MHCC Metric Century Ride (+ 3 miles)
Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005
MHCC Century Weekend 2005 photo slideshow
Well, as it turned out I made a good decision 1st thing when the alarm went off - I DIDN'T go back to sleep for an hour and do the 50 mile ride instead of the 65. (Apparently the 50 miler was loaded with killer hills, and ended up being harder than the 65.)
Anyway, nice quiet drive to Saratoga Spa State Park, where the Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club's Century Weekend rides were based out of. Sunday morning 7:30 AM is a good time to drive on the Northway. Got checked in and geared up, and at 9 AM promptly the 65 mile ride started. Pretty chilly, but that beats heat and humidity. And it warmed up as the day went on.
It became fairly clear very quickly that everyone else doing long rides in this thing is faster than me, so I ended up part of the small back-of-the-pack group - about half a dozen mostly older folks (ie. 50's, 60's and 70's) They tended to go a bit faster than I might have if I'd been alone, but that was good - I pushed myself to keep them in sight, and they were good about not dropping me (disappearing off into the distance, leaving me to plod along at my slower pace by myself.) Unlike at the Greylock ride, all 3 rest stops were manned. At one of out stops a brief discussion started up about how old my bike is - now I know how the poor kid in his hand-me-downs feels at school. (The best guess was 30 years old, which for a bike is positively antique.) So more evidence that I need to save pennies (well, more like lots of dollars) to someday get a good road bike... given that I was keeping up with these folks on my heavy clunker, I could probably add a fair amount of speed with a newer, lighter bike. And steep hills would be do-able! So we had a good ride for 5 1/4 hours through upper Saratoga County, though by the end my legs were pretty well fried.
Would I do a ride with these folks again? Yes, they were well-organized and seemed genuinely concerned that everyone make it back safely (including having two #s to call if you needed a support vehicle to come rescue you.) I can also see the point of group rides, which can push you to go faster than you might otherwise (someone else talked about how the group rides make her ride farther than she might otherwise; I don't seem to have a problem doing that on my own.) It was also nice not having to think about the route, but rather just follow someone who knew where he was going (and the route was very well-marked, to boot.) At the same time, I don't think I'm going to jump on the group ride bandwagon, since I'm not generally looking to socialize when I ride, and at times it was frustrating that I had to match my riding style to the group (for example on long rides I tend to stop every hour for a quick break; had I done that today I'd have lost them and had to find my own way along the course.) But maybe next summer I'll look up when the group rides are and jump in an occasional one. And someday when I have a better bike I'll go back to Greylock and prove that I can ride the whole thing start to finish.
So, all in all, a day fairly well spent. But I don't think I'll bike to work tomorrow morning.
note: all photos courtesy of http://webmhcc.org
JMH
Next week: Saturday, Sept. 17 - The Jordan Alpine Classic! 8.5 miles of extreme trail running west of Syracuse. The description makes me think I'm either going to have a blast or it's going to kill me:
If you want a real challenge in the fall and don't mind getting muddy and wet, run the Alpine Classic at the Jordan Fall Festival.It's an endurance test. After the traditional cannon start, runners climb over steep hills, maneuver through woods and fields, and wade across a stream.
(I've read that the stream crossing varies from ankle deep to a couple of feet, at a section where the stream is 20 feet wide...)
They even climb a 12-foot vertical bank using a 1-inch thick rope.
(Add some kicking targets and people dressed like ninjas and you'd have...?)
Mid-way in the race, the course goes down a very steep path, similar to an expert ski trail. It is recommended by some you don't run this part, but rather just sit down and slide. The race ends at the Jordan Fall Festival grounds near the original Erie Canal towpath.
(8.5 miles... I suspect I'll be out on the course for a while.)
