| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
56.61 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,972 ft
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Avg Speed:
19.88 mph
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Route:
Ride for Dignity
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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: custom built Cipollini RB800 Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 79 F SW wind @ 16 mph |
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Had a two and a half hour drive north to Henderson Harbor, NY to ride a rolling half century. Unlike previous years it was really warm out at ride time with the temperature in the mid seventies and abundant sunshine. Like previous years the wind was blowing hard out of the south with a steady sixteen mile an hour breeze. Mighty Young Joe had made the trip for the first time this year, and I recognized a couple of other familiar faces from previous rides. Last time I did this ride there was a thirty mile rolling flat section before heading up into a twenty mile rolling climbs section to finish it off. Plan was today just to take my pulls in the pack over the first thirty then hang on in the climbs and finish with the front group. My smart scale told me I had gained six pounds this week but that most of it was water, so I was a bit concerned how the weight would affect me on the climbs but didn't think it would hurt much as on a tougher course. With less than two thousand feet of climbing over the fifty miles this is one of the few courses I am still able to finish with the front group. Told Joe I wouldn't be taking off with any group unless it had less than six riders as didn't think I had the legs to hammer fifty miles in the wind. We went to line up and found we were facing in the wrong direction as the course this year put the climbing loop first. Lined up at the back of forty some riders which seemed a bit small. There were two shorter rides starting later and the twenty five ,miler had many, many more legs. Ride started while I was attempting unsuccessfully to get my heart rate monitor to work. Riders rolled out and immediately started a short steep climb. Group shattered immediately and had to weave through heavy traffic to get to the faster group that was hopefully forming up further up the hill. Past Joe on the climb but he soon joined me with the front pack of the day. There were six of us with two twenty somethings, two of us in out sixties, Joe in his forties and one very strong rider at seventy two. First few miles is just two or three percent grade and we made introductions and appraisals as the two young riders pulled us up the incline. One of the younger guys had time trial bars and a good spin. The other younger rider looked more like a wrestler than a cyclist and was new to the sport only recently getting clipless pedals. The other rider in the sixties I had ridden with before and he was a good climber. Thought the rider with the time trial bars would provide the talent for the ride but was mistaken. After the long incline the course has a series of short steep step climbs. The first and hardest is at least a half mile long with the first half being steep. The wrestler came out of the saddle at the bottom of the climb and stomped out the steep section. I came out of the saddle and tried unsuccessfully to stay with him and got gapped. I was able to close with him after the grade lessened but at great cost. I Told him he had opened a huge gap on the others and thought he might wait but instead said that they could catch up on the next one. We coasted briefly to the next one when he came out of the saddle again and stomped that one. We were caught after the second by the other sixty year old, but the remainder were not closing. Did a couple more steep climbs and my right leg gave out as I tried to keep climbing out of the saddle and was gapped. Cracked a little and had to gently finish the climb hoping my leg would recover. Expected Joe to catch me and thought we could work and maybe catch on the rolling downhill section. Legs recovered enough that I was not losing too much on the two riders ahead as we were on the top section of the loop and it flattened a bit. Unfortunately I was behind twenty seconds and knew it wasn't going to be easy to make it up in the wind. There was a support car following the two leaders and I thought if I could rally and make it only halfway to the leaders I would be able to draft the support car then slingshot around it. Rally came up short as I got close but not close enough. Came to another short steep section and had to come out of the saddle again. It was steep enough that I couldn't see the riders or the car ahead on the road. Thought the chase was over and turned around hoping there would be some help behind but the other riders from the group were strung out individually farther from me than I was to the front. Finally got over the top and saw I had lost all the progress from my rally but was finally on the gently rolling downhill section of the loop. Legs kept churning and was finally able to catch the leaders after an eight mile chase. I was surprised as had already given up. Sat on the young riders wheel as he pushed through the headwind and we made our way back to the start to complete the climbing loop. There still was twenty five miles of the flatter section of the course and still a few hills, but they were not so closely packed together. The young rider continued to stand and gap me and occasionally the other rider on the small climbs but we were able to spin back on the downgrades. Tried with some success to get a small paceline going into the wind. The young guy hadn't had much experience with pace lines but with his strength he really didn't need much help. Legs felt good on the flats but were still less than whole on the climbs. Kept getting gapped and once had to chase for another mile to catch on. Course doubles back on a couple of sections and we were able to see how far the rest of the riders were behind. The other riders from our first group were a mile or so behind but still staggered and pushing into the wind alone. Behind them was a larger pack of eight or ten riders but were too far behind to catch as we were running out of road and into the tailwind. With five miles to go the young guy finally started to run out of gas. He would stand at the bottom of the climbs but had to sit down before the tops, and I was actually able to spin past him rather than get gapped as earlier in the day. On the last hill I gapped the other two which surprised me as I was sure I was going to get dropped on the dash to the finish. When the young rider sat down I was able to accelerate over the top of the climb and aided by the tailwind was able to get my speed up into the mid thirties. I was flying across the final mile but half expected the youngster to go flying by but figured even so I'd be able to stay with him and finish with the front group and at least complete my goal for the ride. He didn't catch up though and I never looked back and finished it off alone. Joe finished sixth coming in covered with salt after a hard day on the bike.
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