| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
49.34 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,581 ft
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Avg Speed:
15.53 mph
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Route:
Tour de Scranton
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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: Hills
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Bike: Look 585 Carbon Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Rain 40 F NE wind @ 5 mph |
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Looked forward all winter to the first event of the year and the first test of my legs and was greatly disappointed. The event organization was grade A but the weather was abysmal. it was forty degrees and raining at the start of the event, and it only stopped raining when it turned to sleet as the temperature dropped. There were probably less than forty riders at the start and most of them were mountain and commuter bikes. Start was delayed for ten minutes for unknown reasons which allowed us riders to absorb some more moisture as we waited. We finally got underway with a police escort and the motley crew of cyclists immediately shattered on the first rise out of the gate. I spun easily but two other riders hammered the rise and opened a fairly good gap. Once the grade slackened a little, I spun up toward the leaders and pace car and found two guys with no numbers, helmets or normal cycling regalia. I passed one of them when he fell off the pace and noted he was talking into cellphone as he rode. I quickly left him behind and caught up to the leader who also appeared to be an ill equipped parasite that probably hadn't paid an entry fee either. He was huffing pretty good, and I figured he wasn't going to last much longer. After a mile or two it was only the police car and me. I tried to slow down a little in hopes some other riders would bridge up, but the officer was having no part of that and sped off on his own. I hammered a downgrade and caught up and for the first eight miles I got a personal escort through all the intersections. I missed a turn somewhere around mile ten which I realized as I went up a fairly steep climb that I hadn't remembered from years past. Hardest part of the day happened as I tried to scroll through my Garmin screen with soggy mittens to find a map back to the course. I reoriented myself using the compass feature and got back going the general direction though on a course unknown. I soon spotted another rider going the same direction although he was on the other side of the Lackawanna River. I got back on course soon and talked with the rider and found out I had scored a little over a bonus mile on my detour. The guy told me he was with a faster group but dropped off as they were only doing the flat Carbondale route. I thought I would ride with him for awhile but he dropped off quickly even though I wasn't pushing the pace. I doubted I would catch them as it was only a couple miles before they were going to turn back, and I really wasn't burning much coal in the cold wet conditions. I Finally caught sight of another rider as I started the first real climb of the day to the rest stop at the Forest City High School. Picked up my pace and tried to close with the rider and eventually caught him after three miles of rolling climbs just as he was getting to the outskirts of Forest City. We rode together up the wall to the rest stop in falling sleet. When we stopped rest area, and the attendants said it was thirty five degrees there and probably below freezing further up the course on Elk Mountain. Only four riders made it to Forest City and we decided to abandon the Elk Mountain loop and return to The start, Didn't see much use of keeping turn marshals and rest stop attendants out in the cold just to say we finished the course. Started to shiver pretty good at the rest stop and decided to get back on the bike to generate some heat. Down hill was miserable. Had to stop on a steep section as my bike started a severe shimmy. Imagined that my front wheel bearing cones had come loose or that I had cracked the wheel bearings. It was white knuckles as the wet braking and wet cratered road surface seemed to just make the shimmy worse. Stopped without crashing and inspected everything and couldn't find any issues. Chalked it up to bad road surface and possibly involuntary shivering that put me in a critical harmonic for the bike. Rest of the ride was dodging water filled pot holes, manhole covers and trying not to rear end stopped cars at intersections as my brakes were basically useless. Legs felt really good for the last five miles but couldn't do much as it was frequent starts and stops at all the intersections going back through Scranton. Not the best of days on the bike. Felt bad for the organizer that puts out an epic effort for this event. Legs worked well on the climb but it was hardly a test as I was well rested at the bottom rather than the usual shelled out condition from chasing faster riders to the base of the climb. Maybe next year.
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