2016 Tri-State Seacoast Century on an ElliptiGO

For the fourth year in a row, I participated in the Tri-State Seacoast Century, but this year I changed things up. During the 2013, 2014, and 2015 versions of the event, my goal was to try to go sub 6 hours on my ElliptiGO which meant that I did not stop to eat or drink and only used what little that I carried because I was counting time as elapsed time. This resulted in some really hard core EllitpiGO rides that left me having some pretty interesting final miles. I also realized, I might never break 6 hours on this course with the winds that you get along the coast and the traffic problems that are sometimes encountered. This year, I decided to have some fun and enjoy the  ride (or should I say rides) as I wanted to try doing the century ride on both Saturday and on Sunday.

Nubble Light house - the halfway point

For Saturday's ride, I was supposed to ride with Andrew Warby, but he was held up by work and I went solo, although I did see Andrew later out on the course. The early morning start was cold and I was wearing gloves  until the first aid station. The wind was similar to last year's ride as it was more in our face going out. I am glad that I wasn't going for time as I was stopped twice at the drawbridge in Portsmouth for about 10 minutes each time both coming and going. I was happy to finally stop at the food and aid station both times and let me tell you that drinking lots more fluids and eating food on a century ride makes the final miles of the century much nicer,

See, I stopped to sight-see a bit this year!

Nearing the finish of the ride at about 85 miles, a rider in front of me was taking a left turn. I watched from about 30 feet behind him as he slid down to the ground like he had taken the turn too sharply and slid on some sand, There was no sand, however, and he remained down. I realized quickly, along with the other riders who were behind me, that he was stone cold knocked out. Strangely, I am pretty sure that he didn't even hit his head on the ground. His body was twitching and his eyes were staring and opaque. He was not responding and someone had called 911 and then handed me the phone since I had seen him go down. For about 3 minutes he was completely out and not responding. I was asked to count his breathing (which frustrated me at first until I realized I shouldn't be looking at his mouth, but at his chest). He was a 62 year old male named Tim and he had a medic alert bracelet on that let us know that he had no major health issues. After about 3 minutes, he started stirring a bit. When the ambulance came after about 5 minutes, he was just starting to respond. He told us when we asked him how he felt that he felt great! He could not remember what had happened to him. I left after the ambulance and fire trucks arrived and assume from what others have said that he might have had a heart attack or some other heart issue. The guy behind me said that it looked like he might have been out before he even hit the ground. I hope that he is fine and recovering. Update: I heard back from Tim and we are from the same town, He broke his collarbone and rib, but did not have a heart issue. He thinks it may have been a seizure of some type that blacked him out. Like a true athlete, he said that he was looking forward to getting on a spin bike and riding again.



Once I finished the course, after following the GPS route map and marks on the road, I realized that I must have missed some circuit somewhere as my mileage was not quite 100 miles. I did miss turning on my GPS a few times, but didn't miss that many miles. Everyone else I talked to seemed to miss hitting 100 miles too!

My biggest fear for Sunday, was that I might sleep in and miss the start, but I got there on time to meet fellow ElliptiGOer Steve Lecours, who I was planning to ride with, I did arrive on time and it was a chilly and windy morning again. Right before starting, I noticed my brakes were a bit off and then noticed my rear wheel nuts were also loose. I attempted to fix things and then Steve and I were off on the initial 17 mile loop through Massachusetts. I felt pretty good, but my ElliptiGO felt tight and I was having a hard time keeping pace with Steve. I chalked it up to the previous day's ride and the fact that I hadn't warmed up yet. At the end of the loop, I stopped to look at my chain and sure enough, I had tightened the rear wheel which had tightened the chain so that there was absolutely no slack in it at all. I loosened things up and hoped for better.

