Johnson Mountain 71 Miles

Garmin Connect Ride Data

The Group: The group today (hope I don't miss a name) me, Diane, Nancy, Jamie, Keith, Gary, Rod, Ron, Steve, Gayle, Margaret, Jeff, Peter (is back with us), Bill, Alan, Jeff (a friend of Tim's), Tim

The Ride: We had a decent size group leaving the brewery a bit past 9:00 this morning with tough headwinds coming from the east and our heading due east on Cass White Road. I was out in front with Keith Kudlac and a new rider by the name of Jeff comes up along with Tim and Rod. We had to take a quick nature stop as the group rolled on by and the result was a tough effort with Tim and Rod pulling us back up to the group.

At mile 16 (1 hour into the ride) we were on Johnson Mountain approaching the steep side of the 2.2 mile climb. The starting elevation according to the Garmin data was 793 elevation feet and at the end of the 20 minute climb the elevation was 1300 feet. The first part of this climb has several hundred feet of a wall that is in the 19% gradient range. Even with compact gearing and a 28 gear I was forced off the saddle to make this climb. My heart rate was through the roof, but we all seemed to do well on the climb up.

We did an unscheduled stop at Fairmont with some discussion as to going the full distance or taking a shorter option. We pushed forward and by the time we turned on Covington Bridge at mile 26 we had a good tail wind in the westward direction. I pushed on ahead just to enjoy the conditions of the tail wind and the downward sloping trend to the rolling hills and hit speeds over 30 mph. A few came up to join in the festivities from Covington Bridge, Lovebridge Road to the end of Owens Gin Road at mile 42.

We turned left on Pine Chapel Road and were getting hit by gust of wind from the side and head winds. The pace slowed down and I could tell those who were upfront working were really working hard. I knew this to be the case once I was up front on Hunts Gin Road at mile 46. We made another store stop on Hwy. 373 and Campbell Road at mile 50.

From about mile 50 to about mile 61 I was doing okay hanging on the back of the group, but the winds were really gusting toward us and even at the back there seemed to be little escape. Mile 61 is were the trouble began for me as we turned on Spring Place Road. Not only were we facing head winds but the road pitched upward to about 6% and my legs went anaerobic almost immediately. By the time I could get recovered in just a the short few minutes the group had put a good 1/4 mile gap on me. The road trend continued to climb and my legs were about toast at this point. On flat to downward sloping I could comfortably sit down on my drops and get my pace back into the low 20's despite the wind. For the remainder of the miles I knew there was no way I was going to see the group again until the parking lot so I turned on the ipod shuffle and cranked the pedals to the end.

Overall I felt as if this was a good training ride with some distance and some challenges. I tried to throw in some challenging pace here and there to keep things a little exciting. Of course with this group it is always exciting. We had some that dropped out on a couple of occasions and formed smaller groups, but I am sure they will be back in their top form soon.

Climb Summary: 
Start mile 15.7 | End mile 18 | 2.3 mile climb
Start elevation 793 | End elevation 1300 | 507 feet gain
Steepest gradient 19%

Route Description: flat, rolling hills, one "gets your attention" type of climb on the steep side of Johnson Mountain Road.

Weather: Cool start in the low 40's (F) warming to the 60's at the end. Skies were sunny, but the winds were sustaining at 16+ mph and gust over 20 mph.

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course: (2)24oz. bottle of water with Hammer Heed/10grams Glutamine and BCAA's, (2)Cliff Bar, (2) Accel gel, (1)Post Ride 40gram whey protein drink

Physical Issues: All week I was struggling with something, but I am not sure what. Perhaps last week's ride took too much out of me. My lymph node under my right arm is swollen, which is an indicator the body is fighting a potential infection. My ears and throat have been tender all week maybe from the pollen count going up and I have had some bathroom issues all week and this morning upon getting out of bed it was bad enough I thought I would not be able to ride today. I popped a couple of anti-d pills and ended up not doing too badly today in performance despite feeling run down all week. I had difficulty training with any type of intensity through the week, but again my legs seemed to not let me down today even though I got dropped at mile 61.

Power Data:
 Entire workout (111 watts):
    Duration:      4:20:57 (5:01:12)
    Work:          1722 kJ
    TSS:           238.4 (intensity factor 0.745)
    Norm Power:    157
    Distance:      71 mi
        Min /   Max  /  Avg
    Power:           0  /  589  /  111     watts
    Cadence:         29 /   244  /  80     rpm
    Speed:           2.2  /  37.1  /  16.1     mph
    Pace             1:37 /   26:49  /  3:44     min/mi
    Hub Torque:      0  /  513  /  59     lb-in
    Crank Torque:    0  /  1008  /  123     lb-in