Lakefest Road Race on a 3-speed, then 2-speed

The trip in the Chris Cookies/Swan Cyclery team bus to Whitney Point was good fun, with terrific company and engaging conversation, but watching the busy windshield wipers and seeing the steady rainfall and gloomy skies had me thinking that perhaps we were in for a long, wet 50 mile slog. Weather radar gave me hope that the skies would soon clear and the rain would be a thing of the past, but the skies were unrelentingly gray and ominous.

The line at registration was long, and when we were done, we had precious little time to get our gear together and head out to the starting line. No chance to warm up, but it also meant less time for me to get nervous.

The field was small, with only 15 riders in the men's 50 mile race. The faces are starting to become more familiar, and several riders have been in all of the races I've participated in thus far. As we headed out of Whitney Point north toward Marathon, I was trying hard to avoid being in the direct path of rooster tails from other cyclists, but to no avail. I was more successful at staying further out in the road, something that I always try to do when we're about to take a sweeping right-hand turn. 

At around the 10 mile point in Marathon, we had our first climb. It was manageable, and I was feeling pretty darn good at that point, since the rain was subsiding. Fortunately the race was rain-free for the remainder, which made the challenges much more manageable.

I continued to keep up nicely with the pack, and even received a nice compliment from Ernie about my ability to keep re-emerging at the front of the pack, which kept my spirits high, even when I started cramping up a little. The big climb was tough, but not really nasty, and it felt good when I realized that the worst of the climbing was over.

Then at mile 35, my rear derailleur cable snapped. I went from a 30-speed bike to a 3-speed! It was so sudden and unexpected when I realized that I couldn't shift anymore that it took a couple minutes to come to grips with what happened and begin to imagine the consequences. I fully anticipated that I would get dropped by the pack and just limp along to the finish, but I just kept pushing and pounding the pedals. With only 3 speeds, finding the right gear is near impossible. My cadence was all messed up, so I was either standing and pounding the pedals or spinning too fast, and my poor chain was not liking the extreme stretch of the middle ring up front and the small ring in the back. While everyone else was contemplating protecting or attacking Bill, the breakaway (and ultimately winning) rider, I just concentrated on finishing as close to the front as possible.

Somehow I just kept working hard and tried to ignore the grinding sounds of my chain being stretched in extreme angles, and kept with the front group until 2 miles to go, when my chain got trapped between the two smallest rings, and the smallest chainring got all bent up. After freeing the chain after a few minutes of struggle I faced the final pretty climbs with a 2-speed. As you can see by the profile, those last two climbs were painful in the gearing I had remaining. Still, I finished 10th in this 50-mile race, about 3 or 4 minutes back, averaging 20.4 mph (Ride With GPS data is wrong...I forgot to turn off the Garmin). 


Satisfied and tired! Congratulations, Bill Erickson!

Soaking, Windy, Gritty and Great

It's never easy to hop on the bike and head out on a ride when it's rainy and windy, but this one felt necessary, as it's my last chance for a long training ride before Sunday's Lakefest Race in Whitney Point.  Lots of Ithaca riders heading to this one, so it should be a friendly event and a good time.

Tonight's ride felt pretty utilitarian until I reached Ellis Hollow Creek Road. Finally, after getting away from traffic (which is unpleasant and a little intimidating in the wet) and loose gravel, the rain tapered off and the familiar and comforting rolling hills lulled me into a meditative state. The Ringwood climb just keeps getting better, and I barely noticed my freezing feet.

The good thing about working hard in the rain is that after a while you don't even notice it, you're generally warm enough even when it's in the 50s, and you don't have to worry about getting dehydrated. Of course, the down side is that when you return, your bike is gritty as are your clothes. I had the customary rings of grit around the my ankles and socks from all of the road junk getting thrown off of the drivetrain. Rides like this necessitate a complete cleaning and degrease, and tonight I adjusted the rear derailleur and brake cables and even trued the rear wheel, yet another meditative practice that yielded great results. Hopefully that will resolve the cursed chain-jumping-whilst-mashing-the-pedals-on-big-hills syndrome. I've done so much micro adjustments, so tonight I started from scratch and carefully adjusted the derailleur  to hopefully resolve the problem for good. The're are few things in the realm of cycling that are more frustrating than being inadvertently shifted to a higher gear in the midst of an intensive climb, and it really throws your concentration, confidence and timing.

Today I topped 1700 miles for the year, which started in early March. Vertical elevation thus far this year is just under 95,000 ft., and according to Garmin's questionable caloric data, I've burned around 105,000 calories in the last 3 months! No wonder I keep shedding pounds...