695/600 Miles: 115%
48400/4800 Feet: 101%
Did a Tough fast Century with Granger today: 104/9650 in 6:50. This was a 15.1 MPH moving speed which is a record for me looking back over the years. I have never cracked the 15 MPH speed on a 10K+/- Century and we did it today by hammering the entire day. Never took it easy. Granger was in great climbing shape as I lost him on both King's Mountain and Tunitas Creek. We broke 1:30 from my house to the top of KM which started the day well. The ride up and down Skyline was fast and we powered down 84 to Haskins Grade. No problem climbing up Haskins Grade and we jammed down to Pescadero store and Granger grabbed his pastries and I stuck to the energy bars. We hit a nasty head wind all the way down Stage Road and on Lobitos Cut-Off. The climb up Higgins was in the big ring and we cranked down towards the best sandwiches in the bay area in Half Moon Bay. We smoked down Hwy 1 at 22 MPH+ and turned onto Verde and up Lobitos Creek which we seemed to crank up easily. I tried in vain to keep up with Granger, but he got a small lead on me from the beginning and I never could catch him even as I put it in the big ring at the top and pushed hard as hell. He passed Laura Stern of 508 and RAAM fame at the top which might have spurned him on as he was moving. We cranked down King's Mountain and pushed it hard home at 20+ to insure we would get a 15+ MPH moving time. I am pretty happy with that and it gives me confidence for next week. My knees and legs are tired from 700 miles in 18 days, but I have to expect this as this is a major amount of work out of the blue. Going to ride in 2 or 3 times in this week and hopefully hit the TT with a ton of energy next Saturday. Weather.com is predicting 78 degree high in Santa Rosa for Saturday and 82 for Cloverdale. I am happy about this as I don't need real heat to make me feel good about the TT. I just want to finish before 10 PM and put this one to bed.
48400/4800 Feet: 101%
Did a Tough fast Century with Granger today: 104/9650 in 6:50. This was a 15.1 MPH moving speed which is a record for me looking back over the years. I have never cracked the 15 MPH speed on a 10K+/- Century and we did it today by hammering the entire day. Never took it easy. Granger was in great climbing shape as I lost him on both King's Mountain and Tunitas Creek. We broke 1:30 from my house to the top of KM which started the day well. The ride up and down Skyline was fast and we powered down 84 to Haskins Grade. No problem climbing up Haskins Grade and we jammed down to Pescadero store and Granger grabbed his pastries and I stuck to the energy bars. We hit a nasty head wind all the way down Stage Road and on Lobitos Cut-Off. The climb up Higgins was in the big ring and we cranked down towards the best sandwiches in the bay area in Half Moon Bay. We smoked down Hwy 1 at 22 MPH+ and turned onto Verde and up Lobitos Creek which we seemed to crank up easily. I tried in vain to keep up with Granger, but he got a small lead on me from the beginning and I never could catch him even as I put it in the big ring at the top and pushed hard as hell. He passed Laura Stern of 508 and RAAM fame at the top which might have spurned him on as he was moving. We cranked down King's Mountain and pushed it hard home at 20+ to insure we would get a 15+ MPH moving time. I am pretty happy with that and it gives me confidence for next week. My knees and legs are tired from 700 miles in 18 days, but I have to expect this as this is a major amount of work out of the blue. Going to ride in 2 or 3 times in this week and hopefully hit the TT with a ton of energy next Saturday. Weather.com is predicting 78 degree high in Santa Rosa for Saturday and 82 for Cloverdale. I am happy about this as I don't need real heat to make me feel good about the TT. I just want to finish before 10 PM and put this one to bed.
Comments
You're really burning up the pavement! Good luck at TT. I hear she's a beast. Since my running is on hiatus while I await further tests on my leg injury, I've been back on the bike. Brings back good memories of lots of centuries, double centuries and even a couple 24 hour rides with my husband and dad. My dad has done California Triple Crown (for doubles) a couple times but I've come up short. Maybe some of my own unfinished business........
--chris
Looking forward to the TT race report. I was just visiting the Cal Triple Crown website and noticed they've added quite a few new races. Hmmmm, something to think about....