| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
77.45 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,676 ft
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Avg Speed:
21.00 mph
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Route:
Great Escape
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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: Flat
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Bike: Look 585 Carbon Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Cloudy 72 F SE wind @ 10-20 mph |
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Finished up my work in Paris and have a couple of days until my next project in Dallas. Thought it would be a good idea to return to Malvin TX for another event. All the signs were present for me to have an epic ride. Haven't been on the bike in two weeks and only have two or three rides in the last month. Finished a 17 hour shift, grabbed a couple hours of sleep then drove the six hour drive to Houston in a little over eight hours due to traffic. A drunken party at the pool lastest into the early morning hours at the motel I was staying which limited my sleep. Then had to get up early thanks to daylight savings change. Add in an upset stomach and a continuously dripping nose to make things even better. Got to the start of the event an hour early and there was already several hundred cars in the parking lot.
Not sure how many people attended the event but the numbers indicated over 1000. Selected the 70 mile course since it was the longest offered. Terrain here is almost perfectly flat so I figured it would be a fast ride. Course was basically a 35 mile ride into a stiff breeze (10-20mph) before turning and riding a tailwind back with a little new scenery on the way back into town. I got near the front at the start and hoped to sit in hang on as long as I could then limp back in the tailwind. Plan didn't work out well at all as in the first few turns, chatting tourists riding three or four abreast blocked the road,and I was quickly separated from the front group. Worked my way up to the front of the non-chasing chase group and could see the front group had advanced about a third of a mile up the road. Attempted a bridge into the headwind and actually started to reel the group in. Looked down and noticed my speed was over 27 mph which was great but my heart rate was 182 that at my advanced age is 105% of my maximum which was not so great. Held the speed for a kilometer or so but then had to drop down to a more sustainable 24 mph. Fortunately the group ahead was not rotating and appeared to be just drafting one or two riders. I did successfully close the gap and got on the tail end of a group of 12 to 15 riders that was pulling between 22.5 and 23.5 mph.
Sat in for a bit and was soon joined by another rider who had made the bridge. The group started rotating with everyone pulling through and maintaining a 22.5 mph pace until the first rest stop at 20 miles. Only 9 or 10 remained in the group at this point and several riders pulled into the rest stop. Another rider and I decided to keep riding and as fate would have it kept going straight. We soon relized our error that the rest stop sign was also a turn sign. We turned around and headed into the rest stop for directions. About half the group had stopped but some riders had gone ahead. I grapped a couple cookies and headed out alone again into the headwind. I didn't think I would catch the group on the road, but thought I might catch them if they stopped at the next rest stop 15 miles down the road. After hard ride I did actually catch a glimpe of the group of four as they were travelling perpendicular to me after a turn. Backed off a little as I saw a rider approaching me from behind. The rider turned out to be on a recumbent. I jumped on his wheel and tried to draft as best as I could, but alas the draft was not sweet. Held on for a few miles and actually almost caught the group of four but I gave up again as I could not hold on any longer. After the ride I checked my files and noticed that I had exceeded my maximum heart rate for nearly ten miles in that section. Caught up with the group lounging at the rest stop at the turn around. Ate some tootsie rolls and started off alone again, but this time into a tailwind. I was soon caught and dropped by the recumbent and soon thereafter by a pair of riders. I traded pulls with them for a couple of rotations but could not hold the 24.5 mph pace and soon they faded into the distance. Rode the final 25 miles by myself although the last ten miles was full of riders from the shorter distance events. Rode steady and had a decent 21.4 average speed until the last couple of miles when I got caught in traffic that could not pass the groups of slower riders coming into town. Ended up with a respectable 21.0 mph considering the poor shape I'm in and 45 miles of the 75 total I rode alone. My average heart rate for the 75 miles was 165 bpm which gives me hope for some good times at the time trials next summer.
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