If You Like Horses, You Will Like this Bike
After the 2.4 mile swim, you head into the changing tent where they hand you your gear and you get ready for the bike.
David and I just rode this Sunday so it is fresh in my mind. I break the course into segments and try to deal with the length in that way.
Number One--The Road out of Louisville
This part winds along the river and I must say that this part of Louisville looks fabulous. There are large homes and boat docks along the river. The road eventually opens up and begins to climb out to the rural spots. The key here is not go too fast. It is early in the race and the course is easy---but if you go hard now, you will pay fo it later
Number Two--The Out and Back
After we get onto the rural roads we take this 10 mile detour down this heavily wooded area. There are very long climbs followed by large descents. The key here is to not push hard on the uphills but to ride as fast as you can tolerate on the downhills. I have found that 33 mph is about as fast as I can go before freaking out.
Number Three--The Connector
This is a short segment that gets us out to "the Loop". Not very long but it gives us a taste of what is to come
Number Four--The LaGrange Loop
This is a loop that we ride twice through horse country. On the map it looks easy but in reality it is impossible. Relentless up and down. This part also gets very hot and wind can even come into play. It is partly mental and partly physical. You need to ride smart here and keep focus. Of special note is the Marathon Station at one end of the loop that is packed with cyclists on the weekend. On the other end is the local store that starts firing up its smoker around 9 am--tempting and also asthma producing.
Number Five--The Connector
See above and do in reverse
Number Six--The Road Home
On the way back we bypass the out and back and head straight down route 42 into Louisville. All by itself it is not a bad ride but after 95 miles it is a little bit much to take. Also as you get close to the city the traffic picks up so maintaining peak mental focus is an issue
this weekend I had my best ride so far. I think because my HR was kept low and never broke beyond 149 and averaged in the 130 s. No matter how much you want to take off, you need to keep the effort slow and steady--140.2 miles is a long way to go
David and I just rode this Sunday so it is fresh in my mind. I break the course into segments and try to deal with the length in that way.
Number One--The Road out of Louisville
This part winds along the river and I must say that this part of Louisville looks fabulous. There are large homes and boat docks along the river. The road eventually opens up and begins to climb out to the rural spots. The key here is not go too fast. It is early in the race and the course is easy---but if you go hard now, you will pay fo it later
Number Two--The Out and Back
After we get onto the rural roads we take this 10 mile detour down this heavily wooded area. There are very long climbs followed by large descents. The key here is to not push hard on the uphills but to ride as fast as you can tolerate on the downhills. I have found that 33 mph is about as fast as I can go before freaking out.
Number Three--The Connector
This is a short segment that gets us out to "the Loop". Not very long but it gives us a taste of what is to come
Number Four--The LaGrange Loop
This is a loop that we ride twice through horse country. On the map it looks easy but in reality it is impossible. Relentless up and down. This part also gets very hot and wind can even come into play. It is partly mental and partly physical. You need to ride smart here and keep focus. Of special note is the Marathon Station at one end of the loop that is packed with cyclists on the weekend. On the other end is the local store that starts firing up its smoker around 9 am--tempting and also asthma producing.
Number Five--The Connector
See above and do in reverse
Number Six--The Road Home
On the way back we bypass the out and back and head straight down route 42 into Louisville. All by itself it is not a bad ride but after 95 miles it is a little bit much to take. Also as you get close to the city the traffic picks up so maintaining peak mental focus is an issue
this weekend I had my best ride so far. I think because my HR was kept low and never broke beyond 149 and averaged in the 130 s. No matter how much you want to take off, you need to keep the effort slow and steady--140.2 miles is a long way to go
posted by BigWaveTom at 9:18 PM
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