| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
68.80 miles
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Altitude Gain:
5,358 ft
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Avg Speed:
14.79 mph
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Route:
Croton-Maverick Junc Castolon Croton
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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: Steep
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Bike: Look 585 Carbon Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 65 Light SW wind |
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A twenty got me a seven day pass to Big Bend National Park in Texas. An additional ten got me a primitive campsite for up to a week. I stopped at the visitor station at Panther Junction and asked for a primitive campsite near pavement in a central location of the park to let me cover as much of the 100 miles of pavement without repeating sections. I got a pass to the Croton Spring camp site which was located near the two big climbs in the park. The access road to the site was a quarter mile section of dirt (loose sand and big rocks)road which I chose to walk rather than ride as a broken wheel or body might be unpleasant with the nearest humankind a good ten miles away. While walking up to the pavement, a park ranger drove by and stopped to chat (make sure I had the proper documents.) Turns out he had done time as a ranger at Watkins Glen State Park, and that while he was there he had often rode the bike trail to Millport. Another of the small world moments I too often encounter. The roads were smooth, the scenery spectacular. The temperature was hot on the climbs and cold on the descents. There was nothing special about the climbs as they are typical western climbs having several miles of constant 2-3% grade with the grade increasing in the final mile or two with the max being around 8% if they used switchbacks or 15% if they tried a less twisting approach to road building. The climb to Castolon used the straight up approach and had two back to back 15% sections just before the crest. Once the crest was achieved it was a 14 mile fast coast down to the Rio Grande at Castolon. The return trip from Castolon had of course a 14 mile climb with the last three miles being 8% switchbacks. It was my first ride of the year that I was dripping sweat onto the road. Rode back to my campsite as darkness was approaching, and the coyotes could be heard howling in the hills. Almost as soon as I got off the bike to walk the dirt section back to camp I bonked and the walk became the most difficult part of the day. In hindsight, I reasoned I probably should not have done the 15% grades in the big chainring. A good day overall with the big climb coming in the morning.
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