Cape Cod Dave
09-27-2004, 06:27 AM
I rode in the 31st annual Granite State Wheelmen's Seacoast Century on Saturday (it was held Sunday as well), but only managed 84 miles due to time committments, skipping the Massachusetts loop which would have rounded it out to 100.
A beautiful day, in the 70s, a tail wind out of the southwest as I headed north of out of the staging area at Hampton Beach State Park along Rte. 1A. I rode with four other riders, all pretty competitive, so we averaged 22-24 mph along the gorgeous shore road into Portsmouth where we dismounted to walk across the bridge into Maine. We kept up the pace through Kittery into the first rest stop where we quickly refueled and refilled before the last stretch into York and the turn-around in Cape Neddick.
We backed the pace down to 20 -- due in part to the tailwind now being a headwind -- picked up another rider who joined the paceline, and worked well together back into Portsmouth.
The wind really took its toll on our pace when got back onto 1A in New Hampshire, and my spirits sagged a bit when we took the "extra" inland loop in Rye for the full century riders (the ride was segmented into 1/4, 1/2 and metric centuries). I started to really suffer at mile 75 when the paceline decided to bridge another group of riders and took myself out of the running to stretch and work on those body parts that were beginning to deteriorate -- neck, elbows, and sit-bones in particular -- I finished the ride at 84 miles in 4.5 hours, averaging about 18 mph for the day. I also drank an immense amount of fluid -- eight 24 oz. bottles of water and gatorade withouth peeing once!
I was happy -- a bit disappointed not get the full 100 miles in -- but there's next year for that. The ride was my longest of the season -- previous was a metric century the weekend before -- and I learned that I really need to work on my mental attitude for the finish. I wasn't prepared for the psychological transition from elation to abject suffering in the last ten miles!
I can't recommend this ride highly enough. Well organized, good spirits abounded, the road was well marked with cues, and the support services what you would expect from an organization that has done this ride for more than three decades. The scenery was fantastic -- New England coastline at its finest -- and the ride, billed as the "flattest century" (with apologies to the Narragansett Bay century), was fast and over very nice roads.
A beautiful day, in the 70s, a tail wind out of the southwest as I headed north of out of the staging area at Hampton Beach State Park along Rte. 1A. I rode with four other riders, all pretty competitive, so we averaged 22-24 mph along the gorgeous shore road into Portsmouth where we dismounted to walk across the bridge into Maine. We kept up the pace through Kittery into the first rest stop where we quickly refueled and refilled before the last stretch into York and the turn-around in Cape Neddick.
We backed the pace down to 20 -- due in part to the tailwind now being a headwind -- picked up another rider who joined the paceline, and worked well together back into Portsmouth.
The wind really took its toll on our pace when got back onto 1A in New Hampshire, and my spirits sagged a bit when we took the "extra" inland loop in Rye for the full century riders (the ride was segmented into 1/4, 1/2 and metric centuries). I started to really suffer at mile 75 when the paceline decided to bridge another group of riders and took myself out of the running to stretch and work on those body parts that were beginning to deteriorate -- neck, elbows, and sit-bones in particular -- I finished the ride at 84 miles in 4.5 hours, averaging about 18 mph for the day. I also drank an immense amount of fluid -- eight 24 oz. bottles of water and gatorade withouth peeing once!
I was happy -- a bit disappointed not get the full 100 miles in -- but there's next year for that. The ride was my longest of the season -- previous was a metric century the weekend before -- and I learned that I really need to work on my mental attitude for the finish. I wasn't prepared for the psychological transition from elation to abject suffering in the last ten miles!
I can't recommend this ride highly enough. Well organized, good spirits abounded, the road was well marked with cues, and the support services what you would expect from an organization that has done this ride for more than three decades. The scenery was fantastic -- New England coastline at its finest -- and the ride, billed as the "flattest century" (with apologies to the Narragansett Bay century), was fast and over very nice roads.