Steve and I kept a good pace, but I was definitely working very hard to just stay in contact. I wondered if it would be this way all day or even if I could finish. Approaching the Nubble Lighthouse, I finally figured out how I felt. I pretty much felt like you do during a marathon between miles 16-20. I was tired and tightening up, but I could still hold a decent pace. The question was, would I fall apart at this pace and blow up or would I be able to maintain. Fortunately, the answer was that I could maintain. The second half felt better the closer I got to the finish. I never really had any snap or pop in my riding, and tended to lag a bit on the uphills, but at the end of the day, I finished the ride at just about the same average speed as I rode the previous day. That is all thanks to chasing Steve throughout the day, Without him, I would have eased up on so many sections and might have ridden the whole thing about an hour slower.



It was interesting pushing new barriers and riding two long days in a row, Thanks to the ElliptiGO, you can put in a massive effort one day and return the next to do so again as it does no damage to your joints!

Three Century Rides on my ElliptiGO

September was the month for centuries. For three straight weeks, I rode a 100 miler on my ElliptiGO. I started with the Ride for Angels century which was held on September 13 and started in North Andover, MA. It would travel through Southern New Hampshire and Northeast Massachusetts. It was hillier than I had imagined and we had some wet roads in the morning and mild rain later in the ride. I had a brake pad that was rubbing and my chain dropped off twice. Not only that but I went off the course and up one of the bigger climbs of the day before turning around and getting back on course. I hit the 100 mile mark in 6:35 elapsed time. I try not to stop except to fix problems or to navigate.

A week later I rode the Charles River Wheelmen Fall Century. This one passed through some of my training routes. It was hillier than the previous week, but I felt real good except for the last three miles. My elapsed time for 100 miles was 5 minutes slower than the previous week, but this was a tougher course with all the climbing.

Six days later, I rode the Tri-State Seacoast Century. This was my third year doing this ride (2014 and 2013)  and this year the chilly wind was blowing in the opposite direction. The first half of the ride was riding into the brisk wind and the return trip was supposed to have more of a tailwind, but the course was more sheltered and this was my slowest of three tries at this century.  My elapsed time was 6:46 for the 100 mile mark. I guess this is not the year I go under 6 hours. Doing it the way I ride them, without stopping for rest stations, is a tough way to GO 100 miles. The effort is similar to running a marathon and you go through the same draining of energy near the end.

How to "Conquer Your Uneven Hips: Simple Strategies to Regain Balance and Structure in Your Central Joint"

I don't know if it can always be done and I don't know if I can even correct my own pelvic tilt that I have had since before I was a runner and that goes back to about 45 years ago when I "failed" the junior high scoliosis test and was sent to Boston Children's Hospital to deal with what they called a "leg length discrepancy". Last month the doctor who has given me prolotherapy injections ordered an x-ray and I read the results and I still have a tilted pelvis.

Running in Kenya. The security guard didn't speak English, know how to use
my camera, or to move his finger off the lens!

I am happy riding my ElliptiGO these days, miss running, but not doing anything to hurt my body. Every once in awhile, I try out a run, but the next day my hip is imbalanced and sore. I did a few runs in June, culminating with my longest run in well over a year: 7 miles, but that was just to prove to myself that I could survive a run so that I could get a run in when I went to Kenya in July. I did get a two mile run while I was in Kenya which was pretty cool. I was out in the country at the Joska boarding school and had fun running on the dirt roads and all the Kenyans would wave and cheer me on! One guy riding by on a motorcycle shouted out, "Why in the world are you running?" I retorted, "I'm in Kenya!"

I haven't run since. I feel a creakiness in my hip joint, but it is mostly the the ligaments and muscles around my hip joint that pull everything out of place and leave my whole left leg out of whack the next day after a run and my hip feels jammed up. So I ride my ElliptiGO, which allows me to shift my body around, but I am never fully comfortable in the muscles around my hips. They are rarely feeling balanced.

