| Ride Stats |
|
Distance:
69.10 miles
|
Altitude Gain:
6,232 ft
|
Avg Speed:
15.23 mph
|
|
Route:
Twin Rivers Challenge
|
Avg Grade: 0 %
|
Max Grade: 0 %
|
|
Max HR: 161 bpm
|
Avg HR: 130 bpm
|
Terrain: Road: Hills
|
|
Bike: Look Blade RS 795 Iconic Ltd Road
|
Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 57 F N wind @ 3 mph |
|
Today's outing was a mountain metric in Tallulah Falls, GA. Wasn't too thrilled as I drove to the event with a temperature of forty-two degrees. The event didn't start until nine, so it warmed a little but still was just closing on fifty. There were two-hundred and fifty-one starters for the various courses. I opted for the seventy miler. I lined up a little ahead of the middle but really should have started further up. The crowd had all sorts of bikes and various levels of riders. I made the mistake of lining up next to a couple of teens on department store cruisers among others. It took a bit for the pack to get moving, and it was a couple of minutes after the start before I even got to move. The teenagers started crashing into each other which they thought was hilarious, but the rest of us trying to get around them weren't amused. The course started on a twisting downhill and that also provided a challenge as their wasn't much of a natural selection and found myself riding next to a young girl on a mountain bike pedaling furiously. She did have good speed until we hit the first upgrade and she instantly disappeared. Started working my way through traffic and got to see another clown showing off his look ma no hands riding technique. Couldn't believe that someone would do that in the middle of a pack. It wasn't a quick thing either as he probably rode a quarter mile like that. Once I got past him the chase was on. The first big climb wasn't until around fourteen miles, but there where five or six smaller twisting climbs and descents before we got there. Once I got through the traffic, it was open road ahead. The fast guys were gone. Started overtaking single riders that would draft me for awhile and then fall off. After four or five miles I saw a pack of a dozen riders or so ahead. I really wasn't gaining on them but on each climb the group would shed one or two riders that I would quickly overtake. Seemed to be making headway but then lost sight of them after long one climb. Saw them again after a bit on another climb. I found myself climbing with two others that were panting heavily. They paced me up the climb, and I put the hammer down on the backside and got the speed up into the mid-thirties dropping my companions and catching on the back of the pack after a half mile. Settled in and was hoping to rest and recover but after less than a mile, we came to the first rest stop that all but one rider stopped at. I didn't spy any port-a-john so continued up the road to take a nature break. Turns out I was on the first mountain climb and that was the end of my hammering. Rest of the course was in survival mode. First climb was a over a mile and went up eight hundred feet. Kept moving steadily and caught and passed the other rider that didn't stop. The climb was steep at the bottom but slackened in the middle. The last section was fifteen or sixteen percent. I kept plodding along hoping I wouldn't have to dismount when a climber went by me rapidly. I took some solace that he went up the road a few lengths and slowed down. So he didn't rocket away. Another rider passed me just before the top and the two guys waited for the rest of their group to finish the climb. There was a long twisting downhill that I pretty much coasted trying to recover. Once at the bottom the course had a half mile of gravel section consisting of sand and golf ball sized sharp cubic rocks. Slowed way down as my tires and wheels are not suited for gravel. Tried to follow the bike tracks in the dirt as much as possible but lost a good deal of time and got nervous as my rear wheel would occasionally let out a loud 'thunk' noise. Got through it without damage and made good speed on a flatter section catching one other rider and passing a couple repairing flat tires. Saw a group up the road and tried to catch them but lost sight once the road started going up again. The route listed nineteen climbs, but only four were over five hundred feet and paled in comparison to the first climb. I only caught two more riders on the ensuing climbs and other than a short section before the first climb rode the course alone. It was a good course for solo riding as it was excessively, pleasantly curvy, and I always got to pick my own line. Appears that the engineers that designed the road followed a snake on meth. Other than gravel section and buffoons at the start it was a fantastic ride.
Still way too heavy to be able to do much on the climbs but I was able to keep a steady pace and only suffered on the first big climb. They had a band and lunch after the ride, but the band was loading up as I picked up my food.
0 member views | 21 total views
report problem |
|
|
|
|
more...
