| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
100.00 miles
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Altitude Gain:
4,663 ft
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Avg Speed:
18.47 mph
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Route:
Kiwanis Crazy Kicker
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 0 bpm
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Avg HR: 0 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Rolling
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Bike: Look 585 Carbon Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 61-86 F W wind @ 7 mph |
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Stayed in Jacksboro, TX last night as it was within easy driving distance of the start of the century in Mineral Wells today. Got to the motel a little before ten and the only place I could find to eat was a Dairy Queen drive thru. Looked like I wouldn't be carbo loading for the ride. Couldn't find a grocery store either so pre ride meal would be whatever was at the ride. Motel was pretty nice though. Got to the start and registered effortlessly in the dark but the only thing they had to eat was some candy, so I feasted on some Tootsie Rolls. Had done the ride last year and remembered that the rest stops had been well stocked so wasn't too concerned about not having enough calories to complete the ride. They make a pretty good production of the start by blaring Elvis music during registration. There were a couple hundred lined up for the 100, 65, and 50 mile rides. Right before the start the music changed to some Alan Parsons Project and with the firing of a cannon we were off. The cannon shot was impressive as I could feel the shock wave pass through my body. The ride is fairly rolling with four sets of climbs the first being the Three Amigos, second Possum Kingdom, third Cherry Pie and the fourth was doing the Three Amigos in reverse on the return to the start. Three Amigos is three back to back climbs of around two hundred feet. Pace from the start was blistering in the high twenties. Kept up fairly easily by staying in the draft and only doing work to cross any gaps that formed. First hill comes at about four miles in and I did fairly well on the first amigo though I did get gapped. Caught back on by the base of the second amigo but got dropped again by the front pack of fifteen riders. Tried to get back on with three other riders on the backside but couldn't quite do it. Climbed as hard as I could and had knots in my staomach but it wasn't enough for the third amigo and I started fading away. Was passed on the climb by the second pack of ten riders and couldn't catch on. Chased down the backside but was still losing time. Got passed by a tandem which could have been my salvation but legs didn't have it and was still sucking air from the climb. Had gone over the top of the third climb with an average speed of 22.4 but it wasn't enough. Got caught around the twelve mile mark by a group of five riders and was able to catch on. Two of the riders were quite strong and hammered through a turn and left the four of us behind. We bridged back to the front duo one at a time but lost one guy who couldn't bridge. We could see the second group a half mile up the road and spent the next ten miles redlining it trying to catch them. The strong front two got away from us on a small hill and tried to bridge to the second group but failed. My group of three continued to chase and eventually picked back up the front two and caught the second pack. Sat in on the back of the now large group until the first rest stop at 28 miles where five of us kept going and the rest took a break. After a twisting downhill we started the Possum Kingdom climb into a stiff headwind. I was unablee to stay with the group for more than a mile of the eight mile climb and pretty much collapsed on it. Grade wasn't too bad at between three and five percent but in addition to wind was the road surface. Pavement here was classic southern Shake & Bake. It looks like Mega Coarse Grade sandpaper with sharp crushed rocks in a light tar base. Basically you dide on the sharp corners of the rocks. Vibrations are incredible on a bike. Of the hundred of the miles around forty of it was shake & bake. Though I'd get caught by the group that stopped at the rest stop but didn't until the fifty mile mark where two of the riders showed up. I stopped but they didn't. They joined with two riders that were ahead of us and hammered on. Got some cookies and a pickle and filled my bottles before hopping back on for the remaining fifty. Caught a few solo riders on the next section that were suffering from the shake & bake. Stopped at the sixty five reststop and had more cookies. The big climb of the day is Cherry Pie which for me wasn't two bad as it has a max grade of ten percent and is less than a mile long. Did much better on it than I did on Possum Kindom. Got passed by a rider a few miles later but caught on his wheel. He had tri bars on and was pulling the slight downgrade at 29 mph. Worked hard to stay on and found that I settled in nicely and he kept the pace for four or five rapidly passing miles. He slowed down on a couple of small climbs and I came out of the draft and took the wind just pacing him up the climbs. Once through the climbs we continued to trade pulls at 22 until eventually we rode side by side and chatted. He was originally a racer from Alaska who then and now competes in 200 mile time trials. Said they are popular in Alaska but that he just races the same twenty guys over and over. We split up at the rest stop at the base of the backside of Three Amigos as I stopped for water and more cookies. Spun the last fifteen miles through the climbs and caught some 63 milers and finished in better shape than I imagined though my average speed had taken some damage on the last leg. Didn't feast at the finish as I had to get on the road for another ride tomorrow. They did appear to have some sort of beer garden trailer but I didn't check it out. Nice fast group century but don't care much for the rough surfaces.
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