| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
35.62 miles
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Altitude Gain:
2,233 ft
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Avg Speed:
20.30 mph
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Route:
Tour de Tamarack
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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: Rolling
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Bike: Look 585 Carbon Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 78 F NW wind @ 3 mph |
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Drove out to Meadville, PA yesterday for back to back cycling events in northwest Pennsylvania. First up was the Tour de Tamarack which for me was a thirty mile race consisting of three ten mile loops with one mile long climb with a healthy section of it being a ten percent grade. The second loop has a bonus steep climb added in to keep it interesting. Temperature was on the warm side in the upper seventies and a good bit of humidity to boot. Started warming up on a flat section and the legs felt loose and fast. Feeling good didn’t last long as I went out to warm up on what would be the first climb of the race. Found that the road had recently been oil and stoned and had several sections with piles of loose stones. Started to perspire profusely on the climb and felt weak and dizzy as I went over the top. Gave some consideration in just going back to the truck and sitting out the race but decided on riding the course easy instead of racing it. Thought I would at least get some miles in and possibly the weakness would pass. Lined up near the front of a group of seventy starters and hoped I could hold it together on the first climb. First climb is supposed to be a controlled pace but the three times I’ve done this race the controlled pace always exceeds my climbing pace. Stayed with the pack through the steep half mile long section and was hoping to be able to stay within the peloton and do some major wheel sucking. Didn’t work out well as felt weak again as the peloton split and I was unable to stay with the front burners. Chased the peloton for without losing or gaining anything across the uphill false flat until I was picked up by a six or seven rider chase group. I was able to hang with this group and recovered enough to start sharing pulls with the group. We had a good pace line going and made good time on the back side downgrade of the course but didn’t gain much on a group of ten or so a half mile up the road. We were down to a group of five after the first climb of the second lap. I climbed a little better on the second lap but still lost time over everyone up the road. We put the hammer down on the second lap with me and a larger near Clydesdale class providing most of the power. We started gaining on the group ahead of us on the second lap and almost caught them before the second climb of the second lap. We were confidant we would catch them next time around. Our group broke up on the climb with a couple guys climbing away. I took it easy and paced my near Clydesdale ally up the climb. We caught on of the climbers on the downhill section but lost another rider in the pursuit. Had a good climb for a change the third time up the hill and cruised over the top waiting for what was left of my group to regroup. We took hard pulls and caught and passed the lone climber ahead of us then reeled in the group we had been pursuing for two laps soon after. That was about it for me as I sat in our new group of eight riders for the last five miles. Ended up next to last in the climbing sprint for forty-first place overall and seventh in the over fifty group. Started off with a really bad climb and probably lost a good two minutes from the front group on every climb of the day but had a good time. Turned out to be more of a fast friendly group ride rather than a race. Felt much better after the race than I did before and consider that a good thing.
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