Slowpoke at Southridge- Cody

I went to Southridge Park and rode on Thursday the 13th. Southridge is where they hold a local race series over the winter and the site of the first NORBA race of the year (national race). It's a pretty fun course and I like the fact that I can compare my lap time to the race results of this year.

I rode the course once before this ride and enjoyed it. It is different than either of my other two rides in the area (Sycamore and Loma Linda), and has a mix of technical, uphill, downhill, etc, as you can see in the elevation graph below.

I started with a goal in mind that I would complete the loop in about 45 minutes. That would have placed me in about 5th place for my age group of the beginner class. During my last ride I seemed to have endless energy so I though that 6.5 miles in 45 minutes wouldn't be too bad. I was wrong...

Ok, here are the excuses: It was pretty hot being in the upper 80's. I ate a little too late in the day. I drank too much water just before riding. I hadn't got enough sleep the previous 2 nights... Or I'm just not in the best shape yet... Whatever the reason, I just felt worn out from the start. I rested in the shade of this water tower (photo at right) after a steep climb and before continuing to climb straight ahead.

The downhills were a lot of fun, but I never really felt like I caught my breath on the downhills even (video to come).

Despite my 56 minute finish time (not counting a few breaks I took), I had a great ride. I really look forward to riding the course again and trying to not stop to compare my time with the race results again.

Stats-
Distance: 6.7 miles
Average Speed: 6.9 mph
Top Speed: 27mph (I think)
Trip time: 56:07 minutes...
Total Ascent: 1028 ft