| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
38.75 miles
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Altitude Gain:
2,575 ft
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Avg Speed:
18.55 mph
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Route:
Hillbender
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Avg Grade: 149 %
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Max Grade: 163 %
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Max HR: 0 bpm
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Avg HR: 0 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Rolling
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Bike: Look 585 Carbon Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 54 F ESE wind @ 5 mph |
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Headed up to Cazenovia NY for the first real race of the year. I had done the Hillbender a few years back when it was mostly long climbs but then was unfamiliar with the new course other than that it was two nineteen mile loops. Arrived after a two hour drive and picked up my number and a souvenir skull cap. Due to some recent chip stoning the course was changed but since I didn't know the course I would have never known the difference. Not sure how big the crowd was but it was easily over fifty. Everyone started at once with tour riders doing one lap and racers doing two laps. I felt terrible suffering from a nervous stomach and after the first mild climb found out that I also had dead legs. As I dodged through the rolling start I had little desire to race and hung out at the back of the pack for the first three or four miles of upgrade. Thought seriously about just doing one lap and calling myself a tourist. A gap opened up on a short steep hill inside Cazenovia that I was unable to cross. Chased some stragglers alone through seven or eight miles of long rollers but really neither gained nor lost my weak position. Did try to ride with one female rider that climbed well but she was very young and a little squirrelly and so kept my distance. I doubt she weighed ninety pounds but she was able to stay in my draft on the downgrades. After the rollers there was a steep twisting downhill that had a great view on Onondaga Lake. I did drop the young rider on the downhill but descended hesitantly since I didn't know the course. After another couple of miles mild climbing the final section of the course was a mile or so of eight to ten percent grade to the start\ finish. I came out of the saddle on the last section and was able to catch one rider that outweighed me by forty pounds but was also passed at the top by the female rider I had dropped on the downhill. At least she was breathing hard as she went past me. Thought seriously again about dropping out after one lap but as it had warmed up quite nicely and it really was a scenic course I opted to tour the second lap. I got caught by a couple of riders and we worked loosely together and pulled in a couple more on the grade up and through Cazenovia. Sucked wheels through the rollers after the village and felt too weak to even take a pull. I did feel a little guilty and so tried to take a strong pull on a downgrade but instead of the hoped for kickstarting of my system I instead lost my breakfast. Faded off the back of the group and ended up spinning the remaining few miles alone. Not sure where I ended up in the big picture. All I know it was a miserable attempt at racing. It was a nice course though either for touring or racing offering an epic view of the lake and a final climb up around a waterfall. Each lap had only a little over a thousand feet of climbing and really is now one of the flatter and faster courses around.
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