Final thoughts on VQ...maybe.

Hey, since nothing else is going on right now, more thoughts on Vision Quest seem appropriate.

What worked:

• Having a plan several months in advance. I am waaay to old to just wander in without any training and make that kind of effort. Things like CL 2.0 kept me on track and gave me a good gauge of my fitness. I rode with a purpose. There were many times I rode alone to get the miles in at the right time. I skipped a lot of local fun rides that were not enough to build upon.
• I rode the SS a lot. Likely 2:1 over the geared bike. I kept taking it on progressively harder and longer rides which was not only good training, it was eye opening as what can be done on an single geared bike.
• I had figured out my diet by then. I found out that Snickers bars work just as good as Power Bars and are a lot cheaper (and tastier). I used Accelerade in a water bottle, water in the Camelbak, and that worked very well. Fluid recovery drink is awesome. It made the day after a much better place to be. I used S caps for cramping prevention. I only used Gus on VQ itself.
  
• I changed nothing, tried nothing new. All my clothing, bike set-up, tire choice, etc was all proven.
• I had a good grasp on my pace. I did not go out too fast, too early and I knew what I could sustain.

What did not work:

Well, not much, really. I would have liked more long rides in the training program. It would have added to the overall speed of the ride and my confidence level going into it. Besides that, it was all I could have asked for.

Postscript...there actually was one thing that did not work. Peanut butter. How does anyone eat that stuff? I was at one of the aid stops and there were a few PBJs on the table. Now I hate peanut butter and I have never had a PBJ before, but I figured it was worth the yucky taste to get some good calories. I grabbed one, took a bite and my mouth seized up. It was like eating a scoop of wood putty. I expected it to taste bad, but I was not prepared for the consistency. No wonder dogs lick that stuff off of the roof of their mouths for hours. I feel their pain and I would never do that to a dog after this. Cruel and inhuman, I tell ya. Peanut butter...it is NOT what is for dinner.

PPS: Here are a couple of pics I caught from this post on SCTR: http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/trail-talk/32290-vq-wrong-way.html

The near fatal PBJ encounter happened at this aid station. That is me...#46, blue gray jersey. Ain't I good lookin' though?