\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.rides.actc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/RussHoodoo001.jpg\" "\\"RussHoodoo001\\"")
<\/a>5am Voyager start (Photo by Sheila Stevens) A very determined bunch - six of these seven would finish, with one stopping only after 433+ miles.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/span> The highlight of my first day was climbing to the 9800 foot peak of Boulder Mountain. Last year, I did that climb entirely in the dark (having started as a solo rider 2 hours later than I did this year). I reached the top of that climb this year just in time to watch the sun set over the grand staircase \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a truly magnificent sight.<\/p>\n Those of you who read my ride report last year know that as I was climbing Boulder Mountain in the dark in 2009, a mountain lion ran across the road in front of me. \u00c2\u00a0This year, just as I approached that exact same spot a bear ran across the road! \u00c2\u00a0Luckily, I was a little bit further away from the bear that I was the mountain lion, but it was still pretty exciting. \u00c2\u00a0At that point, I decided the bear was going to be my Hoodoo totem. Bears may not be the fastest animals, but they are not the slowest either. \u00c2\u00a0They are strong and unstoppable. \u00c2\u00a0I knew that no matter how slow I had to go, I was going to be as strong as a bear and finish this race.<\/p>\n Thank God I had at least gotten over Boulder Mountain before my first problem occurred. After descending the other side, I lost my appetite right on schedule at ~275 miles. I kept pedaling anyway and made my way into the Loa rest stop. Then I employed rule #3. I called people for help. I called my wife, Sheila, I called my coach, Susan Forsman and I called my good friend and someone who knows more about ultra cycling than anyone I know, Cindi Staiger. I waited an hour, but when my appetite still did not return, I decided to just keep moving, following Cindi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advice to just plod along slowly eating small amounts of food. \u00c2\u00a0I also decided to take a NoDoz, hoping that the caffeine might wake up my metabolism and my stomach. \u00c2\u00a0Miraculously, this worked. \u00c2\u00a0Within about one hour, I felt much better and within two hours I felt almost normal. \u00c2\u00a0I called Sheila to tell her I was feeling better and that I was being a bear. \u00c2\u00a0I might not be moving quickly, but I was still strong and I was going to finish. Onward to Panguitch.<\/p>\n The 90 mile stretch from Loa to Panguitch was long and dark. However, there were several nice things about this section of the ride. \u00c2\u00a0First, it was mostly flat. \u00c2\u00a0Second, it wasn’t too cold. \u00c2\u00a0Third, there was almost no headwind until the last 20 miles (I was expecting 20+ mph headwinds through this whole section). \u00c2\u00a0Finally, the sky was clear and the stars were out, which was beautiful.<\/p>\n I arrived in Panguitch without incident at about 6:15 a.m., just as the sun was coming up. \u00c2\u00a0My original intention had been to sleep for a couple of hours in Panguitch to make sure I had enough energy to climb the 4000 feet necessary to get over the 10,500 foot peak of Cedar Breaks. However, I had already lost so much time trying to recover in Loa and on the road afterwards that I felt I could not afford to wait around in Panguitch. \u00c2\u00a0I was in a rush to keep moving forward, so I got back on my bike.<\/p>\n I sensed that I had made a mistake the moment I left town and started to climb. \u00c2\u00a0A nagging voice told me I did not have 4000 feet of climbing in my legs. \u00c2\u00a0But by then, it was too late. \u00c2\u00a0The rules specifically prohibit turning around on the course, so there was no going back to the Panguitch checkpoint. \u00c2\u00a0There was nothing to do but go forward.<\/p>\n The first 29 of the 32 miles to the summit went surprisingly well. \u00c2\u00a0I slowly climbed up to 9000 feet. \u00c2\u00a0The whole time, I kept passing and being passed by the sole 8 person 4x tandem team, including my friends Rick and Anna Stewart. \u00c2\u00a0They kept shouting encouragement and telling me I was doing great which kept me motivated.