Commiskey Gravel Grinder

After spending Saturday hammering in the Knobs, Sunday was quite the trudge. I was tired. However, I was really looking forward to getting out on some gravel and really testing out the equipment upgrades.

New Crankset: Shimano SLX 36/22 and matching derailleur
New Camelback Rogue
Revisiting the Kenda Happy Mediums (now with superlight tubes)
More fueling testing.

I don't think any of it would have mattered considering how exhausted I was from the previous day's effort. The lower gearing did mean I had the option of taking it easy on all the climbs (this is important to know, as near the end of Almanzo, I expect to be rather tired).

I had one other rider show up, a serious competitor in Xterra events, time trials and other sports. We rolled out and enjoyed the time, talking and occasionally hammering. Mostly trying to keep up with him. He rode an older Cannondale 26er hardtail (with headshock) that had a road compact crankset and drop bars.

The route was rather nice, having ridden much of it before, I was pretty certain it would be about 50% gravel, I underestimated, and am pretty sure it is over 60% (an important distinction, as that's the cutoff to be listed on GravelGrinderNews.com)  The sections we missed last time due to cue sheet error were nearly all gravel, probably 15 of the last 20 miles. With the constant 20+ mph winds even the flat stretches required a steady effort to move forward.

The previous day's rains had made it soft in spots, allowing me to see how much the tyres would dig in, and a couple loose, steep climbs gave me an idea of traction limits. It wasn't a good day to judge how fast the tyres are, given my physical state and the headwinds. I think I may be able to drop a few psi to smooth the ride some more.

Almanzo Fueling Test #1

Working with some of the "new" fueling products, yesterday I went out and rode a century. There was one of the Mad Dog stages, but I opted not to get up early enough to ride to Shelbyville to make the start and instead met up with them in Pleasureville and rode on to the first store stop in Bagdad. I then returned home, only adding on enough to make sure to get in at least 100 miles. I ended with 105 in 8:14.something.

I did it as a "one stop" century, only the second or third time I've really done that. I only picked up two bottles of water at the store in Bagdad, meaning everything else was on the bike.



What all I consumed:
2 pouches Perpetuem Caffe Latte- 540 calories
2 pouches Perpetuem Vanilla Orange- 540
2 GU Mint Chocolate- 200
2 GU Mandarine Orange- 200
1 GU Espresso Love- 100
1 Powerbar Triple Threat Chocolate Caramel Fusion- 230
1 Powerbar Trail Mix- 210
5-Nunn Lemon Lime Tables (in hydration pack)- 30

Total Fluids: 4 bottles and a 2L (68oz) hydropack= 164 ounces

2050 calories.

Garmin says I burned 7075 calories.

I was out for 8 hours, and my "fueling plan" says I should have:
Gu every 45 minutes = 10 for 8 hrs
Powerbar every 2 hours = 4

Um, so, I consumed half. I will try to bump it up. Many of the roads I was on were rather busy and made it feel uncomfortable to eat while rolling.

The Nunn tablets are interesting. They fizz, and when dropped in bulk into a pack and promply sealed, it blows up like a balloon...and stays fizzy!!! ;-) It is also rather difficult to get back into the pack :-( That aside, for the first time I never felt sick of drinking water. Typically I get rather tired of water in a hydration pack, even feeling bloated and incapable of drinking more. A hotter day, where I'm sweating more and drinking more with tell me more, but for a first test, I'm pretty happy. Looking forward to trying some of the other brands/flavors that are available. A better hydration pack, with an external fill port (Camelbak Rogue?) might be better, as it would mean no need to stuff the inflated pouch in.

I really also wanted to consume some yummy PowerBar Blasts, but not having the rear pockets on my Acorn Handlebar Bag, makes it inconvenient. Considering picking up a Mountain Feed Bag just to put those in.