myself.

Two years ago I did the race with an older, but enormously strong, man and we completed the 200 mile event in 10 hours and 30 minutes.  That year I was in very good shape having had 1500 miles of training under my belt.  This year was a little different.  I had a new bike, a Madone 6.9, but I lacked a little in the training department. Having sat out last year with a broken leg, I made amends this year…

Preparations for the event started a few months ago with Sarah and I discussing whether either of us had what we like to call Big Girl Legs – legs big enough to take you up the largest of hills.  Sarah was a little unsure.  I was absolutely sure.  But, Sarah has this brute toughness, stemming from her Scottish upbringing, which looks at an obstacle and stares it down till it bows down pleading for mercy.

So, once we decided that we had what it takes to ride 200 miles as a 2-person relay team, we started riding every Sunday together, and apart we rode many times throughout the week.  I ride with two ladies groups during the week and the hardcore Goldstream Sports group on Saturday morning (though I do not count myself as hardcore).

Preparation began, we signed up for the race and called ourselves The British Empire Strikes Back.  I called around and found the very last room available in Valdez so we could have a warm bed and a shower.

On Friday morning we met at Goldstream Sports and packed all of our gear in Sarah’s Subaru.  The plan was to borrow roof racks to install and put our bikes on the roof, having the inside for food and clothes.  As it happened, our rood rack idea flopped as the bike racks were lashed onto the roof racks and they did not sit right making the bikes kind of flop and twist.  We left the racks in place, and pulled my prissy bike apart and lovingly packed it in the car and hung Sarah’s very nice on the rack hanging on the rear window.

Ben, Sarah’s 5 year old, joined us as our team coach and captain.  His role was to keep us focused on the race, make us eat and drink during our driving legs, and cheer for us while we were on our riding legs.

We drove to Sheep Mountain Lodge under a sky as blue as can be, and temps around 85 degrees.  There was no wind, and not a cloud in the sky.  This made for a very exciting pre-race evening. Upon arrving at Sheep Mountain Lodge we found a camp site on the air strip with the other racers.  We set up camp, met some neighbours, and went to find dinner.  They fed us extremely well with an all you can eat pasta and salad dinner with brownies to make you weep. After our fill we went back our tents to prepare for the early morning ride.

On arriving at the campsite again I noticed a lot of white fluff on the ground.  I kind of shrugged it off and started rifling through the food bags sorting out riding and driving foods.  We cracked a beer and laughed at our assortment of energy foods.  We had enough Shot Bloks to feed a Tour de France peleton, Red Bull for when we thought we might not make it, Ibuprofin for our pain, cheese sticks for protein, and energy drink for electrolyte replacement.

Sarah and I cracked a couple of beers and toasted each other good luck for the following day.  We overheard the closest neighbours and went to introduce ourselves.  Upon meeting them we noticed that the white fluffy stuff around the campsite was actually dismembered bunny feet.  Bunny feet everywhere!!!!  I still am not sure what that was about, but who ever decided that a rabbit’s food was good luck wasn’t thinking about the rabbit.

At 7am the 200 mile 2-person race started.  The first riders in each team started.  There were time trial bikes, mountain bikes, and even a Bike Friday – for those who have not seen one they are a folding bike that can be packed into a bag.  They have very small wheels, but they do ok.  I was kind of expecting bubbles and bubble noises to come out of the Bike Friday as it looked so comical and out of place at the race start.

At the start there were some racers who were hell bent on winning.  They charged out of the start, and I never saw them again.  I was mid-pack and my computer decided not work for the first leg so I had to keep an eye on the time and the mile markers and calculate my miles per hour and speed up accordingly.  I was really frustrated with my computer, and every time I looked at it mocked me with “–” flashing across the screen.  Without any idea of speed, distance or cadence I kind if felt blind.  So, I set my sights on the guy in front of me.  He was a ways up and I would gain on him on the hills, and he would pull away on the downhills and flats.  We played this game for around 10 or 15 miles until I finally caught him on the large hill coming into Eureka.  I told him that he was my target, he said well he is my target and pointed to the guy a long way ahead…  I took off and made the new guy my target and started to reel him in.

The clouds were blocking the sunshine but the temperatures were just about perfect – not too hot or cold.  I kept my knee warmers and elbow warmers on almost the whole race as it ensured limber limbs.  At about mile 15 Sarah and Ben drove past and jumped out at the next pullout and I yelled to them that I wold switch in 15 miles. Being Sarah’s first ride I knew she would appreciate a little more preparation time.

As I was riding to meet Sarah fellow Fairbanksans drove past tooting their horn and shouting words of encouragement.  It really helps the psyche to know that you are not alone out there, and people know your name are watching and cheering for you.

