Cycleworx Group Ride, Tuesday 8.26.08I should have known better. The days following D2R2 were Sunday off and Monday soft-pedal for ~1 hr. I was half-entertaining the notion of riding with Emily in the B group, but testosterone was wafting in the air over the parking lot with the usual suspects rolling in- Tom, James, Lukas, Paul Z., and Josh. How could I resist?
I rolled my crossbike (the bike I rode D2R2) into the shop so that Josh could quickly show me how the headset adjuster works and tighten it up a hair. Remarkably, it was still fairly tight after D2R2. My road bike is getting some work done. I've been all over the place with gearing this year. I was running a 39/53 with a 12/25 early on, but then I converted to a compact (FSA K-force light) with a 12/27 after I discovered the benefits of spinning. Not to mention, I wanted to do a few hillclimb events and that would require at least a compact up front with more than likely an IRD 12/30 in the back. Well, anyway, as much as I liked the 34X27 while climbing seated on the steep pitches in Litchfield County, I didn't like the fact that I was spinning out at 35+ (on downhill bias, of course) So long story not too short, I'm now running a 36/52 with the 12/27. I'm losing 2 gear inches on the low end, but gaining 4 on the high end. I'll take it. I will, however, have to throw on the 34 with the IRD 30 if I have any intentions of doing Burke Mtn. Hillclimb. http://www.burkemountainbikerace.com/
Well, anyway. as we are about to head out, Josh comes out of the shop and asks me if I want to ride my road bike. I was already on my cross bike and figured I didn't have my GPS mount on my road bike (I had taken it off to mount on cross bike for D2R2) so I told him I'd be alright. "Are you sure?" he asks as he goes to lock the shop door. No sooner did the "p" of the "yup" flow off the tip of my lips did I realize I'd made a mistake. It was weird in that as I was aware of my (incorrect) decision but somehwere inside me I accepted my fate.
As we exit the parking lot, we ask Paula to come along but she smartly declines. She figured (correctly) that it was probably going to be a classic hammer ride where literally it's survival of the fittest. Not to mention, she, like I, had done D2R2 three days before. So we head out tame enough to Rte. 109. I totally noticed the "tanklike" qualities of my rig straight off and with the 28s I felt like I was expending 10% more energy. Great. Out of the saddle on the little risers, I could feel the post-D2R2 fatigue and knew I was in for a long night.
We hit Rte. 109, which over the course of about 5-6 miles, is a pleasant mix of downhill and flats all the way to Thomaston. The pavement is in excellent condition and the road is just straight up fast. Pacelining started from the get-go and I don't think we were ever below 28 mph. I remember pulling on a slight downhill bias at 34 mph and apparently this wasn't fast enough for the group as all went screaming by like I was standing still. Fun stuff. It's funny how many riders that don't know how to paceline. If you're going 27 as a group and your pull is up next, you don't then jack it up to 30+ and blow the guy who was just pulling off the back. I may be guilty of this myself- probably because it had been done to me at some point on a particular ride and I wasn't happy about it. Nobody cares if you can pull the group for a mile at 28 mph. Too often times riders take too long of pulls and stay out there until their speed drops 5 mph. and their blown out. I personally like when there is a cyclical paceline (counterclockwise rotation) where you're only out front for 10 seconds while you wait for the next rider to pull in front of you. You attain much higher average speeds while expending less energy. Hmmm.
Well, enough of my Rte. 109 rant. We then hit Rte. 6W and prepare for the upcoming 2mile climb which averages somewhere between 5 and 7 %. I thought for sure that absolute hell would break loose on this stretch. Paul, Josh, and I end up gapping the others a bit on this one averaging between 14 and 16 mph for the length of the climb. I thought for sure James would come ripping by but it wasn't until later that I learned he was running a42X25 minimum gear! He's leaving his gearing on his cross bike for the upcoming season. Ah, he needs the handicap; He's an expert singlespeed mtber and is used to mashing the big gears. I always joke that he has patellar tendons of titanium.
We regroup at the top of 6 in Watertown and as we're circling waiting for the others, I notice our average 18 or so miles in, is 22.5 mph. My thought at this point is survival as I've had to work hard to catch the train on 109 and stay with Josh and Paul Z. on the 6W climb. We continue on 6W almost to Woodbury before going right onto Flanders Rd. From the profile you can see that you gain about 800 ft. vertical over the next 9 miles- not steep by any means, but the false flats and rollers were unrelenting- not to mention Paul and Josh's pace. I had to dig deep on a couple of sections to keep wheels but managed to stay in touch as we made our way into Bethlehem. I was thoroughly cooked by this point and it was pushing 7:30 with light quickly fading. I was content with soft-pedaling back the 5 or so miles back to the shop. I turned for home and Paul Z., seemingly not having enough, remarked that we still had 30 minutes of daylight. (are you serious?) I continued on and the guys followed. Paul Z. then blew by us and I quipped to Josh that I was going to demand a blood test from him when we got back. I beelined to the shop while the others kept going- probably to fulfill their mileage quotas. "No mas", I said to myself, and limped back to my car.
I guess I need to show up with bigger gun (road bike) and more ammo (legs) if I have any intention of riding with these guys.
Final stats (per Garmin): 35.6 mi., ~2800 ft. vertical, 20.5 mph avg., 151 avg. HR
No comments:
Post a Comment