L5 - 54.996km Brawley, CA to Glamis, CA

Here is a wonderful little picture of Brawley, CA. This is the start point on today's ride of the RAAM 2008 route. In my data crash experience, I only lost the end of May and all of the rider files from June. So, as with all computer hard drive crashes, back up as often as possible. Either way, I am back on the bike. I revamped my living arrangements to allow for better access to fans, sight to the TV and computer, and fixing a headphone cord issue. I think I have a pretty good setup compared to other people's set ups for Computrainers. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. This ride was not as bad as the other ride into Lake Henshaw. The road had some better grades near Glamis, CA, but it was nothing too hard to tackle. In some ways, I think that riding a RAAM on a computrainer will be much more difficult than it is in the normal sense of riding. For example, on this picture, you see a rather flat section of rode. You could pedal for a few seconds and then stop pedaling and coast for a few seconds. But on the computrainer, there is no stopping. When you stop, the wheel stops rather quickly. So, to maintain your momentum and movement forward, your legs have to turn over. Now, I do realize that riding the RAAM in actuality means a 6-9 day ride if you are using the group format. But even then, you are not riding 10 hours a day. Well, if you were on a 4 man team, you probably would. But in the future, I hope to complete a RAAM with an 8 person team. Well, I need to enjoy another night of rest.

Yes, here is a picture east of Glamis, CA. Very quite, sandy, and HOT!

RAAM Segment 2 - Pauma Valley to Lake Henshaw - 37.592km

The DeLorme topo software for the computrainer arrived today around 2PM. I have just begun to play with the software in course creation, but I have used DeLorme products and have used this same version of the software. How I love remembering things! So, I created the Pauma Valley, CA to Lake Henshaw, CA. Here is a little map for your enjoyment. Look at that profile map. It looks like you ride uphill for a bit, and the rollers then pick up after you reach the top. I also have a picture of the area around Lake Henshaw, CA. The lake looks a little tranquil, but it should because it is really in the middle of nowhere. If you look at the map, the lake appears to be in no man's land of the mountains and the dry Californian desert. Doesn't it make you thirsty just looking at the picture? Maybe you might want to bask in the sun on the beach of the lake. But maybe you want to get eaten by bugs and other lake insects. Does anyone see anything resembling a white sand beach or do we only have green-brown mud on the shore?- Loading up the course



Post ride report. Wow. Forget about the picture of Lake Henshaw looking beautiful because the road is horrible! Wow. To get up to the lake, the road has some very serious grades. I love climbing hills and mountains, but I either am out of shape when it comes to climbing and/or I need to turn on the smoothing feature in the DeLorme software. Road grades do not change as quickly as the course was doing. You do not go from 1%to 15% in about 5 seconds. So, I will deal with that before the next segment. Either way, it was a tough ride. Towards the end, the good ole' quadraceps muscles were shouting that they were nearing the end of their available power. In reviewing the profile, this section of course was basically a category 1 climb found in a major tour such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, or Vuealta de Espana. Ouch. But it is all good!

RAAM - Segment 1 Oceanside,CA to Pauma Valley, CA - 47.528km

Ok folks. Here is the first section of many. I think I am going to break them up into 50km sections (approximately 31mi) because the software runs better on shorter segments, I can keep up with sections around that number due to time restains for school, work, and other leisure activities. To refresh the course in your mind, I am planning on going from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD. The Rocky Mountains will be a little challenge with the Computrainer, but they should not be too bad. I will have to make sure to keep the resistance unit chilled when riding sections that have steep grades. Then again, I hope that the software keeps the grades to what they are in actuality. Grades in the US interstates really only reach >6% on vary rare occasions. Either way, I will ride this course and then move on to other challenges. Maybe riding across each state from West to east or something of that likeness. Well, enough of looking into the really distant future, the first route W-E across America is approximately 4800km. How does that make your backside feel?

So, let me get down to business. I will go ride this leg. Yes, for those people who want to see what Pauma Valley looks like here is a picture for you. It looks a little arid, but then again, many parts of inland southern California look the exact same. The profile shows a gradual incline up into the area around Pauma Valley. Then it starts to go into a descent. I am still waiting for the DeLorme Topographical software to arrive, which will allow me to map the other sections of the RAAM.

I completed the ride yesterday. It is a whole lot hillier towards the end than I thought it would be. But either way, it was a good ride. Since a computrainer is my method of riding the hills, flying down the descents, and trying my best to maintain momentum on the flats, I have included the file that shows power, cadence, HR, etc to give a little variety to the posts here.