| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
49.88 miles
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Altitude Gain:
4,203 ft
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Avg Speed:
15.21 mph
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Route:
Varney Murphy Hills
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 161 bpm
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Avg HR: 130 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: Sunny 77 F SW wind @ 5 mph |
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I was registered for a hilly race in Bristol, NY but decided to sacrifice the registration fee and save the gas money and possible severe embarrassment at the event. Opted to do hilly course with my home boys to check out my condition after a week off the bike. Mighty Young Joe wanted to do less than fifty miles and Doug wanted to do a steep climb preferably the north face of Harris Hill. I just wanted to do some climbing and preferred some hills we don't frequent. Harris Hill fell out of the mix as it would have been an out and back with only one climb for the day to stay below fifty miles. Substituted Varney Hill Road climbing out of Cayuta then hitting some strange climbs I found on one of the course mapping programs east of Sullivinville. We started up with a climb up Jackson Hill to Catherine. Doug and I pretty much contested the climb with Joe being quickly dropped. The hill is feisty but not really considered to be difficult. Surprisingly I was able to stay with Doug over the top by pretty much maxing my heartrate and digging deep. We cruised as the grade lessened and waited for Joe to catch up. The next event was Varney Hill that is considered to be a nasty climb. Didn't do very well on this one as Doug went out of the saddle when the grade went over twelve percent, and I wasn't able to follow. I did my best spinning as he disappeared up the road. I was able to actually see him as he made the top as he had to scale it back a bit as his wheels were losing traction as he stood up on the dirt sections. Years ago Varney was mostly dirt then it was paved and now it appears to have partially reverted again to dirt. We had a long downhill on dirt, but it was fairly smooth and wasn't difficult. Next we had a climb up Brinks Road, and I was again able to stay with Doug as it didn't have any long steep sections. The third climb of the day was the second hardest up Moss Hill Road. This was one of the new climbs and turned out to be long and steep. I got dropped again on this one but not as bad as Varney. If it had been in a race situation though I would have lost more time than I would have been able to make up even by bombing the downhill. Doug and I had time to recover after every climb as we had to wait for Joe each time. He was climbing better than last outing but we still have lots of work to do. We had a sweet downhill onto Lattabrook Road and continued the long descent to Horseheads. We headed out Sing Sing Road to Big Flats for the last climb of the day up Murphy Hill. It is several miles long mostly at a moderate grade before getting steep over the last mile and finishing with a wall climb. I did fairly well over the first few miles of the climb but was riding my limit as the heart rate was maxed out. Got dropped again big time as Doug went out of the saddle when the grade went over ten percent, and I was unable to go out of the saddle nor increase power to my spin. Lost time over that section and more on the wall as he squirreled over it while I survived it. We waited for Joe at the top of Catlin Hill then made two screaming descents down Catlin and then Steuben St hills to finish off the ride. Turned out that I climbed much better than I thought I would but probably best that I didn't try racing as one doesn't get to recover at the tops of the climbs.
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