Spin for Kids Century

Knocked out the Spin for Kids Century last Sunday.



Time: 06:12:25
Distance: 101.27 mi
Elevation Gain: 4,679 ft
Calories: 5,762 C
Avg Speed: 16.3 mph
Avg HR: 145 bpm
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/17092369

Excellent fall weather. Maybe slightly on the cooler side, I think we started in the high 50s. Worked its way up to the high 60s by the end of the ride. Not a big field since the ride had a suggested donation of $100. Less then 100 people for the century. However, a team from Atlanta was there, Pacesetter Steel, and they did a pretty good job of keeping a group together with a nice easy off season pace.



Did one thing before the century that you should *never* do before a big ride. Went in and had Eric at Reality make some fairly major tweaks to my bike fit. Fortunately that gamble paid off and I was 100% comfortable through the entire ride.

The route had both its good and not so good points. It was completely scenic and had just enough climbing to keep you awake. Rolling through historic Rutledge and Madison, Georgia where the highlights. A lot of old school Southern Charm. Sags and volunteers where also fantastic. Unfortunately, to make it easier on them, there was a bit of re-riding the same ground. I don't really like that on such a long ride. A minor complaint overall.



And now I'm working through the pig flu. Didn't even get a chance to get a recovery ride in!

Dirty Spokes Unicoi Endurance Race

Did the Dirty Spokes Unicoi endurance mountain bike race on Saturday. Ran my single speed in the six hour solo division. Finished 5, 8 mile laps in just about 5 hours and 14 min. Each lap had around 1,200 ft climbing. Came in 6th out of 11 in the single speed class.



Felt decent enough the first 3 laps. Thought I was putting down a reasonable pace. My legs quickly lost power on the forth lap. Didn't feel bad or anything, just no energy. Hit some sports beans and did better on my 5th lap. 32x20 might have been too hard of a gear for me to push up all those climbs with my current level of fitness.



Rode with or within a few minutes of Dave Muse most of the time. Just like Yargo. Saw a lot of other people in passing. Cody from Addictive Cycles was nice enough to let me toss my water and food in the Addictive Cycles neutral support pavilion.

Back felt good the whole time. Did lots of stretching before the race and a minute or two between each lap. Seemed to work out well.

Pretty light showing since it had rained a bit the previous few days and the weather report indicated there would be more. Ended up being nice though. Pleasant cool weather and very little mud. Nice and tacky conditions.

Next up, Spin for Kids Century. And then Swank 65 mountain bike race up in Pisgah.

2009 Ridley Damocles

Broke down and bought a fancy new road bike a little over a week ago. 2009 Ridley Damocles frame and fork, season end sale. Wanted something lighter and more aggressive. Guess I've been watching too much pro cycling on TV.









(Don't worry, I'll get the steer tube cut soon. Been too busy riding!)

I love it. It's light, stiff and comfortable. Over three pounds less then my previous setup. It may all be in my head but it seems to fly up the climbs. My road bike is no longer all dinged up, different colors and heavier then my rigid single speed 29er mountain bike.

The quest to recover fitness from two months of drinking beer, playing Warcraft and letting my back heal is going well. Been doing PT and ramping up my road riding. In fact, the last week has seen a few milestones. First mountain bike ride in almost three months and I hung with both the Reality Bikes Wednesday ride and Roswell Bikes Thursday ride B groups.

Big Creek
Wed Reality Ride
Thur Bike Roswell

Have two big events coming up this month. October 10th is Dirty Spokes Unicoi mountain bike endurance race. Doing 6 hour solo, single speed. October 25th is the Spin For Kids road century. Raising money to send kids with medical conditions to a local summer camp.

Dirty Spokes Unicoi Endurance Race
Jason Milliron's Spin For Kids Donation Page