| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
101.04 miles
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Altitude Gain:
5,463 ft
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Avg Speed:
19.15 mph
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Route:
Tour of Chataugua
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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 64F SSW wind 15-25 mph |
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Rained out again yesterday morning and drove out to Westfield, NY yesterday afternoon for the century this morning. Hadn't been out this way in twenty years but back in the eighties this century was a regular event. The weekend opened up this year due to the rescheduling of the Sunbury race. Spent a cold rainy night in a tent but it was better than a three hour early morning ride plus I have another ride out here in the West tomorrow at Kinzua Dam, PA. Forecast for today's ride was not encouraging with a cloudy thirty percent chance of rain, a high in the mid-sixties, and a fifteen mile an hour southwest wind with gusts up to twenty-five. Got there early and went thru registration easily. Ride included a meal and a nice T-shirt. Map was rather confusing as it included the fifty, seventy-five, and hundred mile routes all jumbled together. Another bad sign was the instructions at the start that said that they had posted the paper directions arrows yesterday before the rains and high winds. They highly suggested keeping the map dry as there was a high probability that many of the signs would be missing. Talked to a few riders at the start but no one was terribly familiar with the course so wasn't sure how much climbing there would be. There was supposed to be a mass start at nine AM but noticed many riders rolling out as soon as they registered. Had a relatively small group at the mass start and would doubt they had more than a hundred riders overall. Wasn't too bad a turn out for the poor forecast though. Ride started out with a following crosswind for around ten miles of fairly flat terrain. A couple of riders on timetrial bikes rolled off the front early and people crossed up to them in ones and twos until we had a front group of fifteen or twenty riders. Hung in the middle and chatted at a moderate pace but was unable to find anyone else that was doing the hundred as almost all were doing the fifty. Timetrial guys missed a marked turn and that was the last I ever saw of them. An older fit gentleman took a long hard pull with several of us in line behind him. Took over for him after a bit and did a a long moderate paced pull. When I pulled off there were only five of us left. The old gent, two young guys and the girlfriend of one of the guys. The old gent, a rider in orange and I traded pulls with a rider in red and the woman riding the bus. Ran out of flatland and turned into the wind and the first long climb. Took the first pull and when I pulled over there were only the two guys and I left. The orange rider pulled away on the long climb and I stayed with the red rider. Didn't want to push the hill too hard as I had thirty-five miles of nasty headwind to go and thought I wouldn't have too much trouble catching the orange rider as he was quite tall and not at all wind friendly. He pulled over at one of the arrows and we had to check the instructions to see if we were to turn or not as the arrow wasn't really pointing in a sensible orientation. The three of us took off again and the young guys started sprinting small hills. Did a couple with them but finally cracked on a steeper one and soon found myself about twenty seconds down. The boys stopped though again to check thier map and caught back up. They both were only doing the fifty so I rode with them to the first water stop and we parted ways. Kept my head down in the wind and soon after the water stop caught up with a group of fifteen or so riders that must have left early. They were bunched up and riding fairly slowly in the wind. Passed them easily and kept on keeping on. Caught up with another pair of riders that tried to stay on my wheel but soon fell off on a slight grade. Stopped at the second water stop at forty miles and filled up my bottles. The only food thay had was fresh fruit, but none of it appealed to me. Told them I might stop back as it was also the stop at sixty miles. They told me I was only riding for the silver as another rider who had left early had already passed through. Told them I still had sixty miles to catch him so it wasn't over yet. Went off in pursuit though I really didn't know how much of a lead he had. Finally turned out of the wind at around the forty-five mile mark and started doing some serious speed on the flatish terrain. Kept looking up the road on the long stretches but wasn't having much luck. Finally caught sight of him climbing out of Kennedy which was just a couple of miles short of the sixty mile water stop. He got in my draft and stayed with me until the waterstop. He stopped and I didn't as I really wasn't hungry and still had nearly all my water. Had an average speed a little over nineteen as I pulled through Falconer and thought with downhills and a wicked tailwind there was a chance I could work a twenty average out of the tour. Soon found that the course was climbing again and hopes of the elusive twenty mile an hour century were abandoned. Hit some fairly heavy traffic in Falconer but that was the only traffic on the course. Had to get the map out quite a bit as there were very few signs on the corners. Was somewhat familiar with the roads though so wasn't worried about getting lost. Got back into the countyside with the climb up Dutch Hollow which was my favorite part of the course. After a long steady climb the road descends in rolling steps which were lots of fun with the blistering wind at my back. Started catching some of the seventy-five milers on the climb. Only unpleasant part was having to ride while reading my slowly disintegrating map. Hit a few drops of rain on the hollow but for the most part avoided any serious rain. Didn't see the last water stop but had enough to finish comfortably. Final long fast downhill showed up at the ninety mile mark and was nearly six miles long. That only left five miles of flat roads into a crosswind to the finish. Ended up doing the one-hundred and one miles in five and fifteen which I thought was prety good for the conditions. The only other rider that I knew doing the hundred was the guy that left early. Got back to a nearly empty parking lot. Nice fast course but poor map, poor signage, poor turn out, and long drive will make me think twice about returning here.
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