cuda2k

(Here's mine, feel free to add your own and comment )

This morning I was out of the house at a few minutes to 7am to get up to McKinney for the 8am start. I got there just as the last of the lots were full and parked on the grass near the middle school (?). I decided at the last minute to take the Flyte. I had been planning on taking the Gazelle to this ride, but after last weekend's tire trouble I wasn't too confident in the front wheel, nor the rear one. I quickly unpacked the bike and went over to Registration. Enter the first of 3 minor errors the day would hold - I forgot to grab safety pins for the ride number. So I quickly grabbed the bike and walked back over to the registration table to grab some. Put the number on and rode over to the mass of cyclists (2000+ this year) preparing for the start.

But something felt amiss. Something wasn't adding up, and as I cruised to a stop in the group I realized what it was... no gloves... and no helmet! Crap, they were back at the truck, and quickly glanced around trying to get my bearings on what direction THAT was. No sooner had I figured that out, the ride officials started the ride. So I did the only thing I could, grabbed the bike, and jogged across the large grassy area back to my truck. Somewhere along the line I heard and saw RC_Spinner. Sorry I took off on you dude, my truck was a ways off and didn't want to get separated from the longer distance groups too much. Hope you didn't try waiting for me!

Got to the truck, found the helmet, threw it on and was back on the bike riding quickly for the long line of cyclists still rolling out of the HS parking lot. I think I merged in with the 22mi group, and I had planned on riding the 34mi route today. I needed to gain some ground so I would hopefully have some other people to ride and share the wind with later in the ride. I slowly made my way around to the left of the slower cyclists, and slowly settled into a pace.

By the first rest stop I had fell into a section of cyclists doing about the same pace I wanted to, though was still passing a fair number along the way as well. I decided to pass up the first rest stop in order to gain ground from my late start, plus didn't really feel like I needed a stop quite yet. Shortly after a group of riders doing a significant faster pace started passing to the right, I heard a shout from behind me calling my name. Glace back to see Paniolo rolling past with the group. As the last of the group pass I jump on the back end and crank up the speed. We're now rolling at a swift 20-23mph and I'm happy to have found a good group to roll with. Never made it back up to Paniolo to let him know I was hanging on, each time I tried to move forward I'd get blocked in by a slower cyclist on the right, or pull back in to avoid traffic on the right. Apparently someone decided to put the 34mi turn off in the middle of a very fast downhill stretch, where I was rolling along at a good 30mph or better in the pace line. I knew there was no way I would manage a safe turn by the time I noticed the marking in the road and the guy directing traffic. So I continued on with the pace line, deciding that I felt good enough to push on to the next rest stop and decide if I wanted to turn back to the 34mi route or continue for the 47mi.

Of course, Paniolo and crew pass up that rest stop, and I, following along, do so too. Shortly after they turn up to the 55mi route, one turn I was not feeling strong enough to follow them down. I continued on for the 47mi route, slowing down a bit as I was starting to feel the 23+mi of hard riding in the saddle non-stop. The route turned south, more into the light wind, and I found myself out alone on the road with a good 100-200m or more up to the next loose group. I put my head down and just did a steady comfortable pace till I caught a few, and eventually passed them. Some time along this road, KevinMcDade and a large pack of fast rollers flew past me, rolling at a pace I knew I'd never be able to match nor hold.

I rolled into the first rest stop of the day, thankful to be off the bike and be able to stretch my back, fill the bottles full of ice and grab a small snack to refuel. I hadn't had the best breakfast to start the day, thinking I was only going for a 34mi ride and needed some carbs to get me through the end. I hopped back on the bike and was off again, keeping a fairly light pace of somewhere in the 16-17.5 range till another small group passed me that looked fairly organized. I decided to see if I could hang on to this group for a while and was quickly rolling along with them at about 20-22. A couple other riders join on here and there, and a group of about 6 riders maintained this pace for about the next 7-8mi before I finally sat up and let them roll on ahead. I was starting to feel the heat and needed a breather. Thankfully the signs stating the next rest stop was ahead soon came into view.

