PEARCE ULTRACYCLING
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First Double Long Ride Weekend

11/24/2018

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The Catalinas and Pusch Ridge from near the end of the ride today. Tucson is a spectacular place to train in the winter.
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An unheated pool becomes the ice bath in winter... water temperature is about 58 deg.
This weekend was the first of what I hope will become the new normal training weekend through the winter--back to back 100+ mile rides.  I'll be posting an overview of my training plan in the next month or so, but the first phase is to make the double long ride, and 8-10 h ride the "new normal" before the traditional road racing season starts in AZ.  The road season is in full swing here by February and March. I plan to use the racing, and mixing it up on the group rides as the quality as I think trying to focus on both structure intervals and ultra-long rides is too much.  The Tour of the Gila in early May, will be the centerpiece of the early road racing season, before transitioning to the final preparation for RAW.  I raced in the very first Tour of the Gila in 1987, its always been a special race to me. 
Saturday was a most excellent team ride with my Tucson Masters Cycling buddies on the Picture Rocks loop, which contains some fun short climbs.  Doing my 5-6 h rides with the team ride embedded in the middle was a key part of my Hoodoo-300 training, giving me some quality, and break from the solo monotony.
The dietary lessons continue.  I have found I average only about 80-85 g of protein a day.  I should be up closer to 100-120 g a day, so I have a ways to go.  Then today--lessons learned and learned again.  With the fun and excitement of the group ride, I only ate 1400 calories (and a 250 calorie breakfast) for a 3400 calorie ride.   I paid for that over the last 20 minutes or so.  While I am trying to drop 2-3 lbs before the regular road racing season, crash dieting on the weekend long rides is not the way to go about it.  I finished up the ride with a 58 degree ice bath in our pool, refreshing the legs, and icing a slightly achy knee.
Sunday's ride was an awesome finish to the first really long weekend of training.  It started at 6:10 am, and ended mid afternoon, 7 hours and 211 km (131 miles).  One of the challenges with a ride like this is where to put all the warm clothing (it was 35 deg along the river in the morning, but 72 by the end of the ride).  The on-bike nutrition worked much better today.  I ingested 2600 calories on the bike, everything in that picture, and a small bag of salted macadamia nuts.  After a bit of an energy crisis about 2 h in, the rest of the ride felt really strong.   That is still a 1500 calorie deficit, which in RAW will accumulate to 4500 calories a day.  I still have to learn to eat even more.  Having the group along for part of the ride, and Andy sharing pulls into the headwinds out the Old Sonoita Highway and back really helped too.
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2600 calories for the ride. Quite a pocket full. Plus a bag of 20 salted macadamia nuts (real food). That is a total of 342 g of carbohydrates, 120 g of fat, 39 g of protein. 52% calories by carbs, 41% by fat.
Standing up the organization and logistics for RAW 2019 is continuing.  Its a really big component of a successful attempt, and I hope to get the organizational components in place early so that I can focus on training, and the crew can focus on planning.  I expect to have at least one, and perhaps two sponsor announcements in the coming weeks.  I'm really excited about both of them.  More to come...

Day 15, 197 d 19 h, 21 m to RAW 2019.
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New Vest for the Sonoran Desert

11/23/2018

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We have been taking advantage of Christmas sales to pick up a few items for RAW 2019.  One of them arrived today, my TechKewl Hybrid Sport Cooling Vest.  I got the idea from Eva Hansen's 2015 story on the Strongher web site, and researched the technology.  In 2014, pro teams warming up at the Tour de France started using the vests to keep core temperatures down while preparing for hot stages (see Tour de France Cooling Vests).  After reading Eva's experience, I decided to go with a hybrid vest, which has a phase changing Coolpax material that should last several hours, and a quilted material that cools evaporatively.  I can't wait to try it.
 The RAW and RAAM are rather famous for early crossing of the Sonoran Desert.  After passing through Ranchita CA,  at about 75 miles (this should be about 5:30 pm on Day One, the route plunges down the Glass Elevator descent to Borrego Springs.  In just under 11 miles, the route drops 3500' in elevation.   What a difference a few miles and 4000 feet of elevation make!  By 6 pm, I should be in the desert heat, beginning the crossing with about 2 hours left until sunset.

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Birthday Ride, Day 7, 205 d 17 h, 58 m to RAW 2019

11/17/2018

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Today was my 57 birthday.  It was also El Tour day in Tucson.  I choose to go solo and get in a long ride off on my own, doing a loop on the West Side, down Silverbell Rd and around Sweetwater--taking advantage of the lane and road closures already up for El Tour, then after a bottle refill at home, heading out around the remote loop across Park Link.

Park Link is just about the most remote road north of Tucson.  Its 18 miles connect I-10 to SR 79, and ultimately the Oracle Highway.  There is basically nothing out on Park Link, and it always seems like a "crossing".  Once you commit, there is no turning back.  I felt pretty good today, still with cold, but determined to get in at least 5 h.  I got in 7 h, and 132 miles. 

It's easy for rides to just be another ride, uneventful, and unappreciated.  Today was far from that.  Parts of Park Link resemble the western parts of CA the RAW route will cross.   Along the way, I passed a pair of tourist, parked under a tree along the frontage road, and exchanged a friendly wave and "Howdy" from them.  Along Park Link, I came up alongside a gentleman camping out there, riding an old road bike in desperate need of some chain lube.  He was wondering how much farther it was to "civilization" (it was just two miles on up the road, what there is of it near the AZ 79/Park Link junction).  I also paused at MP 13 and took a picture.  From MP 13, you get a great view of Owl's Head-four cool looking rock outcropping most folks probably miss. MP 13 is significant in both Hoodoo 300 (the S-turns on the Cedar Canyon descent), and the epic Monument Valley view on US 163 on the RAW route.  It seemed special here too.
Nutrition: The nutritional training continues, with more calories from fat on the rides.  Although any normal person would conclude the mass of food I carried today would be enough for an army, it was only about 2100 calories, including the Cytomax in my four bottles (and two more water bottles)--not nearly enough to stay in caloric balance for a 7 h, 4100 calorie ride.  I'll get away with that for a 7 h ride, and even loose a little weight, but that will not work for a multi day event like RAW.

