| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
54.76 miles
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Altitude Gain:
3,318 ft
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Avg Speed:
15.74 mph
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Route:
Richmond 50 in 50
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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: 120 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 70 F NW wind @ 8 mph |
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Took yesterday off and attended the local amusement park in Charlotte. Drove from Charlotte to Rockingham, NC for today's ride. It was a lengthy drive out of the way from my next stop in Spartanburg, but as it was quite cool in the morning, the temperature had risen nicely by the time I got there. I had lived in Rockingham for a couple of years twenty odd years ago while working on the construction of a power plant and had ridden many miles on the roads of Richmond County. Not sure where the name of the route came from but imagine it referenced riding fifty miles in fifty degrees. I rode the course last year and enjoyed it. Once outside the city the course heads northwest on gently rolling grades for twenty miles to Ellerbe then continues northward for a serious of climbs before heading back. Didn't really do much work on the first section as am still fighting a cold with an almost continuous nasal drip and occasional leg cramps at night. Although I now walk with a limp from the cramps they don't appear to affect my cycling at all. I did get comfortable on the bike after forty-five minutes of pedaling and was temporarily free of the colds effects. I think the course was designed to ride to the three good sized climbs that came in quick succession. I have purposely not been watching the data on my computer and trying just to zen ride only looking at the map and hill profile screens. I was watching my virtual partner that was selected somehow for the ride and shows up on the elevation profile. Assume it was from the average speed of the guy that uploaded the course or possibly my ride from last year or maybe even a default average speed. Either way I was keeping pace without much effort. That changed on the first of three climbs that had an elevation change of two hundred and fifty feet over a half mile. Lost some time on the virtual partner though I didn't have too bad a climb. I had stayed in the big chainring and couldn't remember the last time I used it and decided not to break the streak today. The second climb was bigger with three hundred and fifty feet of change that included a section of eleven percent. I remember climbing it well last year though I am not in nearly as good shape and much heavier. I hit the eleven percent section and came out of the saddle but soon found it too far to power over. I had a bad climb while standing on the pedals at a very low cadence and probably was going slower than if I were walking. My virtual partner got so far ahead after I cracked on the hill that I didn't think I would be able to catch up. I did recover on the downhill before starting up the last of the hills in the climbing section. It too was also over three hundred feet but over a mile long and only hitting a maximum grade of seven percent. Got over this one fairly easily. While the early part of the ride was fairly open and exposed to a headwind, the climbing section was inside of pine groves. Last year I had encountered numerous logging trucks but this year only saw one. Actually other than in Rockingham proper I had not seen over half a dozen cars over the fifty mile route. Once out of the climbing section it was another twenty-miles of fairly wooded rolling terrain trending downward. There were a couple of late climbs and the course had another steep climb at the finish but the new four lane bisected the course and I missed it due to a detour. I still had a decent climb through downtown Rockingham and a few turns and stop signs to deal with. I got on the last mile of finishing straightaway and noticed my virtual partner wasn't too far ahead. I sprinted the last half mile and was able to nip it right before the finish. Turned out to be a fairly relaxed ride though I did some work on the climbs alas without much success. It was a good ride in the sun after the first few miles of discomfort. Felt good to ride the roads here again though this wasn't one of the courses I used to ride. Will start exploring some new roads during the week around Spartanburg, SC.
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