The good news is that the day after running 7 miles, I returned to my prolotherapist doctor and only after two visits she said my si joint was good and tight. I had a great response to this therapy. Originally, she had said that it might take four visits to even know if it would work for me and she said it would probably take at least six visits in all. I was good after two, which would save me a bunch of money as insurance doesn't cover prolo. So my si joint had improved, but I still feel unbalanced and out of whack three or four days a week. I asked about prolo in the hip joint. She used to do that, but would recommend PRP therapy instead, but that is out of my price range. I was curious about prolo helping the muscles and ligaments surrounding the hip joint. She said it might, but seems cautious about doing anything further, beyond ordering the x-rays. My report says:

STANDING AP PELVIS.
HISTORY: REASON FOR TEST PAIN IN JOINT, PELVIS, THIGH
TEST DETAIL: OSTEOARTHRITIS
COMPARISON: AP pelvis from left hip series 4/25/2013, 9/5/2012.
IMPRESSION:
1. Pelvic tilt with the left superior iliac crest approximately
26 mm more superior compared to the superior right iliac crest.
2. Mild bilateral hip joint space narrowing, acetabular
articular sclerosis and tiny lateral marginal osteophytes, not
significantly changed.
3. Mild bilateral sacroiliac joint. Symphysis degenerative
changes.
4. No visible fracture.

In the past, I have ordered many of  Sean Schniederjan's ebooks on the hip and lower back. I have found that he has some good information and alternative exercises which he tells about in a straightforward way. I have found some of his movements helpful at times, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly which or what movement was best for my conditions. I noticed that he recently put out a new ebook Conquer Your uneVEN Hips: Simple Strategies to Regain Balance and Structure In Your Central Joint and decided that would be another good one to try. Sean just doesn't repost the same exercises and movements that are sort of the "recipe" approach that everyone mimics and posts online, he explains things that may be a bit unusual, but that have worked for him. I have done a few of these exercises and they seem to really tire out the muscles around my hip that are always tight and I noticed my hips feeling a bit more stable since doing them. It will be interesting to see how these work over time.

Here is Sean demonstrating some of these exercises:



The beauty of the EllitpiGO is that not only can I move my body around to adjust for instability, but I am also using the handlebars to keep my body stable when not working in perfect posture (of course this can also be a bad thing). I have had a great summer riding. I hit a new PR for distance traveled in a week during August when I put in 350 miles. I led all ElliptiGOer on Strava around the world that week in mileage, just as I did last week although I only put in 215 miles. If you looked at last week's' leader board of over 200 riders, I also had the fastest average speed of all riders 16.2 mph except for one person who did 50 miles. Despite my inefficiencies and lack of stability over my hips, I can still do some great workouts on the ElliptiGO.

I get to test my summer training over the next three weekends when I do three separate centuries. Tomorrow I do my first 100 miler of the year at the Ride for Angels. The next Sunday, I will be doing the Charles River Wheelman's Fall Century Soughegan River Tour (and if the weather is great I might to another century the day before). In two weeks, I will be returning to the Seacoast Century.

One thing that I have found somewhat helpful over the past few months when my hip gets jammed and my leg goes out of whack is to use a band as a distraction for my hip doing exercises like these. My prolo doctor said these type of hip distractions were fine! The osteapath she has had me go to in the past, just pulls on my leg. I use the green Strong Assisted Pull-up & Resistance Power Stretch Band .

The accent is half the fun here!

2014 Seacoast Century on an EliptiGO

Saturday, I participated in the 2014 Seacoast Century for the second year in a row on my ElliptiGO and for the third time overall. I also did the 100k route of the Seacoast Century on my Kickbike 12 years ago. Last year's ride was tragic as 2 cyclists were killed by a speeding driver just minutes up the road from me. It made for a surreal day where I also plunged into the depths of energy depletion due to a lack of eating or drinking in the final hours on my part. Here is my account of that day. This year I had high expectations for a fast century. I have been putting in a tremendous amount of miles this year (closing in on 5000 miles since the beginning of the year). I also have worked very hard at my speed on the ElliptiGO. In other words, I have been thoroughly enjoying training solely as an ElliptiGO athlete! I have probably not been so consistently well trained for a sport (running was my sport) in many years! According to studies done at the University of California, San Diego, riding an ElliptiGO for 30 miles is the energy equivalent of running 10 miles. Riding at 16 mph is the equivalent of running 8 minute miles (this does not take into consideration the effects of wind or hills). Using those figures, I have been training the equivalent of 70 mile weeks at about 8 minute/mile pace for an average week this summer. Unfortunately, I don't have many opportunities to compete on the ElliptiGO. There is one race, The ElliptiGO End of Summer Classic, which I have won both years it has been held 2013 and 2014 as well as century rides (which are technically not races-but I turn them into time trials for myself). I did two centuries last year, but the Seacoast Century was to be my first and probably only century this year.

