2015 Hincapie Gran Fondo

This past weekend I participated in the Hincapie Gran Fondo. I looked forward to just having a fun ride and mostly riding at a moderate pace. The weather was around 60-70 degrees and overcast the entire time, so I would say it was perfect. This route is super tough. It has three climbs in it, and they are all very steep. Each of them averages 9% in grade or more. On the way over to the first climb I dropped my phone, so I needed to stop and pick it back up. After this I saw George Hincape, Christian Vandevelde, and a few other stopped on the side of the road. I stopped with them for about 5 minutes, and we rotated to catch back up to the front group well before the first climb of the day. My goal for the day was to ride the climbs at my sweet spot pace. However, with only 4 days on the bike before the ride that was still pretty tough. At the top of Skyuka I stopped at the rest stop for a while to get some fuel and took the White Oak descent with Reid Richesin because I did not want to tackle that one in a group. We rolled over to Howard Gap with some Hincapie junior riders, and I also went up that climb at sweet spot. I felt ok during that effort. We just cruised from Howard Gap down the descent and through the valley over to Green River Cove road and the next stop. We refueled there with Infinit mix, Bonk Breakers, and some cookies. We waited for George's group to arrive and leave. On the flat road up to Green River Cove we did a pace line with Christian Vandevelde, Cadel Evans, George, and Ted King. The pace was very quick, and about 2 minutes before Green River I came undone because I just didn't want to keep going that hard. After that effort I was still able to tackle Green River at sweet spot, but I felt like I was near cramping by the top. I got to the final rest stop in Saluda and had a couple chicken fingers. I rolled from that rest stop with Reid until George's group caught us going down the Watershed descent. They were railing it. I hopped in for a little bit, but began getting some cramps for real. I decided to back off the pace then and just roll to the finish. This ride is a really tough one, and I am glad I was able to do it again this year. I had a really great time, and I look forward to doing the Road Titans 300 this weekend.