| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
33.78 miles
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Altitude Gain:
2,689 ft
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Avg Speed:
19.54 mph
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Route:
Kinzua Dam
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Avg Grade: 154 %
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Max Grade: 170 %
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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 68 F Calm |
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Had to drive a little over an hour from yesterday's century in Westfield, NY to get to today's hilly race in Kinzua Dam, PA. Weather was nice and warm and there really wasn't any wind of note. There were three different races today on the thirty mile course. The elite rider's were to do two laps, the under forty-five men did one lap and everyone else also did one lap. Being over a fair bit over forty-five and a weak climber I opted for the one lap with the everybody else group. Attendance appeared to be quite low this year. Less than ten riders were in the elite group. There were less than thirty in the men's under forty-five and everyone else group had a little over sixty participants. Groups went off in five minute intervals with my group starting last. Race starts the climbing right off with a two mile five percent grade. Wasn't sure what to expect from the body today but figured I'd hang on as long as I could. Had got dropped on the first climb here two years ago but had finished third overall last year with a late break in the nasty climbing section. Recognized a couple of riders from last year but there weren't any of the usual riders. Pace on the first climb started out reasonable and found I didn't have any problem hanging in although my cadence seemed to be quite slow compared with the other riders. Still felt good after two thirds of the climb was in and went to the front and picked up the pace a bit. Road at or near the front for the all of the six miles of the early climbing section and covered a couple of breaks. Started to feel a little stressed as we reached the top and sat in the back for the downhill section and attempted to recover for the last eight or nine miles of climbing to the finish. Went to the front near the end of the downhill section and tried to initiate a separation of the group before the climb but once the gap was established the two riders with me wouldn't pull through and would just cover me by sitting on my wheel. Sat up at that point and gap deteriorated. Pack was down to less than twenty as we hit the first of five or six fairly steep climbs. Two riders jumped away on the steep section and my legs were unable to respond. Worked with another rider and reeled the break in as the grade lessened. Started to feel the strain after that and went back into the pack and just tried to spin and recover. Sat in for a climb or two but came out of the back when another break two man break came again on a steep section of climbing. Came out of the saddle and tried to reel the guys in but failed miserably when my back started to complain. Tried to sit back down and spin as the pack went by me but failed as my well had run dry. Fell rapidly off the back of the pack and ended up just slowly spinning off the remaining two climbs to the finish. Ended up thirteenth overall which wasn't too disappointing but wasn't happy with the amount of time that I lost over the last climbs. Turned out to be a nice day, had a good first section of climbing and was able to hang on for a few climbs despite being a little on the tired side.
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