I set some high expectations for myself and I think my training backed me up. My goal was to break 6 hours for the 100 mile route. According to the ElliptiGO website, these are the fastest official times for riding a century.

5:32:35  Stuart Blofeld Thruxton 100 9/7/2014

5:50       Brent Teal Seattle to Portland Classic 7/17/2010

6:36:02  Stuart Blofeld Bucks 100 9/16/2012 

6:57:56  Hector Calvo Gonzalez Calvin's Challenge 5/5/2012

I am not sure how accurate the list is and have been told it will be updated in a couple of months. No one has mentioned going faster for 100 miles, but maybe someone else has. Actually, my time of 6:47 from last years Seacoast Century is not on the list so it may not be fully accurate. To be on the list, the time has to be made in an official event and it has to be an elapsed time (in other words if you stop and rest or eat that time counts too). The Garmin GPS makes this task easy to check. Stuart is from England and just set the new world record a couple of weeks ago. There was a little something in me thinking if everything went right: weather, mechanics on the bike, traffic, and nutrition that I had a good shot of breaking Brent's fastest time by an American. From reading about the ElliptiGO records, Brent's 100 mile time was part of a 200 mile ride he did on a point to point course from Seattle to Portland. Brent is also the engineer who along with Brian Pate designed the ElliptiGO!

I did everything wrong the day before the event. I put a new chain on my ElliptiGO, but didn't have time to seriously check it out. I also started replacing my brake pads. I got halfway done before I realized that I was late to meet my son and get to a concert: Mike Peters of the Alarm. By the time I got back home and got everything set for my ride, I didn't get to bed until 2:00 am with a 5:30 wake-up call coming.

I arrived at Hampton Beach for the start, got organized, and before getting going, made the most important decision I had at the time: how much clothing to wear. It was cold and in the 40s, but I decided not to wear a jacket thinking that if I got real cold, I would just have to ride faster. I then took off on my own for the first 16 mile loop down into Massachusetts. I immediately noticed the strong headwind along the ocean heading south. I felt good and kept a strong pace keeping even with if not passing cyclists along the way. I had mounted my phone and a sportscam on my bike, but going over a bump, the camera bounced off and I had to stop and run backto find it and then run back to my GO. I decided to stuff them both into the camera bag I had mounted to the front handlebars and forget about them the rest of the ride. I had business to do and realized I wouldn't have time to document things along the way. Once I hit the road back to NH, the wind was at my back and I started watching my average speed climb. It was a somber moment riding over the bridge where the accident happened last year and then soon I was zooming up the New Hampshire coastline hitting speeds, I would normally hit only on a downhill.

By 25 miles my average speed had climbed to 18.7 mph and by 30 miles I hit an average speed of 18.9 mph. My fastest 30 miles on the Nashua Rail Trail was at an average speed of 18.2 mph and my average speed in winning the 5 mile ElliptiGO End of Classic race this year was the same 18.9 mph so I was flying (despite a rubbing sound coming from my chain -too tight?). On Strava, one 16 mile section going north from Salisbury to the science center has my average speed clocked at 21.1 mph so the wind was really helping me along!