When I reached Sarah she was ready and Ben was excited to see the first transfer.  Sarah rode off looking very strong and with a big smile on her face.  We tried to switch out where the next rider had a flat or downhill start to the ride.  This made it a lot easier and less tiring.  Sarah set out on her first 25 mile ride.  She had a white thermal layer that made her easy to see.

As Sarah rode, I quickly made myself a new drink for the next ride, and a large sandwich of turkey and cheese and ate string cheese sticks and Chewy bars.  It is kind of like an eating competition as much as a cycling race. You eat as much as you can in the time between rides. The front passenger foot well was starting to pile up with discarded food wrappers.

Sarah had a great leg with rolling hills and fun fast down hills.  But, there was a headwind starting to form.  It was ever present, and starting to get annoying.  But, you had to just ride against the wind.  One thing that kept me sane was the fact that everyone in the race had the same headwind and I was not singled out.

At this point some of the 4-person teams started to catch us.  They started 30 minutes behind us, and they were able to move faster with more people to ride more miles.  We also saw the first 400 miler return along the other side of the road.  The first guy, Bryce from Chicago looked as though he had ridden just around 20 miles.  He was spinning along, looking fresh and strong.  Around 30 minutes back we saw his closest challenger – this poor guy looked like he had ridden all of the 400 miles; he was slouched, pedaling slowly, and just trying to keep the bike going.

We switched again and the wind had started to pick up.  We were getting close to Glennallen and close to turning from the Glenn Highway to the Richardson Highway toward Valdez.  I started riding with a guy who introduced himself as a masters cyclist from Anchorage.  He was strong and and we rode side by side for a while yelling to each other against the loud headwind.  It was great to be riding with someone. We discussed our teams strategies.  His 4-person team was switching every 10 miles.  I thought that was too quick at the beginning, not allowing enough time to warm up, he agreed, but towards the end of the race 10 miles is a good distance. He stopped to switch out and I was once again left to ride alone.  I spotted a guy ahead of me so I reeled him in.

The new guy looked a little awkward on his bike.  I asked him how long he had been riding for and he said about 3 miles, and that he first got on a road bike the previous week.  I asked him how long his leg was and he looked down at his actual legs and said “um, really long”.

We turned on to the Richardson and I was blasted by a massive headwind, and the start of the swirling side winds.  The road was smoother, and the shoulder a little wider.  I was able to take advantage of a great downhill, but to my dismay I was pedaling as hard as I could against the very strong head wind.  I had to keep reducing my gear tension so I could spin more against the wind.  This would have been a good 30 mph downhill ride, but I got to 22 pedaling and staying as low as I could.

I put on aerobars before the race.  I knew I would want to use them on the long flat stretches, and in the headwinds they proved to be very helpful.  Dropping your body lower and bringing your arms in together in front of your body creates a much more aerodynamic position.  It was really amazing to see the difference in speed when dropping into the aero position.  Speed went up generally 2-10 mph.  The aero position also gives you a little more power in your legs on flat and slightly downhill terrains.

Doing the longer rides earlier on, I think, made the rest of the ride easier to fathom.  By the time we hit the start of the hills we were down to 10-15 mile rides.  The strong head wind was a little frustrating.  We could not draft off other people unless they were on our team, and with only 2 riders, and one was driving the support vehicle it made it impossible.  I did come up on some larger people, in particular 1 guy who was such a great wind block.  As I passed him I commented on how inviting it was to stay behind him, but alas I was faster and it would have potentially have had us eliminated from the race.

Sarah said that one time she commented to herself loudly and quite aggressively that the head wind just really sucked, and as she said it out loud she heard a guy passing her agree totally.  It really made it easier knowing that everyone had the same headwind.  It was the swirling, forceful sidewinds that really got to me.  They are scary.  You have to lean into the side wind and be ready at the second it abates to right yourself.  They can be scary enough to spook a fast rider.

Getting into the hills it started to rain.  It was warm enough, so rain gear wasn’t overly necessary as the wet clothing kept you warm with your own body heat trapping in the warmth. It was the mixture of the strong headwinds and the constant incline that was tough.  Because we switched out riders in the relays, we often had people passing us, and soon after we would pass them as they stopped to exchange riders.  There was a camaraderie formed with a few teams even though we may have been competing in the same class.  We would often stop at the same pullouts and we would cheer for every rider who went past.  As the miles wore on my cheering became a dance as I needed to keep my body moving, and the exuberant cheering and dancing seemed to help the motivation of the passing cyclist.  Or, perhaps they were trying to ride fast away from my dance moves!

