Achievement unlocked: 7 Hills of Kirkland (century)
I'm not sure why the MapMyRide software can't pick up the extra climbing, but it doesn't.
Statistics:
MapMyRide - 7 Hills of Kirkland
Climbing: 7000+ ft of climbing according to the website. 4,400 ft of climbing according to MapMyRide. It felt more like 7000 ft and I know MapMyRide will not pick up the rolling hills in its counter.
Distance: Website listed 99.3 mi / 159.8 km (I made a wrong turn and ended up doing 100.77 mi / 162.17 km)
Time: 6:25:35 hrs (according to Russian, this is a very good time for any kind of century, let alone one with heaps of climbing.)
Calories burned: 6,949 cal (the equivalent energy found in 38 bananas)
Extra equipment taken: Lock, pannier, jumper (aka sweater), extra water. The extra water was a really good idea. I just switched water bottles and kept riding rather than stopping at one of the rest stops, which would have taken more time (there's a line).
What I wish I had: Chamois Buttr (prevent chafing), more food, sun screen.
Thoughts on the ride:
Statistics:
MapMyRide - 7 Hills of Kirkland
Climbing: 7000+ ft of climbing according to the website. 4,400 ft of climbing according to MapMyRide. It felt more like 7000 ft and I know MapMyRide will not pick up the rolling hills in its counter.
Distance: Website listed 99.3 mi / 159.8 km (I made a wrong turn and ended up doing 100.77 mi / 162.17 km)
Time: 6:25:35 hrs (according to Russian, this is a very good time for any kind of century, let alone one with heaps of climbing.)
Calories burned: 6,949 cal (the equivalent energy found in 38 bananas)
Extra equipment taken: Lock, pannier, jumper (aka sweater), extra water. The extra water was a really good idea. I just switched water bottles and kept riding rather than stopping at one of the rest stops, which would have taken more time (there's a line).
What I wish I had: Chamois Buttr (prevent chafing), more food, sun screen.
Thoughts on the ride:
- I was really, really tired after riding it. There wasn't enough good food at stops on the route, at least not until the last stop, so I was hitting the energy reserves for most of the ride. The last stop was VERY well stocked with food, which was kind of weird... you don't need the good food by then.
- The start had no food; the end had strawberry shortcake. This is the first time I've been on a ride that didn't offer some kind of breakfast to people starting at 7am. Some guy was making a killing by setting up a hot dog stand outside the finish line.
- It was exceedingly well marked out. The only thing they could possibly have done to better themselves is to use (more) signs and/or volunteers rather than just road markings. Overall I'm very impressed. They even managed to organise with the city of Kirkland to put up a traffic warning sign saying that a bicycle event was on and to look out for cyclists.
- Some of my riding from Tour de Cure last week was covered in the 7 Hills of Kirkland, only in the reverse direction. That was kinda interesting, since I knew the lay of the land before riding it.
- The ride was very shady in a lot of areas, towards the start especially. This was very helpful in preventing sun burn.
- I missed out on the massage after Tour de Cure. This time, I got my massage.
- Most of my complaints are food related; most of my praise is course related. I was not prepared for the lack of food, an item on my to-do list for yesterday. It will definitely be on my to-do list for next time. My pre-ride preparation needs to get better.