| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
26.74 miles
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Altitude Gain:
2,714 ft
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Avg Speed:
19.54 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 75 F Light Wind |
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Two and a half hour drive to Sunbury for the 11th running of a short hilly race. Course is twenty-seven miles long and has three sets of climbs. Race starts on a hill and the first section of climbs has three huge rollers each ascending for a mile then immediately descending a mile. After the three rollers there is two or three miles of relatively flat terrain before the next set of climbs. The second set of hills is the longest with three miles of steady climbing with a couple of steep rollers near the top. Following the kickers is a few miles of rolling descent and three or four miles of small rollers before starting the final climb of the day that starts off with a long grind with a steadily increasing grade that gets nasty near the top. Once over the final climb it is three or four miles of downhill followed by a quarter mile long slighty upgrade sprint finish. Didn't have high hopes for the race as had some rather unpleasant stomach distress during warm ups and this is definitely a climber's race. Had a few stomach cramps and went back to the truck and chugged a pint of water to see if it would help any.It didn't. Had eighty-one male and two female riders lined up for the start. Race started fairly fast with IronDoug leading out the peloton. I stayed near the front for the first half mile or so but started dropping back as the grade increased. Stomach cramps kept getting worse and had no spin what-so-ever and no leg strenth either. Soon I was being passed like I was standing still and found myself dropped by most of the peloton less than a mile into the race. Thought about turning around and heading back to the truck but instaed kept on riding at a relaxed pace hoping the pain would subside. Vowed never to eat another pancake before a race though I don't think the pancake caused the problem. Got over the first of the three climbs in the first set of climbs and saw no one on the downhill. Had good speed on the descent with little effort. Had to do the second climb of the series alone although I did look back as I neared the top and did see a group of riders behind me, so I was relieved I wasn't in last place yet. Had another decent descent and saw a small group of orphaned riders half way up the third climb but majority of the peloton was over the hill and gone. Started to feel a little better and put some effort into the third hill. Kept pace with the group though they were a couple of minutes up on me. Crested the hill with another rider who had caught me from behind and we did the third descent together. We started working together of the flats and had soon caught two riders who joined our small group. The four of us worked well and we started to take time off the group ahead of us and started the second set of climbs about ninety seconds down from our prey. Hit the bottom of the second set of climbs hard and started climbing really well as the stomach had settled and the leg strenght had returned. Still didn't seem to have any spin but was able to push a big gear out of the saddle. We lost two of small group but the remaining rider and I traded pulls and paced each other up the climb. We got within range of the group of six or seven riders up the road who seemed not to be in any hurry to get over the climb and my co-rider said that one more good push ought to do it and he successfully bridged up to the group. I wasn't able to match his speed and stay with him but was able to bridge successfully a few minutes later. We only got to sit in for a brief time before the grade got steeper and the pace picked up. My new group broke up over the top of the second climb. The rider that had bridged with me got dropped and I got gapped but was with a Big Ring Velo rider and we caught back up on a small downhill before another kicker. Used my speed from the downhill and a big gear and hit the last kicker hard and went over the top at the front of the group most of which who appeared to be starving for oxygen. Started to feel very strong and hit the uphill sections hard pushing up the pace. Started to catch lone riders but the group stayed around between six and eight riders as we were picking them up others were falling off the back. Got onto the final set of rollers and hit them hard and started to pick up groups of riders that were probably resting thier legs before the final climb. I would bridge to one group sit in for a bit then bridge up to the next. Still felt good at the bottom of the third climb as was riding well now and had caught over twenty riders after an awful start. Still had a group of eight or so as we started up the hill. All of them had outclimbed me on the first set, but I had outclimbed all of them on the second set so felt fairly good about my chances. Kept a high tempo on the front of the group on the long grinding section and matched the speed of anyone that tried to go by. Legs started to weaken though as the grade got over ten percent near the top and found myself quickly struggling off the back. Fortunately the group shattered on the climb with us going over the top fairly staggered. Even tough I was several seconds down from the first one over I was less than ten seconds down from the guy ahead of me. I was able to latch onto his wheel and we soon formed back into a group with just one rider away. I did no work on the final two miles of downhill and just focused on the sprint letting the others pull in the lone rider. Once we were all together again the pace slowed way down as we cruised down the hill. I sat at the back and waited feeling confident since the legs had been putting out good power on my earlier bridges between groups. One rider went on the last part of the downhill just before the turn prior to the sprint straight and got a few seconds on the group. The speed picked up but the lone rider maintained his lead through the final corner into the sprint. I carried my speed through the corner and hit the pedals hard when a hole opened up and rocketed away from the group that either couldn't stay with me or were waiting to get closer to the line. I kept accelerating all the way to the line though and surprised myself by catching and passing the lone rider a few yards from the finish. Ended up a rather disappointing 23rd overall and eight minutes down on the leaders but had had a very strong ride after the embarrassing first eight miles and a terriffic sprint at the finish. I did get second in the 50+ group and got a medal for the effort. IronDoug had finished with the lead group and in eighth place. Fun but difficult course as it is mostly up or down, and though I don't do well here it is one of my favorite courses and events.
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