#233: Rouge ready
Today we prerode miles 45-67 and then 33-45 of the course. I had planned on riding the loop from the car in Woodville. Now Woodville isn’t a bad town, but a bunch of out of towners prepping for a bike ride in the middle of town was getting some looks. We decided to press on and ride out of town on our little 36 mile pre-ride, ride..
The first 20 miles of so was pretty good road (MS24 hwy) rolling up and mostly down to the dirt section after Fort Adams. Right after turning off the highway, the road gets pretty foul pretty quickly with a nasty little plank bridge before the pavement ends. The hills starts right away from there. The conditions today was basically good hardpack with a bunch of loose stuff. As the hill slackens off and then goes back up again, the gravel / sand started to get a little deeper in places making for some interesting riding. A bit further on, we came upon a bunch of MV teammates working on changing a flat (Todd had some bad lunch after some tire sidewall damage). After the gravel section (about 2 miles long) we had some smooth pavement back to the car a few rolling miles away. Didn’t get to ride the long flat section of gravel on the course (miles 25-33 / Woodstock road), due to time (although we rode by the northern end of it on way back to Woodville).
The plan for tomorrow is the same for me as it will be for most. Stay near the front and go with some breaks that contain the right mix. The X-factor will be a little bit of luck (no punctures) and a bit of awareness / attentiveness to not miss the right break / pack split.
The training is already in the legs. I couldn’t be more ready given balancing the end of CX season and the length of the road season. Now it is time to get it done. If I do it right, it will only be 4-1/2 hours of pain.
Great job out there Ryan. I was right behind you in the first gravel section and got popped off when we turned a corner and went up a sharp hill. Finished the gravel section with 3 guys and we started chasing but got caught by another group of 10 or so riders (Russ was in that bunch as he flatted and got a neutral wheel). We rode together till mile 81 (second gravel section) and then me plus 3 escaped. The four of us stayed to the finish where I finished 2nd out of that bunch. Not sure my time or place but I doubt I was top 30. Will have to wait and see.
Forrest
Comment by Forrest — March 9, 2009 @ 11:47 am