The last rest stop I found a bit of shade and a chair for a few minutes, downing some water. Ride volunteers claimed the finish was only about 6.5mi ahead, though my cyclometer still showed me a good 9-10mi from rolling over to 47mi. I had already made it farther than I did last year when I had to SAG out a few miles before the last rest stop, and there was no way I was going to have a repeat of that again this year. Back on the bike, feeling decent for already covering 35mi for the day after so few miles over the last month or so. The rest of the ride was more or less uneventful. Kept a decent pace, snapped a few photos (will upload and post soon) and rolled back into McKinney North HS under my own power. Rode straight to the truck, already being out longer than I'd told the wife, and started packing up. Stopped for a moment to talk to another cyclist (damn I'm bad with names) that I had met along the ride and invited him to stop by BikeForums some time soon and say hello.

Ride Stats:

Bike: Flyte SRS-3 w/ Campagnolo Centaur
Distance: 43.56mi (guess the guy at the rest stop was right, ride was shorter than advertised)
Ride Time: 2:22:00 (that's somewhat freaky)
Avg Speed: 18.4 mph (Was as high as 18.9, 18.6 was seen still only a mile or so from the end)
Max Speed: 37.5 mph (downhill, probably trying to hang on to one of the groups)

kevinmcdade

Good job Cuda!!! It was nice to see that yellow and blue bikeforums jersey. I knew it was you the second I spotted it. I'm glad you were able to find different groups to ride with because it totally sucks to be out there alone. What happened to Ryan; is he not riding anymore?

I had the opportunity to ride with Tinker Juarez and the rest of the Plano Cycling and Fitness crew that took off 10 minutes before the mass start. It was a little nerve wrecking riding with him. I kept thinking to myself, please don't take him out. It would totally suck to take out a guy with such a prestigious cycling resume. We kept a pretty fast but steady pace for the majority of the ride.

The heat did start to pick up towards the end of the ride. I was very happy to get to that last rest stop...the calves were cooked!!! The rest of my group kept going but I had to stop. I hooked up with some other PACC guys that stopped as well and we completed the ride at a more civilized pace.

It was a great ride, pretty good route, and excellent weather!!!

~55 miles (I did a warm up) at 21.3 MPH. Not too bad considering all of the time I have had off of the bike in the last month.

cuda2k

Sounds like a great ride Kevin. I was thankful for that last stop too, get cooled down and give the legs a short rest. Here's the photos as promised.


Traffic Jam at 7:30 am on a Saturday...






Out on the roads to the North East of McKinney Texas.


Texas Chip-Seal roads don't make the for the steadiest of photo platforms. Photo should show a cadence of about 95 and a distance of 41mi at this point.




Getting close back to the start, but still out in the country.


Can you say HELMET HAIR!

RC_spinner

What a GREAT ride! This was my first of many rallies to come. I got there around 7:40 and parked on the grass and hustled over to registration (note to self:always preregister). that didnt take as long as I thought it would and by the time I was done and going to the truck to put the wallet away, I heard the start command. That was when I saw cuda making his dash to his truck, kinda comical, us wasting all that energy and we havent even clipped in yet .

Cuda, I saw you turn into the pack and I almost caught up with you, but I think you got to the left quickly (and wisely) and I got hung up on the right. At the next rally maybe we can meet at a predetermind site and rollout together.

As for the ride itself, I rode the 34 miler, the guy at the turnoff needed to call it out a little louder though. I thought the road were in great shape with any trouble spots clearly marked. How about that landfill smell eh? There were some nice decents that sort of catipulted me on the ensuing uphill, but man, were there some tough climbs, acouple of sidewinders as well. At least the rest stops were at the top A nice supply of water or Powerade was found at rest stop #2, along with crackers and such.

After the ride I went into the HS cafeteria and had some breakfast burritos and water, sat down and talked to few others , mentioned Bikefourms and finally got out of there.

The Stats:

Time of 1hr 56min exactly

Distance:31.2mi (how do you come up almost 3 miles short?)

