Two Big Weekends

Muskingum River Ride

The last week has been good for cycling.  Last weekend, I finally got out on my 80 mile route to Dresden, then Zanesville, then home.  I mapped out this ride six months ago and have been waiting for an opportunity to go -- one aborted attempt 2 hours in due to icy rain a few months ago.  It was a chilly VERY WINDY day.  Of course, being a route that is East of here, I had tailwind there and fought a fierce headwind most of the way back.  I think I logged 84 miles in a touch over five hours, 4200 ft climbing.  The only downside was a set of strained abdominal muscles; with a week to go before my first race of the season.


Southern Cross

On Friday, I took off from work and drove down to northern Georgia, just a few miles south of Cohutta last year.  It is an easy interstate drive, as easy as 600 miles can be.  Race day brought sunshine with a chilly stiff wind.  We were mostly in the trees so the wind wasn't terrible, but the temps never really got much above the low 40s.   About 60% of the people were on cross bikes, the other 40% on mountain bikes -- most of them with cross type tires.   One of the top finishers summed it up best when they said they would have preferred to be on a mountain bike, but think they were probably faster on a cross bike.  I kept thinking how much fun I would have had on my new El Mariachi hardtail, but the cross bike was faster.

The course consisted of two long climbs of about 2000 ft gain and bunches of rollers and smaller climbs.  It was probably 80% forest service roads with 6400ft vertical in 51 miles.   This course suited me perfectly, I like the longer sustained climbs. The roads were in great shape, a bit rockier on the climbs but smooth on the descents.   The course layout was nice and the nearly four hours passed quickly.

I was rocking the descents, not usually my specialty.  They were moderately steep (5-10%) and had lots of switchbacks and blind corners.   I was able to find a dirt grove in the gravel and really rail a number of corners.  It was thrilling and I had a net gain of 2 riders!  

The start and end "cross course" hurt bad.  It is not my thing and I just got it over with.  I was passed by 4 riders in the very last two miles, all on the cross course.   I also went out too fast again and didn't have pep in the last half of the race.  I wasn't blown, but I think I could have been 5-10 minutes faster overall with a more conservative start and putting more oomph in the climbs.   I picked up a dozen spots in the last big climb, but probably should have picked up another dozen more.  I finished in 74th place (out of 300?) with a time of 3:53.  Not a bad showing at all.  And it was fun to ride these roads, even if it meant a 9 hour car ride on either side.