It was fun to ride up to a group of young ladies who would chant “You can do it, keep up your speed, You’re doing great!” It really made the event communal.  We were all in this together!  It was hard to ride with with someone as there were so many varying speeds, and riders switching at every pullout.  One thing I need to applaud the Fireweed organizers on was their information packet.  The terrain map was valuable, but more so was the very detailed pullout information.  This also had comments like “Start of Serious Ascent.” This was a good note and a little intimidating.

I tried to set Sarah up so she did not have to take too many of the really big hills.  I did this by trying to finish on the top of a hill, and having shorter rides towards the end.  We had decided that I was to be strongest of the two of us, and so I would take most of the hills.  This was until the start of the Thompson Pass climb.  As it happened my 10 mile leg finished a few miles shy of the steeper sections.  I felt so guilty, so Sarah and I decided to play it by ear and see how she went.  I promised to stop at every pullout and be ready to exchange if she was done.  At every pullout I got the thumbs-up sign and Sarah trucked on by.  I was sure by the 4th mile of climbing she would be done, but on she went.  Getting to the steepest part I yelled “You have 1.5 miles to go, you are a Goddess!!”  Sarah said that she would take the last 1.5 miles and reach the top of Thompson Pass.  I waited at the top and watched her plow through the rain and push against the headwind and incline.

When Sarah made to the top she offered to let me ride down the hill.  I absolutely refused and said that she deserved every bit of that descent.  Off she went flying down in the rain.  Big smile on her face!!!  I stopped a few times down the hill to make sure she was not cold, she temperature was not an issue but the “rain hurts at 40 mph”.

We passed a very tough hand cyclist who had made a long journey from the start the previous day.  He was close to the ground so I can only imagine the spray he must have been getting his face!  I exchanged with Sarah at the bottom of the descent and as I passed the handcyclist I told him how amazing he was.  And, he really was!

I had a 20 mile ride to the finish line.  I put on a rain jacket as the precipitation increased quite a lot.  I had taken my aero bars off in preparation for the hills to reduce weight.  I spent most of the ride on my drop bars trying to get out of the constant wind.  I could feel the dirt and grime building up on my clothes and the bike.  The cheering reduced as the support vehicles made a dash for the finish line.  I noticed a beautiful swan hanging out in a pond on the side of the road, and that last 5 mile stretch went on and on and on!  Closer to the finish the wind brought short bursts of cheering with it, and as I got closer I could  hear the constant cheering.  At the finish line there was a group of girls who were so loud and encouraging it made me dig in and ride faster.  I could hear in front of me someone cheering “you can get her, come on!”, as I passed the finish line I looked behind and saw a guy was right on my heels.  Haha!!  We finished the race in 12 hours, 42 minutes.  We won our 35-40 age group, beat the age group below us, and only got beat by a few girls under 19 years old!  As Sarah said, the girls who have not yet discovered beer!

My bike was a total mess.  I am sure it felt outdoorsy and rugged, but an ultralight carbon bike is not supposed to feel rugged and outdoorsy.  It was really dirty, just covered in mud, sand, road spit and what ever else we picked up!

Sarah and Ben were there to greet me at the finish line.  It felt so amazing to have finished the race!  It was an incredible accomplishment.  There was a spaghetti feed and drinks at the finish line, but we decided to head on to our Bed& Breakfast to take a shower and change into clean clothes. We went to Mike’s Palace for dinner, and we just about ordered everything on the menu.  We asked the server to keep it coming, and that she did!

All in all we had a blast.  We consumed 10 packets of shot bloks (margarita and strawberry), around 30 string cheese sticks, 5 bagels, a tub of coleslaw, 4 bananas, 15 Chewy bars, strawberries, 2 gallons of water, cytomax and GuBrew, Red Bull, and countless other snacks.

We plan to race again next year and will consult a few scientific minds on how the best way to split up the legs will be.

When I got back I put my bike int the store till morning.  When I arrived for work Tyson had removed my cranks and started to clean my bike for me.  He said he felt guilty as it is such a pleasure to clean your own bike after such a dirty ride!  And, it was!  I spent hours on the cleaning job, and learning how to pull out my bearings from inside my frame, and how to install my cranks, chain, and get the grit and grime from deep within the crevasses of the bike.

We need to thank Ben for being incredibly patient and supportive.  It was tough for a 5 year old to stay seated for 12.5 hours.  Our dog carers, the boy at Goldstream Sports for getting our bikes in tip top shape, and our legs, our Big Girl Legs for carrying us over the terrain.  Also, the organization of the Fireweed event is impeccable.  If you have any thoughts about doing the Fireweed, DO IT!!!!  It is fun, well organized and a great social event!