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Miles rode: 55
Time: 3:48:49
Avg speed: 14.4
Max speed: 43.9 (that darn wind slowed me WAY down on the descent down Willard Mtn)
Total climbing: 3602′
Difficulty index/Effort index: 20/89 (for comparison, the ADK 540 was 44/233) (numbers from TopoFusion)
Total uphill distance/grade: 15.33 miles/5.2% (ADK 540: 42.78 miles/4.3%)
Avg HR: 165 (189 max; 1 hour 30 minutes above 170)
Temp: 30, felt like 22; windy

We previewed the Battenkill Roubaix race course. Anthony is registered for this event–one of over 900! The ride was cold, windy, snowing at points, riddled with climbing, windy, and we lost our cue sheet 5 miles in so I had to try to find a course map on the internet on my BlackBerry so we could follow the course accurately. Found it. Regardless, any ride is a good ride. In fact, the more problems on a ride, the more ‘epic’ it is afterwards.

Loosing the cue sheet proved to be not that big a deal since the route is well marked. However, once we got to Greenwich we lost the markings and just guessed at the way back (about 15 miles or so). Most of those last 15 miles were the ONLY time we had a tailwind. Good grief, that wind followed us everywhere on the course! There were only a few miles of that magical perfect tailwind silence. The kind of silence you get when the bike is dialed in, you’re going the same speed as the wind and feel like you’re floating. It feels a bit like I think weightlessness might feel… like you could just place a Clif bar in the air ahead of you and it would float there even at 23 miles per hour. With no wind noise, the only sound reaching my ears was the gentle hum of rubber on tarmac. A comforting, reassuring sound.

Things I noticed:

• Two purple mailboxes (actually Anthony noticed these). Sorry John, you don’t have a lock on purple mailboxes in the North Country.
• There is “No planting” allowed in the cemetery (again, Anthony noticed this one. I think my powers of observation were seriously lacking on this ride)
• Lots of fowl. A hawk, a heron, blue birds, mallards, geese, and Canadian geese.
• A stick in the road that looked like a deer’s leg. Wait it really was… Ewww…
• Lots of used car dealerships on Rt 29
• Riding on dirt sucks on a road bike
• Climbing on dirt sucks even more
• Toe heat packs only last about 3 1/2 hours
• I stayed warm for nearly all the ride, but my face was feeling raw being exposed to the wind.

Anthony was a gracious cycling partner today and waited for me at the top of every climb. And there were a lot of them! Mind you there were a few climbs I where I managed to hang with him. Like, maybe two or three. Kyle, it’s probably a good thing you didn’t join us today. I think I still fared pretty well, what with this only being my third ride of the season.

Hmm, my average ride length this year is 72 miles! Though it’s a worthless statistic since the sample set is so small. Still it’s amusing. And if I don’t ride at all in the next five days, and do a solo century on Saturday like I’m planning, then I’ll bump that statistic up to nearly 79 miles. This isn’t a typical training regimen–and I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s like trying to learn about fine wines when all you do is drink whole cheap boxes of wine at a clip.

Back at the car, I discover to my dismay that I left the keys IN the ignition, with the ignition turned to ACC. Oh crap. Luckily I had jumper cables and Anthony helped me get the car started. Apparently I’m still going rounds with Karma.

Dinner was a surprisingly good Tuscan Steakburger at 99 Restaurant. There was no food in the house and the grocery stores were closed. Oh, yeah, it’s Easter, isn’t it?

This entry was posted Sunday, April 8th, 2007 at 11:11 pm and is filed under Cycling. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.