With all the posts about the Veteran’s Day Ride on the site, I figured it would sure be nice to have a post from somebody who actually FINISHED the ride. Nicole and I opted for the 35 mile route, I thought I’d share some of my impressions from the ride.
First of all, this is the largest ride I’ve ever been on. Not in terms of mileage, but in terms of how many people were on the ride. I was really impressed by how responsible people were on the ride. Even with the problems that arose, everybody pitched in when help/direction was needed.
I pretty much stuck with Nicole most of the ride – at times we were seperated, but that didn’t last longer than 10-15 minutes. The first 15 miles were fairly easy. I spent most of the time messing around with my new wheels… speeding up to the next group, pushing hard on some hills, etc. Since the first section of the ride was mostly downhill, and with a tailwind no less, it was pretty easy going. The only hard part was just before the first rest stop. Probably the hardest climb of the day, it was, I believe, the second longest climb, and at an annoying 7% grade. Knowing that the rest area was just up ahead, I pushed a lot harder than I normally would have and was wiped out when I got to the top.
The second half of the ride was tough. Mostly up hill, headwind the entire way. There was only one short section, about a mile and a half long, that was flat and without wind. After doing about 10 miles of constant headwind, it was pretty easy to go fast. Averaged 22 miles/hour easy on that section, but it was shortlived… headwind and climbs followed immediately after, and stayed with us the rest of the way.
Nicole dropped her chain right at Independence on the home stretch, and I had to help her get it back on. Suppose she has to take after her father in some way, although dropping the chain is better than falling before the ride even starts.
The route was twistier than I expected. Didn’t stay on any stretch of road longer than 3 miles. However, it was well marked, so this wasn’t a problem. The rest areas were at pretty good spots along the ride, and everybody was super friendly. I’ll definitely be back next year.
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I hooked up early with some of the BE Saturday AM regulars (Dave, Will, Terry) and we hung with the 1st group. I should have know we were in for it when the escort Police was doing 30mph up old 51. We hung with the first group for 20 miles, blowing past the 1st rest stop. Justin was the first to drop. A few moments later, I was having to work way too hard to keep up on this long hill at the end of Brief road. I looked back and Terry, who had been on my wheel had fallen off about 30 meters. It’s time to set a reasonable pace. My Polar was showing 22.6 avg at just over 20 miles into a 64 mile ride. Something has to give. I backed off a little to join Terry and a few minutes later Justin joined us. A few minutes later at short, but steep hill at the end of Brief, we picked up Dave. Will was not to be seen by us until the finish.
The second rest stop we decided to take a break. Those homemade cookies are reason enough! After about 10 – 15 minutes the 2 group came by, about half stopping. Dave, Justin and I decided to chase that remaining group to give us some help with the headwinds. Terry was not feeling too well, so he stayed back. I saw him later and he chose to take the sag in. Good move, he was definately off his game.
Justin got his 2nd wind after the rest stop and punished Dave and me for the next 25 miles or so, or until we figured out that if we pulled it was easier!
Great ride, wonderful cookies, brutal wind. With unlimited chili at the end. What more could you ask for???Thanks Jeff, Richard and the Bikes East crowd!
Dwight
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