| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
36.04 miles
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Altitude Gain:
2,359 ft
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Avg Speed:
20.60 mph
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Route:
LDA Classic
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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: Rolling
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Bike: Look 585 Carbon Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 73 F S wind @ 15 mph |
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Today’s race was the LDA Classic in Naples, a 36 mile course of eighteen miles of generally flat terrain and the remaining miles were rolling hills. Didn’t feel much like racing this morning as although the temperature was in the seventies the wind was blowing at a steady fifteen miles an hour that would provide a little suffering if I couldn’t stay with a group over the climbs and then would have to face the wind alone. It was the third year for the race and around sixty riders lined up for the start. There was also a shorter tour held at the same time. First ten miles of the race is basically flat with a couple of gentle grades before hitting the first hump of the day. Race started with a controlled start for the first mile. I quickly fell to the back and found myself riding with a couple of teenagers that were obviously stoked for the race and moved about skittishly. Decided to move up into the pack and had to go by a guy on a mountain bike that was either texting while riding or perhaps using his phone to collect data. Had trouble moving up as with a fifteen mile an hour tailwind and a large pack even with the mid- twenties pace kept the road congested and had few gaps to advance. Got into the women’s section but didn’t linger there long as there were too many "good job", "looking good", and" keep it up" s and tried to get to a quieter section. A lone rider finally took off on a small grade and made enough headway that the pack started to break up and go single file. Was able to move into the front half of the pack but couldn’t get into the front third where I needed to be before the first small climb. Encountered a problem passing through an intersection right before the climb as there were several traffic cones set up and the pack weaved in and out of them. A woman judged her line wrong and crowded me out as she swerved around a cone. I lost a good deal of speed and lost my draft as the pack accelerated up the hill. The woman came up beside me and apologized for cutting me off and we chased the pack up the hill. We soon formed up into a chase group with a few other stragglers. Speeds got up into the mid-thirties in our chase group once we got over the top and pursued down the backside. Only one other rider and I survived the chase and reattached to the pack after a mile or so of chasing. Sat at the back of the much smaller pack until we turned into the wind and the climbs started at the eighteen mile mark.Average speed to the bottom of the climb was 25.3 mph. As usual I got dropped on the climb and with a few others and we singly fought our way up the hill. Caught a pair of riders up the third of four moderate climbs in the second half and sat in for awhile. They had basically given up for the day and let me set the pace. It actually was better than riding alone in the headwind but would have rather shared the load. The three of us caught up to a fourth rider on the last moderate climb of the day and could see the large second pack up the climb from us a minute or more ahead. The recently caught rider started sharing the pulls with me but we didn’t gain any ground on the riders up the road. After a couple of miles he tapped me on the shoulder and suggested we try to lose the two guys that were sitting in. I said okay and attacked on the next little climb. After a half mile of intense effort I had only achieved dropping the rider that had suggested the move as the other two were fresh and easily responded to my move. I gave it up and slowed down until the rider caught up and the four of us headed down the last hill and started setting up for the sprint. Felt good about the sprint as the last mile and a half were downgrade and we had turned back to the north and again had the strong tailwind. The two riders that had been sitting in were teammates and I figured they would cooperate on the sprint and allow one to get away. I set up behind the one I thought was the stronger of the two and either stayed in his draft or rode beside him. With a mile to go the other teammate took off with the fourth rider on his wheel. Thought it was a good move but didn’t react and lucked out as the rider I was behind started chasing and pulled me up to his teammate. I started my sprint when I saw the finishing tent and actually had timed it well as won the sprint and was still accelerating over the line. Was surprised that my speed in the sprint was 41 mph which is probably the fastest I have ever sprinted. The downgrade and killer tailwind obviously helped. Was a little disappointed in my 20th position finish but was elated with the sprint and felt better after the ride than I did at the beginning. Race had been won after a five man breakaway on the first hill and a sprint finish about eight minutes ahead of our group. My time for this year was within two seconds of last year’s where I had done considerably more work. Not sure whether that is a good sign or a bad one.
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