Avg 16.1 mph not bad considering the slow rollout

Max 34.7mph (WHEEEEEEE, oh wait, I gotta go uphill now?)

Overall I think my body had 44 miles in the tank, so maybe next time


A BIG THANK YOU AND THUMBS UP TO THE SUPPORT STAFF AND COLLIN COUNTY SHERRIFF'S OFFICE AND THE OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT HELPED MAKE THIS RIDE A GREAT ONE. MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!


Chris

wayner61

I think I see a trend going on here....

Got to the ride a few minutes later than I planned. Got stuck in the traffic pictured above trying to get to the parking area. Was directed into the church parking lot across from the middle school. I had picked up my packet on Friday, so getting ready and heading over to the start didn't take too long. I had targeted the 55 mile route for this ride but was a bit worried since I didn't get much saddle time in during the week. Rolled out very slowly along with a whole BUNCH of other folks.

The first part of the ride was fairly uneventful for me. Just trying to move slowly through traffic. Passed the first 3 rest stops, so I can't really comment on them. Ended up catching on with a few groups here and there, but mostly rode by myself. Still can't find groups that want to ride similar speeds as me (read that old and slow). I can keep the pace up on level or slightly rolling terrain but get killed on any climbs at all. Felt great at the forth rest stop even though I had run out of water. Filled my bottle and got a banana to munch on then headed back out.

As others have mentioned, the ride turned hot pretty quickly between rest stop 4 and 5 for me. Was almost out of water again by the time I got to the last rest stop. Grabbed a cooling towel, a bottle of cold water and half a cup of Gatorade. Got back to the HS in pretty good shape. Headed in and had a taco and a couple of bottles of water. Then eased over to the car and loaded back up for the drive back home. Traffic on SB 75 was a lot heavier than I anticipated for a Saturday. It ended up taking nearly 45 minutes longer to get home than it took to get to McKinney.

Ride stats (embarrassingly slow)

52.85 Miles (shorter than the advertised 55 for some reason)
3:39:30 total time
14.4 MPH overall average. I was at 15.2 according to the computer when I pulled into rest stop 5. Guess I stayed a bit longer than I should have

Still need to work on speed if I am going to keep up with you guys!

cuda2k

You beat me in the miles department, so you got my respect for rolling in the heat a fair bit longer than I did. I suspect that not only was the heat getting bad, but the humidity was increasing quickly in the late morning hours. When I got home I checked weather.com and it was stating a heat index of close to 100 degrees and there were some rain showers developing up in the Princeton area.

tourist

I looked for you guys. I didn't see anyone. I did the 34 mile route, haven't been feeling too great lately, some sinus thing. It was a nice ride.

rule

Heh...I saw a few of you guys in the start area, including Kevin and the crew that headed out just before the rest of us went off. Cuda, if you had to run back through that field I'm surprised that you didn't get stuck in the mud along the way, or drown. I hate the parking for this rally which almost always seems to be a bit of a mess, so I got to the ride early and parked down a bit closer towards town. It gave me a good warm up and a nice cool down after the ride. So I got to the start line early and staked out a section of the road in the shade for the wait until they sent us off. My plan was to go off with the front group and stick until the far (PBA) rest stop on the 55 route.

Here's my ride log from my Cycling Peaks entry.


Collin County Classic

83/ENE5/ 70%

Actual ride time was 2:34 for the 59.6 miles, including warm-up and time to get back to my parking area from the finish line. My goal was to finish the event distance inside of 2:30, which I definitely did.

I stayed with the front group from the start and held on through to the PBA rest stop. We passed a couple of PBA guys who had headed out pre-ride to work at their rest stop. Otherwise, we didn't see anything but traffic control ahead of us. When we got the PBA rest stop one of their more enthusiastic members flagged us down at their turn off. Somehow, the entire lead group took the turn up to the rest stop instead of staying on course. I was planning on stopping to say hello to the other PBA folks, but I thought it was really weird that everybody in the front of the peleton was pulling off. Once they figured out what they had done they backtracked and got back on course. I wonder if they were pissed?

