| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
67.37 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,331 ft
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Avg Speed:
17.92 mph
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Route:
Delaware Leap Frog
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 158 bpm
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Avg HR: 128 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Flat
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Bike: custom built Cipollini RB800 Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Cloudy 66 F E wind @ 5 mpoh |
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Put in a rough night and woke up feeling less than ideal. Had stayed the night in Maryland and had to drive to Felton, DE for a long flat metric. Wasn't sure about the start time and whether it was a show and go or a mass start event, as the website was rather sketchy. Registration opened at seven and support for ride would start at eight. Got a late start and calculated that I would get to the start at seven but found out that Delaware is the land of the traffic light and trip took longer than expected. Pulled into a nearly full school parking lot at seven thirty as small groups of cyclists were rolling out. Got through registration quickly and was able to get on the road before eight. Course was rather flat and connected many of the ponds and lakes of central and southern Delaware. Early part of the course was marked well with frog emblems though the later parts of the course not so much. Original plan was to join up with a small fast group and crank some flat miles off as have a hilly metric tomorrow in NJ. Had to go to plan B as it wasn't likely I would catch any fast groups as that horse had already left the barn. Headed out alone and spent a pleasant day spinning and catching slower riders. Didn't have to do much shifting as terrain had no hills. There was some climbing, but maximum grade was probably two percent. It was cool with only a light east wind and overcast skies. Settled into a comfortable gear and cranked off some miles. Started to catch some riders soon with the single digit cadence crowd first. Views were fairly scenic for flat lands with wooded areas, wetlands and amber waves of grain. Pursuits took a long time as riders were visible at a good distance, and I was riding a steady measured pace a little over eighteen. It wasn't unusual to take fifteen or twenty minutes to overtake a rider or group. It reminded me of my younger days riding rollers. Would occasionally go up a gear and come out of the saddle and accelerate to stretch but mostly it was churn out the miles in the saddle. Started to catch some groups after twenty miles but although some would occasionally try to stay on my wheel none lasted too long, so spent the day riding alone. Stopped at a rest stop half way in Milford and got some trail mix. I was entertained coming out of the rest stop riding slowly through the busy town, munching on trail mix, when a teenager yelled, "on your left" and stomped by me out of the saddle. He then proceeded to immediately go off the course on side street. A minute later he came stomping by me on my right side on a sidewalk still out of the saddle. I finished my trail mix and upped my pace a bit to see what his story was, He was moving along at well over twenty, but it was all stomp on the pedals for awhile then coast and repeat. I thought no way can he keep that up for any distance so he must be a local just showing the cyclists his stuff. After a mile or so he started to slow and I overtook him. I saw that he just had flat pedals so doubted he was going to go very far. Picked my speed up on a downgrade and he quickly faded away. I looked back after a couple of miles and could see he was still back there but still wasn't sure whether he was local talent or actually on the ride. Started to get back toward the start but only had a little over fifty miles in. Old faded painted frog arrows conflicted with newer painted arrows with LF next to them. Wasn't sure which was proper. Decided to take a turn that had a 75 on it though thought it might be from a previous year but figured if there wasn't any more arrows would go out far enough to get the same miles in even if I was off the course. Wasn't worried about getting lost as was near the start and had the mapping computer and my phone as a backup. Rode out five miles before I finally saw another rider and then saw some from markings. Turning about and backtracking trying to interpret the markings had dropped my average below my target of eighteen, Stepped the pace up over the last couple miles but wasn't able to make it. Cars in parking lot were sparse upon my return. Packed up and headed for New Jersey. It was a pleasant ride but not very taxing. With a small group it would have been fairly easy to ride the terrain in the twenties.
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