47.97 in 3:28:50 (3:13:18 moving time, but part of that moving time was walking across a parking lot to and from the johns)
Course and Elevation Profile.
Damn! Those real cyclists fly! I felt the breeze as they passed us on their way back, wow.
It was a perfect dawning day at the starting line. Beautiful, good food and drink, plenty of parking. Ready to take on 52 miles. Note to man behind the microphone at the start tho, no matter how many times you say "Everyone in the east lane" If no one has attempted to move after the first two or three times, I don't think you're going to get a response. At 5 minutes till start I began wishing I'd made one more stop to the toilet.
The route was great, plenty of cops to keep the cars at bay, the hills on Hefner Rd that I normally dread were somehow easier this day. Maybe because my bladder was full and I had incentive to get to Jones - Fast. I missed the first water stop since it was on the opposite side of the road, the second stop in Jones was huge and had a massive amount of people. For some reason they set it up right on the street so bikes and people were collecting and traffic (as well as those cyclists trying to move on) had a hard time getting around. It made no sense seeing as there was a perfectly useable parking lot. They put the portajohns in the parking lot but not the water stop.... I waited for my friends in Jones. I was there for probably 20 minutes or so. My legs hurt when we set back out again. Too long of a break - lesson learned.
There were tons of signs along the road warning people "biking event - caution" the only problem was 90% weren't facing traffic. It seems they set them up the night before and forgot to send someone to move them into place. As we left Jones the wind picked up, hills+wind=blah. The 15 mile square that starts and ends in Jones, had one water stop, about 2 miles before you get back to Jones.... ?? Why not 7-8 miles in? I didn't understand that choice. I decided to not wait for my crew as I entered back into Jones. The water stop had shrunk to 1/3 it's previous size. I guess most people were doing the 33 mile.
There were more water stops after that, but I didn't stop at any of them. At this point the wind was trying to knock me off the bike, I just wanted to be done. As we turned back south on the I-35 service road the head wind shut lots of people down. I saw a few people walking their bikes and when we turned back west there were 5 guys who stopped on the bridge to stretch. They were hurting pretty bad from their faces. It's bad when you're going downhill and can't hit 11mph even though you are pedaling. The hills leading back to the finish were not as bad as I anticipated either. I was so thankful when I was done, though my gps said 48 miles. As did my friend's.
What on earth? Shut down at 11? Literally? There were still people coming in after 11, but apparently they close up the food and the massage at 11. It says they expect everyone in at 11, but I thought that was so the cops could get back to their real work. I find that ridiculous. I don't understand races that cater to only the fast people. Most of your money is coming from the recreational athlete, why not cater to them sometimes?
Pros:
Lots of cops and very little risk of getting run over.
Good food (If you can get back fast enough to eat it)
Massage (If you can get back fast enough)
Nice prizes (giftcards and a 2K bike, I didn't win anything :( )
Cons:
SAG - For "One of the best supported rides in the state" I saw 2 SAG wagons the entire course. There were about 15 at Spin your wheels last year.
Water stop placement. The second half they were well placed, first half not so much. I was passing the first water stop before I even knew it was there.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78138224