<\/p>\n I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand what happened next, but I suddenly lost all my energy. \u00c2\u00a0Afraid of repeating the eating problems I had in Loa, I had stopped eating solid food and switched entirely to Spiz, a high calorie powdered drink. Perhaps drinking the Spiz in the slightly chilly conditions caused me to ingest too much fluid, diluting the salt in my bloodstream. Perhaps it was just the altitude. \u00c2\u00a0Perhaps it was the 30 mile an hour wind gusts I was fighting to climb up the final grades. Whatever the cause, I felt terrible. \u00c2\u00a0I was crawling up the hill, moving slower and slower. \u00c2\u00a0I desperately wanted to stop, lay down and recover, but I knew for certain that stopping in the cold above 9000 feet was a recipe for disaster. \u00c2\u00a0I felt I had no option but to get to the next checkpoint at the bottom of the hill.<\/p>\n What a relief to finally get to the visitor center at the 10,500 ft peak of Cedar Breaks! I escaped to the warmth of the restroom to refill my water bottles and add some layers for the descent. \u00c2\u00a0Despite how horrible and weak I felt, I really thought I had made at this point. \u00c2\u00a0I would recover on the downhill, and then it was only 90 mostly downhill miles to the finish.<\/p>\n I was so wrong. \u00c2\u00a0The descent was anything but recovery. \u00c2\u00a0For the first few miles, I had to pedal with all the strength I had left just to move downhill into the 30 mile an hour headwind. Then, despite my many layers, I started to get cold. \u00c2\u00a0Luckily, I was not too cold to control my bike. \u00c2\u00a0However, it just took a long time and a lot of energy to get down that hill.<\/p>\n Finally, as I got near Cedar city, the temperatures rose and I got more comfortable. \u00c2\u00a0I was dreaming of a chicken sandwich and some fries and decided to stop at the McDonald’s in town. \u00c2\u00a0Unfortunately, as soon as I walked into the restaurant, I knew things were about to get worse, not better. I felt a wave of nausea sweep over me. \u00c2\u00a0I ran to the restroom just in time. \u00c2\u00a0I felt sorry for the people who happened to be in there.<\/p>\n I thought that throwing up would make me feel better, but it really didn’t. \u00c2\u00a0I called Sheila. Thinking I might be dehydrated, she suggested I order a large sprite and just sip it, which I did. \u00c2\u00a0But that did not make me feel better either. After about one hour, I thought I would just keep moving despite how I felt. However, as soon as I got outside into the hot sun, I knew I could not yet continue.<\/p>\n I sat down on the grass outside McDonald’s just as David and Deb Hoag arrived (2x Team Turbodog). \u00c2\u00a0Although I was slightly disappointed they had caught me after starting four hours after me, it was very nice to see familiar faces. I chatted with them and with their crew, Franz Kelsch and Ken Holloway. I tried to pretend I was going to be OK, but I don’t think I fooled anyone. I’m pretty sure Franz was convinced I was going to quit once again. \u00c2\u00a0Franz was on my solo crew last year.<\/p>\n Rule #4 was ever present in my mind and I was absolutely determined not to quit. However, I knew I wasn’t going to solve my problem out in the heat in front of a fast food restaurant. \u00c2\u00a0I needed a place I could rest and regroup. \u00c2\u00a0Although the cheap side of me loudly protested, the practical side of me won out and I rented a room for $65 at the Motel 6 on the edge of town. \u00c2\u00a0I called race headquarters and told them I would be off the course for a little while. They asked me if I was abandoning and I told them a forceful, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said I was just resting and that I would let them know as soon as I started riding again.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I lay down on the bed, but was too uncomfortable and sick to really sleep or rest. \u00c2\u00a0I called Susan for help again. She suggested I just keep rolling, which seemed hard to imagine. \u00c2\u00a0I remember that when I was in Loa, Cindi had suggested I eat some saltines, which were unavailable in that little town at 11:00 p.m. But now, I knew I might be able to find some. I decided to walk to the nearest convenience store. \u00c2\u00a0It was a test. I figured if I could walk to the store and back and actually eat a few saltines, then I could do everything I needed to keep riding.