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Blazing Saddles Century - CycleCentury


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Franklin, Ga, Georgia
United States
http://www.westgeorgiaflyers.org
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 00m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

This was not a race, just a fun ride, so no timing chips, no routine. Had my pb sandwich before I left and drank would I could of an ensure shake. Gathered a lot of stuff and headed down to Franklin, about an hour and a half away. I had plenty of time. But wouldn't you know, every ramp near me to get on 75 was closed. Took me 20 minutes extra just to find somewhere to get on the highway. So of course, I'm late. At ten til 8 I still have to register and get all my stuff together for the day. Since this was my first ride like this, I came well prepared.
Event warmup:

No warmup. Not even stretching! (What was I thinking?). The group had already left probably about 10 min. ahead of me. I was panicing because I didn't know the course, or anyone there. Found a couple other stragglers and started off.
Bike
  • 6h 00m
  • 80 miles
  • 13.33 mile/hr
Comments:

About 15 min. into the ride, I realized I didn't have my phone, or my Road ID, or the cue sheet. Awesome. I could see this turning ugly real fast. I trucked along for the first 10 miles with a couple people around at a few points. But no converstations or anything. And that was about the extent of my human contact during the ride. THANK GOD I DECIDED TO BRING MY IPOD! It was just me and the cows and they weren't talking back. At about mile 20 I thought "what the hell was I thinking? I can't do 80 miles of this!" Hills, hills, and more hills. I know I don't have much to compare to, but this is the hilliest course I've ever ridden. Ouch. I stopped at every sag stop for no more than a few minutes each. Refilled my water, took a bite of whatever they had there. The stop before the 56 mile turnoff I decided I was going to cut it short. There was no way I could do 80 of this. So there it came, the turnoff for the 56 miler. I stared at that mark on the road and somehow passed it. I don't know why. Maybe I had something to prove to myself. I also remembered looking at the elevation map and I recalled that the first half was much worse than the second. So I gave it a chance. The hills kept coming, but it wasn't as bad as the first 20 or 30. It just seemed like there was never a decent. I just kept climbing. My ipod made my day, I sang along, outloud. Why not? I knew the cows weren't going to say anything. Then...rain. It could have been a lot worse, but it just made everything icky. Like it wasn't humid enough. I was glad that those clouds covered me almost the entire time.

I got a little bored I guess, so I started playing games to keep me entertained, and try not to think about how badly my legs hurt. The first, "count the dead armadillos". The second, and my favorite, "if only I had a camera". My two favorite scenes from this: 1) At a graveyard, a sign that read "please see the commisioner before picking or digging grave". 2) A lady weedwacking the grass that was growing around the car that was parked in the middle of the yard. Good times.

At the last sag stop, I refilled and chatted. I asked what mile we were at since I knew my garmin was off. They said 63. Six whole miles further than I thought! Awesome. Piece of cake. So of course, like it always seems to be, the last few miles were uphill. I cursed the people that made this route. It hurt...a lot. But I made it back in time to get my free chick fil sandwich, and that was just what I wanted.
What would you do differently?:

Set my garmin up correctly BEFORE I LEAVE. Bring my phone and the cue sheet. Other than that, not too much.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked a bit and stretched and ate my sandwich. But I just wanted to go home by that point. It had been 7 hours since I started.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Hills, hills, hills. And maybe a few more hills.

Event comments:

The volunteers were great. For this just being a ride, they put in a lot of work and it shows. I brought all this stuff with me, but I didn't really need any of it, they had everything covered.




Last updated: 2008-04-24 12:00 AM
Biking
06:00:00 | 80 miles | 13.33 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Still need to work on the Garmin skills. I messed it up, so it was quite inaccurate.
Wind:
Course: 80 mile HILLY loop around Franklin, GA and into AL.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks: Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2008-07-26 7:23 PM

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Extreme Veteran
547
50025
Atlanta
Subject: Blazing Saddles Century


2008-07-27 10:13 AM
in reply to: #1561705

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Champion
5529
500050025
Nashville, TN
Subject: RE: Blazing Saddles Century
Glad to see you endure a long ride, both mentally and physically.  Did you entertain yourself by telling stories? 
2008-07-28 7:28 AM
in reply to: #1561705

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Member
36
25
Powder Springs, GA
Subject: RE: Blazing Saddles Century
Nice ride on Saturday.

Looking at the profile, that's quite a climb around mile 28!
2008-07-28 7:44 AM
in reply to: #1561705

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Master
2021
2000
Alpharetta, GA
Subject: RE: Blazing Saddles Century
Great Ride!!! Way to HTFU and push past that 56 mile cutoff. I love the feeling that you are about to call it a day, then as the cutoff comes and passes you think to yourself, "why not?" There is no reason behind it, you just keep pushing on.

Great job! I know that takes guts to keep pushing.
2008-07-30 5:24 AM
in reply to: #1561705

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Extreme Veteran
329
10010010025
Subject: RE: Blazing Saddles Century

Hi Jess,

Awesome effort and good read'n

2008-07-30 8:02 AM
in reply to: #1568962

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Master
1201
1000100100
Woodstock, GA
Subject: RE: Blazing Saddles Century
Good job.  You may want to get in touch with abbagej for the Covington Century.  It may be more fun to ride with someone instead doing that distance alone.


2008-07-30 2:44 PM
in reply to: #1561705

Subject: ...
This user's post has been ignored.
2008-07-30 5:53 PM
in reply to: #1561705

Extreme Veteran
441
10010010010025
Roswell, GA
Subject: RE: Blazing Saddles Century
Nice sticking with it.  I was surprised by all the dead armadillos on the course.  Do people TRY to hit them?
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