| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
27.10 miles
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Altitude Gain:
1,642 ft
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Avg Speed:
20.82 mph
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Route:
Drops to Hops Short
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Avg Grade: 157 %
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Max Grade: 172 %
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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: Sun/Fog 62 F N wind @ 4 mph |
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Had to rise early for a two and a half drive to Cooperstown for the Drops to Hops road race. The race is in its third year and it is the first time I've participated. There were two races a forty-three mile hilly race and a shorter flatter twenty-three mile event. I opted for the shorter race due to my inability to climb and lack of desire to get dropped on the first hill of the longer race and have to ride the remainder alone. There were at least a hundred and twenty in the short course. A good portion of the riders lined up appeared to be carrying a good bit of weight, so I felt good about my chances of a decent showing. After viewing the profile I thought it looked like a rolling fast course and didn't think a twenty two average would be too difficult. After driving the end of the course to get to registration and talking to a woman that had ridden the course last year, I had a few more reservations about predicting a good day. Turns out there is a long five mile climb with several steep sections early in the race. I still thought I might be able to get a top ten finish with the inexperienced field but it wouldn't be a large pack ride with a sprint finish I was hoping for. First four miles of the race was rolling and tended toward down grades. Pace started out in the low twenties and I rode nervously in the first thirty of so positions. After a few riders had some near misses on a couple of the rollers, I moved forward into the front fifteen and felt much safer. We hit the climb at four miles and the pack had a huge separation. After the first half mile of climb there were only twenty or so left. Early grade was only around five percent but I fell off the pace with about half the others after the first mile. I rode with a couple of riders and we tried to keep the front group in sight but after a right hand turn the grade went over ten percent. I got dropped by my two partners and the front group was soon out of sight. Struggled on the climb and got to the top at mile nine. A man at the top of the hill reported that a group of eight had gone over the top together with a two minute lead and then several smaller groups of two or three. Figured my odds of catching a group of eight over fourteen miles of descending rollers with a two minute lead were not very good. I still thought I might be able to hunt down the stragglers though and with a decent sprint still might be able to pull off a top ten finish. Hammered a long downhill with another rider in my draft and was able to pull in the two riders who had most recently dropped me on the climb. Once we got on the relatively more level terrain we started to work a semi-functional pace line. We were able to reel in another group of four by the halfway mark and could occasionally glimpse another pair of riders up the road. Once we were mixed in with the other group the pace slowed way down. While I appreciated the rest after the hard pursuit we were not gaining anything on the pair ahead of us. The riders on the front would take long slow pulls instead of the short fast pulls that were required if we wanted to catch any other riders. About three of us got very aggressive on the front and rode very hard. So the three of us were pulling along a group of five passengers. I put in a very good effort and after my pulls often got dropped off the back and had to claw my way back into the draft, sometimes just in time to take another pull. We were gaining on our prey but the miles were running out. With about two miles to go I tried to bridge to the group ahead and failed. My effort did shed three of the passengers though. We hit what I thought was a final short climb before the final half mile of fairly straight slightly uphill finish. I fell to the back of the group but told myself if I could maintain contact I could probably win the sprint. I was able to hold a wheel over the top and felt relieved but after a couple of turns we came upon another short climb. I didn't have anything left for this one and cracked big time. I lost contact and about thirty seconds over the short section. I was able to pull in and pass one rider on the final sprint section and almost got another at the line. I ended up thirteenth or fourteenth overall. I was pretty disappointed with my climbing but was encouraged by the effort I put in after getting dropped on the hill. I rode aggressively and my average heart rate for the ride was between ninety and ninety five percent of my max. I was also pleased to see my average cadence for the ride was ninety RPMs. Ended up with a twenty point eight average and about four minutes down from the leaders. Overall a nice sixty degree October ride through the changing leaves. Race was a bit expensive but was well run.
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