So Im back and done with the 24 hours of Booty.  It was a great event, well catered, and well managed.  I went with Ron and two of his friends Adam and Brad and Adam’s wife Melissa.  All those guys are serious cyclists and it showed in the way they were able to ride.  We got into Charlotte about three in the afternoon and the weekend started off badly but luckily didnt stay that way.  In the parking lot after lunch we walked out to find a flat tire on Brad’s car.  We were able to change it with a donut he had in his trunk but had to head straight to a gas station since it was out of air.

We got the site setup with bike stands, picnic tables, and tent and got all of our registrations taken care of with still a couple hours to go before the official start.  Ron, Brad, and Adam wanted to do a warm up loop and I got left behind when i stopped to take a picture of the start/finish line.  Probably a blessing since it would’ve been one less official lap I could’ve done.

On the first leg I was able to do 58 miles which i finished around 11, averaging about 16mph.  Ron, Adam, and Brad were averaging about 20mph with Adam being the fastest.  I went back out over the next few hours for a couple more legs totaling 20 miles.  Adam finished with a full 100 miles and packed it in for the night, while Brad had to quit after about 70 because of an upset stomach.  Ron fell to the same stomach issues but was able to go back out on the course later and pull me through two of the four laps I needed to get to 78 miles.  We ended up trying to get some sleep around three in the morning in foldout chairs but I ended up sleeping in the back seat of my car which was more comfterable and only getting a couple hours of sleep.

The next morning we woke up and grabbed some breakfast and then went back on the road for another leg.  I got in 30 miles before pulling off while the rest kept going.  I was only able to get back on the road for 10 more miles around lunch but had to quit because my legs had completely given out.  In the end I got to 118, Brad about 140, and Adam and Ron both got to 160.  Ron and Adam could’ve kept going but after lunch we were all sitting around and with the heat, a cooler of beer in arms reach, and shade so no one had the heart to go any further.

So i lost my bet for 180 miles but i dont feel bad about the mileage I was able to pull off.  Considering the complete lack of dedicated training i did, 118 is a very good number.  I had only had three real cycling sessions on my bike and none of any notable length so to pull out a ride that long is a good accomplishment.  The flipside is that i know i have a lot of training to do before my Livestrong Challenge ride in October.

So the 24 Hours of Booty is tomorrow and Id say im more or less prepared.  Ive gotten my new computer on the bike a Cateye Astrale 8 and my new saddle on as well.  I got in a good feeling out ride yesterday of 16.5 miles at an average speed of 16.9 mph.  The new saddle was a lot better than the old one and provided very little discomfort.

I made a bet with a friend that Id do 180 miles over the course of the ride.  If i win $20 goes to my Livestrong Challenge page, if i dont I owe him a 20.  My friend Ron came up with a plan to hit the number of doing the ride in segments of miles.  The pattern will be 55, 45, 35, 25, 25, and 5.  That will get me to 180 and break the ride into reasonable goals.  My personal goal is still to beat 200 but we’ll see how it goes.

I was reading some more and found another tip about setting up the height of your saddle.  Sit on the saddle and pedal backwards with your heels on the pedal.  If you’re hips are rocking its means that your saddle is set too high and you’re reaching for the pedals.  Got this tip from the Livestrong Challenge website.

I did buy a new saddle yesterday.  Ill be trying it out tomorrow but just from sitting on it and setting it up, it felt a better fit than the Koski Fastback that was on the bike when I bought it.  Its a E3 Form saddle from Performance.  I looked around and it got pretty good reviews and was designed by the guy who wrote the book on Saddles, literally.  Im hoping that it is as good as it claims.

Amazingly enough I actually made it out on my bike finally yesterday. It was enough to show me that Ill probably be in trouble next Friday. I averaged about 16 mph and did about 30 miles. Im really looking into grabbing a new saddle. I know discomfort is normal but Im thinking that its not normal to feel like you’ve spent a night in prison after so short of a ride. On the flats I did a pretty good average of about 20 mph so it looks like the stationary bike and running did help a bit. I did however faltar on the hills burning my legs out fairly quickly. Im hoping thats just because I had done 18 miles on the stationary bike Wednesday and 4 mile runs on Thursday and Friday leading up to yesterday.

I did fiddle with my saddle this morning to make sure that its setup correctly to see if that helps. I found that the correct setup from everything i read is that the leg should be bent about 30% at the bottom of the pedal stroke, six o’clock when pedaling. This ensures the proper seat height. To determine the correct fore/aft positioning of the saddle put your foot into the three o’clock position on the pedals. The small bump behind your kneecap, center of knee, should be dead center of the pedal spindle/axle. The saddle should be completely level or slightly tilted downward.

We’ll see if that helps but im heading out to the bike shop today to look at a new saddle and hopefully find one i like to swtich out. I’ve heard its a bad idea to change up equipment before a big ride but i’ll be able to get in two rounds in the saddle before the 24 Hours of Booty so hope that will be enough to get used to it and setup correctly.

So I was all ready to head out to bike yesterday when i went out on my deck and saw dark clouds and heard thunder.  So i came back in and checked the traffic cams out near where I ride and half were raining and the other half clear.  The doppler loop wasnt much help cause the thunderstorms seemed to just pop in and out of existence.  I made the executive decision not to head out just in case, the last thing I wanted to do was get caught out in a thunderstorm.

So what happens, it never rains here and within 30 minutes of my decision the traffic cams all look clear.  Murphy’s Law loves to screw with me.  So I went out and did my normal four mile run, which went really well.  I averaged right at nine minutes a mile and kept my heartrate in check for the majority of the run.  I know this isnt directly helping my cycling but im hoping that pushing up my general level of fitness will translate to the bike as well.  Maybe I should be doing the run in the Livestrong Challenge instead of the bike ride :^).