Gran Fondo NY: A 100 mile bike race / ride!

[deadken]

Back in January, I posted a thread about signing up for my first marathon with intentions of riding a 100 race in May. Well, I did a marathon (distance) in training in Jan, and ran the marathon in Feb. I also signed up for a 'ride for a cure' ALS 100 mile bike ride in April. Well, now that all that is over, I'm still surprised how fast this Gran Fondo came up.

If anyone is interested here is some information:
https://granfondony.com/

I'd like to hear about the experiences of any other members that have done a Gran Fondo. Especially if the did the GFNY! With 81XX feet of elevation change, it has the most elevation change of any GF in USA. For the past 2 weeks I've done 57 mile rides in Harriman State Park which gave me 4,800 ft of elevation change over the 57 miles. I'm guessing this will be just like those, but with an additional 43 miles of the same suffering added in. FWIW: That ALS 100 mile ride only had 2,1XX ft of elevation change. So, it was a good training ride 4 weeks before the GFNY, but I don't think it mimicked the intensity. Besides, a small ride is different than a big race.

Good night! I'm off to sleep. I didn't want to hear of others experiences until AFTER I get back from this race.

 

[KMc]

Well, how was it?

Biggest GF-style rides I've ever done were Roan Mountain, NC (6,000 ft. over 60 miles) and Cherohala Skyway, TN (8,000 ft. over 60 miles). These featured long climbs (3-7 miles) with lots of elevation gain (1,000-3,000 ft.), but not particularly steep (6-8% max). Here in Ohio, the biggest climbs are only a mile or two in length, but get steep (10-12%) grade. Being a larger than average cyclist, I far prefer the longer, steadier climbs.

 

[FiLeZz]

I am doing 6 gap in september
Test your stamina with more than 11,200 feet of vertical climbing over the 104 mile course


http://www.6gap.com/index.php/the-rides/six-gap-century

 

[deadken]

It went okay. I got a ride from a neighbor who was driving her cousin in. He's from Columbia and placed 3rd in his age group this year. Thankfully, I'm not that good! I stopped off to use the porto potty and check my bag. Unfortunately, they closed the corrals by the time I got to up to the bridge (the starting point). So, I had to start in the back and was behind a lot of slower people. The race started at 7am and I rode for .9X miles and almost 5 minutes just to get to the starting line.

It had rained a bit, so the roads were wet for the first hour or so and passing was difficult. It seems that flats happen more frequently on wet roads, so there were a lot of people changing tubes as well. I was riding on my training tires instead of my race tires and while I'm sure they cost me some speed, I didn't get any flats.

I skipped the first two aid stations and did my first stop at mile 45 (on top of Bear Mountain). I stayed a bit too long (photos and on line for the porto potty). Getting started was sluggish, but since it was mostly downhill for the first few miles, it wasn't too bad.

I stopped again at mile 68 and refilled my water bottles for the last time. I skipped the stop at mile 80. I finished after 6hours 12 minutes of riding time. My total time was about 30 longer, so I really should have cut my stops much shorter.

My girlfriend finished about an hour ahead of me and was 5th in her age group. Because she did so well (which didn't surprise me, she is an amazing cyclist), she'll qualify to start in one of the front corrals next year. She asked me: Would I'd do the race again next year? Yes, I wasn't under trained, so it was challenging without being brutal. I did it as a ride, and less as a race. That should allow me to shave at least 15-20 minutes off my times just by cutting my stops shorter. And, it was AWESOME having the cops stop car traffic for the entire 100 mile course! I think I only had to wait at one light! Yeah, it cost well over $250, but they did a nice job and gave a nice jersey.

The bottom line is: I finished. I finished alright and while slower than my last 100 ride, I'm still content considering this was a much harder course. I am really considering not signing up for a full Iron Man this year. With my divorce not final, me buying another house (which I still haven't move into), finishing up my current house (last bit of Sandy repairs), etc... I think I'll likely just stick to the Half Iron Man as my biggest event. The marathon distances I ran earlier this year and these 2 century rides have showed me that doing a 2.4mile swim, 112mile ride, and 26.2mile run back-to-back-to-back will just take more training than I have time for. FWIW: My girlfriend is doing the Lake Placid Iron Man in July this year (hence her riding this like a race). Since I was considering Beach to Battleship in NC (in October), I think I'll wait to sign up until after I see her compete.

That 6 Gap ride / race looks insane. I'm trying to wrap my head around a 7 mile uphill with an average of %7 grade incline. Good luck FileZz! I'll root for you, but will sit that one out. Besides, Sept 27th is a week before my Mighty Montauk Half Iron Man event. Way to close to even consider it!