After a popsicle, a PowerBar or two, and a few laughs and hellos I took off with a knot of other folks from the lead group who had also stopped. We went back to work and kept a fairly strong pace from there through to the finish. The last 15 miles included some climbing back up through a steady series of rollers, with the slower riders mixing in from the shorter routes. This split the group up a bit especially the closer we got towards the finish. Most of the folks quit working with each other with some just dropping back to a calmer pace. A few were launching off the front though whenever they could gap the rest of the main group. I stayed with most of the surges and it was fun watching everybody continue to bridge back together and work. Some folks stayed off the front though and disappeared ahead into the crowd of slower riders. I ended up passing a few of them in the last couple of miles. The heat was coming up by then and you could tell that it got to a few of them who tried to solo in to the finish. One tri guy with aero bars stayed away though. I saw him pulling into the parking area just as I continued by and back into town. Props to him for having the legs to make it all the way in on his own.

My gut was acting up this morning pre-ride. So I think earlier this week I was fighting off a virus or something. It pretty much cleaned me out before send off time though, so it wasn't too big of a deal. May have dehydrated me a bit though. I never cramped but my legs didn't feel all that good, especially in the last 10 miles. It might have been a little fatigue from the Power Intervals training that I have been doing this week as well. But this is by far the best ride time and speed that I have ever done at this distance, especially with several thousand feet of rolling climbs mixed in over the 57 miles.

I am headed down to the pool to try and shake out some of the fatigue in my legs. Great ride today. Not a bad birthday present for the week that you find yourself turning 49.


Time: 2:34
Distance: 59.6
Avg Speed: 23.2
Max Speed: 42.1
Avg Cadence: 90
Max Cadence: 133
Avg Power: 205
Max Power: 997
Work: 1778 kJ



And as of tonight, besides eating a nice dinner, all that I have otherwise done since hanging out at the pool is to sleep. I'm feeling more or less squashed. It's a good squashed though. Nice going today boys. We did the Texas forum proud.

kevinmcdade

Good job keeping up with that lead group, Rule!!! Y'all were smokin' when you guys passed me as I was pulling into the last rest stop. Part of me wanted to grab on to the tail end of that group but my legs needed a break.

Rule -- is your Roubaix blue?

rule

Wow...I'm feeling a bit spaghetti legged this morning. Just looking back over the ride file, we were out to the PBA rest stop in right at an hour and averaging above 25mph. And that was with some climbing too. All that put me at about 230 watts average which is right at my Steady State pace. Thank God for my mad l33t ninja pack leech skills or I would have been shelled in short order. Not sure if that's something to bragg about or not though.

My Roubaix is nude carbon, which comes out looking matte black. Yesterday I was riding the Madone SL, which is Andromeda blue if that's the one that you saw. I was riding it with Zipp 303's, and man do they ever do well on the chip and seal. They eat up a ton of the chatter. Fast little suckers too.

Oh well, off to try and nurse out a hopefully not too craptastic tempo ride. Enjoy your rides today all.

jsharr

Came home from work Friday night with some sort of head cold/sinus drainage/sore throat thing. Got progresseively worse. Got about 4 hours of sleep and woke up feeling like I ate a belt sander. Did not ride, glad ya'll did. Thanks for the reports.

kevinmcdade

I am trying my hardest to remember who you are. I'm pretty sure I have spoken to you on several ocassions. You sound like a strong rider. Let's do some rides together soon. I am also very interested to get a up close look at your power meter. You are the only person I know with that particular model. I just dropped too much money on wheels so getting a SRM is out of the picture for now.

Nothing at all wrong with having some pack leech skills. There are several rides where I am a ninja leech. When the speeds start hitting 25+MPH sometimes that's all you can do. Some call it wheelsucking, I call it riding smart

I wish I would have put my 303's on yesterday. My Fulcrum R1's are super fast but they are so stiff that they kind of beat me up. What year are your 303's? I haven't ridden mine since I broke the freewheel retainer spring. I fixed them and have been debating selling them but can't seem to part with them.

