| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
102.05 miles
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Altitude Gain:
5,254 ft
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Avg Speed:
19.07 mph
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Route:
Cannonball Century
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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: Cloudy Light Rain NE wind @ 4 mph |
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So much the planned back to back centuries this weekend. Drove most of the way to Virginia on Friday in heavy rain. Checked into my motel then went out for some chinese food to load up for tomorrow's ride. Had quite a bit of trouble keeping it down and slept very poorly. Still had to get up early and make a hour drive to get to Warm Springs for an 8:00 AM start to the Bath County Harvest Festival Century. Took well over an hour though as I had to drive across a mountain range in darkness fog and light rain. The speed limit was fifty five but I was averagering much less. To add to my misery the temperature was in the low fifties and was not forecast to go much higher. Eventually got to the start of the ride and there were only about a dozen cars in the lot. Kept right on driving though as while I considered riding in the cold, fog and rain I didn't want to pay a fee of $60 for the honor especially with almost no turnout it was unlikely that I would find anyone to ride with near my level and the day would be a mostly solo event. Saved the cash and decided to head to Fredericksburg, VA where Sunday's century was to start and take a short ride when I got there. Couldn't find decent places to ride around my motel and ended up spending the day watching TV and feeling sick. The drive to the start of today's Cannonball Century took only ten minutes. Paid my $35 entry got my arm band and got suited up for a hundred rolling miles in the rain. It was at least a warm rain though as the temperature was seventy at the start and was predicted to go into the high seventies as the day progressed. They said there were between 165 and 200 hundred riders but they were split between three routes with most riders opting for the shorter routes because of the rain. Ride was scheduled to start at 07:30 but it wasn't really a mass start event and people just rolled out in groups of two and threes. I hung around to await a large group but none seemed to be forming so I headed out with two other riders. I stayed with them for three or four miles and they were keeping a very easy pace of fifteen miles an hour. I jumped in with a faster group of three riders that passed us and we maintained a brisk 20+ pace through the rollers. We kept a tight paceline with each of us taking half mile pulls. Lost two of our group at the first rest stop at thirteen miles. I didn't need to stop as I had hardly touched my water and didn't feel like eating anything as I was having trouble handling the hand full of peanut M&Ms I had eaten for breakfast. We gave up on the paceline as the rooster tails from the wet roads were making drafting unpleasant. We rode side-by-side and chatted. We were concerned that at out current pace we would get to the second rest stop at thirty miles before it was scheduled to open. We had planned on stopping at the rest stop and waiting for a large group to come through and join up with them. Not too much after we got there a group of ten riders came in and we hopped on the train as it rolled out. Turned out to be two or three riders pulling and the rest sucking wheel. I joined in with the wheel sucks and kept to the back. Wasn't really much fun though as I was getting soaked from all the water being kicked up from the road and the pace was pretty uneven as some of the riders were dropped off the back on the climbing part of the rollers and the leaders were asked to slow up to keep the group together. One of the riders had a flat and the group stopped to help in the repair. I took the opportunity and rode off with another rider with the intention of waiting for the group at the next rest stop rather than standing alongside the road in the drizzle. We kept an easy pace and waited for quite a bit at the stop but the group never showed up. I headed out with the intention of catching a rider that had left a few minutes earlier or riding alone until the group caught up with me. Ended up riding the next fifty miles alone. Actually liked riding alone as I got to sight see a little more and was riding pretty strong until mile seventy five. Encountered the big climb of the day near mile seventy and it really wasn't too bad as although it was a twelve percent grade it was less than a quarter mile long. Stopped at the seventy five mile rest stop and chatted with the attendants that said the rest of the ride was just more rollers with one more good climb near the end. Wasn't able to hold the pace very well after the rest stop and watched my average speed drop. Had to stop twice more- once to carefully remove a bee from my helmet and the second time to put my under saddle bag back on which had come loose on a climb at mile ninety. While I was off the bike the pack I had rode with earlier came up the hill and slowed down and asked if I was okay. I told them I was fine as they passed by and they sped off down the hill. I thought I might be able to catch back on but was unable to do so as although I still felt strong there wasn't any snap left in my legs and the gap was too big. Soon they were out of sight but I figured I might be able to catch them on the final big climb of the day if the group stayed together and only climbed at the rate of the weakest climber. I did catch three of the weaker climbers but they said that the leaders were charging for the finish and they couldn't hold the pace. I asked what had happened to them with the flat tire and they said the guy had a hard time fixing the flat and they had to wait over fifteen minutes for the repair to be completed. Rode with them briefly until one of them attacked on a down hill. He got a good gap but one of the other riders and I caught up with him on at the base of one of the remaining rollers. I repaid his attack by attacking up the roller and opened up a good gap over the top that I held for the last mile to the finish. Really wasn't a bad ride for a hundred miles in the rain. It wasn't a heavy rain though and was more of a fog and most of the moisture came from the road and not the sky. Really not a very scenic ride. I enjoyed several miles of heavy wood we rode through early in the ride. I kept an eye out for wolves that might leap out and thin the weakest riders from the group but alas no one was taken down and eaten. Company that I had was pleasant, the roads were smooth and well marked, the rest stops had a good selection of eats and there wasn't much traffic. Had a burger after the ride and drove back to NY content with the days ride.
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