| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
53.24 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,620 ft
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Avg Speed:
21.79 mph
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Route:
Spokeride
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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: Cloudy 75 F NW wind @ 7 mph |
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Up at four in the morning for a nine AM race around Sacketts Harbor. Got to registration after a long three hour drive. Registration went smoothly and saw quite a few familiar faces at the start. There were two races held today with the long race at fifty and the shorter less hilly version at a little over thirty. Had almost two hundred cyclists lined up for the tenth year of this race. It is a fairly falt course with only one short steepish climb at five miles than a long ten mile leg numbing climb at mile fifteen. At the halfway mark there is flat section through a couple of towns then a fast downhill at the thirty mile mark. Race finishes with eighteen miles of slight downgrade with a few rollers thrown in and finishes with a quarter mile long perfectly straight, flat sprint. Usually have a good finish if I get over the first climb at the five miles with a group. Race started out very fast this year with a tailwind out of the gate. Speeds were in the upper twenties for most of the miles after we got out of town. Felt great and went up and took a few pulls on the front to get warmed up. Feeling great didn't last long as the legs gave out halfway up the first climb and had to struggle to get over the top. The fast pace had cut the field from sixty to twenty by the base of the hill and found myself among five riders that got separated from the fifteen strong post climb peloton. Once we were clear of the hill our small group of four or five found itself twenty seconds down from the main group of fifteen. Twenty seconds doesnt seem like much but it is very difficult to close the gap when the pack ahead was averaging twenty-five after the climb. We were able to hold the twenty seconds but weren't able to close for five or six miles. Group disintegrated until it was only me and a strong rider in yellow on a time trial bike. He did most of the work and I helped as mush as I could but we started to lose time at mile thirteen. Had some bad luck when we had to stop for traffic at the base of the second hill at mile fifteen. Got really demoralized when we finally started the climb and could no longer see the peloton up the road. Race was over for us but we still had thirty five miles of battles left for the also ran positions. I got dropped quickly on the second climb as the rider in yellow walked away. Didn't have any spark at all left in my tired legs and spun as best I could up the ten mile long grade. Got caught by three riders about three quarters of the way up the climb but was too weak to maitain contact and had to let them go up the road. Got caught by another group of four as I neared the top and was able to stay with that group. The group had another time trial bike guy in orange leading it and another large rider in white as well as two hairly legged gents. Was able to rest a little as the orange and white rider took fast hard pulls but the two others took longer slower pulls. Between the numerous stops for traffic and slow pulls we were loosing lots of time but it was easier than riding alone. Started getting aggressive when I hit the fast downhill and took a very hard pull. Opened up a gap on my group but they reeled me in fairly quickly and soon found myself lagging off the back of the group at the start of the next small climb. Legs started feeling better and was able to eventually pass the group by the top of the climb as they quickly lost momentum. Saw at least two riders up the road with a forty second lead and decided that I would try to catch them. Traded pulls with the two strong riders and we were making progress until we had to stop at an intersection for traffic. Pace slackened once we restarted as the group seemed to be doing a lot of back streching and not much accelerating. Took the initiative and charged up a small steep climb and opened a good sized gap up on the foursome. Concentrated on catching the two riders ahead and rode strong keeping the speed near twenty-five. Held on alone for five miles but eventually had to back off and was caught by the orange timetrial guy and the rider in white. They got on my wheel and stayed there for another two or three miles. Didn't bother me much as I am actually faster with a rider in my wake than I am alone, so I kept the hammer down as best as I could. Started running out of road though as we rolled into the outskirts of town. Gave up on the pursuit and fell back behind the other two riders. Saw one of the riders up the road slow up and went back to the front and took a hard pull and bridged up to him. Chatted with him a little and found out he had cramped up and had to shut down. The four of us made the final turn into the quarter mile sprint zone with the rider in white attacking at the start. He quickly opened up a five length lead and I started my pursuit. He held the lead for about half the sprint but I was able to reel him in and was able to go around him in the last fifty yards and win the sprint by a quarter of a second. Ended up in eighteenth overall which wasn't too bad but ended up fourteen minutes down from the peloton that had finished the the fifty miles in 2:03 @ 24.2 mph. Was disappointed in my climbing but felt good about my speed and elated with my sprinting. Had a good time at the race and enjoyed the people I rode with today. The only problem is the course as I had to stop five or six times today and wait for traffic at intersections. Still a good fast course with friendly competitors and good decent people running it.
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