I just got back from my recovery tempo ride. I woke up very sore and weak feeling. I came close to getting out and doing one of the weekend hammer rides but I listened to my body and just did nice solo recovery ride. I did 40 miles averaging 18MPH. That seemed so slow after yesterday's ride

cuda2k

I was wishing I had finished my Serotta build yesterday as we were on the rougher sections of roads. Thankfully there were more than a few miles of good pavement. The Flyte is fast, but it is a whole lot rougher of a ride than my steel frames. It's a toss up if the bike will be ready for Italy next week, I'm going to be bidding on a new handlebar that works better with the campy ergolevers.

(and I like Kevin above was running Fulcrum wheels. The only dampening I was getting was from my Ouzo Pro fork up front)

(and quiet you, Kevin, 40mi @ 18mph was about what my ride was yesterday that I'm still smarting from ) Tweaked my lower back at some point, staying on the bike for the first 30 some miles was a big part of that.

faztcobra

I'll say. I don't know any of you guys...or any other bikers for that matter as I just started riding last Sunday - first time on a bike in 15 years. Actually don't even have a road bike...just a MTB. Last weekend was so wet that I was just rolling through my neighborhood (mostly flat) and cranking out 6 miles a night for a few days. I then found out about the Collin Classic on DORBA and decided I'd challenge myself and ended up showing up for the 15 mile ride. Unforunately, I don't have a computer just yet but will within the week - so I had to time myself on my stopwatch. I ended up completing the ride non-stop in 1hr 10 mins flat. Probably not too impressive by road bike standards, but I was happy just to make it, especially since I'd never gone longer than 6 miles. And I don't hurt today...at all. I didn't have any incidents for which I'm thankful for. I never had ridden uphill before either, so yesterday's hills were certainly a challenge...hard on a MTB because of the front suspension. Just imagine standing up on your bike and trying to crank out a hill and every thrust, the suspension robs you of power. I guess I'll have to add a road bike to my arsenal some day. This was hopefully just the first of many rallies to come for me. It was a nice experience!

kevinmcdade

That is not my usual average for a recovery ride. The weather was just perfect and the route that I chose seemed to always put the wind to my back (which is always a plus). I rode out to Southfork ranch and back. The wind shifted at the same time I was heading home so I altered my route to put the wind right where it needed to be to push me home

cuda2k

Congrats on the first long ride. I started riding in May of 05 and did my first 64mi ride in September of the same year. Welcome back to cycling, and welcome to BikeForums.

RC_spinner

faztcobra, welcome to Bikefourms and the Texas section.
It was fun to see people of all ability/agility taking on the various routes on different bikes, working whatever programs they are doing. I saw a big man on the 34 mile route riding what looked like a stock bike off the Wal Mart shelf, wearing a t-shirt and blue jean shorts. All I could say as I passed him was "good job, almost there"

Its not what you ride, just ride it

Chris

Paniolo

My first major bike rally! Got up at 4:30 to work the Registration Tables at the Middle School with Belinda and other PBAers. Saw the PBA rest stop group leaving early. Talked to Keven briefly when he checked in. Got the registration wrapped up and hit the road, I think I was at the back of the 3rd wave to start, maybe 8:15 or 8:20.

Lots of slow traffic to start and I made the conscious decision to take it easy getting past them ... figured it would thin out alot in a few miles or so. It did and I hooked in with a good moving group just after the first rest stop around mile 10. Just after that saw an old Bike Forums Jersey and knew it had to be Cuda. Gave him a yell as we went by on the left ... glad to hear you were able to jump on Jon!

My plan was to make my first stop at the PBA stop at mile 28. Our group dropped down to 4 after we made a left where the 47 milers split off. The 4 of us organized into a rotating line holding in the low 20's. About that time a group of 10 or so (with Doc George) a tandem and several PBA guys that had been fixing a flat came flying by. So we all hopped on with them and were now pushing mid 20's. The climb up out of that big valley was pretty rough, but the PBA rest stop was real close to recover. At 28 miles Avg 19.9 even with the slow start.

