I didn't really have a game plan going into this ride. I just wanted to do the distance and see how it goes. My legs were a little stiff and sore from a Zone 3-4 one hour relay run at the Tour d'Esprit last night. I rode out easy for the first 10 miles, keeping my power numbers low and holding a Zone 2 to Zone 3 effort. As my legs warmed up and got into a biking groove, I picked up my pace and effort, moving into Zones 4 and 5 and pushing my power up into the 250's. This ended up being a very good ride for me. I was very happy with my average power for the ride and my overall effort - about a 8 out of 10 effort on a scale of 1-10. The only fluids that I took in during the ride were from one of two large bike bottles on my bike that I had filled with HEED electrolyte solution.

I could have probably picked up my pace sooner during the first 10 miles, but I was concerned about blowing up later if I went out too fast. I should have probably taken in more water at either the SAG stops or from the water that I had on my bike. I didn't have any dehydration issues, but more water would have been better than less.

I rode a couple of easy laps around the parking lot, grabbed 3 chilled bottles of ice water from the finish line aid station, packed up my bike and drove home to meet my family for lunch.


I felt like I had a very good ride coming off a hard 7.5 mile trail run last night. If I had not run, I may have biked a little faster with fresher legs.


This was a fun event. It was the 4th year for the Bluff City Blues ride. I left with the impression that it was not quite as well organized as it has been in years past. The number of participants also appeared to me to be down from previous years. As a Memphis Hightailer member, last night, I received a mass email to the membership from the ride director who in need of more volunteers for this event. The SAG stops appeared to me to be well staffed with volunteers and stocked with a good variety of snacks and drinks. The course was well marked with light vehicle traffic and was a good mix of flats, rollers and hills. Performance wise, my power output was up considerably over what it was on this ride last year. It goes down as a good day for me.