Looking Ahead to RAW

With the New Year, the world celebrates the passing of 2018 and welcomes 2019.  Perhaps no single holiday creates such a unified world-wide celebration.   Tonight I also reflect on 2018, and especially look forward to the new challenges of 2019, and especially to RAW 2019 in just 161 days.
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Looking back at 2018

2018 was my 32 second year of competitive bike racing.  When I started racing, my bike had 10 gears, my shoes had nylon cleats with a slot in them for the blade of the pedal, and cool guys used double toe straps to hold their feet in.  Early adopters were experimenting with indexed shifting.  Shortly after I started riding seriously, I got my first bike computer, a Cateye.  With no decimal point after the speed, I used metric mode to get a bit more precision out of the rather primitive device.   The habit of keeping training metrics on the bike in kilometers persists to this day.  Now, my bike has GPS, complete with worldwide maps, text messages appear on my handlebars, and for RAW I'll have a bluetooth headset provide constant communication with my crew, or for that matter, anyone on the planet that cares to call while I am in cell phone coverage.  Now my bike has 22 gears, and one of my bikes has electronic shifting.  Still, 22 gears seems like an absurd number of gears, but now I never worry much about what cassette might be on a particular wheel.  

Safford Road Race, 1988.

2018 was a great year on the bike.  I returned to the Tour of the Gila, a 5-day stage race in New Mexico.  I did the Gila the first year in 1987, and again in 1991 and 1992.    I also completed my first road ultra, the Hoodoo 300, well under my goal time of 20 hours.  It was also a huge training year, purposefully preparing for both Gila and Hoodoo with 13572 miles and 29 rides over 100 miles.  There is a lot to reflect on, but even more to take forward to 2019.

Forward to 2019

Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.

The television coverage of what was originally called the Great American Bicycle Race, and later renamed RAAM on Wide World of Sports planted a long dormant seed inside me.  RAW is a step along the way, and a prerequisite qualifier.  There are certainly easier ways to qualify for RAAM. Completing one of several 500 mile qualifiers, or a certain number of miles in a 24-hour event are alternatives.  For a route as hilly as Hoodoo, the 24 hour qualifying distance would be 360 miles.. Considering I finished Hoodoo fresh in 19 hours, it would have taken another 2.5 or 3 hours to reach 360 miles--something that I likely could have completed.  

RAW presents a challenge in itself, racing 70+ hours, over three days, 28 hours of direct follow support by my crew, two or three sleep cycles.  Completing RAW will not only qualify me for RAAM, but more importantly, give me the confidence that I belong on that starting line in Oceanside in 2020 or 2021 to attempt the full distance.  Since we live in Arizona, only a day's drive to Oceanside, RAW is relatively easy logistically for us.  Over the years, I've ridden several segments of the course.  I'm excited to roll through along these familiar roads with more miles in my legs that I previously could have imagined.  I can visualize rolling down US-160 into Durango past the train station early in the morning, where I did the Tour of the San Juans and several Iron Horse Bicycle Classics.  

Completing the RAW is not about the finish, the time, or the place.  It is about the journey of self-discovery and the testing of courage and character along the way.

More to Learn, More to Train

RAW will have whole set of new challenges, and opportunities to learn new things, and develop myself in new ways.  In enjoy the logistics and planning for the ultra (did you know the McDonalds Parker AZ is open from 5 am to 11 pm?).  Multi-day events require a huge amount of planning and preparation beyond the physical training.  It really is a team sport, and without the crew, you cannot be successful at it.  

Nutrition is also a challenge, and new.  I'm still learning, developing, and testing what will be the nutritional approach to RAW.  I am convinced that the essential element is recognizing that performance and recovery are merged into a single continuous process in the multi day ultra.   During sustained under-threshold activity, our muscles use several replenishable reservoirs of fuel, glycogen in our liver and muscles, triacylglycerol in our muscles, and finally the fat in our adipose tissues.  Traditional endurance nutrition focuses on replenishing glycogen with high carbohydrate energy foods.  More recently, Keto has discovered the weight loss benefits of low carbohydrate diets that adapt the body to derive energy from fat and encourage lipolysis (the conversion of fat in the adipose tissues to energy).  Carbohydrates are avoided as they promote the release of insulin that in turn inhibits lipolysis. 

I'm convinced the key to ultra-nutrition is to feed all the replenishable energy stores with a mix of simple and complex carbohydrate, and fat in the form of medium and long chain triglycerides (MCTs and LCTs).  It's a blend of aspects of Keto and traditional high-carbohydrate feeding.  LCTs are dismissed by most, as they take hours to digest, but remember RAW is a >70 hour event, RAAM over 250 hours).  MCTs can be difficult to digest, so I'm adding MCT oil to the oatmeal, and into my homemade keto butter/honey gel.  So far, my stomach seems to tolerate the MCT pretty well.  The possibility of inhibiting lipolysis with carbohydrate feeding is not relevant as I am not trying to lose weight.  If I am feeding with enough fuel, inhibiting lipolysis is a good thing.  I already know that eating more fat on long rides leaves me feeling better longer.  Those calories are clearly available to me, or I would be suffering the bonk big time late in the training rides. Ironically, Eddie B. in his classic 1985 book Bicycle Road Racing: Complete Program to Training and Competition stressed the need for real food, even advising riders eat tiny meat and cheese sandwiches in long road races.  Now I'm introducing MCTs into the on-bike feed, and reading more research.  ​

Why?

I'm often asked why I would want to ride my bike 928 miles non-stop for three days, and ultimately try to ride 3000 miles for 10-12 days.    I am convinced that understanding why is an answer everyone must discover for themselves.   Many who ask don't really seem to consider the either the answer or the question.  I've already heard the common "Oh, that's only 10 mph" response.  Perhaps it's just too abstract.  I know for me, RAW, and if I ultimately attempt RAAM, will be about the self-discovery.  Its about setting audacious goals, planing, preparing, then executing and achieving.  The experience will reveal inner truths and character that would not otherwise be exposed for self-inspection.  RAW will leave a trail of memories, challenges, special moments and difficult moments.  There will be shared experiences with the crew and stories that will be told and retold.  We will relate the stories to others, but will never be truly able to share them in the full richness.

As a final thought, consider this.  When I was reading the RAW directions, and skipping ahead thinking about RAAM, I found this simple instruction:

Think about that.  Imaging yourself there.  You have ridden for over 10 days, crossing the entire United States.  Your crew has followed you over 3000 miles with two cars, and perhaps an RV.  Now you are going to be escorted the final four miles to the finish, with your two crew cars following.  

RAW 2019 is the first step along the way. The final few miles at RAW 2019 will descend Hesperus Hill, cross the Animas River, pass the rail yard in Durango, and head over to the finish near Fort Lewis College.  If we are on plan, it should be mid-morning on day three.  The crew will have already suspended direct follow support for the day and we should be in leapfrog support.  They will be waiting at the time check at Santa Rita Park, call race control for me, prepared to dash over to meet me at the finish just a couple miles up the road.  I'll mostly look like a ordinary solo cyclist making the right turn onto Camion Del Rio. I imagine there will be much less fanfare than being escorted into Annapolis, but I'm sure it will be special.

The turn in Durango... less than 1 mile to final time check, and the ceremonial 1.5 mile ride over to the finish of RAW.

​My RAW Story, Day 51.  161 days, 2 hours to RAW 2019.

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