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I'm continuing my great start to 2009! Last Saturday (Jan 10th) was the
Greater Arizona Bicycle Association's (GABA's) Casa Grande Century. I
arrived at the start with plenty of time to register and get ready. It
was pretty brisk in the morning, so I had most of my cold weather gear
on (arm warmers, leg warmers, glove liners...). And, this was my first
ride wearing my new Bullshifters club jersey! The Bullshifters club
members gathered together for a club picture, then we headed out on the
course.
The route has significantly changed since the last time I have done it
and I must say I like the new route better. There were some freshly
paved streets that made for some super smooth riding and there seemed to
be less traffic overall.
For the first 20 miles or so before the first rest stop the club stayed
together maintaining a relatively easy pace. Riding in the group, my
heart rate hovered in an "active rest" zone (ranging from 97 to 112). I
did take a pull for a while, but there wasn't much of a head wind, so
while pulling I was in an active recovery / endurance zone. With the
lack of a head wind, I was going around 21-22 mph until Makiza Johnson
(the new Bullshifters club prez) asked to drop the speed down to 18 so
the club would stay together.
We stayed at the first rest stop for quite a bit of time. Mike Sturgill
said the more club members participating on the ride, the longer the
stops would be. We had about 20 club members on the ride, so this was a
longer stop. I was enjoying the easy pace, but after hearing that I
thought I may have to call Annette to let her know I'd be finishing
later than anticipated. When we left, Mike S. took point and brought us
up to a comfortable 24-25 mph. I was now floating between my endurance
and low aerobic zones. Makiza asked Mike to ease the pace, but someone
else took over (Mark Dehenke?) when the pace slipped and we were right
back up to 24-25. We maintained anywhere from 24 to 28 mph to the next
rest stop. I took a pull in there somewhere, but we were sharing the
work up front. With the fast pace, by the time we got to the next rest
stop we were down to 4 riders.
So much for worrying about finishing later than I thought! With that
pace we may even finish earlier! More club members arrived while we were
at the rest stop and several of us left together. But before too long we
were back down to the same 4 guys pushing a fast 22-25 mph. Along one
long stretch, there was a pretty good cross wind, so we formed a very
nice 4 man echelon. We continued working together all the way to the
Casa Grande lunch stop where we enjoyed some Tom's BBQ! GABA always
provides a really good lunch stop on this particular ride, and we always
take the time to enjoy it! I had to try both the pulled pork and pulled
beef!
With our fuel tanks full and a bit of rest in the legs we headed back
out on the road. When we left there was a flag that wasn't moving, so we
thought we'd have a nice easy ride back to the start in Chandler. But as
soon as we turned onto Pinal Ave we hit a hard headwind. Mike pulled us
a good long way, then I took over for a bit. We passed the DNA cycling
team and two guys jumped on (along with another guy in a plain jersey).
With that wind, our Bullshifters group quickly whittled down until it
was me, Mark, Mike, the two DNA cycling guys and the other guy in the
plain jersey. Just before we crossed the freeway Mark dropped off, so
Mike and I eased up to regroup. Once we were together again we picked up
the pace and passed the guys in front of us. There is a bit of a climb,
then a long descent. Mike set a 30-31 mph pace down that hill. When he
pulled off, I tried to maintain his pace, but couldn't do it and our
pace dropped to around 28, so Mike came back up front and powered us
down that hill at 30-31. When we got to the bottom it was me, Mike, Mark
and one DNA cyclist.
There was a rest stop at the bottom, but after a quick check we decided
to continue without stopping. That headwind seemed to follow us. The
wind wasn't really all that bad, but the faster you go, the more
headwind you create! We kept a pretty good pace though and everyone
worked the front. Somewhere along there we caught Mike's wife Cindy and
another Bullshifters lady rider. Mike dropped off for a minute to chat
with Cindy, but was back up with us in no time. About 4 miles from the
finish Mark dropped off to wait for someone (he carpooled to the start)
and we met up with a few other riders who were stopped at a light. We
all rode to the finish together. With the long lunch stop I wound up
finishing right on time.
I did use the Spot Messenger Personal Satellite Locator again on this
ride. On the 200k, the messenger seemed to stop working right after the
lunch stop. I sent an email to the Spot Support team, but they said
everything looked like it should have been working and the only reason
the website wouldn't update is if the messenger didn't have a satellite
signal. Hmmmm... When I got home and checked the locator webpage from
this ride, there were several sections with gaps, but the early part of
the ride was pretty consistent. I know I took my glove shells off at one
of the rest stops and stuffed them in the same pocket as the messenger,
so the liners may have been blocking the signal. I don't think it was my
cell phone (that was in the same pocket next to the messenger) that was
causing interference because that should have impacted the signal at the
beginning of the ride as well. I may have to figure out some way to
mount the messenger so it always has a clear view of the sky. It's still
nice to have a device that shows real-time progress, it would just be
nicer if it was consistently successful updating the locator webpage
with progress!
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