| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
25.67 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,586 ft
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Avg Speed:
21.36 mph
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Route:
Tour de Susquehanna
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Avg Grade: 144 %
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Max Grade: 172 %
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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 75 F Calm |
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After riding the fifty mile plus Tour de Perry yesterday we had packed up and headed down to the Bellafonte, PA KOA and camped out in anticipation of doing today's race in Clearfield, PA. Hadn't done this race nor heard much about it but with the lack of racing in NY for the past couple of weeks we figured a short unfamiliar race might be fun. Wasn't sure what the course was like as the information we had looked at online didn't seem to match what we were hearing before the ride. We had thought that the race was twenty two miles long with all the climbing in the first quarter and the rest being downhill and flat. We heard on site that the race might be twenty three and a half with a short steep climb in the middle. Had another beautiful July day with no noticeable wind for the eight AM start. We lined up with eighty seven riders in all varying from a handful of known fast guys to three or four mountain bikes. Didn't feel too comfortable at the start with a possible hard climb right out of the gate. Pace started out controlled for a couple of blocks through town and I broke a cleat trying to snap in. Had enough cleat left to lock in but by the time I got it seated I had drifted to the back of the pack. Climb started as soon as we got out of town and I moved back into the middle of the pack as the climb ensued. Climb actually wasn't too bad though it was very, very fast. The maximum grade over the two mile climb only got up to six percent with most of it around four. Survived the first speed change on the climb but was unable to come out of the saddle and maintain contact after the second acceleration half way into the climb. The pack split into a front group of a dozen or so and a second pack of another dozen with me stalking the second group over the crest. After the climb came a couple of miles of gentle downgrade and I held the gap on the second pack but didn't make up any time. A second long shallow climb came up soon after and I made up some time on the second pack and thought I might be able to make contact before the top. I passed a couple riders that couldn't keep on and closed to within twenty seconds over the top. Unfortunately after the top another long downgrade waited and as I rolled over the crest the group was nowhere to be seen. They had evidently gone to warp speed on the descent. Lost my focus on the downhill chase and instead of pursuing riders in front of me I found myself trying to outrun a group behind me. I ran for a couple more miles and then surrendered and was overtaken by the third pack. Sat in for a bit and found I could hang with this group with little effort and soon found myself in the front as we hit a series of rolling climbs. I opened a gap on every climb but was gobbled back up on the backsides of the climbs. Reached the high spot of the course at with a short eleven percent climb halfway into the ride. Sat in the back on some of the steeper down hills as didn't know what to expect. Got a little miffed at an armchair general who kept yelling instructions from the back of the pack. He continually yelled out insipid comments while never coming to the front and never doing any work. We weren't working a line and people were just pulling when they felt like it but that seemed to be the group desire and seemed to be working to me as there was no way we were going to catch anyone ahead of us. Went to the back and watched the general for awhile and he never even got close to the front. Decided he must fashion himself a sprinter and wanted nothing more from the day than wanting him not to win the sprint. Last few miles of the course appeared to be fairly flat and we rolled along in the mid-twenties. The general made his move at mile twenty one as he came out of the back and hammered by on the outside and opened up a decent gap. The group didn't react at all so I came out of the back and hammered hard and pulled the group back up to the general. When we caught him I slowed up a little and intended to ride his wheel up to the sprint, but a couple guys came around me riding hard. I looked ahead and saw some orange cones set up a quarter mile up the road and figured this must be sprint time. Thought it was probably to far to sprint after a hard chase but went for it anyway and quickly got back to the front. I easily took the sprint to the cones, but unfortunately that was not the finish line. Seems the cones just marked the centerline of the sprint zone and still had a couple of blocks to go. Got passed as I entered the zone and didn't have any leg left to go again but I had opened up enough gap that I coasted in for second. Felt very satisfied when the general rolled in at the wrong end of the sprint pack. Ended up twenty-seventh overall and third in the over fifty group. Had a decent ride other than the poor climbing at the start. Think if I could have stayed out of the saddle for another ten or fifteen seconds on the first climb I would have been able to stay with the second pack. Maybe next year. IronDoug stayed with the front group of seven. He finished in sixth place at over a twenty five mile and hour pace. Great course but a little far from home.
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