Notes
Redbud Ride Century London, Ky.
Got it done! Cross Kentucky off the 50 states list.
Beautiful ride. No real trouble on this one. I did it at a pretty easy pace because I have been lacking in long rides and wasn't sure I was up to anything too tough. It wasn't my fastest ride but not my slowest Century either. Only speed data since I forgot to put the batteries back in my power meter pedals and didn't bring the HRM.
Lots of short punchy climbs with 15+% grades at the tops. The rolling hills were in the 1st and last parts. The middle was pretty flat. Nice trees, streams, rocks. Hardly any traffic which was awesome. There were a few loose dogs to contend with.
There was no one to draft with so it was a solo effort. I traded places with the same groups for the entire ride. Cool weather, 50s. Got a bit warm in my jacket but then the wind picked up so I was glad to have it. Didn't eat much (only a Cliff bar, handful of peanut M&Ms, 2 peppermint candies and Almond Butter bar). I took in lots of Gatorade and even pickle juice (by mistake) at one of the aid stations. That must have helped with electrolytes, though, since I had virtually no cramping. I only made one wrong turn to cross a bridge but realized immediately that it was not right so no issue there. 4498' gain. Glad I did the ride.
Logistics were a bit challenging to keep costs down and to keep with the practice of only doing direct flights with the bike.
I flew into Louisville, Ky on Friday and of course lost 2 hours crossing time zones. Rented a mini-van (super deal through company rate) and drove the 1hr15 to Lexington and stayed at a hotel in Lex rather than in London. Dinner was Chipotle. Incredibly I fell asleep early (insanely early in MT) so I was able to get up insanely early to drive the 1+ hour to London, Ky on Saturday morning. Picking up my stuff and parking was a snap. This ride was super organized. They gave us a business card with important numbers like SAG when we started. Loved that! Our safety was well thought of as they had course marshalls, police and plenty of volunteers. Thank you, ride organizers.
My main challenge was figuring out what to wear since the temperature predictions were from the low 40s warming to low 60s. Finally, I settled on short bibs with a short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, toe covers and light jacket. This worked out ok, because after the first half I ditched the arm warmers and kept the jacket. I did get a bit hot towards the end, but it was fine since I wasn't going for a fast time. Afterwards, I drove back to Lexington and was happy to have a hotel and hot shower rather than departing on an evening flight. There really weren't any late flights to be had which were cheap, anyway so the cost of the hotel extra night was reasonable. Glad to fly United who only has been charging $35 to carry my bike. I hope they keep this up! Most of the other ones charge $75 or more.
7 states down now: Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Missouri, and Kentucky.