Notes
Watched the weather all week. It went from 80% chance of rain for Sat to 100% chance by Fri. As the rain came it actually was passing in a north-east, south-west line east of us and looked like it would be dry on Sat. Got up Sat morning at to leave at 7:30 which should put me there before 8:30. This would give me time to see who would show and some margin to find the place. Found it without problems. Mostly because of the historical signs pointing to Brattonsville. Drove through a couple of showers on the way and I figured that would cut the crowd down a lot. Drove up and parked by 8:20 and waited in the car to see if there were any other GCC riders. I spotted one but didn't recognize him. Waited in the car till 8:45 and decided that since I had driven out here I may as well ride. Turns out the other GCC rider was John and he was glad someone else was there from GCC but we were the only two. Paid, filled out the registration, grabbed a couple of munchies and realized I had forgotten my full bottle in the fridge. The full one would get me to the first stop and I would fill the empty one. Looks like I'll fill it early. They had red Gatorade. Got out on the road with John and recognized another rider from the Wed night group. The guy with the beard who shows up with his wife. A few instructions from the ride director, which included looking for green arrows to show the course, and we're off. I was a bit worried about looking for green paint on a wet road. I must have pulled the first 3-4 miles down some of the bumpiest road I've ever ridden on. I heard there were complaints but out here in the sticks this is what you have. Rode along at an 18-19 pace to get warmed up and went to the middle of the paceline. I didn't want to go to the back and ride the see-saw like the Dog Days ride. Things went well to about mile 9.5 and we missed a left turn onto Bridgewater Road. Going straight we went to T-junction in Ogden (go figure) and didn't see a green arrow so I know we missed one. John said he saw something a couple of miles back so we called the director who told us to turn around, take a left at the intersection with flashing lights, and we would be back on course. This made less than a tenth of a mile difference in our mileage and the mileage for the course! At the first stop around mile 17 I filled my bottle, grabbed something to eat and caught up with the others who didn't stop. The miles go by and we approach a RR crossing. Some are slowing but the tracks are almost perpendicular to our path so I went to the left and went around a few people. One person decided to swerve left at the tracks and our bars touched. He said something and I kept going. I apologized a little later not wanting to leave a bad impression of GCC riders but it was probably too late. I feel safer carrying momentum over an obstacle. In the case of RR tracks unless they are at an angle it's not a problem. Anyway about mile 30 we started going over some good rollers and the bearded guy started really pushing. I kept up with him long enough to leave the rest of the group but he didn't let up and I didn't think I could keep this pace another 30 miles so I dropped back and let a group of four, which included John, catch up. Casual chit chat while the miles go by and we get to the last of two stops at about mile 38. I filled my bottle again. John handed me his to fill. I grabbed some more goodies and took off. The road after this stop sloped up a bit so it was harder to catch up but eventually I did. John decided not to I guess because he wasn't behind me. I stayed with three of the original guys and we picked up one more at the stop. I don't know where he came from unless he started out fast and burned out. He was keeping a good pace with us the remainder of the ride. At some point we dropped a guy ridding a time trail bike. The rest of the ride was uneventful. Each of us pulling trying to keep the pace. I was glad to see the start area again. I was beginning to fade. I was a little disappointed at the average. I thought we were doing better than that. I keep thinking of the Polar Bear ride and the 20 plus average I had. I felt fine after that ride and rode home felling fine. Must have just been my day. There were eight of us in a rotating paceline which could have made the difference. Put my bike on the car, changed shoes and waited for John. He arrived in a few minutes. We chatted a little. I grabbed some more goodies, put a little Gatorade in my bottle and went home. Sun my lower calves were because of the way I climbed a few of the hills. Butt off the back of the seat and rotating my ankles. Note to self: good leverage on the pedals and it works on the MTB, but don't do it for long climbs. The bike was filthy with mud and such so I spent a couple of hours cleaning it. Had to clean and repack the rear wheel bearings.
The average HR seemed high. I looked at it a few times and it was in the 150's while I wasn't breathing hard. Need to concentrate on keeping the HR down.
max- 38.2
zone- 1:23:52
cal- 3283