Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Challenge Accepted!

OK, As I mentioned in the Spring Clydesdale Challenge thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=231419), I knocked off the metric century part of the challenge this past Saturday. Well after napping, watching the Browns finally win a damn game, and well, just plain forgetting, I finally got around to uploading the pictures to my server (http://www.myween.com/MetCentury/MetCentury.html) and dropping the route in routeslip (which cheated me of a quarter mile... the bastards!).

Pictured below is the course I took. Click on it to pull it up in routeslip and get more detail like directions, elevation profile, and zoomy/panny goodness.

http://www.myween.com/images/MetCentury.jpg (http://www.routeslip.com/map.php?map=9929)

All of the links should work fine, but if there are any issues, let me know, and I'll try to fix 'em post haste.

Great job! How's was the traffic? Albuquerque looks like it's growing huge!

For the most part traffic was a non-issue. The opening five miles along Central was medium heavy, but not too bad, and the short stretch by the Barnes & Noble was also heavy (weekend mall traffic), but about 25 miles was on a multi-use path (which seemed a bit light, but I got out late), the back stretch along Paseo De Volcan is pretty much deserted as there's nothing really out there, and the southern part along Rio Bravo is either too far west for many cars to be out there, or (in the parts where there is traffic) with a shoulder that's about as wide as a regular traffic lane, so it's nice and comfortable.

As for the ride itself, it started out as a test-run of the course that they're using in a 50 mile charity ride I'm doing this weekend, that I decided to stretch into a metric century. What was interesting to me was how fast my body started breaking down at the end. Up to mile 45, it was pretty much like any other ride, but by mile 50, I really started getting tired. I stopped at mile 53 for an apple and some of my gatorade, and it was amazing how quickly I went from feeling fine to feeling sore and tired all over. Getting from there to mile 60 was about as draining as getting there from my starting location. Fortunately, the last couple of miles were better as I could feel the end a-coming.

And while I expected to be all kinds of achy in the morning, I was surprised at how good I felt. Now I guess it's time to start working towards a full century (maybe some day I'll get cheeky and do a round trip to Santa Fe).

Absolutely outstanding! Congrats on being the first finisher on the challenge!http://www.planet-smilies.de/a_smilies/award_1.gif

Awesome! I used to live in ABQ and Placitas about 10 years ago. Is that Al Unser blvd way out west that you took?

Al Unser Blvd. Wow, that's wierd. I grew up in Albuquerque - haven't been back in 26 years. My Dad was friends with the Unser's. Small world.

Great job on the ride.

Awesome! I used to live in ABQ and Placitas about 10 years ago. Is that Al Unser blvd way out west that you took?


Partly. just that opening stretch there in the middle of the loop was Unser up to Central. The bulk of the north/south travel was on the MUP by the river and on Paseo de Volcan.