Day 71: Semptember 21, 2010 (Route: Raliegh, NC to Branchville, VA)

Day 71: Semptember 21, 2010 (Route: Raliegh, NC to Branchville, VA)

Technical Data:

Distance, miles: 101.84
Ride Time 6:42:22
Work, kJ: 4052
Average Power, watts: 166
Normalized Power, watts: 197
Average Speed: 15.04

Forecast: Overcast with temperatures in the mid to upper 80's. Winds changing throughout the day at 5-10 mph.

I have a lot to write about over the last five days, I took a long extended needed break in Raleigh, NC with family and will write more about my time there in another post soon. Having taking five days off I was ready to ride, however not as ready as others. I can tell the comfort of a home is in my near future, going back to riding when I can and enjoying the bike between work, school, dinners. This morning was like many other mornings I have experienced on the trip, however this was a little more emotional than others. Having spent five days with family, getting to know them as I haven't seen them in close to 5 years or so, it made it tough to leave. Again, the hospitality was far superior to any place I have stayed so far, its family what can you expect! :)

Well, let me keep to the day tough. Waking at around 6:15AM I wasn't jumping out of bed like I have in the past. I was really just wanting to roll back to sleep to be honest. I stayed up late talking with my cousin, which only left about 5.5 hours of sleep. I was well rested though, having slept numerous hours over the last five days. After getting up I made sure I had all my things in one place, rotated the tires on the bike, should have done this the first day I rolled into Raleigh, however sharing moments with family was a litte more important. I found the little piece of wire that has been causing the slow leak in the rear, which I was excited about, had trouble finding it up in Maryland and since it was one of those slow leaks I just rode it into North Carolina. Once the mechanical work was completed I went into enjoy a breakfast my Aunt made and enjoyed their company! Again, I think I could have stayed...

After exchanging hugs and taking a few photos I headed off on the bike and it felt good to be back where I have considered home the last 70 days. Wow, did i just type 70 days? It felt good as I have been eating like crazy since I have been stationary and I have been looking forward to getting back to burning some calories! Today's destination was unknown so riding was high on the agenda and just enjoying the day. With the sky being overcast I was looking forward to the ride and the legs were feeling great so nothing but smiles this morning!

I roll out of the driveway, and don't look back. One thing I hate more than anything in this world is goodbye's. I have avoided them much of my life to be brutally honabandonment when I was young child. However, I know now its important, though I will see these family members again, and hopefully soon! I would prefer sooner than later to be honest, so many est. I have snuck out the back door, the front door, the side door in the past to just avoid the emotional experience of what saying goodbye brings. I think this to do with the feeling of more questions to ask and things to learn!

I love to ride this silly bicycle and I'm still glad I'm on this journey, however I can tell the feeling of being "home' - whereever that may be is a want at the present moment in time. I may just possibly be ready for change. While in Raliegh I visited Duke University and their Physical Therapy program and planning on applying to their program along with a few others across the nation. A visit back to North Carolina would ensure a visit with family, hence why I would prefer sooner than later, however I really don't need a reason to come back and visit, besides just wanting too!

Today's goal on the bike was to not eat, I know this is a little different then past post however I want to see how well my body is processing the fat storage I have put on over the last couple of weeks. Many would say I'm crazy, however this is a key to racing strong in long endurance events and I wanted to see how it went today. Not to mention I want to get back to where I was when I started this ride. When I don't feel lite and fit I don't feel good about myself, hence why I do a lot of riding, running, and swiming! So the goal is to consume as much water as possible and shed a few pounds today and document as I would in my logs for training!

The first 30 miles today went by fast, the mind was else where during this first part of the ride which is always good. If the mind is thinking about riding and pushing I know I'm in for a long day. The legs had power today, however I can tell the high end has lost almost all I have gained over the years. I need to get back to doing some power training which I plan on doing once back to the place I plan on calling home for a while, along with upper body workouts, core work and some running and swimming. The goal when I get back along with a lot of other things is to completely start over! I have no choice here...

