| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
103.47 miles
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Altitude Gain:
10,741 ft
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Avg Speed:
15.20 mph
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Route:
6 Gap
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Avg Grade: 0 %
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Max Grade: 0 %
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Max HR: 164 bpm
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Avg HR: 136 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Steep
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Bike: Look Blade RS 795 Iconic Ltd Road
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Club: Schuyler County Cycling Club |
| Weather Conditions: Clouds, Fog, Rain 62 F SW wind @ 5 mph |
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Weather and traffic were not cooperative in my trip down Friday night and Saturday. Had intended to stop in Radford, VA and ride a short course on Saturday but traffic delays and rain delays convinced me to drive through as wasn't sure how the hurricane damage would affect my route. Chinese restaurants I intended to carbo load were closed so ended up eating mostly drive thru on my journey. Western NC roads were closed but I passed through the center of the state and didn't have to detour. Power was out in SC that left rest stops, restaurants and a few gas stations closed that made refueling a challenge. Got into GA okay and went to the ride start to pick up my ride packet on Saturday for Sunday's ride. I decided against a short ride as it was raining and even knowing not spinning my legs would complicate my performance in the morning as had ended up driving eighteen hours with only a little sleep at a rest stop. Had another hour drive to the motel and did get some better sleep. Got up at 4:30 to be able to get a good parking spot at the ride as parking was limited and the secondary parking was a mile from the start and would require riding in the dark to be at the start on time. I was able to get a get a spot in the main lot and got ready for the ride. Course was one-hundred and three miles long with six mountain passes and eleven-thousand feet of climbing. My computer nanny advised me that my training was short of what would be required of the ride and that it would be a difficult day. Went to line up to what I thought would be near the back as there were over eight hundred riders and I ended up probably in the front third. The fast riders were climbing over each other to get a good position for the start. I was not comfortable and thought I was probably in over my head and while for hundreds of riders it would be a race, for me it was just survive the course. The ride started at a very fast pace, and it took a few minutes to get through the starting timing gate. Rider's time would be based on when they passed over the gate and not with the starting gun. By the time I got out on the main road I could see that the front group of thirty to forty riders had already opened up a huge gap. First dozen miles was rolling climbs, and I was humbled as I climbed into the fog and was constantly being passed while drifting back in the pack I was riding with. Quads felt terrible and I was suffering even as I was passed by hundreds of riders. A large amount of equipment was lost as dodged a dozen or so water bottles and occasional set of sun glasses. Stopped at the first rest stop and got some urgent bladder relief as draining along the roadside was considered verboten and supposedly would result in a ticket from the Sherriff if observed. The brief time off the bike seemed to have helped as my first hour on the bike was my worst. I actually had averaged eighteen over the first series of lesser climbs that was encouraging as I had only intended to try and maintain a fourteen average to complete the course. There were six big climbs in the Chattahoochee National Park usually between four to seven miles long gaining fifteen hundred to eighteen hundred feet each. The first big climb was my best as it was a few miles long but at a steady grade of seven to eight percent. Although I was still being passed on the climb, I was also passing riders that might have gone out a little too aggressively over the first section. There were no flat sections over the course as you were either always climbing or descending. The second climb, Hogpen, was my worst climb. It was five miles of mostly twelve percent with an occasional steep section thrown in. I went quickly into my granny gear and don't think I climbed in anything else for the rest of the day. I was humbled if not humiliated more as riders would squirrel by me at probably twice my speed to disappear around a bend and never be seen again. The rest of the climbs were not as difficult as there weren't any additional long steep sections. I got through a couple more climbs and got to a sixty-mile rest stop at a little over sixteen mile an hour average and felt good about my chances of finishing well before dark. Weather hadn't improved as the climbs were all in the fog with the humidity for the day at ninety-five percent. I was dripping constantly from sweat and dew. The downhills were epic with smooth surfaces that made the twisting descents fast and there was only one descent that had to be taken slow due to backed up traffic. Passing cars on descents was also verboten and tickets were also threatened for offenders supposedly even if only caught on video. Started to recognize some of the same riders over the last few climbs as would get passed by them on one climb only to pass them on the next. Didn't climb well late but seemed to get a little stronger toward the end as I got close enough to the finish that I could walk in before dark in a few hours. Finally crested the last big climb and had a huge downhill and another twelve miles of descending rollers to the finish. Started to get passed occasionally by the support van full of riders towing a trailer loaded with bikes. I had seen dozens of flat tires during the ride but don't know whether the riders or bikes had failed and required rescue. There would be dozens of DNF for the day but barring catastrophe I was confident of finishing. On the last big descent, it started to rain hard, but despite that turned out to be my best part of the ride. I was able to pass several riders on the downhill as I seemed to be tuned in to the road not only coasting but pedaling hard through the corners. I did see one of the results of two crashes I observed during the ride as on guy cooked a corner and appeared to have broken his wrist. Finally got the bike in the big gear and hammered the last few downhill miles in a zone and passed a couple dozen riders before the finish. It felt good passing dozens on the descent but didn't really make up for getting passed by hundreds on the climbs. Ended up feeling much better after the ride than I did at the start. Final position was 295th out of 751 finishers. The big dogs finished the course in under five hours at over twenty-one miles an hour. I find it difficult to believe the course could be done at that speed but also understand that the pros do courses like this at twenty-four miles an hour day after day. My age bracket was a little more encouraging as finished 17th of 81 in the over sixty brackets. Wished I would have climbed better and had the racer's attitude from the days of olde, but unfortunately those days are gone. I did complete the course without undue suffering. The first hour was horrible but remainder tolerable and the last fifteen was actually fun. Lost quite a bit of time stopping at rest stops but the cookies were worth the lost time. Very challenging course and great promoter but doubt I'll want to repeat this ride as it was a very expensive outing for me.
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