The PBA stop was great, lots of enthusiasm! Got a popsicle, orange slices, Debs cookies and fluids. Still feeling good, but missed the group I came in with when they left.

So was pretty much on my own after that, would get with an occasional 1 or 2 other riders, but they fell apart quickly. With starting so far back most of the quicker groups must have been in front. Was holding a pretty good solo pace, but around 45 miles I was feeling overheated and was getting low on water. I really wanted/needed that last rest stop at mile 48. But getting off the bike and stopping the wind flow just made it feel hotter. The ice water soaked paper towels were great on the neck and face. The super soakers filled with ice water were sure eye opening! When I told them to give me a shot I got two from the front and one from the back!

Rode the rest of the way solo. When I realized I had 2 full water bottles for 6 miles I used one for face and head shots.

Overall a fun ride. Wanted to be a little faster, but considering the slow start and figuring 25 miles on the front or solo I'm happy with it.

53.5 miles, 18.8 avg.

When I got back I was feeling real hot, figured the food would be gone, and not wanting to deal with getting over to the HS I got in the car and headed home.

Kevin you could have came and visited with your old buds on the M&M ride this am We did a recovery pace too, 50 miles SE to Wylie and Rowlett at a 17.1 avg. Nice and steady ... Joel and Sambo were more interested in chatting than pushing the pace.

kevinmcdade

Sounds like you had a very busy and long day David. I worked at the CC last year and it was just too much for me. You had some great numbers considering you pretty much did the second half of the ride solo.

Since the ride time has changed to 7:00AM I started doing the 8:00AM ride pretty consistently. Getting up at 5:00AM to make it to the ride is a bit too early for the Kid I was actually on my way to meet the 8:00 group today but decided I wanted some solitude and the opportunity to ride at my recovery pace. I can leave my house at 7:55 and meet the 8:00 group on Exchange and Watters then after the ride I go home when we get to the same spot I met them at. They do the same route every Sunday so it works out great.

Paniolo

It takes you 2 hours to get ready for a ride! ... It's not like you need to do your hair or anything Just pullin your leg ... I set my alarm for 5:30 to be ready to roll at 7. I would much rather get 1 hr extra sleep too ... but I think the 8:00 group was around 19.5 today as usual. Oh well, I should go out with them some and get dropped so I can get faster.

Deb was out this am sporting her new road rash, but she was still on cloud nine from hanging on with you guys and averaging over 20.

kevinmcdade

LOL...I get up, watch Sportcenter, have some green tea, make breakfast, take care of any other "business" that needs to be done then leave. I HAVE to follow those steps or I will bonk due to lack of food or have to take care of "business" while I'm out on the ride.

Deb did great yesterday!!! You, Deb, Joel, Eric and a few others are ready for the 8:00 pace. When I was doing the M&M ride it was ALWAYS one of us out front leading and pulling that group. We were always told to slow down. That was my indication to go and ride with the next fastest group with is the 8:00 group and the OAS. I can ride with OAS but only for about 30 miles. They normally average 21-23MPH for 60-65 miles. There are quite a few surges and the hills get attacked. As my stamina picks back up (I've had extremely bad luck for the last month and haven't ridden that much) I will be back with the OAS crew.

Paniolo

OK, OK You've convinced me. I only allow an hour from when I set alarm till I want to head out the door and that is cutting it awful close some days. I've had errrr "intestinal distress" before and can vouch that is is NOT conductive to a hard ride.

LOL ... just today Mark was telling us to bring the pace back down. When George leads that is not normally the problem Joel only makes the ride when he is recovering anymore. I do need to start doing some 8:00 rides. I used to do 8:00 all the time 2 summers ago, but I got fatter and they got faster!

RC_spinner

Ok, so who is the PBA guy at the middle school registration/waiver table? older guy who was riding a strange and small yellow bike, nearly looked like a moped? Nice guy very helpful.

Paniolo

hmmm, don't know who that is. I was working the pre registration table ... the other 2 guys I knew already there did not have that kind of bike.

cuda2k

There was a guy riding a yellow Folding Bike in a PBA jersey.