Almanzo 100 Training

I've been thinking a lot about my "race" (survival) strategy for the Almanzo 100. As such I've also been googling up as much info on the course as I can. Route. Climbing. Refueling. Road conditions.

I'd been thinking I might need to haul all my food and water for 100 miles. That looks incorrect. There is a town (Preston, MN) just off course at mile 40. There is at least one gas station, and it seems several restaurants. That is good news. With food and fluids available there, I shouldn't have to overload the bike with stuff, nor will I need a larger hydration pack. Heck, I might not need to run a bladder in the frame pack, just the two bottles and the 2L hydropack I currently own should be fine. I will take the second bladder along, in case the weekend shows unusually warm weather.

I'm going to be testing out some nutritionals. Specifically Hammer's Endurolytes and Perpetuem. I'll be sticking with my GU assortment (Mint Chocolate, Mandarin Orange, and Espresso Love) as well as Powerbar Blasts (Raspberry) and Bars (several types to keep from getting bored).

I've ordered a new, lower geared, lighter crankset for the 700CX. I'd been testing and riding lots of hills and a decent amount of gravel and found that I'm not geared low enough. With the additional effort of pushing the too high gears, I take too long to recover from the climb to hammer on the flats. Basically I was never getting out of the small ring. The new Shimano SLX M665 with its 36/22 ratios will be better in that regard than the Origin8 40/28. I could have switched to the 12-36 cassette instead of the 11-28, but find the jumps between gears too wide for my tastes, and it leaves me always looking for a gear in-between what's available. Anyone looking for a slightly used 12-36 9sp? I'll make you a killer deal.

Tyres. I'm currently rolling some Maxxis Beavers. They're for sloppy conditions. Pretty knobby, slightly less so than Nobby Nics, but much more than Racing Ralphs. They hook up really well in the muck, but really don't leave enough clearance in those conditions. I fully believe they're 2-3mph slower on pavement than any other tyre I have for that bike, but I'm training on them with the goal of wearing them out for the extra resistance they offer. from what I'm reading about the roads, I'm pretty sure I could roll any of the three other choices I have, Kenda Kozmik Lite II 700x50, Kenda Happy Medium 700x40 or Conti Contact XL 700x42. I need to test the Happy Mediums a bit more, but they could get the nod.

Goals for the event:
There's a 12hr time limit. That's Goal #1
It's been over 2 years since it's taken me longer than 10hrs for a century (though none of those has been gravel.) So 10hrs is Goal #2
Goal #3 is Sub 8hrs. If I stay on top of my fueling plan and the roads are as I suspect, I should be able to make that. Barely.