| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
62.69 miles
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Altitude Gain:
4,028 ft
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Avg Speed:
18.92 mph
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Route:
Tour of Lebanon Valley
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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: 143 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 66 F SW wind 8 mph Gusts 18 mph |
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Drove down yesterday to Lebanon, PA for a rolling metric Century. There were close to three hundred pre-reg riders, so plan was to find a fast group and see how long I could hang. Unfortunately, my computer nanny delivered some bad news. I hadn't slept well, and all my numbers were bad- resting heart rate through the roof, body battery thirty percent with no recovery during sleep, stress levels high throughout the night. Still, I felt okay although woke at four AM. Ride had a rolling start from six-thirty to seven-thirty for the metric. I got to the site at six and was ready to roll at six-thirty. Plan B now was to roll out with the first group of six or seven that looked fairly strong but more tri guy setups than racers or tourists. Didn't start out well as the group was moving fast out of the parking lot, and I was gapped immediately already nearly a quarter mile behind. The course was mostly rolling climbs. Route listed sixteen rated climbs while most were between a half and three quarters of a mile long and generally had around two-hundred feet of climbing each. Average grade was around four percent. I think three climbs had thirteen percent sections and a couple of the rated climbs were back-to-back so some of the real as opposed to rated climbs were a couple of miles long. I started riding hard up the starting grade and caught up to the group within a couple miles and legs felt pretty good despite the bad numbers. Figured I would settle in and draft for a bit, but at the first climb had a change in plan. Most of the group slowed way down as it hit the climb except for one guy that went around and charged up the hill. Decided to go with him and accelerated around the group and into the draft of the aggressive rider. The first two climbs were the longest of the day and I was able to spin by the other guy as we went up the climb. Got near the top and had opened a gap and it was just the two of us in sight. Soft pedaled until the other rider caught up and noted that he was a looked pretty strong and had time trial bars. We started to work together on the backside of the climb with him taking some hard pulls. I ran hard through the first twenty miles that had a good portion of the days climbing and we stopped at the first rest stop at near twenty mile an hour average. Intended on hopefully waiting at the rest stop until some of the other riders rolled in and hoped to regroup. Had three riders pass by without stopping so the other rider, a twenty-year-old named Gabriel, and I went off in pursuit. We caught two riders quickly and another rider at a railroad crossing. I started to have trouble on the steep stuff as I could not match the young rider out of the saddle despite him outweighing be by fifty pounds. I could maintain contact barely by sitting and spinning. I think I did all but one of the climbs in the big chainring but probably would have fared better with more small ring on the steeper climbs. Dropped the other rider quickly on the next climb and rode to the next rest stop. Only had to chase down one rider that passed us at the second stop. We caught the guy after three or four miles of hard riding. I wanted to slow down a little and draft the guy after the chase, but Gabriel flew by him, and I kept going too. We were now about fifty miles into the ride and Gabriel missed a turn. I yelled at him and hoped he heard me as I made the turn. Rode slowly for a while hoping he had heard me and turned around. Thought I heard him coming behind me, but it turned out to be the guy we had passed, who also sported time trial bars. Saw that Gabriel was not far behind and got into the other guy's draft. We were climbing a slight grade into a nasty eight-mile-an-hour headwind that was gusting to eighteen. Guy kept stepping up the pace to try to drop me, I imagine, and thought I wasn't going to last as legs were awful heavy and several muscles were at near cramp condition. Was certain I was going to get dropped and then the other guy cracked and slowed up greatly. Got a boost from going from certain doom to surviving and opened up a strong gap. My reward though was a couple of miles into the headwind alone. Looked back and saw Gabril had caught and passed the cracked rider, so slowed up and drank all my water to hopefully prevent my impending cramping. Gabriel caught up and we rode the last five or six miles together at a relaxed pace. Got back to the start and we had a short sprint for the finish that I lost. And it wasn't close. Happy though that rode well despite not being in good form. Heart rate was high throughout the ride and really didn't put out many watts for the effort. My out of the saddle riding was poor but had a good spin on the climbs and was able to take twenty-four mph pulls on the front. Gabriel with his time trial bars and young heart was pulling at twenty-seven quite often. I think we would have averaged over twenty on the course if it wasn't for the last few miles of brutal headwind. Rode to exhaustion but felt satisfied with my performance.
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