Grand Blanc Data

Above is the HR and Speed graph for the group part of the ride.
The total ride was 50.1 miles in 2:35:22

The final 15.1 miles of the group portion:
Duration: 36:35.0
Avg HR: 179
Max HR: 189
Avg Speed: 24.7mph
Max Speed: 39.3
Avg Cadence: 96
Max Cadence: 114

The variation in effort (indicated by the rising and falling HR) during these last 15 miles probably caused the most trouble.

Change of Scenery
I decided to go do the Grand Blanc Tuesday ride yesterday. I needed a change of scenery for my Tuesday ride this week. In Birmingham I've had a lot of issues with getting caught at lights or getting behind the wrong guy in the pack. I needed to do a ride that was more pure cycling, less silliness, and less of those crazy tactics unique to Birmingham (for instance, need to get a gap? no problem, pass that car ahead at the stop sign!!!). Grand Blanc is the anti-Birmingham ride.

In terms of organization and safety Grand Blanc is a symphony orchestra. Birmingham is punk rock.

Grand Blanc is a meditation on cycling. Birmingham is a prison riot.

If Grand Blanc were a movie it would be "Breaking Away" or "Chariots of Fire." If Birmingham were a movie it would clearly be "The Road Warrior" or better yet "Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome."

You get the point. 60 miles of smooth rolling terrain, and they don't even break laws!

Unfortunately, none of this changes the fact that Grand Blanc is very fast and has few stops. And unlike Birmingham, there aren't many short cuts to catch back on. You drop and you are usually done.

My undoing came about 27 miles in after doing my last nanosecond pull. I went to the back of the paceline and kept right on going. The ride continued on in the distance as I got reacquainted with my lack of POWER. The good news is that the solitary ride back to the car was pretty enjoyable.

I will post some HR data tomorrow to show how this lovely ride has devistating consequences for the power challenged rider such as myself...