The Dead to Red (D2R) cycling race is the peak in my 2015 cycling season. The race was performed this Friday November 13. The race starts at the south end of the Dead Sea in Jordan and ends in Aqaba at the Red Sea. It is 200 km long. I was to do it on a new Merida 700 CX bike which is a good bike, more comfortable than the bikes I usually race with but 2 kg heavier and not as aero.
D2R is not a big race. There was about 150 riders on the starting line all together. But since it originally started out as a relay running race they do it both as a traditional cycling race and as a relay for three or five riders team. This also makes it easier for cyclists who hesitate to go 200 km to participate. The team can choose how many cyclists they want to use at the same time and how many that can rest in the support car as long as someone in the team is cycling. This proved to be important tactical terms.
They also categorize between road bikes and all other kind of bikes and they split between elite and amateur road bikers. All this meant that in the starting list the 150 contestants where divided in eight categories. My category (road bikes solo) had 18 names in it.
The start at 6 am is about one and a half hours driving away from Amman. We had to be on site at 4 am so the organizers could give us starting package, check bikes and other things so we left Amman at 2.45 am. This is really, really early but the organizers had done what they could to make us feel good about beeing up in the middle of the night.
We were not the first to arrive there but far from last. Everything went smooth and I could chat a little with my training buddies. Two of them I train with were registered in Elite category, two in Solo and there where two teams of three among us. I also could talk a little with some other riders that I have met during the months I have been here. A new friend was Per Erik from Norwegian Cycle Federation who had decided to visit friends i Amman and do a little cycling. Below you see him to the right, some of the triathletes, me and Ala'a who did this race as part of a team (of two).
At 6 am sharp the starting field was released. Even if my friends from the Jordan Triathlon team aimed at working together and put a man in the top of the race we didn't really have a plan and I had one real goal for the day. It was to come in under six hours and I thought that if I could do that it would mean a decent placement since no one did that time in 2014.
The first ten km or so was clearly warming up for us all. Then we tried to get some kind of chain-gang going but it stopped time and time again. It seemed that the cyclists from Jordan Cycling Federation team where under the instruction to stay top five but never do any serious pulling. This meant that every time one of them got into the top the peloton slowed down. After a while I realized that if we where going to go on like this I would miss my goal and probably do the worst race for this year speed-wise and maybe regarding results. I knew that I would not be any real threat in the races total since my bike gave me too much handicap with its weight and 46/36 chainrings on a course that is mainly downhill the last 100 km and also we would have tailwind this year. I decided I had to prioritize that my speed remained over 29 km/h in average for the first 100 km which is mainly uphill. According to Bike calculator this would meen an average effect of 225 watts which I knew I can normally do. This meant that I repeatedly ended up pulling the peloton under the first two hours. In the picture below I pull the future winners of solo category (non elite) and team of three category and also we see glimpses of the riders that fought about winning the elite category.
But it also meant some stress among the more competitive teams and cyclists. After about 60 km the Jordan Cyclist federation team decided that they wanted better control and put a pair of fresh legs from their team on the road and made an attempt that I decided not to try to go along with. I was rather content with my speed and knew I would never make any real top results. So somewhere from km 65 it was me, my head, my legs and my bike.
Another feature with D2R is that there are no organized stops with supplies. All riders and teams are allowed two support cars instead. So now and then you can refill your bottles and pockets as you go and this was a nice feature for me. My belowed Ulrika together with Muna and after a while coach Ammar did a good work in the car. I don't think I have ever done such a so long distance with no stops at all.
After 100 km the course reached its top and I was satisfied with an average of 30,6 km/h. Now it would suffice if I could hold a little more than 36 going down to Aqaba. After yet half an hour or so I got company from the very strong team Cullen the Herd which meant I could step it up a little more and when team Triatlon & Haddadin also showed up it meant that I could close the gap to Kevin Black who had been a few kilometres before me since I lost the peloton. I now had the information that third place stood between Kevin and me and I did my best to loose him but Kevin was very strong downhill and on the flats and repeatedly catched me when I tried. We had more or less company the last two hours. With about 30 km left I even saw that it would be possible to catch the peloton but I hesitated to got faster with tendencies of cramps in my calves but actually both teams Cullen and Triatlon actually managed this in the end so it may have been a mistake.
I and Kevin had to struggle with the winds without company the last 6 km. In strong headwind and uphill I thought I got away from him but he catched me again with less than 1 km to go and after a lousy right turn before the sprint I had to surrender to the stubborn and strong canadian.
In the end I managed to get in with a time of 5:52 (my Garmin says 5:49) and I am very satisfied with my consistency during the race. Next time maybe I will take my head and patience with me and try to do something more competition-like, or I will try to form a team that can do the course really fast, under 5 hours is probably possible with the right riders and the right wind. I surely hope to be back to this race. And my support also seem to be happy about it.
After the race there was dinner at Mövenpick hotel in Aqaba, very nice evening and it has been a very good end of my season. Now it is time to start preparing for next season.
