| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
25.04 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,326 ft
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Avg Speed:
20.70 mph
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Route:
Drops to Hops Short
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 159 bpm
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Avg HR: 132 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Hills
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Bike: Look Blade RS 795 Iconic Ltd Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny 75 F SE wind @ 4 mph |
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Drove to Cooperstown for a short hilly road race. The race used to be quite popular with a couple hundred racers participating but was cancelled last year for lack of interest. Promoter made another attempt this year with tepid results as only about seventy riders showed up for the two races, a short 22 mile B course and a forty plus mile A race with more difficult climbing. I'd done fairly well on the B course in the past as the climbing comes in the first half and a long downhill section usually allowed me to rejoin the peloton after getting dropped. The races were evenly split with around thirty-five riders in each event. Joe had come down and joined me for the B race and Bob opted for the A race. The A race went off first with the B race starting ten minutes later. With the small turnout everyone was lined up at the front. Race pace started fast as two riders immediately went off the front. The course has a rolling descent for the first four miles before the climbing started. Goal today was to stay with the front group over the climbs and ride defensively since recently my fitness level appears to be in decline. There wasn't any reaction from the peloton and the two burners kept increasing their lead, so I decided to join them and bridged up to them on a short rise. Heart rate reacted appropriately that gave me some relief as couldn't get it above 100 BPM earlier in the week. I made no attempt at taking a pull and shamelessly drafted the burners as I wanted to survive the upcoming climbs. We were soon joined by three or four other riders including Steve a rider I raced since the eighties. The climbing section is another four miles with three steps with only the third step having significant steepness. I led out the first section trying to keep a fast tempo and was passed by Marc a central NY rider, who was one of the two burners, at the halfway point of the climb. I latched on to Marc's wheel and as we went over the top there were only four of us left, Marc, Steve, and Charles, the other of the two burners, and me. We had a short reprieve on a short false flat before the second climb that we grinded out. I checked behind and there were no other riders visible so it looked like the winner would come from one of us. On the last steep section of climbing my heartrate was maxed out and I was hanging on the back of our foursome. We rounded a corner and Marc attacked with a few feet left on the climb. I wasn't too worried as the next couple of miles was fast downhill and our group of three should be able to easily close the small gap to a lone rider. We did regroup before the bottom and after some confusion after a misdirection from a corner marshal at an intersection, we started the next section of rolling inclines. The pace calmed down and we chatted and found that three of us were in the sixties with Charles being the lone young rider. We did some aggressive paceline work and I took a hard pull up one of the inclines but didn't seem to be causing any damage to the other riders, so I pulled off the front. Marc attacked again over the top and there was no response from the other two. Thought briefly about joining him but decided against it as though I thought we could probably stay away from the other two, Marc was much stronger than me and I would get dropped on the final short climb before the finish. Waited for the others to finish the climb and drafted as Charles reeled Marc back in. It was back to paceline before the final short climb that comes two miles before the uphill finish. Marc attacked on the climb and distanced us. Steve and I went over the top together and Charles was gapped. Steve and I worked together and pulled Marc back with a hard effort. We caught Marc before another short climbing section, and we crested together. Pace slowed as we went into the finishing stretch a long uphill grind. Charles rejoined us and went hard toward the finish line. I got on his wheel and went around him as he lost power and started my sprint. Had the line in sight when Marc went around me hard and wide, and I didn't have enough leg left to respond and he took the win. Steve made a last-minute effort to go around me at the line but didn't have enough momentum to go completely by and we rode side by side for a few yards. I was able to out power him and crossed the line ahead of him by a couple of inches for second place. Charles claimed fourth spot despite probably being the strongest rider of the group. Joe rolled in a few minutes later to claim ninth spot. Bob also finished ninth in the A race. Race turned out to be quite fun despite the low turnout. I was actually quite pleased at my ride as I had stayed up in the climbs and was able to ride comfortably without being in my best form. Not sure if there was enough turnout for the promoter to try again next year but I hope so.
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