blog by: Dale

March 24, 2008

Big Guns Blast the Early Season Century

Though I am sure a lot of cyclists did not want to take on a Century so early in the year there was a really good turnout for Hutchs' Early Season Century. Last year, the first edition of this ride, was probably the most organized ride all year. The ride mostly broke into 2 groups, that stayed together and rode at a tempo that made it helpful to get a long ride. That made sense so early year. I rode in the front group to the first rest stop. I got dropped, as did others in the last couple of miles as some of the best riders in town took it to each other to the stop. For the remainder of the ride I rode with the second group, which lagged behind only by a few minutes and still was a group of strong riders. We did split up on the climb and got shattered on the scramble home on Alfalfa, but that was all good fun if you ask me, as I survived pretty well.
This year the ride was an earlier Early Season Century--3 weeks earlier. Luckily we got some decent weather. Local pros Carl Decker and Adam Craig, yet to start their seasons, were the on ride as was Chris Sheppard. From the get go the pace of the ride was tremendous. It wasn't something I'd be able keep up for the long distance to come. At about a dozen miles in, when we hit a riser on Old Bedmond, I dropped off and gathered with a small group of riders at a comfortable pace. I watched a large 40+ riders group recede away. There's an abundance of talent in Bend. That group was probably faster than a Cat 3 race. Decker and Craig were just along for the ride, I saw them midpack. I don't think it's their style to beat up a bunch of locals. Reportedly it was ex-pro Steve Larsen and his brother who were forcing the issue.
I was in with a good group to get the ride, but not as good as last year. It was smaller and less focused. We doddered in parts and waited up often. My average speed was well over 1 mph slower this year. It ended up being 106.6 miles. I got some new light bike parts so it was fun to rip up the climb out of the Crooked River Canyon.

How does the 275m(900ft.) Prineville/Crooked River Canyon rate?

Crooked River Canyon 4.0km(2.5 miles) climb @ 6.8% grade

As I wrote about here this climb is very similar to:

Sparks Lake Climb 4.5km @ 6.0% grade
which I compared to
Alto Laza - 3.5km climb @ 6.8 % grade in last year's tdf. A 3rd Cat climb. The Crooked River Canyon climb is a solid 3rd Cat.
note: Sparks Lake isn't as steep but it's 3,000 feet higher. My numbers are the best I could figure out, but if someone could correct for greater accuracy, I welcome it.

tags: Rides, Categorized Climbs | permalink |

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