Lightchop

Yes, I kid you not, back on my old hybrid around Chicago with 27 gears, I literally never left my big ring! But riding in GA & NC, I see what the other rings are for.

Well, technically there were 4 timed sections, each ~6 miles, so calling it a race seems appropriate. Of course, for me, it was just a marathon to see if I could finish.

So, I’m not sure what form a “ride report” takes, but here goes. I think I’ll respond primarily in the form of Trojans “lessons learned”:

Day started off well. Alarm went off at 5am for the 8am start. Then I realized WTH am I doing up at 5am? So set all 3 separate device alarms for 6-6:15 and got some more sleep. Made it to the race parking by 7:30, got my stuff together, and headed to the start. First point of duty was to grab my timing chip, followed closely by using the toilet (I was hydrating since 5pm previous day).

Got a photo of the start line (see below). Pre-race ceremony included a woman singing of “America the Beautiful” (is this normal?) and then some general race rules – eg don’t crash, share the road, etc. One important thing was they had to make a detour around a bridge out, so the 99 mile journey was going to be more like 100.5 (and of course the detour involved climbing!)

Then off we went. I used RideWithGPS to record the ride. Here is a snapshot of my ride (note the elevation changes!!!)


If in fact this is public (I dont know), you might be able to see and play with all my stats yourself, here: https://ridewithgps.com/users/763059/activities

And the GFNCS website photo showing the AID stations:


First 25 miles felt great. Had lots in the tank, and stopped at the first AID station, and refueled (PBJ, drink, fruit, etc). The timed sections didn’t phase me – or more clearly, I did not alter my pace for timed sections (I was not racing!). Then came that nasty 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] green time trial (only for the 100 milers). First 4 miles were a decent climb, then went vertical (Grade 7-11) for 1.5 miles. Made that without stopping (in my new 34 cog, occasionally dropping to 26 and getting out of my seat), but was exhausted. And was very worried about the next similar hill. I oddly felt better on the second, and the end of that hill came sooner than I was planning (the detour was around marker 20 so the maps were off).

Before the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] AID station, I turned a corner to go up a brutal hill, and I couldn’t get into my small ring! So I pull off, and consider using a multi-tool to screw with the limit screws on the front derailer. But then I (thankfully) realized I could really make a mess of things, so instead manually (hand on chain) switched into the small ring, and decided I’d stop by the SAG at the next AID station. Somewhere before that AID station, I got back in the big ring, and was able to get back in the small, so not sure what was up. But spent a good amount of time at AID #2 , and the SAG twisted some limit screws for me and all good.

I also felt good on T-3 (through mile ~78). Stopped at the final AID station at MM 80. This is when I realized I was out of my own drink mix and had to consume their sponsor stuff (HEED and Endurolyte Fizz). For whatever reason, I could not stomach them. But no choice. Drank a ton, ate another 2 pbjs, fruit, etc and chilled, ready for the headline mountain with 6 mile, ~1500 ft climb.

I had been hovering around one guy who was generally on my pace, and after befriending him on the route, I asked if he was doing the big climb. (I was not fully committed – mind was strong but flesh was weak. In fact my mind mighta been suspect too!). He said he had told himself he was, so I buddied with him.

I had been on a slightly better pace than him for the day (he was arriving to AID stations after me and leaving before me), so he took off and we were to meet on the mountain. I drank some more and got some shade.

The next 3 miles sucked. Its easy to look at that elevation map and conclude "there’s only 3 climbs" but even those small roadbumps on the maps can be 200-foot climbs. I caught up to him at a stoplight, having not seen anyone for 3 miles. I was pretty thrilled to see him. I clipped out about 50 feet from him, and then there was some traffic, and it was uphill so I pedaled up and said hello and went to dismount – when I pulled the ultimate noob trick of being clipped in and falling over onto the curb! Not sure how that happened, I can only guess I had unclipped and then went back on the power and didn’t get back out. Thankfully only a broken ego.

The 6 mile climb sucked. First 1.2 miles sucked. Then I stopped and drank. I was getting low on the fluids – that I hated (HEED & Eurolyte). Another half mile. Stopped in the shade. Drank. This went on for 6 miles. Be it in the 34 cog spinning, or standing on the 26 (standing up on the 34 was futile). My buddy and I changed places every few minutes. I was out of water before reaching the crest and hurting. But I soldiered on and got over. Snapped a photo at the summit (also below). The only remaining trouble was the last climb, which while bad, was particularly bad because I wasn’t convinced I was on the route! The fear of finding out you’ve just climbed 300 feet for no reason was slightly irritating!
Last few miles, downhill, with a breeze, put a smile on my face.

