| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
60.78 miles
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Altitude Gain:
3,596 ft
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Avg Speed:
17.26 mph
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Route:
Tour de Goshen
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 153 bpm
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Avg HR: 136 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Rolling
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Bike: Look Blade RS 795 Iconic Ltd Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 83 F S wind @ 7 mph |
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Headed down state for a metric in Goshen, NY. Course didn't have any big climbs but did have at least nineteen short climbs each between one-hundred and two hundred feet. Sun was out and winds were moderate with the only weather issue being it was a bit humid. Not sure how many riders were out for the mass start but there was a good sized group. Saw a group of fast guys ride up to the start and figured it would be a fast ride. Plan was again to focus on holding on for an hour then relax and tour if necessary. Things went sour right from the start. First short climb came almost immediately and the fast guys initiated a jail break. They hammered the climb and five or six of them quickly separated from the main group. I tried to stay with a second group of twelve to fifteen riders but struggled up the hill with bad legs. I was putting out over three hundred watts and was still fading off the back. I recovered a bit on the backside and attached myself to the back of the group. The front group was already out of sight. Worked my way through the second pack and got to the front and took a hard pull and reeled in a couple of lone riders up the road. I hoped taking a hard pull would wake up the legs but soon found out it didn't help. Faded back into the group and tried to stay in the middle. The course was trending downwards over slightly rolling grades and we were soon traveling along in the mid-twenties. Kept losing positions in the pack and soon found myself at the back. We had to slow down for a turn and then accelerate up a grade and found myself getting dropped well before even getting to the climbing section of the course . Checked my milage and found I had only held on to the second pack for twelve miles well short of my hour goal. Noodled along hoping to recover and then hopefully join up with some other dropped riders though none were in sight. Did notice that the road was in terrible shape with large potholes and really crappy railroad crossings. Felt some relief that I didn't have to ride through that section in a group. Rode a few miles alone and entered the hilly section. Got caught and passed on the first climb of the section by a group of three riders. Got gapped fairly good but was able to attach myself on the back side of the hill. Set in the draft until the next climb when one of the riders accelerated up the hill out of the saddle. I went after him and passed the other two riders who let out expressions of surrender and that was the last I saw of them that day. I was able to stay with the attacking rider and was able to pull away from him on the backside. We went through a few of the numerous climbs with him pulling the uphill and me pulling the backside. I soon started opening up bigger gaps on him on the downsides and but he would usually recover and catch me between climbs. We passed a water stop that had a good sized group of the second pack. On the next climb the second group went by me and I was unable to grab on as they passed. The rider I had been with earlier caught up to me as I was stopped at a redlight and said he wasn't able to latch on to the second pack either. We rode over the next few climbs aggressively and I was able to finally start out climbing him. We saw that the pack ahead had split and had separated a group of four or five riders that we were slowly gaining on. My riding partner stopped at the second rest stop and I continued on alone. I had passed out of the climbing section and had a fairly flat five mile section into the wind that I had hoped to use to catch up to the small group ahead. That never happened though as my legs were running out of juice and soon the riders ahead were again out of sight. Had a few more climbs before turning out of the wind and doing the last twelve miles to the finish. Thought I might be able to rally with a tailwind but that was another thing that didn't happen. Got passed on a climb by a rider from the second pack who I assumed had missed a turn. He chatted a bit then moved on ahead and out of sight. Caught a few riders in the last five miles but think some might have been form a shorter course. They did save probably the hardest climb until the second to last. It was short but steep and a worthy challenge to my tired legs. After that one the remaining climb was fairly mild although it was the backside to the first climb that I had trouble with at the start. There was good food and entertainment at the finish and even had a camel available for photos. Guess there was some connection between the humps of the camel and the nineteen humps of climbing. Didn't feel very good after the ride as had pretty much torn my body up in a less than spectacular performance. Tough course.
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