| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
59.14 miles
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Altitude Gain:
2,682 ft
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Avg Speed:
16.23 mph
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Route:
Green Creek Cowpens
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 154 bpm
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Avg HR: 119 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Hills
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Bike: Look Blade RS 795 Iconic Ltd Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sun\Clouds 79 F Wind SW @ 11 mph |
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Relocated to Boiling Springs near Spartanburg for the week. Picked out a sixty mile course starting in a chain supermarket's parking lot that was a pretty good location for starting an unknown route. Usually if the route starts from somebody's house, I need to find a fairly secure location where I am unlikely to be towed or robbed while on the bike. The route started on a service road along the interstate that had me a bit worried as I had to dodge some woodchuck sized potholes. Not a good beginning. I soon was heading west through a flat section in a construction zone where I did some speed work following cars through a long single lane. I took it easy for a while turning to the north and catching a very strong tailwind. Turned onto the Mountainview Road, but try as I might I couldn't see any from the road though I knew where they were. Mt Mitchell the highest mountain east of the Mississippi River isn't too far away and a local rider told me it is currently a cycling hotspot as the road has just been reopened after being closed by last years devastating hurricane. I have ridden up it a couple times many years ago but doubt I'll ever try it again. I did start to hit some foothills heading north on the Peach Tree Rd. There were a dozen small climbs noted on the route , all between three and five percent average grade and nothing more than two hundred feet. It appeared it would be another day in the big chainring. Started up the first climb of the day and felt and climbed horrible. Thought if I didn't feel any better soon I would turn back and make a short ride out for the day. The hill had a fast sweet sweeping descent on the back side that was a quick thrill and my attitude improved. I did much better on the next few climbs and was able to flow over them. After the climbs the road leveled out but kept good speed with the tailwind. Did note that quite a few sections of road had jigsaw cuts in the pavement with occasional chunks missing. It wasn't bad to ride on unless it was on a downhill, then I had to take extra care. Crossed into North Carolina and continued north to Green Creek where I turned east onto a fairly busy highway with no shoulder. The road surfaces were much better in North Carolina as they didn't have the jigsaw cuts and there were some decent Halloween decorations along the way to entertain me. I rode a few miles on the white line and an occasional four inch shoulder. The road didn't have much of a lip though and thought I would be okay if I ran off the side as it looked fairly hardpacked. It wasn't really much fun after the climbing section that was a good time, but I figured it was just used to get to the Cowpens Battlefield that promised some climbing loops through the site. Once I got there though I was disappointed as I found the gate padlocked as the park had been closed due to the government shutdown. I continued along the highway for another mile where I got to turn onto secondary roads where the riding improved. I was a bit worried as I headed south and thought I would be battling the wind that had been my friend earlier in the ride, but it wasn't too bad. The route had some turns in it, so I wasn't always riding directly into it and was sheltered by another couple of good climbs through a river gulch. Enjoyed the climbing and descents and then just had a couple miles of flatland back to the start. It turned out to be a good route except for the highway to the battlefield that I could have done without.
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