Riding over the beautiful rolling terrain of North central North Carolina was great, up and down all the way to where I lay at the moment. I was nailing about 15 miles an hour over the first 3 hours and thought what If I could do a sub 6:30 century today. I know this may not sound fast to a lot of cyclist out there, however I am pulling a 50 lb trailer so I think averaging over 15 mph for the day is a great goal to have! 16 mph would be pushing it for sure though...

In and out of convenient stores for water and the use of the facilities I start getting close to Roanoke Rapids, NC where I stayed outside of in Weldon just a few days ago. I decided to hit the chain restaurants for ice water as I knew they would be free, avoiding giving away change to the locals. I know this does not sound like me, however I'm in conservation mode and on the last leg and want to make sure I avoid spending any excess and I find this excess.

The body has been feeling achie in some areas over the course of the first 50 miles on this ride, the joints especially the wrist/ankles have been acting up on me. I credit this to the taking the last five days off and allowing the body to come down from all the hard work I have been doing since July 11th. The mind filled with thoughts of school, family, bikes, conversations and so much more, however I just keep pedaling! I have stopped in the past when the mind has filled with thougths like today and captured them via text, however today i just keep pedaling. I have a goal today, to document how the body responds to not taking in many calories.

No real stand out interactions today on the bike, the roads were wide open and I was loving it! Foliage has yet to start here in North Carolina and tonight Virginia, but I'm certain its just around the corner. The body holds to the 50 mile marker today with no problem, close to 3.5 hours into my ride with no calories and not really feeling much different then I did when I took off from the house this morning. I can tell the hydration is a little off, however all and all the power is being distrubeted nicely with no cramping, muscles soreness or loss of power. I'm really not surprised at this point in time though as I have trained and road 5+ hours on nothing but water in the past, the real question today is how I'm going to feel at the 6+ hour marker. Many may think I'm crazy, however again I ate way too much over the last two weeks and want to feel fit and look fit once back to Tulsa, the strength to weight ratio is very important and I'll need it on the Wednesday night ride if my high end is weak, which it will be unless I do some "Power" training in the Ozarks, however I really can't if I want to keep this volume up.

Rolling out of a Subway where I stayed strong and didn't purchase anything, just grabbed some ice water and used the facilities. I did take in 180 calories at this point, I had some peanut butter crackers and I just couldn't resist. I really want to kick this habit of eating whatever on the road and today was the first day I wanted to do it so I'm going to start tracking consumption along with Technical Data if I can remember. I'm about 75 miles in now and the last 25 miles have been great, however I can tell the mental focus has slipped a little, I'm not sure if this is a fueling issue or a hydration issue, could be salt. I'm realatively alert though, having talked with the employees at Subway, not feeling like I'm processing slow. I continue on and really feeling fine energy wise which is great, I'm close to a century and I'm running on a good breakfast and some peanut crackers. This makes me think my body has really adapted to burning fat as fuel source in a very effiecient manner. Now to figure out exactly how much body fat I can start a race with and still feel fit, providing me with the necessary energy to get the job done. (I'm not a Physiologist by any means, however I can contest from my training over time that this is beneficial)

Heading out of Weldon, NC I decide I'm going to take 186 (?) out of Garysburg a few miles up the road and head start towards Yorktown. I figure once I get 100+ miles in I'll start looking for a place to set up camp and rest for the night, I'm looking at places at around mile 82 so I want to document this in my Power Files to let me know that the mind broke on the energy levels today at around this point. Given that's only 30 miles short of an Ironman distance bike leg I'm feeling pretty good about this, this point was not a completely bonking scenario, just a note that the mind thought about calling it a day. I had plenty of energy today, really thought about riding longer, however once I found a place to camp I was going to take it. I'm in Virginia now, with no camp ground really any place, I have to take what I can get and I found a wonderful family in Branchville, VA that allowed me to throw my tent in their backyard, which I find a beautiful sanctuary!

Many thoughts to document today and I can tell that the lack of nutrition on the bike today is catching up to me right now as I type this.