The 1stAnnual Lauren’s Police Dept. Grand Fondo was held at the Michelin Proving Grounds track system in Laurens, SC on Sept 22, 2018. And Cruzbike was there with 3!
The course was laid out to combine track #1 & track #2 via a narrow connector rode between the 2 tracks as seen below. Track #1 is 3.9 miles (on right), and track #2 is about 2 mile when riding the “outside horseshoe section”. The event was also laid out for participants to ride either a 15, 45 or 104 mile route in counter-clockwise direction. Everyone would do a full lap of Track #1, then ride track #1 again but turn right on the access road to #2 during the 2ndlap of track #1. I got there early enough to be able to ride the route to become familiar with it. The “trickiest” part was turning to the right onto the narrow access “lane” between track #1 and track #2. Both turns we “very sharp” right turns as you can see, probably close to 110 degrees. To make matters worse, you only had about a 4 foot section of pavement you could be on since the narrow lane had to been used for both directions. Going from track #1 to track #2 was also considerably harder as you were going downhill before the turn and going much faster. I had to hit the brake every time and slow down considerably, but at least the path was downhill to track #2 so you could punch it and bring your speed back up pretty easily. The turn from track #2 on the narrow path was easier since the speed was slower as you were slowly climbing and there was more room to turn. Biggest issue here was that you had to climb the grade to get back to track #1. You had to punch it just to keep you speed up.
The event was planned to start at 9am. We ended up starting around 9:17. Jim & Will (who barely made it out of Lumberton due to the flooding from Hurricane Florence)had arrived just as they were going to start, but they forgot to bring their timing strips for the electronic timer. I had asked one of the timing guys if we could start late and he said the timing was setup to record when each person started so it would be OK. So Jim & Will rode the ½ mile back to their car and got their timing chip card and I taped it to their race cases for them. We got to the starting gate only to find that the timer did start for everyone and we were now 3+ minutes “behind” everyone else! So much for what the first guy told me. So we took off in chase mode!
Since I had already ridden the entire course I told Jim & Will to just follow me for the first laps so they knew where they were going, as there was a tricky little area after you crossed the access road onto track #2. I am not sure if they thought I was possessed or not, as I was averaging 26+ for those first segments as I was trying to hold my 200 watt power as consistently as I was able to.
(Note: I had been riding a Century at a local 1/3 mile track each of the last 2 Saturdays testing my bikes, and my fitness. I had been able to go sub 4-hour and average about 200 watts each of those weeks, so I was determined to just try and hold 200 watts today and see how I faired.
Since we started almost 4 minutes behind, we did not catch the lead group of about 20 riders until we had completed the entire first lap of track #1, and then ridden almost all the way around it again until it crossed over the narrow path on to track #2. Suddenly I noticed that the lead pack was riding on the “interior” section of track #2. (We did this last year, and I had advised the event coordinator to take that section out as it was very confusing where the turns were, plus very twisty/curvy with sharp turns for 1 mile). However who ever was leading the lead group went into that area anyway, but I did not. I went on the “outside” section of track #2 as shown the insert above. I looked behind me for Jim & Will and also did not see them, so I assumed they had also followed the pack into the wrong area. Since I thought they were behind me, I just stuck to my speed. Afterward Jim told me that they were behind me, but had slowed down considerable for the sharp turn on the narrow path. If I had known they were right behind me, I probably would have slowed down so we could have worked together. I was really hoping we could all ride together and help each other get the best speed possible. Bummer
I rode the 1st2 hours at about 200 watts and per Strava I average 25.6 mph during that time. Jim & Will never caught me, but I eventually saw that I was slowly gaining on them lap by lap. I had calculated that I might catch them at mile 65 or so. Unfortunately it started getting hotter and windier and my power just started fading. Over the next hour I only managed to make 154 watts and averaged only 24.3 mph. That brought my overall average speed down to 24.8 after 75 miles. I was really hoping to be able to average at least 25, but I was fading fast and knew I would not be able to do it. I suddenly heard a metal popping sound and some scraping sound also around mile 75 and finally stopped at my table to check my bike. I thought maybe my skewer had popped loose or something. Everything looked OK, and no brakes rubbing. Too bad I couldn’t find something to blame my slow speed on. The heat and wind by this time was now even worse. I did however continue to gain on Jim and Will although at a much slower pace, and of course when I had to stop then they gained some on me. Eventually I notice Jim & Will had separated. This was when Jim was about 2 minutes in front of me, which meant I was about 5 miles ahead of him overall. It looked like Will had hit the wall. I came up to him, and said: “come-on let’s catch your dad”, and he said he didn’t think he could do it, and did not jump on my wheel. This was around 80 miles or so.
Unfortunately, I just got slower and slower and started to feel pretty horrible. I stopped gaining on Jim and it looked like I would not catch him. I tried to take in more fluids, but everything I had on my Vendetta was very warm for being in the sun and it turned my stomach. In retro-spec I wish I had taken some ice out of my cooler and packed it into my shirt when I had stopped at mile 75. So, I just kept pushing the pedals and cursing my left knee that I had twisted the past Tues working in my attic. Amazingly I was only able to average 130 watts (with a consistent 165bpm HR) – so I was still working my body hard, just not getting the power out of it. 3 hours ago I was pushing 215+ under the same HR. My average speed that last 25 miles was only 22.2mph. I did try and push myself a little hard the last mile or 2, only to see my heart spike up to over 200 – so I knew I could not really go any harder.
It was a little humbling to get my butt kicked again by the head & humidity. But at least I did not cramp up this time, praise the Lord! My knees sure were sore however after I stopped.
Here we are: “The 3 ‘Cruzbike’ Musketeers!”. Gosh – those Parker’s grow tall and thin! Just call me “shorty!” haha. . A little embarrassed that I out-weight them at my height. (I guess I am just “thick” – or it might just be the “donuts”.)
So my final time for the 104 miles was 4:19:18, averaging just about 24mph. Jim came in at 4:38:32, and Will at 4:59:53 (with adjusted time from late starts. Cruzbike finished 1, 2, 3. Too bad we could not have ridden it together the whole time. Later I found out from the event coordinator that only 2 uprights bikes actually finished the 104 miles, everyone else dropped out due to the heat. My friend Gerry Eddlemon (age 72) was one of those 2 on the uprights. He finished in 6:18:21 very well done Gerry!
I was presented with a very nice Gimmie-3 Grand Fondo Jersey and a finisher’s medal.
Thanks to Jody and the Lauren’s Police Department and their volunteers and sponsors for putting on this event, and especially Michelin for providing a great safe venue for us to ride. I especially thank for Lord for keeping us all save as we rode today, and continue to pray for Eastern North and South Carolina as they continue to recover from the devastating flooding from hurricane Florence.