What did I learn? Quite a lot:
1) Bring plenty of your own water mix. I was 2 or 3 packets short

2) I learned I suck on hills. I had been doing 15-mile training runs that had 1400 feet elevation changes (roughly same overall climb as the fondo), but the max grade was only 7 or 8%. While the Fondo definitely had some 15+. Why the RWGPS app says a max grade of 11.4%, I don’t know. But its wrong. Part of why I suck has to be that I am 250 pounds and am riding a 24 pound bottom of the line trek. And in fact, I’ve been in Atlanta for 2 weeks prior to this, eating my favorite places here (burgers, Mexican, bbq, beer, etc) so that number might be 260+! Google tells me a cinder block weighs 28 pounds – so I’d like to see what one of the 150lb riders on their 14lb bike would do if they had 4 cinder blocks strapped to them!

3) I believe rm –rf’s notion that 200 ft of climbing is approx 1 mile. Case in point, coming off of large hills, I found myself constantly on (feathering) the brakes – generally wasting my 1 asset – the potential energy I gained via my weight!

4) I learned I’m decent on flats. I did another century last weekend (old railbed in GA so generally flat) – and both then and here, I felt like a champ on the (few) flats.

5) Make friends at the race. Had I not befriended the guy on my pace, I might have convinced myself to bail before the final climb. We got through it together.

6) Cassette. The gap between 26 and 34 really is noticeable on my 8-speed cassette. I sort of kicked myself when I realized they had to put on a 9-speed derailer (and chain) to get it to work – it would have been a good time to go to at least a 9-speed cassette! I have to think any new bike purchase I do that I should investigate an 11-speed paired with a compact crank. Like an 11-32. Why not? Surely there must be a reason.

7) I learned that in my big/ring & small cog that I spin out when powering-on around 30 mph. I took this to mean that if I found myself coming off a climb and by the time I was in the 50/11 and was already at ~30 – don’t bother pedaling. Though I did get up to 41 mph today (It was early and a good straight stretch on good roads). Not sure how I explain that.

8) Sensitive point – NSFW J - I somehow managed to chafe the end of my private part starting at mile 60. This has happened to be before back in my marathon days, and I learned to wear tight underwear. But I was wearing my padded tight spandex today (under my favorite shorts). Not sure why this happened as it is a tight fit, but upon inspection there is a seam going down the front middle. Hmm, that being said I use these underwear on all my long 60 & 100 mile rides and never a problem before.

9) I nearly paid the $3 for the turn-by-turn directions from RWGPS (3 day trial of RWPGS). But in speaking with a racer the previous night, he said the route was well-signposted and no need. Glad I didn’t pay it, as my intent is to find an app that does power, cadence, gps etc etc etc. I’ll pay for that once it becomes clear what it is. I will say though, that RWGPS is the only free app that Ive found which does a nice job of elevation maps, which I relied upon to boost my confidence in the training days and weeks before. Surely my battery would have died had I had the app display lit / talking to me for 100 miles (8 hours and 44 minutes!). As it was, I ended the ride today and my phone had 20% battery left, with just RWGPS running and display off.

10) Full disclosure – I love RWGPS free app.

11) More full disclosure – I actually did miss one turn when I was by myself for 10 miles – thankfully I caught it as I rode by and backtracked all of 200 feet (of course up a hill!)

12) Learned I need to be more aware of clipping out. What do you do when you clip out and then get back on the power? I don’t really recall, but I think my intent was to pedal with my heel on my right side just to keep moving a bit more. Or should this never happen?

13) After the race started, I realized I had not reset my odometer! Can’t call a Do-Over!!! This has never happened, I am religious about this. Wasn’t too bad, at the first Aid station I just set the odometer to whatever my RWGPS app said. But perhaps I need a pre-ride checklist. Much like pilots have for approach and landing.

14) Wear sunscreen. Though it would have sweated off in the first 10 miles, I got burnt on my arms.

I think that is all. Surely there is more, but I’m a bit sleepy!

And wowza – the results are in. my race result : : Gran Fondo Asheville 2016=

If you look at the Gran Route results, I came in 78[SUP]th[/SUP] out of 100. But that is a bit misleading, as technically I only beat 2 other guys that finished all 4 time segments. Though I find solace in the fact that it also means that most of the other 20 at the bottom bailed on the final hill. I think the guys that skipped #2 bailed by choosing the 60 mile route at the first AID station.

I bet I would have won:
1) Heaviest rider
2) Cheapest bike

Shame there is no prize for this Though after going through 2 new casettes and a new derailer, perhaps it’s not the cheapest bike.

The startline:

Me on the summit: