| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
26.66 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,610 ft
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Avg Speed:
21.01 mph
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Route:
Borodino Race
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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: Sunny 78 F wind light and variable |
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Another early rising day to make the ninety minute drive to Borodino for the Race 4 Hope. Race started at 8:30 which seemed a little early for me but turned out okay as temperature at race time was in the lower seventies. Course is a figure eight with three rolling climbs in the first ten miles. After the ten miles the course goes up. Nothing terribly steep, max around 12%, but enough leg numbing grade in a six mile climbing section to make this a climber's race. Final six miles is high speed downhill ending with a 300 meter shallow climb to the sprint line. Goal for me today was to make it to the climb with the front pack. Had nearly 100 riders line up for the start. Had a young woman sing an inspiring rendition of the National Anthem again this year. Topic of conversation before the race was whether or not we would be treated to another accompanying yodeling session as we had last year from one of the big team riders. She was here again this year but someone must have told her to keep her trap shut. Had several teams well represented this year with several Finger Lakes, Owasco, and Oswego club riders. Ride started fast out of the gate but didn't have any trouble keeping up or navigating through the pack. Overall riders were pretty smooth at the start. First test for me came at the eight mile point with a quarter mile long steepish climb. Stayed tucked in the pack, but over the top there was a gap between my section and the main group. Looked behind me and was surprised that I was bringing up the rear as we had shed nearly seventy-five riders in the rolling section. Got towed back up to front group by some masterful wheelsucking but it didn't last long as failed the next test at the eleven mile mark as the pace picked up on a long grade and found myself separated from the main group with three or four other riders. Fortunately one of them was a teammate and the group worked fairly well together and pulled in two riders that got shed soon after we fell off. We could watch the race develop up the road ahead of us and the pack soon dissolved with four riders riding away from the rest. We were actually making time up on the second pack of around ten riders but ran out of time as we hit the big climb. My group of six broke up on the big climb with me bringing up the rear with George, a Corning Rider, a couple of Syracuse riders pulling away up the hill and my teammate hanging out in the middle. Didn't have a good climb but it wasn't terrible once I got going. Figured I'd do alright if I could catch up with my teammate before the top of the climb as he had burned me on the downhill portion of the timetrial on Thursday and would provide a sweet draft on the six mile decline. Came out of the saddle and crossed a thirty meter gap to catch him at the top but lost George, who had paced me up the climb, by doing so. My teammate started to push the last little grade before the downhill began and I had a little trouble staying with him as my legs were on empty after bridging up to him. He lingered a while and let me get in his draft and we started the pursuit of the two Syracuse riders that had gone over the top a minute or so ahead of us. I sat in his draft for most of the descent and I was struggling to stay on his wheel. Told him I didn't have anything and could pull a little but didn't have enough to keep us at his speed. He said he thought one of the Syracuse riders was in my age group and he said he would haul me up close enough to bridge to them. He hammered down one of the downhill sections and kept the speed in the low forties. He got me close enough that I was able to bridge to the runners on a short power climb. As soon as I caught them they shut down and I sat in their draft until my teammate caught up. Once he had caught up I made a short unsuccessful attack on the last little power climb before the final downhill. It was too little and I was unable to open a gap. Legs were starting to feel better though as I had finally recovered from the climb. Syracuse boys went into full sprint pack mode and let my teammate haul us down the hill. I rode up next to him and he said he wasn't going to sprint and would lead me out. I drifted back and got in the third position as he started his final push. Felt great as we screamed down the hill and at the 300 meter mark at the start of the finishing climb my temmate pulled to the right and the second rider came out of the saddle and started his sprint. Once he stopped accelerating I went around him easily and started my final push up the hill. Thought I had it easy but as I was going by the rider he glanced in my direction and as he did so he swerved into me. He hip checked me pretty good and hit my handlebars knocking my front wheel out from under me. Thought for sure I was going down and it wasn't going to be pretty as I was still moving at a high rate of speed. I was able to stay upright but unfortunately was no longer going toward the finish line and had taken a nasty shot to my knee most probably from my own handlebar drop. Just kind of rode in to the finish and ended up 20th overall. My teammate came in 21st and won his age group for his effort. The four guys off the front finished the course in less than an hour. We dragged in nearly four minutes later. Didn't have any fire today but had enough to ride defensively and not embarass myself too bad. Had fun and won a $25 gift certificate which almost covered the entry fee.
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