| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
78.30 miles
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Altitude Gain:
7,675 ft
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Avg Speed:
16.75 mph
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Route:
75 miles of montour
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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 75 F S wind @ 7 mph |
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Up at a little after four for a two and a half mile for my third race of the season. Had little hope for glory this race and was hoping not to suffer excessively on the eight big climbs spread out of the seventy eight miles of the course. Had two race running at the same time the 75 mile traditional sufferfest I had entered and a shorter less hilly 45 mile course. Both races run together until around the twenty mile mark where thay part company. Looked to be a pretty good turnout with a couple of hundred riders lined up for the start. Temperature was near 60 at the start and temperatures were expected to rise into the upper seventies during the race. Saw quite a few familiar faces at the start with a majority of the people I knew were riding the long course. Goal was to stay up with the front group on the first 600 ft climb, hide in the pack until the second killer climb at the 35 mile mark then survive the next forty miles as best as possible. Things started to go sour right out of the gate as I fell further and further behind during the two mile long controlled start that weaved through the downtown Danville. Was at least a quarter mile behind at a couple points and had to expend too much energy just to get back near the front to start the first climb a half mile out of town. Started jamming the first climb and was doing fairly well when a car came down the hill and forced the pack to bunch up. Lost my momentum and started to lose big chunks of positions by the halfway mark. Rallied a little when some friends went by and stayed on thier wheels to the top though there was a sizable gap to the huge front group. Next bad luck happened on the downhill where we had to slow down and nearly stop as a dog was running back and forth across the road. Found myself in a group of eight or so riders with a group of four riders a few seconds ahead of us being the only cyclists visible as we completed th first downhill and started the thirty miles of rollers until the real climbing starts at the thirty five mile mark. Group tried to get a paceline going but only three of us were doing any work as the rest just sucked wheel. The three of us were enough though to gooble up the four riders up the road but that was my last success of the day. Had a few guys trying to organize the group from the back of the pack that just antagonized the few riders trying to push the pace with the result that no one did any work and our forward momentum was stopped. I was content just to sit in the pack as I was riding on the ragged edge and was a little demoralized when I checked my computer and saw that we had only fourteen miles in and therewere sixty more miles to go. Speed kept dropping as we moved through the rollers and the pack kept getting larger as more and more groups were catching up from behind. By the time we reached the separation point for the two races at the twenty mile mark we had at least thirty riders in the group. After the pack split we only had ten to twelve riders in our group during the 75 mile option. Started to feel better after the a few miles at the relaxed pace and started to push the pace with two or three other riders on some of the short climbs. Lost a couple of riders and went into the steep loose sand climb with around ten of us. Fell all apart on the climb and ended up isolated as I barely got over the top. Thought about walking a couple of times as I had nothing left in the climbing part of my legs. Caught one rider on the downhill and was hopefull I'd be able to catch a small group to help cross the next ten miles of rollers. Didn't catch anyone though and was eventually caught myself by the rider I'd passed on the downhill and another rider that had been dropped in the rolloers before the big climb. Tried to catch on to the two and work with them but back had given out and was struggling just to hold on. One of the riders dropped off as he thought he had a soft tire and tried to hang on to the other but he just spun away from me. Came out of the saddle on a couple of small rollers and caught up again but was unable to sit and spin. Noticed that the rider that had dropped off with the flat was back on the bike and in pursuit so figured he must have just been tired and found out it was his legs and not the tire that had gone flat. Was able to get away from the two riders on the third climb of the day though I had to stay out of the saddle to do so. Had a good gap on the soft tire guy over the top but lost a little on the long downhill as had to rest and couldn't build up any speed and had to be content with coasting. Fourth climb started immediately after the third downhill and turned out to be my best climb of the day. Had to stand up again most of the way but kept gaining seconds on my pursuer until at some point he cracked and I was free of him. Looked up the road to find another rider to pace me but had no one within the three minute gap I could see ahead. Fourth climb was actually the end of my race as after that it was just survival as my average speed dropped on each of the remaining climbs and was unable to pick it back up on the downhills that I could only coast on or the infrequent flats that I couldn't build any speed up on. Was surprised to catch a couple of riders on the fifth climb but they had cracked big time and I was able to close and overcome them on the steep grades. One of them stayed with me over the top and we worked together a little on the downhill but he couldn't keep up on the sixth climb. Started catching one or two riders on each of the remaining climbs. Wasn't overcoming them by speed or power but by lack of cramping more than anything else. Had one good cramp myself on one of my inner quads that almost knocked me off the bike but it didn't linger and was able to keep moving by switching muscle groups for the remainder of the climb. Finally got to the eighth and final climb but lost huge chunks of time by the time I got over the top. Didn't feel to bad as I rolled into the finish but had given up racing on the fifth climb and just toured the remaining three. Ended up something like 52nd and about 40 minutes down from the winning group. Road surfaces were horrible, downhills were dangerous, there were a few crashes,was sounded thrashed by most of the other riders, and I could barely walk after the ride. Looking forward to doing it again next year.
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