Originally Posted by LAJ (Post 19516893)

Deal. :)

65 of us, and it was the 35+ open class. There were a couple older than myself, but not many. Ah well. It followed the same course as the TT to start, so that was good. I was at least familiar with what was coming up, but I was honestly surprised how steep these were, and that I was able to negotiate this stuff on my aero bars. Makes me a little more pleased with my TT deal, anyway.

It starts with a slight downhill, then a little one minute climb, basically rollers, with a final little nasty 30 second kicker before long descent. On this last kicker, there was a touching of wheels, and one fellow I knew went down. Sad, but at least it wasn't the downhill section. That muddied it up a bit, and I had to chase on the downhill to catch on. Of course, every little hill, there was a surge, so it was hard work.

Caught on, the corner at the bottom is about a 120 degree turn, with yet another kicker. About another minute of hell. another descent, and here comes the corner I had the flat on the previous day. Negotiated that OK, and recovered a bit, as this was the headwind part. Turned towards the sustained climb, and of course, they ramped it up again. I hung with as folks went off the back, and just as we neared the top, they gunned it even harder. I was redlined by then, off the back, and had to make a deal with myself to keep racing. I could see my truck from there, and it was so tempting....

I knew the next two laps were going to be hard, as now I had the wind all to myself. Just as I hit the hard little kicker before the descent to the 120 degree turn, I was caught by 5 riders, so that was nice. We took turns pulling until the sustained climb, then it was everyone for themselves. Myself and a Cat 2 guy dropped them on the hill, then he was able to recover a little quicker, and dropped me. One more lap to go.

Sort of a rinse and repeat, though I was by myself until the turn up the final hill, then another group caught me that started 5 minutes behind, and some of my bunch had tagged a ride in there. Either way, the hill was long, a couple got by me as they had a little recovery time in that other bunch, I dropped a few, and I pretty much left every ounce of everything I had out on the course.

I set pr best power numbers in multiple 5' 10' 15' times. I was close in 20's, but when I train in 20's, I don't have another hour and a half to go. :)

It was a good day, even though I was 45 of 65.

Originally Posted by LAJ (Post 19516895)

No. No they're not.

The beet juice from beets infect everything else on the plate.

Originally Posted by f4rrest (Post 19517776)

Sounds tough but satisfying. Good job!

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 19518315)

How many of you beet haters have never tasted them. Fess up.

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 19518315)

How many of you beet haters have never tasted them. Fess up.

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 19517882)

Yes, but what's the point?

Originally Posted by Trsnrtr (Post 19517911)

Since this is really a bike board, I'd like to report that Mrs.T and I did a 26 mile tandem bike ride.

The log will read:

Nice easy tandem ride.
26.0 mi. at 16.2 mph
Sunny, 72°, SSE at 5-12 mph
Pollen - 11.1

Originally Posted by LAJ (Post 19518353)

Many of us actually test, try, use, and learn about, before condemning.

Originally Posted by datlas (Post 19518329)

Beets are just alright with me.

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 19518315)

How many of you beet haters have never tasted them. Fess up.

Originally Posted by rjones28 (Post 19518392)

Borscht is fine occasionally in winter.

Originally Posted by Velo Vol (Post 19518443)

Got a good recipe?

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 19518457)

So far no one has said they have tried beets and don't like them enough to eat them again. Where are you guys?

Originally Posted by rpenmanparker (Post 19518457)

So far no one has said they have tried beets and don't like them enough to eat them again. Where are you guys?

Originally Posted by rjones28 (Post 19518474)

I tried beets and don't like them enough to eat them again. I occasionally eat them anyway.