| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
21.94 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,626 ft
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Avg Speed:
18.94 mph
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Route:
Greek Peak
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 170 bpm
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Avg HR: 144 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: Cloudy\Light Rain 48 F S wind @ 11 mph |
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Went to my first race in a couple of years in Virgil, NY for Hollenbeck's Road Race. The race has been run for forty years but this was to be the last running of the course as next year the Finger Lakes Club plans on doing a gravel race. I had done this race several times through the late eighties and early nineties and knew the hilly course well. Weather conditions were less ideal with a strong south wind, a temperature of forty-eight and frequent showers passing through the area. There were two races this year an A race of two laps of the twenty-two-mile course and a B race of one lap. Turnout was rather light with probably thirty-five or so A racers and twenty-four Bs including myself. I had one teammate racing with me, and he is a much stronger climber. I think there were three Cat 3s and a handful of cat 4s in my group. With no hope of winning a climber's race, my goals were fairly modest-Ride hard and try not to embarrass myself. To achieve my goals, I figured if I could stay with my teammate, Bob, on the first climb I would be able to finish the race within five minutes of the leaders. Race started off very slowly into the wind on a slight rolling downgrade. One rider took off early and opened a big gap but there was no response from the peloton, and we just kept rolling along. The pace picked up little about a half mile before the first climb and the lone rider was quickly caught. I worked my way to the front at the start of the first two-mile-long climb and rode comfortably for the first third of it. Bob spun past me and took the lead and tried to create the first separation of the day. It worked as the peloton shattered. Bob and a group of four or five pulled away. There was another group of four that I stayed with for most of the climb but was left me hanging alone as they went over the first crest. I chased for a couple of miles through some rollers and was gaining ground but was suddenly passed from behind by a group of three 315 teammates. I jumped into the draft and quickly recovered and worked with them to pull in three riders ahead of us. We now had a group of seven that pretty much just rode together for the remainder of the race. The 315 would occasionally do some speed changes but the duration wasn't long enough to damage anyone. We got to the second climb of the day a short steep wall. Our group shattered on the climb with one young rider pulling ahead, one of the 315 racers and Dave, a Cookies racer, made it over the top together. Legs felt good, so I pretty much pulled the following downhill at a good clip and caught the young rider that had climbed away. We slowed down again as we approached the final finishing climb of the day-a mile long steep killer climb and our group of seven was rejoined. The 315 guys made a late attack and tried to drop us and get their rider in position for the final push. They opened a small gap but lost it as the climb started. The final hill sorted us out pretty much as the first hill had, and I would think it is safe to say all our positions were probably the same on both hills. I ended up finishing in the middle of my pack with a 9th/24 position and a 3rd/4 in my age group. Bob had gone on to finish fourth overall and first in his age group. Had a pretty good time overall. It helped that it didn't rain during the race, and we even had a good deal of dry roads which really helped on the fast downhills.
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