One and ....done.
03-10-14, 05:29 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
One and ....done.
I hadn't planned on any brevets in 2014. I just started riding again after many years in 2011, did Ragbrai, an SR and a 1200 in 2012 and last year, I did a 200, a 300, a 400 and another 1200.
Instead of doing brevets this year, I just wanted to do my Saturday club rides and then ride for fun once or twice a week after work.
Well, so much for that idea. Our "Around the Bend 400" caught my attention - it's a relatively flat route that should be ideal for someone who hasn't ridden a lot. I mean, my longest ride YTD was 60 miles and I had exactly *1* of those. The rest were 30-40 mile club rides on Saturdays and 10-25 rides after work.
What could go wrong, right?
Wind. Wind. And more wind was what went wrong. 20 mph steady with 25 mph gusts. Relentless wind.
Before the ride, I did a few quick calculations, added in our control breaks and determined that we could better our 18 hour time last year and enjoy the ride. That was a 16 mph average. Easy.
Wind changes everything. Last year, there were 22 riders and only 2 DNF'd due to illness. This year, 26 started and 4 DNF'd.
The average time for all finishers was 20:11. My riding buddy and I were just under that at 19:43. Last year, we were at 18:10.
There were 9 who finished in front of us with an average time of about 17 hours. Within that group, 5 finished in 15:57. These are all high-performers who know how to work together.
There were 11 riders behind us with an average of 22:28. Of those 12, 3 finished in just over 24 hours. Kudos to those 3 who really gutted it out. By comparison, the slowest riders last year finished in just over 22 hours.
Oh, 400k isn't 250 miles but I did a little extra at the end of bump my total for 250.1 I actually feel pretty good today. My wife set me up for a two hour massage yesterday and that certainly helped.
Instead of doing brevets this year, I just wanted to do my Saturday club rides and then ride for fun once or twice a week after work.
Well, so much for that idea. Our "Around the Bend 400" caught my attention - it's a relatively flat route that should be ideal for someone who hasn't ridden a lot. I mean, my longest ride YTD was 60 miles and I had exactly *1* of those. The rest were 30-40 mile club rides on Saturdays and 10-25 rides after work.
What could go wrong, right?
Wind. Wind. And more wind was what went wrong. 20 mph steady with 25 mph gusts. Relentless wind.
Before the ride, I did a few quick calculations, added in our control breaks and determined that we could better our 18 hour time last year and enjoy the ride. That was a 16 mph average. Easy.
Wind changes everything. Last year, there were 22 riders and only 2 DNF'd due to illness. This year, 26 started and 4 DNF'd.
The average time for all finishers was 20:11. My riding buddy and I were just under that at 19:43. Last year, we were at 18:10.
There were 9 who finished in front of us with an average time of about 17 hours. Within that group, 5 finished in 15:57. These are all high-performers who know how to work together.
There were 11 riders behind us with an average of 22:28. Of those 12, 3 finished in just over 24 hours. Kudos to those 3 who really gutted it out. By comparison, the slowest riders last year finished in just over 22 hours.
Oh, 400k isn't 250 miles but I did a little extra at the end of bump my total for 250.1 I actually feel pretty good today. My wife set me up for a two hour massage yesterday and that certainly helped.
03-11-14, 04:32 AM
#2
In Real Life
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Down under down under
Posts: 52,152
Bikes: Lots
Mentioned: 141 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3203 Post(s)
Liked 596 Times
in
329 Posts
Congratulations!! I think you're lucky to be able to do 400Ks ... and in such a good time!! I wish ...
__________________
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
03-11-14, 07:19 AM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Santa Barbara CA
Posts: 734
Bikes: rivendell romulus terratrike rover
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Nice work k7baixo. I hate riding into the wind but a massage reward is a great idea.
Charlie
Charlie
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
flr
Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling
7
10-29-15 04:43 PM