Soon we hit more technical riding over bridges, in traffic, and meandering down different roads. If I didn't have any cyclists ahead of me, I was worried that I might go the wrong way by missing the orange paint on the road. There is one bridge we are forced to dismount and walk across a narrow walkway. On this, I get stuck behind cyclists trying to walk in their cycling shoes and I lose about 2-3 minutes of time each time I cross coming and going. The ride takes some scenic detours once we are in Maine, but I am not one to look around as I am extremely focused on my ride. I am so focused that I find it hard to eat and drink. I downed a bottle of Gatorade when walking across the bridge, but except for drinking from my water bottle, I can't take a bottle out of my camera bag and screw off the lid. I did bring a bunch of Clif bars and Clif block energy blocks, but I didn't open them up before the ride and find it hard to ride and get them open. I ate one Clif Bar the first half of the ride and one and one-half packages of the Blocks (not nearly what I really should have eaten on the ride). I had a Camelbak filled with water, but only took a few sips out of it, and drank all the water in my large mounted water bottle. I stopped to hit the woods at about 70 miles and poured a Gatorade into my water bottle, but that was all I ate or drank this year. I think the cooler temperatures helped. 

By the time I hit the Nubble Lighthouse in Maine which was the 50 mile mark, my average speed had slowed to 18.1 mph which was world record pace, but I would no longer have a tailwind, so my time would keep getting slower from then on, but it is fun to say I was that fast for the first wind-aided half. I watched my average speed slip below the American record speed (I had these written on a paper and in view on my camera bag) at about 70 miles. Battling the headwinds along York Beach was brutal as I can't draft another bike like all the cyclists can. I have to take the wind standing up. Eventually, I helplessly watched the average speed go below what I needed to break 6 hours. I had the energy to go fast, but whenever we got near the ocean, the wind was just whipping into my face and I had to go all out just to get my speed above 10 mph. Fortunately, we took had some loops to do off route 1A so it wasn't a straight shot down to Hampton Beach to the finish. 

I didn't start feeling a bit weak until around 90 miles, but I slowed down enough to grab the one bottled water I had put in my camera bag. I eventually got the cap off and splashed half of it into my mouth so quickly I had to spit it out. I slowly drank the rest and feeling a bit refreshed headed towards the finish. Hitting the headwinds again was just nasty. I would see cyclists go by me in packs drafting off each other. If it was a lone cyclist, I was usually able to pick them off. It was a relief to finish as I was battling hard trying to break 6 hours and 20 minutes. I tapped my GPS off at the finish and was pleased to see it read 100.0 miles exactly! My time was 6:18:46! I think I gave it my all and with the wind realize my time was slower than what I could have done without  both the tailwind and the headwind. I am certain I can break 6 hours next year, but I have to find a century with a straighter course and no big winds.

Once I finished, I wanted nothing better to do than sit down. I noticed that cyclists seemed to all want to stand up after being locked into the saddle all day. One cool and unexpected thing during the ride was seeing a deer run across the road about 15 feet in front of me while in Maine! Cyclists don't say a lot about my ElliptiGO. Most just ignore me, but I am so focused I am not trying to chat up someone passing me or who I am passing, although I will say something if they talk first. After about 80 miles when the cyclists realize that I am doing the full 100, I tend to get a bit more comments. With less than 5 miles to go and riding into the headwinds, a pack of about 10 cyclists caught up. One guy slowed down and wanted me to high-five him. I told him I couldn't because if I did, at that point, I would probably fall over if I one-handed it!

So when the ride was over and until ElliptiGO updates their record page, it looks like I have the third fastest century ride ever on an ElliptiGO, the second fastest American time, and the fastest American time on a loop course! I got a note from Brian Pate, the ElliptiGO inventor, saying he wishes I were riding in the ElliptiGO World Championships this week in San Diego. He said I would be a contender, particularly for the time-trial. That was a great compliment. There are some top level world class runners, and former Olympians, who race the world championships.  Maybe one of these years, I can afford a trip out there to see what I could do in these races: there is a mountain climb up Mt. Palomar and a time trial on Fiesta Island. I know it would be fun to be around other ElliptiGO athletes and it is fun to help pioneer the sport, particularly when I found a sport I can do quite well in as long as I keep working hard. 

