[quote name='tri-man 47' date='Aug 30 2009, 04:45 PM' post='10730287
liquors; culdeus -
I'll give a full-report tomorrow, but HH100 was a success. I met Culdeus at the Exhibit Hall, and had a beer while I waited for him to pick up his packet (he was there about 20 minutes later than I). We then had directions to a place that a friend of his had arranged for us to stay, less than 4 miles from the start line. I followed Culdeus and his friend as he had a GPS unit in his car. After he tried to kill me no less than 5 times by taking right turns from the left lane, going through red lights, etc. (great fun!!), we stopped at the end of a street with no street lights, and some pretty shady homes. We all three wondered the neighborhood looking for the house and quickly realized we were not in the right neighborhood. His friend typed in the wrong street = we went on another adventure. He only tried to kill me twice during this drive, and we pulled up to a house in a nice neighborhood. An older, very Russian man met us at the door (surprised us all), and told us we had the run of the house (Culdeus will have to tell you who he was, as I'm still confused). He had a Playboy on the counter, and showed us where his Vodka and other liquor was and told us to have at it (at least that's what I think he said, as his Russian accent was pretty strong). Culdeus (as usual) brought a full smorgaborg (sp?) including tamales, pasta, chips, salsa, and vegetables; and we had a great dinner and some beers. I got to bed around 10:45, but was awoken multiple times over the next 2 hours, as some of my friends were having a party and they kept calling/texting me updates on what was happening. I finally got to sleep by midnight, and my alarm went off at 5 am. Surprisingly Culdeus and his friend were already awake and virtually ready to go, and I got ready as fast as I could. We left the house around 5:30 and were parked within 15 minutes. Culdeus had major break pad issues from his bike being stuffed inside his car, to his friend and I rode to the starting line to secure our spots, while he went to a bike shop (on site) to get his bike fixed. My bowels did what they were supposed to do, and I was able to relieve myself by 6:30. Culdeus met us at the start line shortly after, and we waited patiently for the 7:00 am flyover/national anthem. The weather was IMMACULATE, as the winds were low, and the temps at 68 degrees (I had not felt sub-70's since early June)!!!!
A cannon blasted the start, which sucked even more than most races (not surprising with 15,000+ riders). We literally had to walk with our bikes even well-past the starting line. With my first mile being the slowest of the day; Culdeus led us out really well for the first 4 miles. A pace line flew past us at that point and I told Culdeus I was going to catch it. I led him to the group, but we lost his friend. They were flying, and Culdeus suggested we drop them, as the pace was too quick, and he was worried about his friend. I thought he was still on my wheel, but realized a good mile later that he was gone

I stayed with the group through mile 42 where they stopped at the rest stop. I was like "are you kidding me" and literally ventured on alone from mile 42 to 47, averaging approx. 20.5 mph (solo); at mile 48, the same group caught up with me, and I leeched onto them (yippee!). We stayed together as a large, strong pace group, though there were large struggles at each rest stop (miles 54, 59, 69, & 78). I was still feeling great, and decided that I really wanted to see if I could finish the century w/o stopping (I'd never done it before). At each stop, I worked my ### off to stay at or near the front, so that I wouldn't be caught chasing down a large group by myself. Right after the 78 mile rest stop, things got ugly fast. We were a smaller (but still pretty large) group, and about half of the group, really wanted to get the pace going. At least 4 times between mile 78 and 89 I had to go solo to catch up with breakaways from the larger group. In each instance, my HR went over 180, and my body really struggled. I was most proud of a solo effort at mile 82, where I spent a mile+ hunting down the lead group all by myself. I did this mile in 2:32, and my HR hovered around 185 for quite awhile (red lining). I caught them, but burned too many matches. I stayed with the group through mile 87, but lost them for good around a turn in which I was at the back of the pack, and only myself and one other guy tried (unsuccessfully) to bridge the gap. I chased for about a half mile with him when he fell off my back wheel. I thought that catching them was my only chance of reaching my goal (4:30). I didn't have it in me to catch the group so slowed down and went into survival mode. I started cramping (not bad) at mile 89. I was all alone, and hurting, and really questioned what I had to get in, and just wanted to beat last year's time of 4:45. Luckily at mile 97 the calvary caught up with me (8 hard miles with no assistance). the group that had splintered off at mile 78 had caught me!!!!!!!!!!! I cruised with them as long as I could, still cramping and fell off their back at mile 100, and limped my way in the best that I could.
My final number (my watch = not official) were 101.68 miles in 4:31:33; avg. pace 2:40 per mile (NO STOPS!!!!!!); ave. speed (22.5); max speed 34.7 mph; avg HR 165

; max HR 190

(scary high = during that last chase to catch the group in which I failed). Had I had any support to catch the group at mile 89 or had I actually trained for the ride; I know I could have finished sub 4:30; though I'm still ecstatic with the results (I finished the century under 4:27!)
I'll post Garmin stats tomorrow, but was extremely pleased with the time and the day. The only sad part was that I didn't get to spend it with Culdeus. He had a nice ride; and ended somewhere around 5:10 (my best guess); but not up to what he had hoped (waiting for his friends really slowed him down).