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10-08-07, 11:02 AM
I did the People Powered Ride in Goleta yesterday.
Both of my riding partners did the Lighthouse Century last week. Mark had a hip replacement in May, so if anyone ever says you can't ride with a hip replacement, point them my way. Mark is planning on doing RAAM next year with a team of hip replace-ees, sponsored by the maker of the hip implants.
Back to the ride. 43 degrees at the 7am start. Began on rolling terrain with a strong tailwind, making for effortless 30+ mph on the flatter sections. My fanny pack would hang up on my saddle, so I ditched that at the first stop, along with my cool weather gear (the temps rose quickly as the sun came up.)
The first 50 was pretty tame. Then there was an 8 mile, very bumpy section that led to Harris Grade (1500 ft climb?) with a nice DH section. The last 40 were grueling as most of the roads were extremely bumpy, causing us to joke that PPR stood for a variation of Paris-Roubaix. Punishing Paris-Roubaix without the cobblestones.
The last rest stop was only 10 miles from the finish, which we thought was kind of silly until we got back out on the course. Again, bumpy was the norm, but add in a stiff headwind and a slight uphill grade. Our speed averaged less than 10mph to the finish, with a very intense climb at the end.
Finished in 5:35, and felt without the headwinds at the end, we would have been more like 5:20.
I won't do this ride again unless the asphalt Zamboni makes a pass at the horrible roads. I'll do Lighthouse next year, as I heard that was awesome.
Both of my riding partners did the Lighthouse Century last week. Mark had a hip replacement in May, so if anyone ever says you can't ride with a hip replacement, point them my way. Mark is planning on doing RAAM next year with a team of hip replace-ees, sponsored by the maker of the hip implants.
Back to the ride. 43 degrees at the 7am start. Began on rolling terrain with a strong tailwind, making for effortless 30+ mph on the flatter sections. My fanny pack would hang up on my saddle, so I ditched that at the first stop, along with my cool weather gear (the temps rose quickly as the sun came up.)
The first 50 was pretty tame. Then there was an 8 mile, very bumpy section that led to Harris Grade (1500 ft climb?) with a nice DH section. The last 40 were grueling as most of the roads were extremely bumpy, causing us to joke that PPR stood for a variation of Paris-Roubaix. Punishing Paris-Roubaix without the cobblestones.
The last rest stop was only 10 miles from the finish, which we thought was kind of silly until we got back out on the course. Again, bumpy was the norm, but add in a stiff headwind and a slight uphill grade. Our speed averaged less than 10mph to the finish, with a very intense climb at the end.
Finished in 5:35, and felt without the headwinds at the end, we would have been more like 5:20.
I won't do this ride again unless the asphalt Zamboni makes a pass at the horrible roads. I'll do Lighthouse next year, as I heard that was awesome.