As a former runner, I am just pleased that I can work out with the intensity that I do and to be in "training" again. I enjoy feeling like an athlete again, and the nice part is that the ElliptiGO does not beat up my body. We just need more people riding and more races to keep that competitive fire going. I am sure that in the next few years, as the ElliptiGO gains more traction, that those 100 mile times are going to be incredibly fast! I don't mind being at the beginning years of the sport where what I can achieve is considered fast for now! If helps me not feel so old or washed up due to my injuries. 

2013 Seacoast Century: Tragedy on the Bridge

On Saturday, I participated in the Seacoast Century. Things did not go according to plan all day after a tragic fatal accident on the course changed the complexion of the day and event.

Leading up the doing the century (100 mile ride) I had one goal: to break seven hours on my ElliptiGO. According to the ElliptiGO site the fastest three centuries (that are official times- I am sure guys have gone faster in training or other centuries) are 5:50, 6:36, and 6:57. I am still not sure what makes a time official, but I wanted to get under 7:00 and break that third fastest time on the list. 

Thursday night I had my fastest ElliptiGO ride yet. I did my 30 mile rail trail course and just felt like my ElliptiGO was leaving the ground and flying at times. I realized how fast I was going, but kept pushing it as I was having so much fun exploding on down the trail. I decided to try to break 1 hour 45 minutes for 30 miles, which is probably about 10 minutes faster than my best time. I was doing great until I took a sharp corner to get off the rail trail and back on the main road to head home with 3 miles to go. All of sudden my Go felt sluggish. It just wasn't the hills, but it felt like my brakes were rubbing or something. With one mile to go, a heard a loud "whoosh" and my rear tire immediately deflated. I had averaged 17.2 mph for 29 miles which I hit in 1:40:45. I had to call home for a ride and missed reaching that 1:45 goal. My legs though felt great and full of snap like I was hitting a peak for the century.

My tires had nearly 2000 miles on them and were ready for a change, but now I had to teach school on Friday and somehow and somewhere find a new 20 inch tire as well as figure out how to remove the wheel on the ElliptiGO that night so that I could do the century on Saturday.

Eventually I found a tire at a bike shop in Milford, NH, but they didn't have the proper tubes. I had to drive to Manchester, NH to get them and arrived just as they were about to close the store for the evening. I was able to change the tire (not easy on an ElliptiGO) with the help of online videos, but was not able to test out my tire in the dark.

I got up real early on Saturday and drove out to Hampton Beach hoping to be ready to start at the first chance: 7:00 am. Unfortunately when I arrived, I noticed that if I rotated my rear wheel, I would get a slight rubbing of the brakes. I tried every adjustment I could to fix it and nothing worked. After about 1/2 hour of frustration, I got a mechanic to look at it and he adjusted a tiny screw to loosen up the brakes and I was good to go.

I decided early in the morning to bring a flipcam to document my times. I have my old running GPS, but can't find the cable to hook it up to my computer. In the rush of fixing the rear tire, I forgot to find a replacement water bottle cage holder for my handlebars. Mine broke last month. I did get a new Camelbak on Thursday, but hadn't tried it out yet. I had it filled to capacity with 50 ounces or water. I threw two 16 oz. bottles of Gatorade in the space between my rails to drink along the way. I also had a handlebar bag where I opened up about 5 packages of Clif Bloks and placed them in a resealable bag so that I might be able to eat a bit while riding. I figured I would make quick stops at the rest stops to refill like I did at the Tour of the Litchfield Hills Century back in August.

I started later than I would have liked but eventually headed south to complete an 18 mile loop to Massachusetts before heading north to Maine for the main loop of the century, I was feeling good and feisty. I would look down at my GPS and see speeds much faster than I usually roll. I was passing cyclists all along the route and was thoroughly enjoying the morning.

