A2A 38-mile 10/09/2011

_goal
I seemed to arrive at A2A less prepared each year. 100k's at Hotter n Hell and NYC were the only long skates after Road Rash in April. Ironman Craig Alexander's theory: the older you are, the less volume you need.

Plan A: Stay with Eddy as long as I could. With luck I would build enough lead over the chase pack before reaching Dacula. This strategy failed me twice already, but lead pack speed was unpredictable. Lenny and Marcy was likely to dictate the chase pack speed.

My all-time fantasies included
1. Beat Herb Gale at a race.
2. Order an uncut pizza delivered to check point #5 then eat it like a giant burrito while skating toward Atlanta.
3. Average 18 mph for an A2A distance.
Candy decided to go after Debbie Rice's 17.96 mph record--a realistic target given the weather forecast. Herb signed up to race 38. 2011 was my big chance.

New plan:
1. Bonk no earlier than Herb.
2. Experiment with solid food for 49 miles.
3. Finishing 18 seconds in front of a record breaking Candy.

_logistics
Travel arranges involved changes this year:
Atlanta’s Midtown Hotel computer got confused.
AAA Express Shuttle went out of business.
Casey canceled last minute due to infection.
Race route changed.

_start
The rush out of Athens was always a zoo.

I had an easy start by following a lone Peter Doucet skating with GoPro. I thought of pulling him just to get in the shot but didn't want to mess up his race.

Eddy started late after getting out of costume. I watched him dragging Luke passing us. I was too uncomfortable at that speed to jump pack for Peter’s video. Mile 3~5’s splits were 24 / 21 / 23 mph. I struggled with each acceleration; I wished I was on bigger wheels.

Weather was good but far from perfect: humid, warm, mostly tailwind.

Team Asphalt Beach formed the core of the chase pack with Lenny, Marcy, Jessica, Candy, and Brian. Herb popped out of lead pack and joined us.


photo by Lenny Willcox

I did one long pull before settling in the back. Jessica described a bodily function that made me laugh. Lenny was in control. Marcy seemed to be holding back. Several strong skaters did their shares. The back of the pack turned into accordion when Herb showed off his Herculean strides. I resorted to high cadence and skated like a midget Usain Bolt. Thanks a lot, Herb!


Most of my pull involved being pushed.
video by Lenny

Mile 25. Debbie's record seemed out of reach, but Candy and company weren't letting up. For the first time I appreciated how steady Lenny was.

Mile 35. Everyone kept up. Candy had wattage surplus. I watched her broke away up a long ascend. We had no reason to chase; majority of the pack had 50 miles to go. It took Candy a while to realize the unintentional attack before returning to the group. A few climbs later she said something about not recovering and became less jumpy.

38-mile A2A was a unique race in that competitors and utility vehicles were often indistinguishable. I knew I was racing against Herb and Brian but didn't know how many 38-milers were in the lead pack.

The last climb into Dacula was nontrivial. I wished I was on smaller wheels. Bruce Belden attacked. His acceleration was modest for potentially the 38-mile title. A real man would’ve covered that breakaway. I wanted to save it for the 2 final turns. There were 3 races I could beat pros, and I didn't think Herb would race Tour de Donut.

I gambled the pack would swallow Bruce. I wished my quads weren't cramping. I wished Casey were in the mix.

I heard Candy behind me; Herb and Brian became invisible; Bruce escaped. The last right turn came faster than expected. My short legs barely stayed on pavement. I made it to the empty finish chute 16 seconds behind Bruce.

_38-mile result
Candy won 38 after missing the scary right turn.
Bruce got 2nd. Mike Pantelakis was in the lead group with 7-minute margin.
I checked "beating Mighty Herb" off the list.
Herb and Brian blew up on the last rolling hill.

_#'s
total distance: 38 miles
total time: 2:10:40
average speed: 17.5 mph
mile splits > 20 mph: 10
max speed: 42.5 mph @ mile 11
on-course energy intake: 300 calories (gels and blocks)
wheels used: 100 mm. 4x Matter yellow, 4x MPC Street Fight


photo by Peter Doucet

_49 mile skate to Atlanta
Randy, Herb, and I hopped on Luke and Greg's group to skate to Atlanta. I substituted gels with bananas and trail mix bars.

I was on a nice route with friends, but for 30 miles I obsessed over last 2 miles of the race second-guessing my decisions. I couldn't decide whether I raced smart or simply lacked courage. “Live in the present,” I reminded myself. I focused on how blessed I was.

Silver Hill was the lowlight of the day. We barely broke 40 mph with a black Mercedes in the way.

I hit my usual wall after Silver Hill. I felt more wobbly and sick than usual. I sat down at checkpoint 5 hoping to hitch a ride.


Colleen's sandwich and chocolate did wonders for my recovery.

I got back on the road to skate with Malia (London) and Alex (Austria) group with John in it. I skated with John on this same crappy road surface when agreeing to tie for 52-mile race last year.

_#'s (including 38-mile race)
total distance: 87 miles
total time: 5:48:50
average speed: 15.0 mph
mile splits > 20 mph: 10 + 4
Silver Hill max speed: 40.1 mph
on-course energy intake: 300 calories (gels and blocks) + 800 calories (banana, sandwich, bars, chocolate)
stopping time: approx 15 minutes

_87-mile result
Marcy took women's title. Lenny finished with same time at 12th place.
Jessica came in 9 minutes later at 16th overall ahead of Luke's 5:34.

Eddy was out-skated by Thomas Detwiler.
Francisco got 3rd.
Asphalt Beach's 16-year-old wonder Joel 2-lastNames finished 5th.
Peter Doucet was 6th ahead of Dennis Humphrey.


photo by Peter Doucet


Herb and Marcy
photo by Peter Doucet

The nutrition experiment result was discouraging. Maybe I should've used hotdogs.

_2.5 miles city skate
The new finish location was 2.5 miles from hotel. Skating slowly is a lot faster than 3-mph walk. I felt great going downhill at 15 mph forgetting to verify luggage's wheels were designed for it. Luckily nothing broke on the uneven pavement.

At a non-wealthy neighborhood, 3 tough looking dudes approached me on empty streets,
"What's in the bag?"
I couldn't tell if they were serious but developed a bad feeling. They could easily take me down unless I gave up the luggage.
"3 million dollars, cash." I replied and skated away holding steady pace.
They laughed and didn't pursue.

A few blocks later the streets were closed. I continued on the roadway; the sidewalks were packed with people.

I was surprised the cops didn't pull me off the road. Spectators showered me with positive and colorful encouragements. I was uncomfortable with that level of attention. Served me right wearing spandex ahead of the Pride Parade.

Thanks for buying the cops, Candy.