| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
55.67 miles
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Altitude Gain:
4,141 ft
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Avg Speed:
18.61 mph
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Route:
Tour de Perry
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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: Hills
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Bike: Look 585 Carbon Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 76 F SW wind @ 8 mph |
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Pretty nice day in Perry, NY for a bike ride. Weather was in the low seventies for the eight AM start of the rolling half-century. There were over two hundred riders at the start with well over a hundred for the fifty plus route through Letchworth State Park. I was a bit apprehensive for the ride as this year the course was reversed from the previous years. Always liked the old course and didn't really like the idea of the new direction, but paid my money and went with the flow. New course has around a dozen miles of downhill to the foot of the state park, then fifteen or so miles of climbing through the park and to the rest stop\ turnaround in Pike. Bad news was that the state wouldn't let the tour paint marks on the road nor put up any signs for directions. So had to depend on the cue sheet and the GPX file provided loaded in my Garmin. We had a police escort downhill through the Village of Perry that was not optimal. Escort was really pushing the pace and was frequently out of site or cars would pull over to let him by then pull back in behind him in front of the peloton. Found myself pushing the speed up near thirty to keep the escort in sight. My GPX file was useless as it kept telling me I was off course even though we were definitely on course. Joe, Doug and a half dozen other riders were all that was left of the hundred plus riders as we left our escort behind as we headed downhill into the countryside. We kept a good pace to the start of the climbing then split apart at the first good rise. Knew I would be in trouble as I usually topped fifty descending the climb in years past. Doug and a Team Towpath rider gapped us over the steep section. Two other riders and I were able to close the gap when the grade slacked, but it was no easy task. We got over the first section of the fifteen climbing miles and coasted down a short descent. Joe and a few others were able to rejoin us on the descent which was impressive as the climbing was at a fast pace. A couple miles of further climbing and I was gapped by six or so riders when one attacked and I was unable to respond. The attacking rider only attacked a few meters to the first rest stop and the others riders followed him in. I hadn't taken more then a couple of sips of water and we were well under an hours riding in and didn't see much use of stopping. Waited by the side of the road for a few seconds until Joe caught up and we kept going ever upward. With the exception of the attacking rider that stayed at the rest sight the remainder of the riders quickly rejoined up. Climb continued with some aggressive climbing, and we began to shed riders. I hung on by sucking as much wheel as possible until getting dropped at mile twenty-two on the steepest section of the climb. A group of five went over the top together and then went on to finish the ride together. Got over the top of the climb after having my average speed drop from the twenties down into the eighteens. Got near the top of the park to what I thought was my exit but looked up the road and was unable to see the group ahead of me that still should be in sight. So kept heading up through the park. My GPX file told me I had been off course the entire ride and was worthless. Exited the top of the park and knew I was lost. Knew the next rest stop was in Pike and used my Garmin map to plot a new course to get back on course. Going northward I started passing riders that had gotten dropped earlier going the opposite way. I rejoined with a couple of guys that said they were still on course. Dropped them on one of the later climbs and rode into Pike alone. Last part of the ride is pretty much all downgrade with a couple of late climbs. Started catching some riders from one of the shorter routes as I rode to the next rest stop in Castille. Didn't stop and kept on motoring along. Seems I missed another turn and after a couple more miles of detour used my Garmin to get back on the course in Silver Lake. Crossed paths again with the two riders I had met earlier at a crossroad. Remembered most of the course from Silver Lake back to Perry and was able to navigate back to the start successfully. Ended up doing a few bonus miles but it was all good riding. Met Doug back at the truck. He said the front group had missed the exit in the park as I had. They also missed the same turn in Castille that I had but they didn't know they missed it and cut the course short by a few miles. We were about to send out for search planes when Joe finally showed up. His group also missed the exit in the park and he ended up doing an extra ten miles before getting back on course. So although it was a pretty good day on the bike, I think I was justified being apprehensive about doing the course in reverse. Lack of road markings seemed to have caught more riders than just me. The course also had quite a few changes and was not truly in reverse, so visual landmarks from previous years weren't always valid. Despite all the issues everyone I talked to seemed to have had a good time.
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