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Cheaha Challenge Century - CycleCentury


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Piedmont, Alabama
United States
Northeast Alabma Bicycle Club
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 7h 59m 34s
Overall Rank = 165/222
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Arrived at the civic center for breakfast about an hour out from the start. Was a one hour drive from home.

During the ride to the race ate 1/2 poptart, cup of coffee.
At breakfast at 1/2 bagel w/ cream cheese, sipped gatorade to get fluids.
Event warmup:

Rode the bike a couple blocks shifting the gears to check everything. This was the furthest I would ever ride continuously, so didn't do too much.

In the corral, I was freezing. The air temps were 55* and I was in shorts and short sleeve jersey. Turns out, that was perfect for later.
Bike
  • 7h 59m 34s
  • 102 miles
  • 12.76 mile/hr
Comments:

Took out of the starting corral pretty easy and wound up getting launched to the back of the pack. The starting group was fast. I knew I had 100miles to go so I really held back making sure I didn't blow up.

I found a wheel and worked to stay on it until they either left me, or I found another group more my pace to latch onto. Tried to tuck into a line as long as possible to get assistance.

Stopped at ALL (won't do that again) stops to make sure to top my bottle off and force myself to eat.

Generally stuck with 1/2 pb&j sandwich, 1-2 cookies and topping the bottle off.

Took my time on the ride. Rode within my comfort zone, but didn't slack. Came out of the saddle on several of the climbs and really gave it effort there.

Appreciated the stops, took photos and enjoyed my first century.

Really gave it hell coming into the 50mi stop to climb the big hill into the park. Had a blast with it, then took a good 8-10min stop break to walk off the bike and rest the legs before continuing.

The last hill, dropping 6mi down the back side of the mountain was fun, turning around in the parking lot at the bottom, not so much.

The return trip was FAST. So much easier it seemed. Hit a new land speed record (49mph) on one of the downhill segments. Would have been nice if the road wasn't chip sealed though. It beat up the hands/arms pretty good.

Lost the tail light off the back from the bouncing.

The last 12miles were awful. I was getting tired and fighting a headwind. Me and one other rider took 2minute pull intervals to help pull us in along the road, but even then, it was rough.

Coming into town was great. The two of us finished together and enjoyed the finish.

Total Food Intake:
Pre-Ride:
Bagel w/ cream cheese, 1cup coffee, 12oz gatorade, 1/2 blueberry poptart.

During:
Checkpoint 1 (13mi) - 1/2 banana, 2 fig newtons
Checkpoint 2 (22mi) - 1/2 pb&j sandwich, 2 fig newtons, topped the fluids
Checkpoint 3 (33mi) - 1/2 pb&j, 1 gu, topped the fluids
Checkpoint 4 (44mi) - 1/2 banana, 2 fig newtons, topped the fluids
Checkpoint 5 (51mi) - 1 gu, topped the fluids
Checkpoint 6 (57mi) - 2 fig newtons
Checkpoint 7 (68mi) - nothing
Checkpoint 8 (77mi) - 2 cookies, fluids
Checkpoint 9 (88mi) - 1/2 banana
What would you do differently?:

Nothing but ride more.

Felt like I did well for my first century that's billed as the toughest in the south!
Post race
Warm down:

Walked the bike to the truck, showered, and ate a small plate of pasta/salad & chased it with a beer, a sweet tea, a coke, and a water.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Nothing. Rode within my limits




Last updated: 2012-04-16 12:00 AM
Biking
07:59:34 | 102 miles | 12.76 mile/hr
Age Group: 165/
Overall: 222/222
Performance: Good
BIKE TIME: 6:50:21 - 14.7mph HR 145avg/172max Cadence 70avg/119max Climbing 7507ft Stops: 1 - 41:41, 13.24mi, 19mph 2 - 37:10, 10.57mi, 17.1mph 3 - 40:45, 8.78mi, 12.9mph 4 - 57:54, 10.49mi, 10.9mph 5 - 25:08, 7.0mi, 16.7mph 6 - 40:05, 6.97mi, 10.4mph 7 - 41:38, 10.57mi, 15.2mph 8 - 34:59, 8.93mi, 15.3mph 9 - 40:55, 10.55mi, 15.5mph 10 - 48:04, 13.25mi, 16.5mph http://connect.garmin.com/activity/170928743
Wind: Little
Course: Out and back. South out of Piedmont into Cheaha. Climb Cheaha. At the top (mile 44), drop down the south face to mile 51. Turn around, climb the south face, drop back down and head home. In essence, climbing the mtn twice
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 70
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
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: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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