Sunday, August 12, 2012

Harpoon Point to Point Ride...

Here was my route...


View Larger Map

Here is a link to the google maps list etc. For some reason the link only works if you copy and paste it into your browser.

http://goo.gl/maps/eKOWW

50 mile start

cue sheet, number, beer tokens

6 am

foggy ride in

river view


I left Plainfield and rode to Montpelier, VT. It was a beautiful ride in to town. It was foggy and cool and I felt great on the way in. When I got to town at 7AM I grabbed a new battery for my computer and went to Capitol Grounds for a breakfast sandwich and coffee. I chatted with a guy who thought I had already made it in from Williston from the 115 mile start! He had dropped off his wife and come into town to meet her at the rest stop later. He was wounded in Afghanistan so can't ride long distances anymore.

I rode to the Montpelier rest stop and met John and we rode in to the 50 mile start in Bethel. A pack of 9 racers flew past us in Randolph coming from the 115 mile start. A note to all racers...it is not cool to swarm around a car on both sides in a small town because you want to go faster. It is not the Tour and having drivers like bikers is more important than shaving 3 seconds off your century time.

When we got there I was feeling good but way too hot. I hydrated and snacked and started out with the big pack. I had a great ride except for about 1 hour 80 miles in when I got light headed and felt terrible. I hate the heat! My legs got heavy and when I got to the next stop I drank 5 liters of water! I took 2 bottles of ice water and continued to dump them on my head. After that I felt really good and finished out strong.

Somewhere around 2:00 it finally started a nice cooling rain. Everyone rode well as there were only 2 minor road rash cases related to 4 mile downhills in the rain. 

It is a very nice route. The climbing is steady and long but not too steep and is followed by long sweeping downhills. By long I mean 3-4 miles. There are several nice valley rides where you can cruise along to recover from the climbs. The end is a loooong downhill so when you get to the brewery you feel great.

My ride ended up being 106 miles and took 8:10 to complete. For me that is a fairly fast ride for that distance. When we got there there were hot showers, cold raspberry hefeweisen and bar-b-q chicken! My wife and 6 year old met me at the finish and we ate and had ice cream.

It was a great ride with really nice friendly folks. Highly recommended as a way to enjoy a bike and help out hungry folks.


2 comments:

dcain said...

Hi Greg,
Nothing like some good food and a beer to look forward to at the end of a ride. It looks like a great time, despite the heat!
Cheers, Dave

Unknown said...

Indeed Dave.

Looking forward to cooler temps for the Fall Classic though!