Volksriden

[ornoth_cycling]

Since imperial centuries have become as rare as hen’s teeth for me, I guess I have to start reporting out on the metric centuries I do, or at least the 100 km “event rides”.

After a post-PMC lull, which included last month’s trip to South Carolina, my October was focused on building back up to fitness in preparation for the upcoming Livestrong Challenge. Two weeks before Livestrong, there was a nearby event ride that I figured would be a great warm-up.

So last Saturday I rode the Barrows Volksride. It was my first 100 km ride since my PMC, 2½ months ago. And it had been 18 months since I did a “new-to-me” organized event as a first-time rider.

As I was focused on building fitness, I decided not to taper my training, only taking one day off the bike to freshen the legs somewhat.

Ironically, during that rest day I discovered the Real Ale Ride down in Blanco, another local event which took place at the same time. Both are put on by breweries (something I feel pretty iffy about), but raise money for their local volunteer fire departments. With Austin cycling events being pretty rare to begin with, it seems stupid for these two fundraisers to take place on the exact same day.

For the Volksride, at 8am three or four hundred riders set out on the roads around Salado and Holland, Texas. The delightful mid-October weather started out around 22° C, with scattered clouds. A 13 kph wind out of the south was at our backs for the first third of the ride, allowing us to easily roll along at 38 kph with minimal effort. There was a long section of fresh chipseal, but it was well-packed, and thus not too painful. The biggest negative was the morning sun directly in our faces, occasionally blinding us.

For the first time in a big event ride, I broke out my HoverAir selfie drone and captured some video as I rode past Summers Mill on Salado Creek, but it wasn’t smart enough to get the framing I wanted. As I stopped to retrieve it, it recalcitrantly kept its distance, until I sneakily turned and leapt up to snag it out of mid-air.

Although the ride mostly featured flat farmlands, there were two noteworthy hills right after the second water stop, 40 km into the ride. After that point, the route turned south into the teeth of a 24 kph headwind, making progress a hard, painful slog for the next 30 km.

After 90 minutes of fighting the wind, I reached the final rest stop at 10:54am. Temps had risen to a record 30° C, but at least the steady wind kept the heat from building on the roads. As we zig-zagged north and west, I’d hit segments where I could easily cruise, and others where you had to fight for every meter.

My lower back started complaining, so I took numerous opportunities to stand and ride out of the saddle. My fitness held out until the very last corner, when I started feeling the first hints of leg cramps. I looked forward to working those out with my impact massager later in the evening.

Just 250 meters later, I crossed the ride’s finishing gate at 12:06pm. I’d accrued 102 km in just over 4 hours, with a modest but surprising 730 meters of climbing. More importantly, I’d gained 240 points of Training Stress (TSS), and yet another big finisher’s medal to add to my trophy case.

But the important part here is to give you my impression after doing this ride for the first time. Overall, it was a pretty good ride. It was a nice, unchallenging route (save for the wind), and it made for a pleasant morning in the saddle, accruing training load. I’d consider returning, although I might also want to try the Real Ale Ride too, which is held in a lumpier – but potentially more scenic – section of the Hill Country.

And now we look ahead, toward the next big challenge…

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