Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - My Organized Ride Today, 100 miles, 10,000 ft of Climbing

Well, go thru the ride today. Yuck, ugly day! Stted in heavy drizzle and continued for 40 miles. Including heavy fog. At times visibilty was about 30 yards. Pretty scary when traffic is flying up the mtn and around switchbacks at 80 mph!:eek:

I started the ride without legcover as it's cleared up fairly early on the ride past years. At about 3 or4 miles up the mtn (15 miles in) my calf cramped. I had plenty to drink a the right stuff, and a good meal and fuel. I'd chalk this one up to my inner clock! I work at night, and don't usually get to bed till 3am. Well working a night shift one day then the next trying to go to bed at midnight and getting up for the ride at 3:45 am ( my usual beddy bye time). I think my clock was off and the bod was not happy doing some mtns climbing. Well I pulled over for a minute then continued after it eased.

Official results are not up yet but I think most riders struggled with the heavy drizzle and muck. I elt well prepared as far as training rides but I didn't do as well as I wanted. My best a few years back was 7:40, this time I finished the ride in 8:13 and a ride time of 7:40. Must be old age catching up!:D

I heard the timekeeper mention that 50 riders did not complete the ride! So I don't feel so bad!

Highlight of the ride. I rode in behind a line of about 5 guys all in race kits. Lean mean looking dudes! I heard their times read off after the barcode scan, 9:05,9:10,9:03. Then mine said :8:13. The time keeper said dam, that's a good time. I was happy with it after I heard the others. I said to the timekeeper," and I'm a Clyde, I have to work harder ":thumb:

Pics were taken by Gina. My lovely wife was so kind as to drive the hundred miles offering support. Refilling waterbottles, wiping away the tears etc. She took the pics after the weather cleared. I didn't get any shots since it was way to wet and foggy to take pics or let go of the handlebars.



After 7000 ish feet of climbing at the lunch stop. Mile 50'ish! Finally somewhat clear skies but still cool
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3609/3623998992_707a0f6c62_o.jpg
C'mon, make up your mind! Warm at the bottom of Onyx but got cold again within a mile after I had already stripped the layers! ARight before the 8400 elevation marker.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3623998996_bddca7c4bc_o.jpg
At about mile 85. Who in the heck added climbs on the descent?:mad:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3414/3623998990_19741cb9f9_o.jpg

Nice ride...mine consisted of 10 miles, 0 elevation, 4 horses and 3 alpacas and one country store

WEll, I did just get a Ben and Jerry's icecream. Gina said I deserved it!:D

Looking to do a 1/2 century this fall. NO MOUNTAINS PLEASE!!

Nice job! Good rolling time, too.
I ended up with a rolling time of 8h 40m yesterday, with nowhere near the elevation you did, but 26 extra miles riding to/from the start line of the century.

Nice job! That's a LOT of climbing. How were the grades?

My ride yesterday was 85 miles, 6000 feet, lots of steep grades. I saw 19% at one point, lots of 12-16%. And we had the wonderful experience of headwind in BOTH directions. 20mph blowing in on us as we headed out. We had a break for an hour or so before lunch, then it turned around and we had it all the way back. The local winds seem to do that as the air warms up. It left me completely spent.

I don't have a GPS so I'll have to wait and see if the others post a graph. But nothing real steep. Maybe tight turns at 12% max, but for short sections. But just about all th climbing is in the first 62 miles. Just up and up!:D

CLimbingn up to Onyx Summit, about 50 miles into the ride, the headwinds kicked up!:mad: Then on the descent!:mad: It's a killer when the reward is greeted with headwinds!:mad:

You and the Bumble are certainly king and queens of the epic rides as far as I am concerned.

I know this was a big deal to you internally. I hope your completion was equally as rewarding. You say that you were not on the same timeline as years ago, but still, you pulled off a ride the bottom 95% of us here could not even think of accomplishing.

You da man.:thumb: Congrats.

Jay

You and the Bumble are certainly king and queens of the epic rides as far as I am concerned.

I know this was a big deal to you internally. I hope your completion was equally as rewarding. You say that you were not on the same timeline as years ago, but still, you pulled off a ride the bottom 95% of us here could not even think of accomplishing.

You da man.:thumb: Congrats.

