merlinextraligh

This weekend is the Jacksonville Cycling Classic. Crit on Saturday and Road Race on Sunday This is Florida's only NRC event. The Pro race will be a twilight downtown crit on a fast course. So come down race in the afternoon. Get a beverage at the Landing and watch Pro's race in the evening.

Sunday's RR is a nice rolling course, with about as much undulation as any course you'll get in Florida.

This should be the best race weekend in Florida.

wrote4luck

These will be my first Cat 4 races, looking forward to them.

Bobby Lex

R U buying?

Bob

damocles1

Unless they are making trips over the bridges, there are NO rollers in, or near, Jacksonville. Do those morons still do their hill repeats over the bridge near the Landing?

I had a Specialized P-Brain computer when we lived in Jax. The Penney Farms ride had 240 feet of elevation gain...in 80 miles...

merlinextraligh

The RR course takes the rolling portion of the Penny Farms ride and makes a circuit. Admittedly there are no real climbs but there's enough change in grade to create opportunities to attack. Most of that 240 feet all comes in the 11 mile loop that makes the RR circuit. It's definitely not a climbing race, but its a more interesting circuit than a lot of really flat florida courses.

And there's a ride that does Hill repeats across the Acosta Birdge on Tuesdays. You gotta work with what you got.

wrote4luck

I was in Jax over the weekend, and did some climbing up and down the Acosta a few times. It was pretty brutal on Sat, going up the San Marco side was extremely windy and I barely got above 10 mph.

KendallF

Yep...I'm one of the morons, every Thursday night, thank you.

I'm over in Spain right now, and I've been climbing (very slowly) some Cat 1 Vuelta stuff in the mountains. The bridge work may not be ideal preparation, but it's better than none!

I'm going to try and do the road race (Cat 5) if I can swing it. I'll have been home approximately 48 hours after 4 weeks gone. We'll see how the family likes that idea.

damocles1

It was pretty funny to watch guys struggle over the Acosta bridge and call it a hill...

I miss Jacksonville...for the beach...

wrote4luck

I ride San Antonio here in FL very often, which is the hilliest in the state, and that Acosta bridge is as tough as anything I've ever ridden when there's a rough headwind. However, it's a joke when there's no wind.

merlinextraligh

It all depends on how fast you're doing it. Do 20 repeats of it, and don't let your speed drop below 20 mph, and see how easy it is. At least one of those guys you were laughing at is a national RR champion.

damocles1

So? I ride with ex-pros every ride...including a 2x national champ...

When I lived in Jax, the ride was 6 over/back trips, not 20...and no one even got close to staying over 20 when crossing the bridge. Don't make it out to be more than it is...or isn't...

merlinextraligh

Its obviously not Mt Mitchell. However my point is that it's steep enough if you do it fast enough it's very hard. Do it with the fastest guys around here and it will hurt.

I usually don't go out with the group that does it, but when I have, we've done 10 round trips (hence 20 climbs). And the fast guys around here definitely can do intervals up the Acosta at 20mph. (We're talking 6% grade for 60-90 seconds, its not like 20 mph is super human.)