| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
137.96 miles
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Altitude Gain:
5,422 ft
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Avg Speed:
19.10 mph
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Route:
Run to Lake
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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: Party Cloudy 80 F wind SW @ 4 mph |
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It is getting pretty late in the year and decided, due to the mild winds, that today would be a good day for the annual pilgrimage to Sodus Point on Lake Ontario. The ride is and out and back straight up to the lake. It only has two climbs although it has countless rollers and false flats. At one thirty eight miles it is almost always my longest ride of the year. Got a late start in the morning but worked out okay as the day started off coolish and it warmed up nicely for the start. Goal for the day was of course to finish but also to average at least seventeen miles an hour which seemed reasonable with the mild winds forecast. Ride in years past has been to push hard to the lake then tour back as best as possible. In recent years I've been riding solo and approaching it as one long ride rather than two seperate. Got behind a truck in Watkins today and drafted at a high pace through the numerous traffic lights on the main drag. Hit all but one of the lights green and got to the bottom of the first of the days two climbs in great shape. Determining the truck was a good sign, pushed the hill fairly and had a much higher than average speed over the top thanks a little to the tailwind. Kept the leg speed and actual speed high using the small chainring to Glenora. Plan was to make Geneva with and eighteen plus average then push it up to nineteen by the lake to give me enough buffer make the seventeen on the backstretch if the return trip involved either headwinds, dead legs, or both. Had the eighteen by Glenora though and shifted into the big ring and rode hard in the light tailwind. Pulled into Geneva with a twenty point two average but lost a little getting through the traffic in the city. Wind shifted to the west and had a crosswind to Lyons and got the average speed back up to the twenty point two. That was as high as the average went though as the wind shifted to the north just outside of Lyons and speed dropped in the rollers north of the village as the legs started to lose some snap. Made a stop on the highest roller to answer natures call and average had dropped below twenty after I got back on the bike. Thought getting it back up would be easy as I was within ten miles of the lake and it was mostly downgrade. Had to do some work to overcome the rollers, headwinds and stop signs but pulled into Sodus Point with several seconds to spare. Stopped at the convinence store and purchased some junk food and fluids to replenish my stores. Took a short break at the beachside park before remounting and hitting the backstretch. Legs felt sore on the climb back out of Sodus Point and speed had dropped down to nineteen five after the first ten miles. Thought getting the seventeen would be easy as I would only have to average fourteen on the way back but some quick and possibly inaccurate math revealed if I kept the current speed I would drop down to a sixteen average. Once out of the rollers and back to Lyons the speed and legs stabilized and the average stopped dropping. It was still a crosswind between Lyons and Geneva which didn't help much but was a whole lot better than a headwind. Lost some more going through the traffic in Geneva and was dreading the long grade to Dresden followed by the second big climb of the day up to Himrod. Still had gotten in over a hundred miles and was still over nineteen average. Figured that the fifteen miles or so of increasing elevation would put a damper on holding the nineteen but had an opportunity to recover some time as the final twenty miles is generally downgrade. Ignored the computer and concentrated on spinning smooth and keeping pressure on the pedals over the climbs. After the fifteen miles of climbing I checked the it and was actually surprised that I was still at eighteen-nine. Hit the downhills in a big gear and saw the speed climb back up athough it takes a while and effort to move the average with a hundred and thirty miles in. Rode strong and even got up into the mid-twenties for the last two flat miles. Was very, very happy to finish at nineteen-one but legs were also very, very sore when I got off the bike. Would have been nice to crack seven hours but can't complain. Weather was warm, winds were on my side for the better part of the ride and was a fun though strenuous ride and the best I've done in several years.
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