Box Dog Bikes 100k Rallycat
Mileage: 63.4
Bike: Fuji CX
Time: noon to 5pm (5 hours)
SO yesterday I participated in the Box Dog Bikes 100k Mixed-Terrain Rally Cat ride. Overall, it was a great day on the bike and the ride went off without any drama. The weather was great (not too hot, not cold). Although they'd planned for 75, about 100 riders showed up. Most folks were on road or cyclocross bikes -- there was one hybrid-style bike with butterfly bars, a couple of fixed gears, and I think I saw one MTB. Lots of old steel bikes made for some good bike-watching. Overall it was 700x25 underbiking heaven, and I saw only a couple of folks suffering from flats during the off-road section, despite the trail conditions being rougher than expected (there's been additional construction/maintenance work on the in the past week, with lots of new digging).
Gary Fisher showed up at the start, although he didn't take part in the ride.
The ride was well organized and operated mostly like a "real" brevet: Each rider was given a time card and a (somewhat open-ended) route sheet, there were multiple staffed check points with stated opening/closing times, and friendly riding was emphasized over fierce competition. We started at about 12:05pm with a mass roll-out and then a whistle blast to set us loose. Some super-fast folks finished the 100k course in well under 4 hours, while it took me a little longer (I met my 5-hour goal by finishing at exactly 5pm). I tried to severely limit my stops, which I mostly was successful at, but I bonked while climbing Railroad Grade and had to stop for 10 minutes just short of West Point Inn (which, in retrospect was good, because at least I was in the shade then).
There was free beer and pizza at the finish (at a bar next door to Box Dog Bikes), and an announcement of an awards presentation at 8pm. I wasn't able to stay for that, but I heard later that a multiple sponsors donated a healthy amount of schwag (including a nice Phil Wood fixed-gear hubset and BB, and a Chris King headset, plus numerous bags, hats, and socks) and it sounded like nearly everyone came away with something. (Gabe saved me a nice Swrve hat -- thanks Gabe!)
Things I learned:
+ Starting a ride at noon screwed up my internal clock somewhat
+ I picked a bad week to lay off the caffeine
+ Bonking sucks (it'd been awhile)
+ I am nearly not as fast/strong as I thought I was (ride more!)
Thanks to Gabe, Jon, and the rest of the Box Dog crew for putting on a great event. Looking forward to the next one!
Bike: Fuji CX
Time: noon to 5pm (5 hours)
SO yesterday I participated in the Box Dog Bikes 100k Mixed-Terrain Rally Cat ride. Overall, it was a great day on the bike and the ride went off without any drama. The weather was great (not too hot, not cold). Although they'd planned for 75, about 100 riders showed up. Most folks were on road or cyclocross bikes -- there was one hybrid-style bike with butterfly bars, a couple of fixed gears, and I think I saw one MTB. Lots of old steel bikes made for some good bike-watching. Overall it was 700x25 underbiking heaven, and I saw only a couple of folks suffering from flats during the off-road section, despite the trail conditions being rougher than expected (there's been additional construction/maintenance work on the in the past week, with lots of new digging).
Gary Fisher showed up at the start, although he didn't take part in the ride.
The ride was well organized and operated mostly like a "real" brevet: Each rider was given a time card and a (somewhat open-ended) route sheet, there were multiple staffed check points with stated opening/closing times, and friendly riding was emphasized over fierce competition. We started at about 12:05pm with a mass roll-out and then a whistle blast to set us loose. Some super-fast folks finished the 100k course in well under 4 hours, while it took me a little longer (I met my 5-hour goal by finishing at exactly 5pm). I tried to severely limit my stops, which I mostly was successful at, but I bonked while climbing Railroad Grade and had to stop for 10 minutes just short of West Point Inn (which, in retrospect was good, because at least I was in the shade then).
There was free beer and pizza at the finish (at a bar next door to Box Dog Bikes), and an announcement of an awards presentation at 8pm. I wasn't able to stay for that, but I heard later that a multiple sponsors donated a healthy amount of schwag (including a nice Phil Wood fixed-gear hubset and BB, and a Chris King headset, plus numerous bags, hats, and socks) and it sounded like nearly everyone came away with something. (Gabe saved me a nice Swrve hat -- thanks Gabe!)
Things I learned:
+ Starting a ride at noon screwed up my internal clock somewhat
+ I picked a bad week to lay off the caffeine
+ Bonking sucks (it'd been awhile)
+ I am nearly not as fast/strong as I thought I was (ride more!)
Thanks to Gabe, Jon, and the rest of the Box Dog crew for putting on a great event. Looking forward to the next one!
posted by jim g at 7:07 PM
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