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| Cemetery Point - Pine View Reservoir |
A big week
A big week it was. After the ride to Woodruff on Monday, I was looking at some serious heat on Wednesday, so I decided to do some early morning road intervals instead. A decent 50 miles before work, using the Garmin to record results. A couple mountain bike rides for good measure and I was ready for what should have been an assessment ride on Saturday. Turns out, Saturday was a pretty good training ride.Cache Valley Century
The Cache Century is a charity ride, to help people with disabilities enjoy the out of doors. At the check-in this go around, I was greeted by one of my many nieces. Shouldn't surprise me, as her family has a particular interest in this type of event. Still, I was very apprehensive getting ready to go. I had set my sights on a specific time, and the need to ride most of the day with fast groups. The course had changed quite a bit this year, as one town refused to let the event pass through. I should have paid closer attention, as it would prove to be somewhat costly in the end. Groups going out early weren't too fast, but still a comfortable pace. Getting out toward Preston, Idaho, we had maybe 30 people, pulling two abreast at times. Most everybody stopped at Preston, while I just looked for the next group to leave. Looking at the elevation chart below, you can see where we dropped into the river bottoms just before Dayton hill. As expected, I let the main body gap me just before the turn off of the hill. That was followed by another smaller hill that allowed them to spread a gap on me. Over the top, I slid into the drop-bars and pushed it hard for about five miles trying to catch the group. Little did I know there was about a dozen riders on my wheel enjoying the fast pace. I flew through the next rest stop and headed for a little climb just before Newton. As expected (again), I let the main group go, thinking they would "water" at Newton Park (only a couple minutes away). When I pulled in, there was another group already down the road, but for some reason, I decided to swing back toward Newton Dam. Looking at the elevations below, that is the "hump" at the 50 mile area. Turns out, I didn't need to go that way and had just over five miles and some good grinding before I turned back at Trenton Hill. I gassed it back to the park and caught another group going out. Jumping between groups, I made it to Mendon - on just a bit more than one bottle of water. Overall time wasn't too bad, but had spent more time than planned on my own. Quickly back on the road, I was either too fast for a couple groups, or too tired to hang on to others. I stayed with a train for a few miles, until we got to Cache Junction. Coming off the bridge, I had let them go and was on my own for the next five miles, climbing to Clarkston. By then, I was feeling the effects of lactic acid buildup. The quads would fire and I was spent. I took a couple minutes at Clarkston and considered taking a direct path back to Richmond, that would still give me 100 miles. It would have put me close to my target, but I elected to go around. One final mistake was going straight to Lewiston, instead of cutting back to the south. This meant I would be completely alone, not that it mattered at that point. Once onto Highway 91, I was facing a hot and stiff headwind. Five of the longest miles I could imagine. A ton of exposure and no help - a bad idea, but I made it in. Only riding with groups about 35% of the time. That can't happen at LOTOJA.
When all was said and done, I had just over 110 miles, with my average heart rate at 82%. Total time was 6h-40m, with a bike time of just under 6h 14m. The last 10 miles set the overall rolling time back a bit. Still, not a bad day. Just not what I had planned.
A minor irony, as my rider number in this event was remarkably similar to my assigned LOTOJA frame and bib number. Huh.......
A lot to do this week, and the nerves are getting the better of me - again.
Stick around.......
Click here - Takin' care of business
Ride HARD!
