| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
34.28 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,527 ft
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Avg Speed:
15.52 mph
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Route:
Dundee North Wind
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 162 bpm
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Avg HR: 119 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Hills
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Bike: custom built Cipollini RB800 Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 51 F N wind @ 8 mph |
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Wasn't a perfect spring day for cycling, but with a ride in the thirties and rain two days ago and a short sub freezing ride yesterday, fifty degrees and sunny had a mighty strong appeal. Had a cold north wind blowing, but it was less than half the speed it averaged last week, and so an eight mile an hour headwind wasn't discouraging at all. Still headed out with some winter garb despite it being the first day of spring. Headed to Dundee with the climbing on the way out to minimize the effects of the headwind. Took the steeper option up Pine Street out of Watkins and had a good early half but the legs ran out before the hill did. Tried to push harder once I got into the gentler sections with the goal of getting the heart rate up. Plan was to push hard to Dundee and spin the tailwind home. Took a couple miles of climbing before I could get the heartrate into the zone I wanted and put enough effort in to keep it there. A mile or so short of Reading Center I met with the excitement of the ride. A very large belligerent St Bernard came out into the road to challenge me. I wasn't sure I had the legs to out sprint the aggressor uphill into a headwind and really didn't want him to let it out of my sight. I am pretty sure it outweighed me, and its slobbering jowls looked huge as it tried to get behind me on my blind side. Was pretty sure that his yap would be able to easily encompass my thigh if he could get a good angle as it had the height to just lunge out and grab me. I thought about punching it in the nose, as they say it works on sharks, but also thought if I miss and it gets my arm it would easily break my bones if not actualy tear my arm clean off, and I would probably bleed to death there in the road. To really help matters there were two little girls screaming in the patented little girl super high pitched scream. I also considered that the screaming might make the beast more agitated as it might think I was threatening its charges. I kept losing speed and had to keep swerving to keep it from rounding on me. Didn't have too many options. If I carried a baseball bat or a large caliber handgun I might have stood a chance but lacking those I was totally outclassed and mostly helpless. Eventually a man came out of the yard and started yelling at the dog which caused it to hesitate. It gave be a final evil look and curled its lip before loping back toward the man. I've been hit by cars and would rather be hit again then party with that beast as it could have easily torn me apart and looked and acted like it would be happy to do so. Rest of the ride was a bit anti-climatic. Crested the hill, did some downhill into Dundee, and rode the tailwind back as planned. Was glad I had the winter stuff on as the downhill got a little coolish, but not unpleasantly so. Did see one other rider as I descended into Watkins but really couldn't tell much as he\she was bundled and masked ascending the hill. Might have been an actual cyclist but could have also just been a commuter. Didn't break any records but got some miles in.
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