Tour de Acoma - 1/2 Century
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Tour de Acoma - 1/2 Century - CycleTour
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Comments: Event started and finished at Sky City Casino. Started out slow to warm up. I guess we were in last place for awhile as an ambulance was following us. Road conditions varied and I wondered if a more appropriate name might be the Acoma-Roubaix; the course would be smooth than abruptly change to rough with potholes, gravel, cattle guards and weeds...in areas it about felt like cobblestone and dirt track. In about the first five miles there were about a dozen cyclists whose tires had succumbed to punctures. I was glad I went with a little lower tire pressure and made a mental note to buy some Armadillos before next season. To the organizers credit, there were signs, cones, spray paint, and plenty of volunteers to warn of road hazards. The 50+ mile loop went through Acoma and Laguna Pueblo land, passing Sky City - the longest continually inhabited "city" in the United States. I'm partial to the desert, so I enjoyed the scenery. Most of the climbing was gradual, except for the 450 foot climb at about mile 23. A race sign stated something like "Hill Ahead" - it was already obvious, but I'm sure they had to do it for liability or insurance reasons - and while I don't condone property damage, my inner child wished I had brought a Sharpie. Lots of riders, especially the tandem teams were walking their trusty steeds up this climb, but I was able to stay in the saddle (with a little help from the granny of my triple )throughout the climb. The rest of the ride was fairly good. The climb was rewarded with a long descent, followed by short gradual climbs and descents for the rest of the course. My wife had been having some back problems and was really starting to feel it about mile 40. The last 10+ miles were slower than the rest, but we finished the event crossing the line side by side. Many improvements over last year including pre and post race meals, course marking and course support. Post race
Warm down: Loaded up the bikes and grabbed some BBQ. Made the hour + drive home dodging semis on the interstate. What limited your ability to perform faster: I probably could have gone faster if I had gone solo...but I wouldn't have had as much fun. Last updated: 2008-09-22 12:00 AM
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2008-09-28 9:00 PM |
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United States
Sky City Cultural Center
Sunny
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 75/93
Worked late, but managed to get about 4-5 hrs of sleep before getting up and driving an hour to race site. Had most everything set out the night before for faster prep.
No real warm-up. Started out slow, picked up pace as we went.