CLERMONT, FLORIDA
This is one of the best bike events anywhere. It is reasonably priced and always includes a two-fer. Two rides for the price of one.
Saturday features group rides offered as course familiarization rides. The first year I came, I jumped into the 50-mile fast group. I had no problems keeping up, but the group was way too large to be safe on the road, and I would go on to try out the other rides.
I have settled on the Bay Backwards ride, a 42-mile ride at 16 mph. In 2021, there were only three of us, but this year we had 20 riders show up. Our group leader was John, and he talked about riding a double pace line, maybe without knowing what one is. We didn’t ride one. (That was too harsh. He probably knew what a double pace line is, but I question why you would ride that on these roads.)
My recovery was poor, just 27%, and faced with a Century ride tomorrow, I wanted to chill. I hoped to sit in a moderately paced group. John talked about whether there were faster riders … I tuned out, and if there were two groups to include slower riders, I thought I might volunteer for the slow rolling group. I did not have it in me to roll fast.
John noticed one woman who brought at least a $12,000 (and maybe $15,000) triathlon bike and told her not to ride on aerobars. The reason is simple. Riding on your elbows is inherently more dangerous than being more upright with your hands on the handlebars. You ride in the aero position to be more aero dynamic. But you get more than that by sitting in a group. And I ended up following her wheel.
Her shifters were on her bar ends, and she had to shift her weight every time she needed to shift. She always lost speed, and when the road turned up just a little, I was able to go around her to the front three who had already caused a split, making four of us.
Our gap to the trailing 16 riders grew, and at Lake Erie Road we stopped briefly. I wanted to push on, and had two riders join me as our leader waited for the pack. Our little group of three, Juan and Anna, were with me. It was perfect.
We stopped at a county park for a quick nature break and, unfortunately, we were still there when 10 riders came in. We rolled out together in a group of 12 and I was content to sit back around 6th wheel. But again, there was a gap as some riders couldn’t hold even a moderate pace. I went to the front again, and Juan and Anna followed. For a while, I thought I was pulling 16 riders, but eventually it was just three.
Juan and I took turns at the front while Anna usually stayed at second wheel. That was okay. I didn’t see that as wheel sucking. She was smaller and was strong enough to maintain the pace. We had a fourth rider who joined us at the second stop just 12 miles from the end. He never said a word and stayed at fourth wheel.
Bad form, Dude. You don’t need an invitation to take a pull. Just get up front and do some work.
With one hill to climb, Juan and I went up at speed, with Anna and the other guy falling off the pace. I directed Juan where to turn, and I waited at the top for our other two. Once we got back together, we had just five kilometers to go.
We got back, took a photo, and were done. I never saw the rest of the group. I was shocked when I saw our average speed. More than 18 mph. I thought I would be lucky to maintain 16 mph. I don’t display speed on my bike computer so I had no clue. I felt good and hoped I hadn’t gone too deep before Sunday’s ride.
I was up this morning at 5:45 a.m. It must have been nervous energy, and I didn’t need an alarm. Breakfast at the hotel, and I arrived in Clermont at 6:50 a.m. I parked near the historic district in a public lot.
I was one mile away from the starting line, which officially started at 7:30 a.m. I wasn’t sure whether to ride to the start and then turn around and ride back, passing my car on the route. Or, as I decided to just start from the car and end at the car. It was 7:10 a.m. when I pushed off.
I wasn’t first on the course, but surely was in the first 10% of riders to leave. That meant I would likely be passed by 50% of the riders. Oh well. I’ve been to events where I was one of the last on course, and it meant passing a lot of riders without being passed. Today would be the opposite. Passing very few and caught by many.
I had hoped that I would see Juan and Anna again but we made no plans yesterday. And I didn’t see either.
It was chilly when I started, just 51 degrees (10). I wore sun sleeves which acted as arm warmers. I would remove them at the second rest stop. It would get to a nice 76 degrees (25).
It was a solo ride. I did not join a single group. I think I only talked to one rider. We were on a short but steep climb when a young woman passed me, not going much faster. She seemed to be struggling with the grade (but better than me), and I could see she was on the third sprocket on the rear. I told her she was killing me – and if she wasn’t going to use those two extra gears, she could give them to me. She laughed and said she was trying not to use them yet. And then she shifted and struggled no more.
The second rest stop provided water from a hose. I could see the hose filling the water jugs. The water was awful. On a warm day, I had a hard time drinking water because of the taste. I didn’t drink enough, hardly drinking at all the next 20 miles.
I had two days of bad recovery but surprisingly came into the day with a decent, but not good, recovery score of 64%. My goal was to ride the full 100 miles, which I hadn’t done this year. The course tempted one to bail. You are probably never more than 20 miles from the start and maybe even closer. And could head back to start at any time.
The biggest challenge came at the 70/100-mile split. When you’re not at your best physically, then a physical challenge becomes a mental challenge too. Today was a mental challenge to keep going.
I did not turn at the 70-mile split and kept going for the 100-mile split. That added a 17-mile loop and later there would be another 70/100 split that was 13 miles longer to return to Clermont for the Century group.
At Howie-in-the-Hills, Rest Stop #3, they had pure water in gallon jugs. What a welcome sight. I dumped out the bad water and refreshed my bottles. I also listened to the Pittsburgh Penguins on my Bluetooth Speaker before turning on the Steelers game. I was not only was not looking to jump in a group, I wanted to be left alone and listen to the Steelers.
The climb many riders struggled with was Sugarloaf Mountain. On Strava, this is a 0.4 mile (650 meters) climb that averages 8.4%. It’s not long nor steep compared to most of my climbs but I also was aware I wasn’t in climbing shape this year. There is a section above 12% where many riders became walkers. And to think, Mt. Washungton, N.H., averages 12% for eight miles (12.2 km). No, I didn’t walk.
At the finish, I looked at the BBQ sandwiches and chicken of the post-ride meal provided to the participants. Neither looked appealing to me. The water literally left a bad taste in my mouth and in my stomach. I skipped the lunch and just rode back to the car.
Like yesterday, I didn’t display speed and was shocked to see that I averaged 15.4 mph. That is not a great speed, at the Sea Gull Century I will come in at 17-18 mph, but it includes 5000’ of elevation gain over 100 miles. It was my first, and only, century of the year with my longest ride prior being 65 miles at Easton, Md. in August. Last year, I was in better shape, yet only averaged 14.0 mph. So I was 10% faster this year compared to last year. And didn’t feel good. I just rode.
I enjoy this two-day event. I like the contrast of an organized group ride on Saturday followed by a solo 100-mile ride on Sunday. The volunteers were great and they probably like me – I am the cheapest rider they have to provide for. Only two water stops, I carried almost my own nutrition, taking only bananas at the stops. And I skipped the lunch. I did get a t-shirt though.
NOTES: Lodging all week was at the Hampton Inn & Suites, Orlando-Ocoee (pronounced O-Koi – like the fish)
Recent Comments