Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - First ride with the Seattle Int'l Randonneurs

Full report to follow, but the gist of it was:

100k populaire
gnarly hills (a couple of 15%ers, with slush on 'em)
Snowing at the start controle.
Then rain.
Then 30mph wind.
And rain.
Then sun.
More rain.
Leg cramps for 15 miles.
Hit the finish controle with 1 minute to spare.

I'm going back again for an ACP 200k next weekend.:D

.... and I felt hardcore after 20miles in drizzle today.

Very cool!!!!:thumb:

Dude you are way hardcore! We had sustained winds around 25 mph all day so I didnt venture out.

and I question my sanity being out on the soccer field today

Dude you are way hardcore! We had sustained winds around 25 mph all day so I didnt venture out.

This was definitely a hardcore ride, and still there were about 50 people at the start! Snow, rain, wind and serious hills. I didn't think that keeping the minimum average would be tough, but we were only 5 min shy of closing for the first controle, we rolled into the second one with 20 minutes to spare so we had some cocoa to warm up, and we should have saved the time and kept rolling instead since I kept getting horrible quad cramps on the steep hills past 40 miles, and we only made the last two controles by the skin of our teeth!
The 25-30mph winds on the shore as we headed down the Alki MUP to the lighthouse made it difficult to keep more than a 13mph pace, even taking 2 block pulls up front.
There were a couple of nav errors we made which cost us a few minutes, too. 200 yards here and there adds up and becomes an extra 1.5 miles by the finish. We could have used those spare 10 minutes spent in backtracking, and reading the cue sheet. Definitely for next week, I'll study a map much better before the ride.

I was doing a post-ride, pre-commute cleanup on the bike, and I'm lucky that things held up for the entire ride.
The DA16 rim doesn't have a wear indicator, and apparently 5500 miles of stopping me in the cinder/sand mix of the winters and the rainy grit of the summers finally took its toll. The rear rim is splayed out at the bead from the braking surface wearing thin.

Picking up an Open Pro/Ultegra to replace it before next weekend's 200k.
Getting another DT RR1.1 to rebuild this one and have a spare laying around that I can just swap the cassette onto.

I thought that was a good ride today, a lot of variety from the weather and the terrain. It's a good training route if you live in the city. You can start wherever it passes closest to your house.

If you're getting a new wheel this week be sure to ride it a couple to make sure everything is good before you take it on the 200K.

Sounds like a tough ride; very glad you finished it Clifton; I saw mattm did it as well.

I stayed home. Took a very short ride, trying to time breaks in the weather, but got hit with rain and sleet anyway. Serves me right for the skipping the big ride.

Great ride, Clifton. I love the fact that you just barely made the controls. It sounds like great experience for longer rides. If you can get through all that, a sunny day 600k should be no problem, right?

Maybe a new cassette or chainring could soften up those hills?

If you're getting a new wheel this week be sure to ride it a couple to make sure everything is good before you take it on the 200K.
Oh yeah, I'll have 90 miles on it before the weekend. I'm picking it up at Performance, so I already know that I need to stress it and throw it on the stand for a quick tension/truing; but for just over $110, I'm not going to pass it up, and I don't have the time to wait for parts and do a full build this week.


Great ride, Clifton. I love the fact that you just barely made the controls. It sounds like great experience for longer rides. If you can get through all that, a sunny day 600k should be no problem, right?

Maybe a new cassette or chainring could soften up those hills?

I run a 34t inner ring and an 11-32 mountain cassette. My gearing is plenty low enough for most days; my biggest issue is that I was coming off a respiratory infection and hadn't been outside to ride for at least 10 days. 20 mile trainer rides just don't prepare your legs and lungs for a day like yesterday. And, sorry to be crude about it, the cold was getting to me and I nearly harfed up a lung during a couple of my coughing fits. It's bad when you're coughing so hard you have to stop, and you worry about your ribs!
I feel much better today, with all that junk cleared out now. I don't know about a sunny 600k quite yet, but the fall 400k is on my schedule this year!

How exciting! Sounds like a great ride!!! Me i am just soo very excited when I am not last in the C group on my ity bitty rides.

How exciting! Sounds like a great ride!!! Me i am just soo very excited when I am not last in the C group on my ity bitty rides.

I'm pretty sure that Andy and I rolled in as the 2nd to DFL and DFL finishers for the day; but the beauty of randonneuring is that there is no 1st place and last place on the finishing roster. It's alphabetically listed and if you finished; you win. It's strictly a Pass/Fail venture.
We got to the pub for the finish controle, and some people were already there for over 90 minutes. Many front finishers had already come in, ate lunch and left before we got there. It's a social group of people and they were glad to see that Andy and I finished in time, and that we plan on coming back for more rides.

Hit the finish controle with 1 minute to spare.

I'm going back again for an ACP 200k next weekend.:D

That is a lot better then 2 minutes late :( Congrats on the finish with all the fun events of the day.

Sounds like a fun ride though. I mean who wants a clear day with no rain and no wind where you don't get lost just a little bit. How boring would that be :innocent:

I'm pretty sure that Andy and I rolled in as the 2nd to DFL and DFL finishers for the day; but the beauty of randonneuring is that there is no 1st place and last place on the finishing roster. It's alphabetically listed and if you finished; you win. It's strictly a Pass/Fail venture.
We got to the pub for the finish controle, and some people were already there for over 90 minutes. Many front finishers had already come in, ate lunch and left before we got there. It's a social group of people and they were glad to see that Andy and I finished in time, and that we plan on coming back for more rides.

That's close to what I'm looking for. Actually, I'm looking for a ride where if you SHOW UP you win! :innocent:
Good luck on next week's ride!

That's awesome, CliftonGK1!

I did the first 30 miles of this 200k permanent (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/SB215) on Saturday, and hope to do the whole thing this season, just need some time to build up on the hills yet. Saturday actually turned out to be 70 miles, 30 out, 30 back, 10 of oops! wrong road! doh!

Good luck this weekend on the 200k! Remember, we need ride reports and pics! :)

I'm pretty sure that Andy and I rolled in as the 2nd to DFL and DFL finishers for the day; but the beauty of randonneuring is that there is no 1st place and last place on the finishing roster. It's alphabetically listed and if you finished; you win. It's strictly a Pass/Fail venture.
We got to the pub for the finish controle, and some people were already there for over 90 minutes. Many front finishers had already come in, ate lunch and left before we got there. It's a social group of people and they were glad to see that Andy and I finished in time, and that we plan on coming back for more rides.

Good job on getting this one under your belt. I guess commuting must help. I have a hilly 66 miler ride coming up in April and I'm not sure I'll be ready for it.

I hear you learned one thing on this ride, next time you are signing up as AAACliftonGK1:eek:

I have a hilly 66 miler ride coming up in April and I'm not sure I'll be ready for it.

If I learned nothing else, it's that I (anyone, really) can deal with a lot more pain than we give ourselves credit for.
24 miles of lock-out leg cramps, and 25mph headwinds? I never would have thought I'd finish, but I managed to pull it out from somewhere.

You can do a metric by April.