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I've Got Something to Say
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| Ride Stats |
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Time: 06:47:17
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Distance:
89.98 miles
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Max Speed:
42.40 mph
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Avg Speed:
13.20 mph
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Route:
PAC Tour Central Transcontinental
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Weight:
0
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Category: training: general -
solo
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Terrain: Road: Steep
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Bike: Fuji Newest Road
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| Club: Commuter Cycling Century |
| Weather Conditions: |
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Burr was it cold out on the hotel parking lot as we all ascended to get our bikes ready to roll, and to get some breakfast in our bodies! I thought I was dressed for the ride, wearing a pair of cycling shorts with a pair of tights (long pants) pulled over, a short sleeve jersey that would then be covered by my rain/wind jacket and I had my full-fingered gloves ready to help keep my hands & fingers functional. The steam coming up from the hot springs across the street were just a reminder of how cold it was. How cold was it? It was somewhere between 33 & 37 degrees. Upon returning to my room after eating breakfast, I pulled out my long sleeve jersey and put it on under my short sleeve jersey (another layer) and put on another pair of socks – the feet are the hardest thing to keep/get warm. From the first few blocks, rolling out of the hotel parking lot, I could tell today was going to be better than yesterday. My body actually got some rest it need, and I think my mind and spirit was rejuvenated, too.
Most of the riding the first 15 miles was in the shadows as the sun was peeking over the surrounding peaks. The few (and far between) brief moments in the sun providing some warmth on our bodies as we rolled into the first rest stop. The next 8 miles was all up hill, 2800 feet to the stop of Wolf Creek Pass to an elevation of 10,550. The first mile or so of the climb was still in the shade, then we were in the sun for the rest of the climb, so at the 2 mile point there was a scenic view pull out and everybody was pull over to pull off jackets, arm & leg warmers, etc. The climb was slow (4-6 mph), and could get mind numbing if you thought about the rate of speed and the distance. Do the math… an eight mile stretch of road doing 4-6 mph means its going to take over an hour to get to the top; it’s going to be over an hour of constant pedaling. Okay, so it wasn’t constant pedaling. I took a couple personal/recovery breaks along the way.
Once to the top, it was pretty much down hill the rest of the day (only 150 feet of climbing over the next 67 miles). But first – the descent! The were two interesting parts to this descent. The first 5 miles were free flowing reaching speeds into the low 40 mph, and most cyclist even got their picture taken by a traffic camera (I could see the flash bulb going off) as we were exceeding the 25 mph limit as we approached the first to 2 tunnels – I was doing around 35 when I went by. I would like to see the face of the people that process those shots – I hope they get a good laugh out of it. Then there was the construction zone that started at the entrance to the second tunnel – we knew about this when we started the day. Traffic was lined up almost a half-mile long as we rolled along the shoulder to the front of the line (don’t start cussing the selfish cyclist out yet – read on). The construction had to do with work being done on the cliff wall on the other end of the tunnel. People were out of their vehicles, chatting with each other and such. The front of the line was a big yellow Penzke rental truck. The second car, which was next to where I ended up in the line of cyclist, had a four and a half year old chocolate lab with them, as they were out milling along side of the road. I was able to get a conversation going with them, and took a picture of the dog. When traffic was released, all of us cyclist waited until all of the cars had gone by and entered the tunnel. A byproduct of us going behind all the cars was that there would be no cars behind us, coming through the tunnel and on down the descent, for about another half-hour.
Rolling into the lunch stop (mile 48) we encountered a head wind that ending up being a nuisance all the way into Alamosa, but Team Turtle prevailed. We were able to get into a pace line and each took a turn pulling (leading) for about 25-30 seconds, and maintained pace of 15-17 mph. For lunch today we had hot dogs, macaroni & cheese, rice, three bean salad, canned peaches, and for dessert your choice of pumpkin cheesecake (my choice), another type of cheesecake, Twinkies or Hostess Cup Cakes.
All in all today was a wonderful day. I felt rejuvenated after resting most of yesterday and hopefully can rest tonight to get ready for Tuesday’s 140 miles, which includes climbing LeVeta Pass – which isn’t as long or as high as Wolf Creek Pass. Oh, what a difference a day makes! You could say I was on a Rocky Mountain high, today!
Got on the bike starting at 7:00 A.M.
Got off the bike at the hotel in Alamosa at 4:00 P.M.
Total travel time: 9 hours 0 minutes
Distance traveled: 89.98 miles
Amount of climbing: 4,030 feet
Actual time on the bike 6 hours 47 minutes and 17 second
Average speed (on bike): 13.2 mph (it was less than 11 mph upon reaching the top of Wolf Creek Pass)
Max speed attained: 42.4 mph
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