BRUTAL, EPIC ride that checked all the boxes.
DISTANCE: Metric Century. Check.
CLIMBING: 6,044 ft. of climbing. Max gradient of 16.4%. Many double digit climbs, l-o-n-g climbs. Noticed that my Garmin has a climbing screen that pops up at a certain climbing trigger. It shows you a profile of the climb, your position, grade, etc. It also reported that there were ten (10) “climbs” on the route. Most on the 2nd half of the route.
I squeezed an 11-36 cassette on and used it all! Shimano will tell you it won’t fit. And that’s true, the 36t sprocket just nicked the jockey wheel teeth; but it shifted fine and never lost a chain. Others in the group were at a disadvantage. Kudos to them! It was brute force vs. gravity. Speeds were just above “falling over” or a track stand. At the other end of the spectrum, top speed was 39.7mph. Soooo close to the magic 40 mark. Check.
WEATHER: Weather Armageddon. Jeff (professional weather dude) reported mid-ride that the local airport posted a 28mph wind speed average with gusts at 50mph. There was a little benefit in the beginning; but the wind speeds increased throughout the day. The cross winds were brutal. Impossible to hold a line. Neck and arms were aching. Big upper body workout. Ha! Last half of the ride was all into the wind. At one mid-segment stopping point, I rested the top tube on 2 fingers. The bike was way closer to being parallel to the ground than perpendicular! Had to lean into the cross winds significantly. Gusts would come and go. A constant battle royal.
Temps were in the 80’s. The only time you knew that was on the rare occasion when you were stopped in a valley that shielded you. Climbing out of a rest stop at the state park was like that and you could hear the trees creaking and groaning in the wind. Glad none of them cracked.
Velominati Rule #7 – “Tan lines should be cultivated and kept razor sharp.” Went from pasty, white Zwift legs to pro tan lines over the course of the day. Combination of sun and WIND burn. In hindsight, putting the arm warmers back on would have been a good idea. Not good.
While speaking of the Velominati Rules. Everyone NAILED Rule #5 - HTFU.
More on the wind, it evaporated any moisture present. Any sweat didn’t have a chance. Pounded down as much water as available. Hard to stay fully hydrated. More on that later. Sooo Weather = Check.
EFFORT. 2451 kJ of work (2,513 cal). Turned the pedals over 19,604 times. Soooo about that hydration issue. Leg cramps started appearing with 9 miles to go. Ouch! At one point I tried standing out of the saddle to get the blood flowing and reduce the pain. DID NOT WORK! Both legs immediately locked up with a rush of lactic acid. Thought I was going down at one point. 9 miles worth of thinking about Rule #5. Ha! Effort = Check.
SCENERY. Great views and vistas when you didn’t have your head down looking at the pavement during the wind & climbing sufferfest. Check.
GROUP. Rode with Carrie, Jeff B., Jeff L. and Tim. Erik started with us, but kept his pace and shorter rest stops. We separated early in the ride. We rolled at 9:00am. There were FVBSC riders starting at ~7:00 and in between. Sorry, I don’t have all the names Julia, Monica, et. all. Props to everyone that rode! Way to model the way and walk the talk of Rule #5. Check.
A ride to remember. Just imagine how we’ll be describing this ride over beers in the future. The superlatives will only grow with age and alcohol. EPIC RIDE!