The good news was the two new foods on the bike.  The first, FBOMB Nut Butter, by Love You Foods.  I was skeptical, but it was highly recommended by Maria Crawford.  Simply awesome.  Twice the calories of Gu, my stomach tolerated it well--did not even hint at a complaint, and tasty Macadamia with Sea Salt flavor.    Love You Foods is a small Flagstaff company.  It was a major discovery.  The second was a bag of Snak Club raw almonds... another 450 calories and 39 g of quality fat from the Giant gas station on Oracle.  That got me home.   The nutritional training goes well.

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Not your low key grass roots race...

11/16/2018

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Welcome to the blog if this is your first time to find it... Click a "like" or leave a comment on the blog and let me know you visited.

Race Across the West is still 207 days away, but there seems like there is so much to do. I'm discovering it's not just a low key grass roots ultra. The logistics of crossing a third of the country, finding crew, figuring out team kits with the RAW sponsors on it too, finding some sponsors to help offset costs... it's more than I expected. I even have a logo...

Three are already 16 solo racers signed up, and 5 teams. You can see the roster at

http://www.raceacrossthewest.org/race-roster.html

This weekend in Tucson is "El Tour". If you are a New Englander in town, please look us up. I'll be dodging out of town around the tour for a long solo ride or two, but would love to hear from you.

Day 5: 207 d 5 h to the RAW 2019.
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Day 1: 211 d, 15 h, 45 min to RAW 2019.

11/13/2018

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​Today was the day I internally committed to attempting the RAW 2019. 931 miles, 47,660 feet of climbing, four states, two time zones, all in 3 days.
As I told someone before Hoodoo 300... "If it did not seem like too much, it would not be what it is."
After a few weeks of socializing the idea around, and a week of testing the interests of family, friends and teammates to crew, I decided, I'm in. Today is Day One of the journey--not so much a new journey, but part of a continuing one with a new destination along the way. 
I anticipate RAW 2019 will be lots of different things, but mostly I expect an awesome (212+3.5) days of learning more about myself and the limits of what I can achieve, climaxing in the three day crossing of four states.

A bit ironically, yesterday's long ride turned into 4 1/2 strong hours, followed by a 30 min bonk... I only ate 600 calories or so over 5 hours, compared to the 2000 or so I knew I needed. Today's 1.5 hour ride was one that left me wondering I times how in the world I would ride 931. There are still lessons to learn, and relearn.
Lots new to learn over the next 212 days... how to adapt and prepare for a continuous multi-day event through two, or perhaps three sleep cycles. How to train my body nutritionally to utilize more fat. How muster a crew, prepare the logistics, solicit sponsors. How to be physically and mentally prepared to make the team proud as they work as hard as I do for 70 h or so across some truly epic scenery.
Part of the story will be sharing the story. When I was still considering RAW (and maybe someday RAAM), I was googling "Wide World of Sports RAAM". Recall that seeing the early RAAMs in the early 1980s on Wide World planted a seed, that I would later discover. I also found several stories from athletes they had shared similarly recounting the same story. Seeing those stories reinforced my commitment.
Perhaps this FB page, and my blog will just serve to help me discover and refine my thoughts and perspective. Perhaps it will lend some encouragement to someone else on the verger of attempting something beyond what they think is possible now. I hope it will help my friends, family, teammates, and supporters follow and share my journey.
Day 1: 211 d, 15 h, 45 min to RAW 2019.
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Day zero

11/13/2018

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After all the fun at Hoodoo, I’m considering making a run at the RAW (Race Across the West) in June 2019. 931 miles, Oceanside CA to Durango CO, starts with the RAAM. Ever since high school when the first record attempts were made, I’ve had a fascination with RAAM, and remember watching the highlights on Wide World of Sports in the mid 1980s. RAW is the second step in the progression.

I’d like to commit by the regular entry deadline at the end of November, and am looking for crew. Most of Day 2 (June 12 2019) will be crossing AZ, passing NW of Phoenix on US 60/AZ 71, through Flagstaff, and on up to the Durango. Northern AZ (likely daylight on Day 3, June 13) will be particularly tough on the crew, as a follow vehicle is required from north of Flagstaff to the UT/CO state line even in daylight, and by CO, it should be night, and follow will be required again. Flagstaff is about 600 miles into the event, so by then the Oceanside crew will really need a break.
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Any help getting me across AZ and getting my crew a break would be super appreciated. Crew can join en route, and would be a great help at giving my wife and son who will likely start with me in Oceanside a much needed break. I’d still like another couple for the Oceanside start too, if you are excited about a road trip across some spectacular western landscape.

You can e-mail direct at eric.c.pearce@gmail.com and would very much appreciate any help anyone can offer. Thanks.


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    Eric Pearce

    ​My interest in ultracycling dates back when I first started seriously riding a bike in college in the early 1980s. This is my RAAM story preparing to compete in the Race Across the West in 2020 and RAAM 2021.

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        • Timesheet
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        • Required Reporting
        • Support Vehicles
        • Timesheet
        • Helpful Links
        • RAAMHQ2019 Access