As I was nearing the bridge near the MA/NH border, I heard lots of sirens and had all sorts of emergency vehicles go screaming past. A couple minutes later I was stopped by a policeman about 100 yards before the bridge. About 20 other cyclists were already stopped and more were coming behind us. At first you get a bit angry at the inconvenience, but then you realize that something bad had happened on the bridge and you start wondering and worrying. I recorded my time at 15.88 miles in 53:15. An online calculator says this is 17.9 mph(faster than my pace on Thursday) . When I won the 5 mile ElliptiGO race last month, my average speed was 18.4 mph. I still had 85 miles to go and I was speeding. While we were waiting I drank one whole bottle of Gatorade (I was thirstier than I realized) and a handful of  Clif Shot Bloks. The accident seemed bad. The rumor was that 5 cyclists had been hit by 2 cars. The nearest way around the accident was about 9 miles through some heavy dangerous traffic. Everyone just milled around waiting. Finally someone said the police had said that it might be a couple of hours before they reopened the bridge. We had already been stopped for about 15 minutes. I found the first group of cyclists headed out for the detour and joined them. It was slow going as they stopped at times to check the GPS and we had to wait at intersections when we hit traffic lights. Because of how fast I had ridden the first 15 miles, I felt that I could still get under 7 hours, but I was going to have to work a bit harder. Nine miles later we got back on the course, but with heavy feelings about what happened on the bridge. I kept thinking about the violence of a car hitting cyclists and with the sounds of such a long delay at the bridge, I was nervous about possible fatalities. 

Despite the worry, my legs felt fantastic and speedy. It was a misty/cloudy cool morning with little wind: perfect conditions. I was keeping up with most cyclists, although pacing on an ElliptiGO is somewhat different than on a bike, so I would be passed and then later find myself repassing cyclists. We had to stop at some intersections and walk our bikes the length of one bridge. I can get off my ElliptiGO and easily walk in my running shoes. Stuck behind cyclists in their cleats on the bridge, it was slow going. Not only was I still going fast enough to be under 7 hours, I was also on pace to break 6:10 (despite losing about 20 minutes to not riding- I was keeping an elapsed time on my GPS). We hit York Beach in Maine and I felt great. Whenever we went on back roads with hills, I would challenge the cyclists around me, who picked up their pace not to be passed by me. It was fun to be killing the hills at 50 miles in which I hit  in 3:09:52. Take off the 20 minutes of delay and I was riding at a pace rivaling the world record for 100 miles on the ElliptiGO. I decided not to stop at the rest stop and kept going. I hit the turn around at Nubble Lighthouse right at 60 miles with a time of 3:45. 

I knew I was bound to get tired soon as I was riding way over my head, but decided to soldier on to see what I could do. Unfortunately,  when we hit the long straightaway at York Beach there was a very severe headwind and the sun came out from behind the clouds. My speed started slowing a lot. You can't go aero on an ElliptiGO and I took the full force of the wind. I also can't seem to draft cyclists, but many cyclists thought I made a great wind break so I led a small parade down along the shore as I pushed as hard as I could even when it felt like I was running in loose sand.

I realized I was tiring, even at the times we were riding away from the coast and the heavy winds. I tried sipping what I could out of the Camelbak and hoped there was enough in there to keep me watered. At 75 miles I blew right past the rest station. I figured I could survive 25 more miles to get to 100 miles and then I would look for a store or something and stop and get something to eat or drink. I went down a hill to an intersection about 100 yards beyond that aid-station and had to stop to check directions. I bent down and drank the last few ounces of Gatorade in my second bottle and started up again and started feeling a bit light-headed for awhile. Oops, not wanting to turn back, I thought to myself that this might be a good chance to see how hard I can go while depleted and tired.

At 81 miles, I went for a sip of water from the Camelbak and it was empty. I just thought to myself that 19 more miles was not that far. I knew my time was slowing and I might not break seven hours, so I just kept going instead of doing something smart like buying a Coke or Gatorade somewhere. When we hit Portsmouth, the ride got very dangerous. We were routed through some winding roads through an old section of town and traffic was backed up. Cyclists were getting off their bikes or riding 1-2 mph behind slowed cars. I got off and walked a bit on a sidewalk, but it was busy with people. When I stepped back on to my ElliptiGO, my calf started cramping up. When I got back on the road, cars tried to pass and a couple cars moved in cut me off and press me into the curbing. I had to yell a couple of times at some drivers. This was really not safe! Soon the traffic ended and I was back on the course. I felt very depleted like I was hitting the wall in a marathon.