<\/p>\n I passed the test. \u00c2\u00a0Not only did the convenience store have saltines, I was able to eat them and I was able to successfully walk a few blocks required to obtain them. \u00c2\u00a0If I could both eat and expend energy of the sun, then I could move forward. \u00c2\u00a0Four hours after arriving in Cedar City, I checked out of the hotel, called race headquarters and got back on the road.<\/p>\n I was immediately confronted with about the worst headwind I have ever experienced. \u00c2\u00a0The stretch of road leading out of Cedar City is flat and wide open with absolutely no protection. \u00c2\u00a0The wind was brutal and it was all I could do to move 10 mph. \u00c2\u00a0When the climbing started, I got even slower. I tried hard not to think about how many hours it would take to ride to the finish in St. George at this pace.<\/p>\n Then, my left knee started to hurt. \u00c2\u00a0I looked down and noticed that my legs were kind of puffy and bloated. \u00c2\u00a0Suddenly, I knew what was wrong. \u00c2\u00a0Thanks to all of my research on my problems from last year, I knew I was suffering from bloating hyponatremia. \u00c2\u00a0I had too little salt in my bloodstream and was retaining water as a result, causing my legs to swell and my knee to hurt. Even better, I knew how to fix it. \u00c2\u00a0I had to slowly ingest salt and stop drinking water.<\/p>\n To avoid water, I had to stop drinking Spiz, the high calorie drink I had been using as my primary source of fuel. \u00c2\u00a0I made a quick stop to look through my bags and take out all of the solid food I had left. \u00c2\u00a0I went for the salty stuff first: the bag of fritos I had been carrying for the past 100 miles. \u00c2\u00a0I ate a handful of those and a very interesting thing happened. \u00c2\u00a0I suddenly had to pee so badly I thought I would explode. I ran to the bushes. \u00c2\u00a0I felt better. \u00c2\u00a0I ate more Fritos. \u00c2\u00a0This continued for the next 6 hours and 90 miles. \u00c2\u00a0I peed about eight times while drinking almost nothing. \u00c2\u00a0Within 50 miles, my knee no longer hurt and my body was no longer puffy. \u00c2\u00a0The treatment had worked. \u00c2\u00a0I knew I had it made.<\/p>\n The only good thing about getting really sick and working through it is that it forces you to rest. \u00c2\u00a0By the time you recover, you usually feel pretty good. When I called race HQ and my wife from the top of Snow Canyon 15 miles from the finish, I felt positively stellar.<\/p>\n The sun was just setting and it was all downhill to the finish. \u00c2\u00a0I flew around the corners through Snow Canyon admiring the colored cliffs in the setting sun. \u00c2\u00a0I made my way through the streets of St. George and dreamed about the Dairy Queen blizzard I knew that Sheila was buying for me. \u00c2\u00a0I thought about the Hoodoo jersey I was finally going to wear.<\/p>\n I broke the finish line tape at 10:06 PM, just over 40 hours after I had left the same spot. \u00c2\u00a0I pedaled for 32:30 of those 40 hours while traveling 518 miles and climbing 28,000 feet. \u00c2\u00a0I saw temperatures between 46\u00c2\u00b0 and 83\u00c2\u00b0. I burned 21,000 calories while eating 9500, meaning that I left over 12,000 calories or more than 3 pounds of myself somewhere on the road in Utah. \u00c2\u00a0Along the way, I saw some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. I ate my blizzard and marveled that after two long hard years, I had finally reached the finish line.<\/p>\n
\nThe ride started out really well. \u00c2\u00a0The first 250 miles were basically enjoyable. \u00c2\u00a0I employed rules #1 & #2, riding my own ride and regularly taking in calories and water. \u00c2\u00a0As a result, I never felt exhausted, sore or tired. \u00c2\u00a0I kept my heart rate around 125 and my power around 200 Watts. \u00c2\u00a0Two of the other voyager riders quickly went off the front, but I did not let that bother me. \u00c2\u00a0By the time I got to Escalante at mile 200, one of those riders was 1.5 hours ahead of me. \u00c2\u00a0However, the other rider was lying on the bed at the checkpoint hotel looking like he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t getting up anytime soon. I never saw him again. \u00c2\u00a0He did cross the finish line, but only several hours after I did.<\/p>\n