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Pedal Thru the Pines - CycleTour


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Bastrop, Texas
United States
68F / 20C
Overcast
Total Time = 3h 52m 11s
Overall Rank = /1500
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 6am, ate some cereal and a banana. Met a cycling teammate at 630a and headed for the ride.
Event warmup:

A little stretching and drank some water.
Bike
  • 3h 52m 11s
  • 63.4 miles
  • 16.38 mile/hr
Comments:

Whew, didn't know if I would have the energy for the ride since I was sick all week. My buddy had also signed up for the 65mi but we both said we would see how we felt at the 50mi turn-off and decide then. The first 15mi is brutal. Constantly up and down some very short steep hills. The good news here was that it was a very heavy treed area so there was very little wind. However, as soon as you exited the park and onto the open countryside the 20-30mph really hit you. Luckily the course was laid out east to west and the wind was from the south. You really had to fight the crosswinds and nearly blew me over a few times.

This part of the course was nice and fairly flat and really was able to keep a nice high speed. However I think this is when my quad cramping started. I think the hard hills in the beginning (without getting in a proper warmup) really put a load on my quads. So once I was on the flats and just cruising, they really tightened up. They never fully cramped but I was stopping at every rest stop and eating lots of bananas, water, and doing a lot of stretching. I assume this was due to my conditioning this week and not eating very well while I was sick.

This is when I decided to go for the 65mi. It was kinda by mistake. We didn't realize the turnoff would be so early to decided between the 50 and 65. So of course after only 16mi or so you still feel pretty good so we decided to go for it.

The worst part of the course was around mile 30. The course was heading east, but then turned south directly into the wind. This was atrocious! Imagine working almost as hard as you can on a bike, on a flat road, but still only able to go about half as fast as you normally could go with no wind. It was a 10mi section and I was only avg'ing 10-12mph. This really wore me out and my quads were screaming after this.

But after this stretch, we finally turned back west and headed back to the start for the final 22mi. This was nice. Finally had the wind coming more from behind us and a large chunk of this section was on a freshly paved road. I just kept chugging along and finally made it to the finish.
What would you do differently?:

Train more in advance and do a lot more warming up.
Post race
Warm down:

Hahaha...fell off the bike and curled up in a fetal position!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Training and WIND!!

Event comments:

I am just so happy that I was able to finish. This was one of my toughest races mentally...having to fight the hills, the wind, the cramping, and seat pain. There were many times when I did not know if I would be able to finish.

It is a great race and I really love the scenery. While riding thru the countryside, I saw a baby calf that had just been born. I didn't see the birth but it had just happened b/c the calf was still wet and had not even stood up yet. That was really cool.

The ONLY negative of this race was that there is no after party at all. No food, drinks, nothing. There is not even an actual finish line. You just ride into the start area and then that is it. You ride back to your car and the ride is over. I know it allows the charity to get more money without that stuff, but it would've been nice to have a little something.

I think I pushed a little too hard, as it is now the next day and I've got some knee pain in both knees.




Last updated: 2008-12-29 12:00 AM
Biking
03:52:11 | 63.4 miles | 16.38 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/1500
Performance: Good
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: First 15mi was extremely hilly thru a state park, then the rest was long rolling hills.
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2009-03-08 11:16 AM

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Expert
1557
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Austin, TX
Subject: Pedal Thru the Pines


2009-03-09 10:07 AM
in reply to: #2004719

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Pro
5761
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Bartlett, TN
Subject: RE: Pedal Thru the Pines

Sounds like a fun day to me. I have been asked to do a MS150 ride, which is a 75 mile a day ride!

 

Great job though, you da man!

2009-03-10 9:22 AM
in reply to: #2004719

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Master
1887
1000500100100100252525
Loveland, Ohio
Subject: RE: Pedal Thru the Pines

I loathe crosswinds!  Well, and headwinds, too really.  Big congratulations to you for getting it done.  I loved your post-race warm down comment.  LOL.

I agree, they could do a little something for you post race.  In my opinion, some kind of recovery food is not a luxury but a necessity.

Anyway, my hat's off to ya!

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