bluegoose
05-15-2006, 11:25 PM
The tour of the unknown coast began without incident, on time this year. Last year they started 5 minutes early while we were still pumping up tires so we had to play catch-up for 5 miles to find the main pack. Weather was perfect for much of the day – about 50 degrees to start, with a high of about 60 in the afternoon. Not a cloud in the sky.
Stayed with the main pack for about 15 miles, and was promptly dropped on cue at the first big hill. Found myself in no-man's land several times from then on as the crowds thinned out. Did the first major climb solo and suffered much of the way. The downhills were not as fun as they should be, as the roads were very beat up, with about ten 30-yard segments of loose gravel covering the road.
After the lunch stop, we headed to the beach for a 6 mile segment along the ocean. Last year we had a tail wind that pushed us along at about 26 mph with little effort. This year there was a 25 mph head wind that just punished us for the entire stretch. I was totally struggling just to maintain 10-11 mph. I was solo for about half of the road and then found a small group of guys to try to help share the load a bit. Unfortunately it didn't help much and I was totally drained going into the hardest section of the ride.
I did okay on the wall, the 18-22% section, only because it was so short. But the next section was called the endless hills and it absolutely kicked my butt. The first mile or two was about 12% grade, followed by 7 more miles of 6-8% grade. I basically settled into my granny gear and spun like crazy, watching all of the light-weights go sailing by me, one after the other.
So basically, it was a beautiful day, but my poor conditioning level made it a most unpleasant experience.
Several guys commented on the BYU jersey that I was wearing – one a fellow alumnus from near Eugene, OR and the other a Ute that came out from SLC for the ride.
Stayed with the main pack for about 15 miles, and was promptly dropped on cue at the first big hill. Found myself in no-man's land several times from then on as the crowds thinned out. Did the first major climb solo and suffered much of the way. The downhills were not as fun as they should be, as the roads were very beat up, with about ten 30-yard segments of loose gravel covering the road.
After the lunch stop, we headed to the beach for a 6 mile segment along the ocean. Last year we had a tail wind that pushed us along at about 26 mph with little effort. This year there was a 25 mph head wind that just punished us for the entire stretch. I was totally struggling just to maintain 10-11 mph. I was solo for about half of the road and then found a small group of guys to try to help share the load a bit. Unfortunately it didn't help much and I was totally drained going into the hardest section of the ride.
I did okay on the wall, the 18-22% section, only because it was so short. But the next section was called the endless hills and it absolutely kicked my butt. The first mile or two was about 12% grade, followed by 7 more miles of 6-8% grade. I basically settled into my granny gear and spun like crazy, watching all of the light-weights go sailing by me, one after the other.
So basically, it was a beautiful day, but my poor conditioning level made it a most unpleasant experience.
Several guys commented on the BYU jersey that I was wearing – one a fellow alumnus from near Eugene, OR and the other a Ute that came out from SLC for the ride.