Jay


Thanks, I feel better today! Gina said I'm being too hard on myself and that completing the ride is really something! Sad about my time but then again, cold, rain, fog and totally wet for the first 40 miles? Plus another rider that usually beats me by 30 minutes on the ride finished....well, 30 minutes ahead of me. So maybe it slowed down everyone!:D

Ah-hah! Results are posted and I'm feeling allright! #170 out of the registered 400 riders. I heard 50 riders did not complete the ride including no show's. Seems the wet weather affected most of the riders as my buds' times are also slower than previous years. Not bad considering this is only my 2nd century in 4 years!:thumb:

And who said Clydes aren't fast!

Wow, nice times, lots of elevation, I can see why your the King of the forums.

Wow, nice times, lots of elevation, I can see why your the King of the forums.

King of the forums?:roflmao2:.......Nah, I just try to make other clydes believe they can climb! I've seen some fast climbing clydes!:thumb:

I try and climb. I have about 36" of elevation from the floor to the counter top:)
I think the most I have done to date is about 3000' in a 49 mile ride.

10,000 is huge imo, let alone the time frame you completed.

3000 is great!:thumb: If you can do that, you can do 10,000. Just pacing and a few tears!:D

And lots of time:)

And lots of time:)

That's for sure! The good thing about being a grandpa 6 times over! Our kids are grown and out. We visit the kids then get up and go when we want! Later, time for a ride hahaha!:p


Another picture on the way up to Onyx Summit. The gurl in the green was killing me all day long! I saw them thru the entire ride. They would pass me then I'd catch up a the rest stops. I tried to limit my stops so I ended up finishing about 1/4 mile behind them. SHe blew by and dropped me about 5 times on the ride!:mad:

This about 60 miles into the ride, after 8500 ft of climbing
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3390/3629451171_d6d19bec9b_o.jpg
Had to blow this one up. Looks like a smile from a distance. This is the last and final climb of the ride so it's actually a snarl at the camera!:roflmao2:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3369/3629451179_ab277ec06d_o.jpg

I cannot even imagine that kind of climb. Down here in south Florida, the only inclines are the highway and intracoastal bridges and I whine about them. Good job!

I'm tired just looking at the pictures. Good job. I almost hate to ask this for fear of feeling more like a wimp. What gearing do you have?

I'm tired just looking at the pictures. Good job. I almost hate to ask this for fear of feeling more like a wimp. What gearing do you have?


I have a standard double 53/39 and a 12/25 cassette on the back. :thumb:

Hey Beanz- was that the Orange County Wheelmen ride from Redlands up into the San Bernardino Mtns? I went up to Big Bear Saturday morning (by car) and I saw a group of riders doing that ride. Were you in that group? Also, the fog did suck going up the 330 but it was clear up near Big Bear. Luckily you didn't have to go back through it. The fog and mist was still in the same area when I left at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Hey Beanz- Was that the Orange County Wheelmen ride from Redlands up into the San Bernardino Mtns? I went up to Big Bear Saturday morning and I saw a group of riders doing that ride. Were you in that group? Also, the fog did suck going up the 330 but it was clear up near Big Bear. Luckily you didn't have to go back through it. The fog and mist was still in the same area when I left at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Yes Mr. Bennet that was the ride! I was up there somewhere. I finished the ride back in Redlands at 2:56.

A cool note. As I was on the long homestretch to the finish, I pushing hard and doing 30 mph on the false flat descent. I could see a blue train coming up behind me. I tired to stay ahead just as extra motivation to shave a minute or two from my time. Eventually they caught me. It was a 4 man team with race team jerseys. They had a sweet paceline going. Guy a the fornt would pull for about 30 seconds then switch. It's not my style to draft on organized events but I tired to keep them insight. Not that I wasn't tempted but my thoughts are that if I do a ride, "I do it under my own power"!

I tried to keep them in sight as a goal. They were maybe 100 yards ahead and slowly pulling away. I saw them run down a couple of other riders that jumped on. I thought no biggie that they slowly pulled away, I was still cranking fine on my own.

AT one point I almost caught them as they stopped ofr one of the 3 redlights on the ride. But they pulled away again. Still no biggie cause these guys were some really fit looking racer guys. I thought I was lucky just to keep them in sight cause they looked like some BAD MOFO's!

After they posted the results, I looked up the 4 guys on the team. WTF!!!! I beat them all by 20 minutes!...:thumb: Now I don't feel so bad about getting dropped by the paceline!:D

Like most of us keep saying..... You are the man!!