Polar Bear Ride

Polar Bear Ride 2009
Saturday was my fourth year at the Polar bear ride. Normally I attend the ride so Missy and I can catch up and ride with her friends and teammates, but she had other plans riding from Knoxville, TN towards D.C. via KY, WV, and Virginia. She and her friend Sam are collecting letters and signatures against mountain top removal. Check out their website it is a very impressive cause http://lookoutdoornews.com/voices/

This year I went down by myself to catch up with my new team and Missy’s friends, and good times were had। My goal for the 2009 Polar Bear ride was to not tow everyone around and pump out some solid watts. I was stuck in the peloton for the first 45min trying to move to the front without crossing the yellow line. It bothered me that so many people on the ride had little concern for others as the rode on the wrong side of the yellow line, luckily nothing happened, there is a lot of risk on an open road. Once I made it to the front I rolled off easily just to take off my vest. I started to wait for the group but they weren’t coming so I started to time trial. One rider decided to come up to me and we started to hit it. We picked up another rider that had been riding backwards on the course. The three of us drilled the tailwind sections and worked and nice echelon in the cross wind. During the cross wind section my teammate Reid Beloni bridged up and the attempt to out run the peloton began. We were making great time and the peloton was out of sight. About 15miles from the finish into a direct headwind on some long false flats our group of 4 became 2 hard working riders with 2 sitting on. Reid and I drove hard but kept it in check so we could stay at the front once we were caught. The catch happened on a hill with 8miles to go, Chris Harkey hit it and Reid and I countered, there was lots of firing off but luckily once the road quality deteriorated the racing slowed and the ride was completed. I spent about 1.75 hours rotating with a small group and was able to rack up the watts I wanted. I put out my second best 1 hour watt average and some strong numbers for 30min to 150min efforts.

Sunday was a team ride; it was a great time to get to know some new teammates। Even though I have been dreaming about race wheels with 80mm rims I was convinced mostly by price to go with some 50mm rims। I think they will be a solid choice and quench some of my need for speed.