| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
50.63 miles
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Altitude Gain:
2,817 ft
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Avg Speed:
15.63 mph
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Route:
Tour de Perry
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 156 bpm
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Avg HR: 139 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 N wind @ 8 mph |
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Had an hour and a half drive to Perry, NY for the annual half century. Had a huge turnout for a local event with one hundred and seventeen registered for the half and at least as many for the shorter routes. The course starts out with the first quarter of the ride mostly downhill followed by the next two quarters of climbing and finishing with rolling downhill. Most of the climb occurs in Letchworth State Park and ascends alongside a very scenic deep river canyon. Wasn't terribly confident in my body after the last unpleasant event at Henderson Harbor and my last two rides having dead legs. Took yesterday off to hopefully recover and numbers looked okay to ride. Started out deep in the mass start pack with no intention of doing any work on the downhill section and saving myself for the climbing. Actually, gained quite a few positions by some aggressive drafting but front groups were quickly fading off in the distance. Started climbing with a group at the bottom of Letchworth and was doing okay but pulled off for a quick nature break at a layby. Caught up to a few on one of the fast downhills embedded in the climbing section. Settled into the group and hoped to draft up the gentler section of the fifteen miles of climbing at least until hitting the two walls at the top that I didn't have much hope of success on. Good deal of group was from a Buffalo club that were riding together along with a handful of independents. Worked okay until someone called car back and most of the riders coordinated to go single file. All except a couple of the Buffalo riders that stayed riding in the center preventing the car from safely passing. Found that to be very rude and decided to not ride with the group. Since the grade was only slightly uphill, I upped my pace and pulled away. Stayed away for a while but the group caught me on a steeper section but wasn't able to go by. Ended up riding near the front of their group until the first rest stop around fifteen miles where most of the group pulled off. Kept on with a few loose riders and soon found myself riding with a guy from a Rochester club. We chatted and climbed at a comfortable pace for me occasionally catching single riders or being passed by groups of two or three. Got to the two wall climbs at the top of the gorge and got through them in better shape than I expected. Started hitting the lesser climbs on the way to the second stop at Pike and was climbing hard but steady. Thought I was doing okay but was humbled as a young rider sprinted past me on one of the climbs at probably twice my speed. Lost my riding partner on the final climb before the stop as he dropped his chain. Filled my water bottle and got some chips at the stop. My previous riding partner rolled in and said he needed to adjust his seat, and I eventually rolled out on my own to start the steep climb out of Pike at a half mile long with a fifteen percent slope in sections. Normally I hammered the last sixteen miles of mostly downhill to the finish after ascending the final wall, but this year there was a nasty headwind out of the north and I struggled just to maintain my average speed. Kept getting passed by riders some that invited me to hop on but didn't have the legs and was struggling at times to go twelve miles an hour. Last three or five miles was unpleasant but finished it off without any real problems. First section of downhill was entertaining and enjoyed the climb and did better than I thought especially considering I'm probably several pounds over my too heavy to climb weight. So had a good time on eighty percent of the ride but really missed being able to ride hard as I have in the past.
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