Blue Moon

 

August 31st was a blue moon (two full moons in the same calendar month) and I don't think I had ever ridden a brevet under one so I started the Santa Ana 200k permanent at 7pm after work.

The temperature was a cool 86F and the wind was uncharacteristically calm. With such ideal conditions I was hoping I'd be able to set a good time. For some reason all the clouds were stretched out in a form called 'lenticular' and as the full moon passed behind them they lit up like a candle glowing through frosted glass - an effect called irisation. Absolutely gorgeous.

I rode straight through the first 63 miles and got to the turn-around point in 4h10 - not a personal best but pretty good. I spent 15 minutes at the Beach Deli cramming as many calories in as I could. There was a chap there, covered in tattoos, who had $100 worth of lottery tickets. He was ecstatic that he had won $80. I forbore from pointing out the obvious - it's best not to irritate a heavily tattooed man in the middle of the night.

Because it was relatively cool and I hadn't had to fight strong headwinds all the way to the beach, I found myself more alert on the way back than I had ever felt before. I had filled up with Gatorade at the control and it started bugging my stomach within the first 20 miles. In the last few years I've found myself becoming less tolerant of commercial strength Gatorade so I fixed that problem by refilling my half-empty bottle with straight water. I foresee having no tolerance for Gatorade at all at some point in the future.

I stopped at the Chevron at the 90 mile mark and had one of my favorite in-ride foods - a Hostess apple pie. Even though they have too much saturated fat and salt to be considered healthy, they are nearly 500 calories of tasty and easily digested food for a little over a dollar.

One problem I have on longer rides is keeping stoked up with calories. Even though I'm carrying enough fat calories to ride all the way to Las Vegas my body seems loath to tap into this resource (unfortunately). I've taken to carrying a top-tube bag that I can put food in (I suppose it could carry other stuff, but it never does) and I've been using trail mix. Every time I think about food or I feel the very early signs of bonking I eat a little. The problem is it's too dry and I find bits getting stuck under my tongue or in my throat. I need something that's full of calories but is easier to eat. I'm thinking soft-cookies. I'm going to try that on my next brevet. I'm also thinking about onigiri (rice balls) if I can find somewhere that sells them to go.

Anyhow, I got to the end of the ride at 4:21am for a total time of 9h21 - close to my personal best for this route. It's also the first time I've completed a night 200k without napping on the route.

On Sunday I hiked 11 miles in the mountain. I'm taking today off :-)