Tour of Payne

Rode the Tour of Payne today. Did the 66 mile course. Their usual 62 mile course had a section closed for repairs, so the organizers added 4 miles of detour around it. A map of the route can be seen here.

The ride started from the Best Western Motel in Stillwater, OK, at 7:30. The weather was cool and overcast. We went South on Perkins Rd. I hung with the lead pack until the first climb. A second pack overtook me, and I managed to grab onto a pretty good paceline. Hung with them for a while. We were averaging around 18-22 mph on the flatter sections (of which there were few). I lost them on a nasty climb at about the 18 mile mark, but passed them a mile or so later, when one of them had a mechanical problem. Made the turn onto SH 108, passed through Ripley, OK (believe it or not), and skipped the rest stop there. This was about the 20 mile point, and I was averaging about 17.2 mph.

Crossed the Cimarron River, north of Ripley, and hit a long, gradual climb to Meehan Rd, where I turned east. Meehan Rd is mostly steep climbs and steep descents, with a relatively flat stretch from mile 27 to mile 30 on the map. The hill work I'd been doing paid off on the climbs in this part of the course. I even passed a couple of guys that were significantly lighter than me on one of the climbs. I was still holding about a 17.2 mph average, when I turned onto SH 18.

SH 18 climbs into Cushing, OK, and my average speed dropped to 17 mph by the time I pulled into the rest stop. Time was about 2:05. I made my second mistake at this point, and it nearly ruined the ride. I started out with 64 oz of Gatorade in three bottles. My first mistake was not drinking enough. I should have been out of Gatorade when I reached the stop. I had better than 1 1/2 bottles left. I compounded my first mistake, by chugging those bottles down before filling up. I spent most of the rest of the ride wondering whether I should pull over and barf. I was dehydrated, sick at my stomach, and tired from hammering out a faster pace than I'd planned.

I started out slowly, managed to make it over the high point of the course, and started to catch a second wind, as the course trended downhill. My average speed had dropped to about 16.2 mph when I rolled into the Ripley rest stop. I had to cool down (temps were in the high 90s, by this time), and I pulled a chair under a ceiling fan and vegged for about 10 min. I managed to get a piece of watermelon down, but I didn't bother filling my bottles. I only had 20 miles to go, and I still had more Gatorade in my gut than I really wanted.

I was still making better time than I'd expected going in. Made the turn (west) onto Meehan Rd. This section of Meehan Rd. was reasonably flat, and the climbs weren't too bad. I managed to hold my average speed, and might have gained a bit, but I don't remember.

Turned south onto the detour, and hit one of the hardest climbs of the day. Made it over the top, and really appreciated the 5 miles of almost unbroken descent. I passed up the last rest stop, about 8 miles from the end of the course, and held an average speed (on the bike time) of 16.2 mph to the end of the course.

Lessons learned:

1. Drink!!! You brought the Gatorade to drink, so drink it!!!
   
2. If you forget to drink, don't try to compensate by chugging down more than your stomach can handle.
3. If you want to get better at climbing hills, climb more hills. I did, and I did.
   

Stats for the ride:

Total distance:

66.3 miles

Total time:

4:35:03

Riding time:

4:05:08

Average speed (riding):

16.2 mph

Maximum speed:

34.9 mph

Average heart rate;

140 (74% of max.)

Maximum heart rate:

171 (90% of max.)