| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
24.69 miles
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Altitude Gain:
2,520 ft
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Avg Speed:
19.84 mph
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Route:
Sunbury RR
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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 72 F SE wind |
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Up before dawn for a long drive to Sunbury PA for a thirty plus mile hilly race. It was a little cool at the start but only briefly considered wearing a t shirt under my jersey as the sun still has a good deal of heat left in it and it was a fairly cloudless day. Had ninty-five riders in the race today but a couple of the bigger teams and a few strong riders that normally show for this race were absent. I've been doing this race for four or five years now and I usually enjoy it though it is too hilly for me to stay long with the front group. On this course I would be think I had a terrific ride if I could finish in the top ten. They announced a course change at the line up as one of the roads had been recently oiled and stoned and was deemed not safe for racing. Normally the course has three climbs with each climb being progressively steeper and harder. The course change extended the second climb a bit, eliminated a couple miles of rollers and about half of the third climb. The first climb is three or four miles long with most of it being five percent or less. There are a couple of short steeper sections that always present me with a challange. Last year the race took off from the gun with the speeds on the approah to the first climb in the low thirties. This year was much more civilized with speeds only in the low twenties. The lower speeds actual made the pack much more dangerous. Quite a few of the riders here today appeared to not be aware of the yellow line rule or just don't care. Had a couple of riders with time trial bars and red blinking lights on there seatposts pass most of the pack in the other lane on the twisting climb. Not sure what the point of having a safety device blinking away on the back of the bike if you are riding into oncoming traffic around a blind corner. Turned out alright though as no traffic showed up to ruin the day. They were also wearing helmets and I'm sure those along with thier blinking lights would have prevented any injuries that a headon collision with a car may have caused. The last two years I have been dropped on the first climb but this year a combination of a slower pace and stronger legs got me over the top with the front group. I was dangling a little of the back with a couple of other riders but we caught up on the downhill. After the downhill the pack formed with around twenty five riders in it. The blinking light boys didn't make the cut and disappeared somewhere on the climb. Didn't feel to bad and went up and asked my teammate who actualy had a shot at the victory being a climber and all if he wanted me to pick up the pace or attack. He told me he would wait for the second hill to make a move. I took a couple of short pulls through the rotation that was ongoing on the front of the pack then dropped back to draft. Second hill is two or three miles long with several sections of ten percent grade. It wasn't straight up though and there are several sections of lesser grade in the climb. Ran out of oxygen about two thirds the way up the climb. Didn't feel to bad but knew I was in trouble when I kept reaching to unzip my jersey and repeatedly found it was already unzipped. Cracked pretty hard on one of the final steep sections of the second climb. The main group still pretty much held together with a group of four that were between me and the front group. Had one rider nearby and a few behind me as I went over the top. Rider that was near me tried to drop me over the top of the climb and did so quite handily. I outweighed him by at least twenty pounds and used my heft to catch him then drop him on the downhill. Chased the group of four for a couple of miles through some rolling climbs and finally caught one of the riders that had dropped off from the four. Wasn't familiar with the new course and lost some time on the steep twisting downgrade but got through without crashing. The third climb started immediately at the bottom of the second steep decent of the day. The third and final climb on the old course was brutal with a mile or so of five to seven percent grade followed by a half mile or so of wall. The new course dropped us off at the bottom of the wall section. Got caught and passed on the wall by the climber I had dropped on the downhill earlier. Then I was caught by the rider that had fallen off the pace from the gang of four. I could also see the three remaining riders of that gang up the road but had no realistic chance of catching them as I was near the bottom as they were nearing the top. Got out of the saddle and finished the wall standing with a good deal of effort. It was enough to drop the rider that was near me and put me within range of the climber who had dropped me twice today. Once over the top it is a fast two or three miles of downhill as we returned to the start\finish going down the climb that had started the day. Caught the climber quicker than I thought I would and he appeared to be roasted. He rode in my draft for a couple of minutes but dropped off as he couldn't hold the pace. Rode alone to the finish and avoided a sprint. Ended up second in the over fifty group and either twenty or twentyfirst overall. I was pleased that I had gotten over the first climb but disappointed I couldn't hold on up the second. Maybe next year. My teammate had finished third overall and first in his age group. The pack had been winnowed down to four riders over the top of the final climb but the winner had caught the front group on the downhill and flew by them for the win. Had a fun day. Weather forecast for tomorrow is for heavy rain all day and we were not looking foward to the riding the race in that rain.
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