Monday, April 7, 2008

My Next Challenge: Cholla

I'm looking forward to the Cholla Challenge on Saturday as an indicator of where my fitness stands compared to my fellow Sport 35-39 competitors. This will be my first race in the Sport category and the first time I've raced the Cholla course. I've read the reports of the new course routing but since I never raced the old course I think the change might work to my advantage in that nobody will have prior experience to fall back on during the race. My current plan is to leave as early as I can get the car and family packed Friday morning so I can ride a lap in the afternoon before driving to St. George for registration and dinner Friday evening.

It's going to feel good to ride in shorts and a jersey. According to the forecast we should be racing in temperatures approaching 80, something I haven't experienced since my week in Arizona last month. Hydration is a concern and right now I'm planning to buy a small CamelBak to fill with water and pair that with a large bottle of CarboRocket. Hopefully I'll be able to grab a new bottle from my wife after the first lap, again filled with CarboRocket. Combined with a gel flask, I should be good as far as fuel is concerned.

Now I just need to figure out how to recover from last week. After lying around the house all day Sunday, taking a nap and sleeping 8 hours last night I'm still dragging. Hopefully the bowl of ice cream and berries I'm about to dig into will be the missing ingredient I've needed for a full and complete recovery!

6 comments:

KanyonKris said...

Last year it was hot (in the 90s) but my 100 oz CamelBak filled with water was all I needed for hydration. I think I had 1-2 GUs for fuel. I may go CarboRocket in the CamelBak this year since it's not so sugary like most sports drinks - I think I can drink it for the whole 2 laps.

Utah Mnt biker said...

That seems like an awful lot of weight to carry around for a two hour race. I would think more along the lines of Kris and do either bottles or a camelbak.

UtRider said...

A 50 oz CamelBak + 24 oz bottle = 74 oz which is less than Kris' 100 oz CamelBak.

I agree it seems like a lot to carry but with temps in the 80's and no guarantee the kids will cooperate and allow my wife to pass up a bottle I want to ensure I have enough with me on the line to make it through the race. Racing with 1 bottle doesn't sound like a good option.

IamMatt said...

Just pointing out the oblivious. Just because you have a 100 oz camel back, doesn't mean you have to fill it that full.

To me, camelbacks provide a simple way of hydrating one's self. I find having one on technical course a very big plus.

I personally am not one to have anything other than water in my camelback. If it was me, id just take a small frozen bottle of your "energy" drink, and a camelback.

Just some more food for thought.

UtRider said...

I have the Rim Runner CamelBak and it's too big and bulky for a race. My wife has the Rogue so maybe I'll just use that. I'd prefer something like the Classic but maybe it's not worth the $.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to see that you too enjoy the ice cream. There's no better recover food out there. Even if it doesn't do any thing... it's still the best.