BigSean

Well saturday morning I set out to do my feb century. A ride I deemed "The Punisher". A 102 mile 10,200ft century, with 2 big climbs. The day was a beauty and I was really excited. Justing showed up right on time and informed me we should be mt biking instead. Well we set of right at 9am in shorts and short sleeve jerseys and never needed anything warmer. We rode into Los Gatos and through Saratoga to Hwy 9 which would be the first big climb of the day. I had never ridden Hwy 9, but wanted too since it was a connector to the area I like when riding from my house. I started slowly, knowing that we had 90 miles still to go. Keeping my cadence between 87 and 92 on the 8to12% grade. 9 miles later our first climb was out of the way. however my legs we kinda tight and this had me a bit concerned. I downed an egel and 2 fig newtons and off we went. Skyline was a rolling hwy among the Redwoods with views out over the rolling hills to the coast. We were really enjoying the day, maybe too much as we attacked the rollers full boar and touched speeds of 46mph on the down side. Soon enough we were at our first decent. Alpine is another road I have never ridden. Most of the cyclists ride up it, but I had been informed that it was a great decent. It was a great decent. Justin led out as he is usually faster, but within a few corners I shot by him on the inside and I was gone. Hard on the brakes in and hard on the pedals out. We were treated to some more great views on the decent, although they went by rather fast.

Soon enough we were at the bottom and we came to an intersection where we were to turn. A couple other riders had recently rode by, Justin turned and looked at me, smiled, and I knew we were now in chase mode. Not a good thing to do when you are trying to complete the toughest ride we have done. Anyway he led out and got us within 50 yards. At this point I was feeling good so I took the lead. I caught the other group of riders and sat in there draft to recover. We were riding into a pretty strong headwind, and they were slowing down. I didnt want to just draft them so I made the pass to take a turn at pulling. And pull I did. For miles and miles as nobody else seemed to want to help. Our first rest stop was just ahead so I pulled the distance.

We stopped to eat and refill the bottles. After a 20 minute break we were off. Big climb #2 lie waiting just a few miles ahead. Just then the Liguigas team flew by, wow that was cool. Anyway, we beagan the short but steep climb up to hwy 1, low and behold there are the Credit Agicole team just ahead and coming towards me. Cool, two pro teams in 5 minutes. Anyway we ride on and Justin is gone out of sight. I take my time with the cimb, get to the top and bomb down hwy 1 to the Tunitas Creek climb. Although a very tough climb, I love to suffer this one. With 7 miles and the middle 3 being between 12 and 16% she is a real leg destroyer. Its not long before I start passing other riders as Im just taking my time, and others got to happy and did the ole fly and die routine. Pretty soon I see Justin, I pull along side to see if he's alright. He says he is never doing this road again, and I said Ill see ya at the top. I kept the same pace all the way to the top. By now my legs are screaming so loud I can hear them. The best part of this climb is the decent on the other side. So you get to the top in all kinds of pain, and quickly forget about it as you prepare to start passing cars on the down hill.

Justing shows up a few minutes later and lays on the ground for a few minutes. Jumps back up after a quick break, downs a gel and vrooooooom there goes the Credit Agricole team agan. Dang those guys are fast. Anyway, we take off on the decent and again Justin leads out. Its not long before Im looking for my chance to pass. We enter a hairpin where I can look around the corner and see its clear so I shoot by on the inside, stand and hammer away. A few more corners and Im on a mercedes bumper, which prompts him to gas it, now the race is on. He pulls a few lengths ahead as he uses both lanes. We go back and forth as I reel him in through the tight turns and he pulls away on the straights. At the bottom they stop at a light and give the two thumbs up, I return the gesture as that was alot of fum. His brakes were smoking, and Im sure in need of some new rotors as his were most likely warped.

At this point we are at about 56 miles and now my body is really beginning to hurt. We stop to refill water bottles again and some more fig newtons another gel and we are off. The rest of the ride will be rolling roads with two minor climbs left. At this point I was in too much pain to want to climb and Justin said there was no way he could ride uphill. So we keep riding and hope we feel better. We decide to eat, good thing cause I was a bit woosey. So we eat and now Im thinking, I dont want to call the wife to come and get me, but I may not have a choice.

I know at this point that Im not gonna get 100 miles, and really I could care less. I just wanted to get home on my own power. So off we go, and I actually feel a little better. Not good, but not as bad either. So we ride on and prettty soon we are holding a good 23mph pace. I say, hey if we can do this I can hang for another hour. We pull on to my street at 88 miles. If it had been closer I would have continued, but decided Id had enough.

I was disappointed to not complete the Punisher, but there will be another day. It was still an awesome febuary day to be on the bike.

here's the motionbased link

https://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2095222

herbm

Sean....you have nothing to be disappointed about....sounds like a really tough ride!
And eveyone has an off day..I know I have more than my share!!
88 miles is nothing to sneeze at!! Especially with those climbs...
I would have sagged at the first one!


PS..great ride report!!

Brandy

There's nothing to be ashamed about with 88 miles and 7700+ft Sean! You're right, there will be another day for you to kick the Punisher's ass.

voltman

Wussy! You need a new bike!

BigSean

Im thinking I should do it on my fixie.

voltman

One-legged, of course.

merider1

+1 I think you did great and, more importantly, you listened to your body! Sometimes, it's better to let a ride go so that you don't get injured or blow it all out. You'll do that ride again in the future!

BigSean

I did go hill climbing on the fixie the next day, just to punish my legs some more. Climbing on that gearing is brutal.

iamtim

Dude. A disappointing ride is the one you take over what was -- a few months back -- your "warmup" ride, and it kicks your @$$ because you haven't been riding much over the last 6 months or so.

Tiffanie

Enjoyed reading your ride report Sean... they're always fun to read. Definitely not a disappointing ride.

Indolent58

I was disappointed. Definitely not as entertaining as ronsmithjunior spewing up V8 juice.

GP

Good job, Sean. Those are some big climbs.

octico

Tiugh ri
de eh

jschen

Your low gear is a 34/27, no? So you're doing about 9 MPH on a 8-12% grade? That's certainly nothing to be ashamed of!

BigSean

It is, but I wasnt in the low gear. Actually I really wasnt ashamed. Disappointed that I didnt complete it yes. Disappointed that I always seem to ride like Im in a race. But it was fun, specially racing the Mercedes downhill.