Greg and me feeling overly confident at the start line
The forecast for the Spring Valley 100 was for temps in upper 90s F and it was stressful planning to drive 2 hours to race in these conditions. I know the course, having ridden the Almanzo 100 three times, and I'd made a plan if I need to bail. My escape plan was to ride CR 16 back to Spring Valley - the course crosses CR 16 many times, and it allows a direct path back to the finish line.
The field of racers was the smallest I've seen in Spring Valley. The Almanzo 100 could attract a crowd of 1,000 riders to the start line, this year was roughly 100 riders - the heat likely caused many wiser riders to skip the 2021 race.
The race organizers were great getting volunteers to host four aid stations on the course. Rider's could get water, other drinks, and food at the stops.
The roll out felt good, we all knew the forecast, but hoped against hope that it won't be that bad.
I was with two other riders at the first aid station (not sure what mile this was). We took bottles and bananas as we biked through.
I was a little mad that I rode through the second aid station at Preston (mile 39), I left the riders I'd been working with and then I needed to stop just a few miles up the road. Around mile 50, my CamelBak was nearly empty and my two bottles were empty. I stopped to get the frozen bottles of of the cooler in my saddle bag, they were still frozen nearly solid, it was difficult to get the water out ... But the heat thawed them out quickly.
The third aid station was at Forestville (mile 67). I'd planned to stop here, there's a water hydrant, bathrooms, shade, and the best volunteers with food and drink. I spent a lot of time at the water hydrant, filling bottles, CamelBak, drinking, and dousing myself in cold well water. After a long break (30 minutes), I felt ready to get back on the bike. But the first thing you get out of Forestville is a paved climb in the sun ... And within a mile or two, I was feeling just as wrecked as when I rode into Forestville.
The 10 miles from Forestville to Cherry Grove were brutal. I was struggle to keep my place at 10 mph, my stomach wouldn't take food, I was just drinking all all my hydration options.
At Cherry Grove, there were wonderful volunteers with ice cold water in a shady patch ... next to the local cemetery. I laid in the shade with two riders, drinking the cold water, feeling as bad (or worse than) as when I arrived at Forestville. I told the riders about my escape plan, I was going to follow the course until I got to CR 16 and following it back to Spring Valley. They agreed that this was a good plan.
We still got to ride MMR (Minimal Maintenance Road) to the water crossings at mile 81 ... sadly, the creek was dry. And for a bonus, there's another climb after the "water crossing". After the climb out of the creek bed, I started falling behind the other two and I couldn't share that I found a shortcut to get to CR 16. So, I ended up riding the last 6-8 miles solo, fighting the winds and heat to get back to Spring Valley. I still needed to stop in shade to try to recover from the heat. I cut off about 10 miles of the course including the infamous Oriole hill.
I needed extended time at the finish area to cool off and get fluids before I was ready to make the drive home. I stripped off everything except my bibs and base layer. The finishing area was a mess of riders laying in the shade, slowly cooling off and hydrating. Riders were coming in form every direction, all looking totally spent. The wonderful thing about the gravel community, as riders would come in totally wrecked, somebody that had more time to recover would bring them an ice cold bottle of water and make sure they had what they needed to recover. The gravel community is the best!
I was with two other riders at the first aid station (not sure what mile this was). We took bottles and bananas as we biked through.
I was a little mad that I rode through the second aid station at Preston (mile 39), I left the riders I'd been working with and then I needed to stop just a few miles up the road. Around mile 50, my CamelBak was nearly empty and my two bottles were empty. I stopped to get the frozen bottles of of the cooler in my saddle bag, they were still frozen nearly solid, it was difficult to get the water out ... But the heat thawed them out quickly.
The third aid station was at Forestville (mile 67). I'd planned to stop here, there's a water hydrant, bathrooms, shade, and the best volunteers with food and drink. I spent a lot of time at the water hydrant, filling bottles, CamelBak, drinking, and dousing myself in cold well water. After a long break (30 minutes), I felt ready to get back on the bike. But the first thing you get out of Forestville is a paved climb in the sun ... And within a mile or two, I was feeling just as wrecked as when I rode into Forestville.
The 10 miles from Forestville to Cherry Grove were brutal. I was struggle to keep my place at 10 mph, my stomach wouldn't take food, I was just drinking all all my hydration options.
At Cherry Grove, there were wonderful volunteers with ice cold water in a shady patch ... next to the local cemetery. I laid in the shade with two riders, drinking the cold water, feeling as bad (or worse than) as when I arrived at Forestville. I told the riders about my escape plan, I was going to follow the course until I got to CR 16 and following it back to Spring Valley. They agreed that this was a good plan.
We still got to ride MMR (Minimal Maintenance Road) to the water crossings at mile 81 ... sadly, the creek was dry. And for a bonus, there's another climb after the "water crossing". After the climb out of the creek bed, I started falling behind the other two and I couldn't share that I found a shortcut to get to CR 16. So, I ended up riding the last 6-8 miles solo, fighting the winds and heat to get back to Spring Valley. I still needed to stop in shade to try to recover from the heat. I cut off about 10 miles of the course including the infamous Oriole hill.
I needed extended time at the finish area to cool off and get fluids before I was ready to make the drive home. I stripped off everything except my bibs and base layer. The finishing area was a mess of riders laying in the shade, slowly cooling off and hydrating. Riders were coming in form every direction, all looking totally spent. The wonderful thing about the gravel community, as riders would come in totally wrecked, somebody that had more time to recover would bring them an ice cold bottle of water and make sure they had what they needed to recover. The gravel community is the best!
The dusty drop-bar Pugsley at the end of the day with most of my gear
GoPro edit on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/1mAlt33ERQU
I was feeling good by Monday, but the day after the Spring Valley 100 was a tougher than the average recovery day. I can't think a good reason to do a ride like this in these conditions ever again ... It's just too hard on me. I'll keep it to the cold, rainy, snowy ... bike events
The hydration story: I spent Friday focused on electrolytes and hydration, avoiding coffee and alcohol. During the ride, I emptied my 3l CamelBak Lobo twice - it keep icy cold until roughly mile 50, that's when I'd drank all the water and it still had ice in. I drank 6 large bottles of water with Nuun, I had two frozen in a small cooler in my saddle bag, they were still mostly ice at mile 50 when I got them out. I don't know how much I drank at the hydrant in Forestville, plus a couple bottles of Gatorade. There were two more bottle of icy water at Cherry Grove. I didn't really count the amount I drank at the finish line. Driving home, I had Coke and more water. At home, I had tons of water and coconut water ... and didn't have any beer (that says a lot!).
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