Then we hit the New Hampshire coastline and more headwind. I was having a hard time putting energy into my stride. Muscle memory kept me moving, but it was not with power. Eventually we hit a loop off the ocean road and got to some back roads again. I would crawl up the hills and even found myself wanting to coast on slight downhills before even getting some speed going. I was counting miles and was getting close to 100 where I promised myself to stop.

Finally I hit 99 miles and I started recorded times. I got to 99.88 and in the woods the GPS was lost. Finally it kicked back on at 100.3 miles. I did it in 6 hours and 47 minutes beating my goal time easily despite all the stops. As I was recording my time, the memory on my Flipcam was filled and I missed the exact seconds. It was just that kind of day.

I found a stone wall and sat down. I emptied some memory and started recording my thoughts. I got a bit emotional as all day I had been thinking about that accident. I was very concerned about what had happened and knew I would soon find out. I didn't stop long as I had to find water. I ate some more of the Clif Shot Bloks, which I hadn't touched in 40 miles or so. Hey, they weren't bad and I could eat them without water. Maybe I should have been eating these over those last miles!

I got back on the the ocean route and the headwinds and at mile 104 found my first bathroom since the morning and a water fountain. I filled up my empty Gatorade bottle twice and swigged down the water before heading for the parking lot at Hampton Beach. I finished 109 miles (the last 9 miles were casual) in 7:37:03.

It was there that I heard that two cyclists had been killed on the bridge and two more were injured by a car that drifted over the center of the road and hit them head on.

As the days unwind since the event, we have learned that the 19 year old driver, who may have been texting, had been stopped by the police for speeding (59 mph when the limit was 30 mph) just eight hours earlier on the very same bridge! She does not even have a driver's license. The police waited until someone else drove the car home. That was all they could do besides giving her a court date. She was a druggy/party girl. I saw her Facebook page on Sunday before she took it down. A police eyewitness to the crash said she was speeding so fast over the bridge that he thought she was being pursued by a police car. Now it turns out that the lady who picked her up that night (it was her car) was a major heroin dealer and sold her drugs and gave her the keys to the car to drive home that morning knowing she did not have a license. Such a tragic accident from such a self-absorbed girl. The story is still unfolding, but that won't bring back the lives of the two wonderful sounding ladies who died on the bridge that morning.

This event is not really a pleasant memory. The deaths hit too close to home. When you are that close to an accident, it changes your thinking. I did enjoy riding very hard for 60 miles. I learned that I need to be more careful about feeding and drinking on a long ride, but I think as the day wore on, that it became more of a chance to test some boundaries. I knew in the end that I would just feel some discomfort and I didn't mind a bit of personal discomfort as I thought about the possibility that other people who trained and got pumped up to complete the Seacoast Century on such a beautiful fall day just as much as I had, may have lost their lives that morning just for being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. That is what happened, all because of some self-centered girl who had no concern for the law and for others.

Here is a short compilation of the few videos I took on the FlipCam throughout the day. I am holding a cheap camera and was not filming for anything but record keeping purposes. My son is a professional videographer, my video is as bad as they come. It does document short slices of the day, including the bridge and and various mile points. It also records me hitting 100 miles and talking to myself at that point when I was very tired and a bit emotional about the accident knowing that I was to soon find out what had happened after thinking about it all day. I can't say you'll enjoy my video skills, but it does provide some documentary evidence of this ride and day. A couple of other times on the course I recorded by hitting the pause button when I meant to record and record when I thought it was paused, so I missed some more discussion at the bridge.

ElliptiGO miles September 16-22
Monday: 0 miles
Tuesday: 8 miles
Wednesday: 0 miles
Thursday: 29 miles
Friday: 0 miles
Saturday: 109 miles
Sunday: 0 miles
total miles: 146 miles
accumulated miles: 1959 miles (13 weeks)