Podagrower

FORTY YEARS!!! Sugarloaf is repaved (the old pavement was probably older than the ride). The SAGs are off the chain. One month till we roll!
https://horrible-hundred.com/

Baldy1953

North Florida Bike Club will have a group there to ride.

smoore

Is the "Hilly"part a joke...or are there some real hills? Any idea how much actual climbing?

Mad Honk 

Smore,
There are more climbs in the Hilly than there are in all of GA. ! Just go to the Hilly link from this last weekend. Smiles, MH

Podagrower

About 5,500 of elevation, so about 1/2 of 6 Gap. But it will show you that Florida isn't all flat.

smoore

Many thanks. At 70 yrs, that sound like plenty of climbing for me. Even though 6 Gap is in my backyard.

smoore

Sorry Bro...but the mountains of N. GA far outdo the total climbs of FL. Not that I'm able to ride them of course.

But I would like to come ride Bloomington sometime and make believe I'm in my favorite cycling movie.

Bassmanbob

Sugarloaf is repaved... I remember hearing about this. I registered for this months ago, but I've not been riding much the last few weeks. And I've certainly not been working hills. I was going to cut back to the 40 mile ride this year. Unfortunately, that won't put me up Sugarloaf.

I find myself rather uninspired right now.

Podagrower

I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a 45 mile unofficial grocery run that takes you to rest stop 1, then to the top of Sugarloaf the back way, then to the rest stop in Mascotte before going back to the start for lunch. If said route did exist, it would most likely be found on RidewithGPS, and a careful examination would show that it off the official route (meaning no SAG support if something goes wrong) for about 10 miles. But I'm not sure if such a route even exists.

rutan74

Did it last year.


Came down from SC to ride the Florida "hills". Mind you, I have been to the top of Mt Mitchell in NC 4 times. Once during the Assault on Mt Mitchell which is regarded as the toughest century in the Southeast. So, I have ridden a few hills.


Claremont is definitely different than the rest of Florida. It IS hilly. You will be surprised. A small radius of like 15 miles where the area is up and down.


The one thing we noticed is that the climbs, if you can call them that, are short but very pitchy. I counted at least 10 "hill" sections that went into double digits. Again, not long like over a mile, but some of these were really steep. I saw plenty of people walking up some of these.


I don't remember the average vert but I can tell you there were a lot of flat landers turning some big gears. A lot of folks were probably maxed out around a 26 in the rear. I was riding a 50/34 with a 32 in the rear so I had no problem. I can tell you towards the end, I passed a few poor souls that were just about walking due to their gearing. They were barely moving.


On the main climb up Sugarloaf, it surprised me to see so many riders walking and some even laying in the ditch along side of the road. These folks obviously had never climbed at all and were totally wiped out. This was around mile 75 if I remember correctly.


Overall, it was well run with around 2k of riders. It was cool in the morning and then got hotter in the afternoon. Again, many riders, probably from Florida dressed like it was 32 degrees and then later suffered wearing so many clothes. I wore a light T-shirt under my jersey and by the 45 mile rest stop, had to take it off. I was used to riding in 60 degree weather without a jacket or leg warmers. Different set of circumstances down there but it was worth it.


john

Podagrower

For the first time since 2015, I did not ride. I'm still trying to get rid of the last of a 4 week old cold, and 50 degree riding would have been a bad idea. I worked registration and got to meet a lot of people (briefly), I'm always amazed how many people come from out of state and even out of country to ride this event. Lake County has forbidden using spray paint for road markings, so all the events are using the biodegradable route arrows, which creates a new set of problems since there are events almost every weekend there are multiple arrows at a lot of intersections. It's an evolution.

smoore

Sounds like a great event...I now have it on the calendar. Biodegradable route arrows?

Podagrower

https://www.routearrows.com/routearrows/

They are getting pretty popular for the rides I do. As long as you sweep/blow off the road and it doesn't rain and they don't get run over too much they are almost 1/2 as good as spray paint at about 10 times the price.

smoore

Cool, thanks for the response.