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Madera Canyon 200K brevet


az_cyclist

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Last Saturday I rode the Madera Canyon 200k brevet.  The start/finish was on Broadway St, near the U of Arizona campus.  There was a mass start at 7:00, and the temp was a chilly 37, so I wore my insulated vest (bringing along my wind vest for later when it warmed up to near 70).  We rode through the campus, then up Sentinal Peak (A mountain, for the A letter on the side).  After that we rode bike paths along the Santa Cruz river.  Next we rode south to Sahuarita, AZ.  An out and back along I-19 followed, before heading east to Madera Canyon Rd. That climb was 13 miles, starting at a 1% false flat, gradually getting steeper until the last 3 1/2 miles, which go from 8% to 15% grade.  That was one of the toughest climbs I have ever done.  There was lunch at the top, and we were warned to start using our brakes immediately. Once back to Continental Rd in Sahuarita another 13 mile climb started.  It was not as steep as Madera Canyon Rd, and it did have a few descents, but it was still an attention getter. The road had be repaved from the top, so that was a very nice descent. It went past the San Xavier Mission, which was founded in the 1700's.  

I should have ate more earlier in the ride, so the climbs would have been less of a sufferfest. I did manage to finish the 129 miles in 11 hours 20 minutes.  

I will upload some pics later.

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On 2/3/2020 at 10:20 PM, az_cyclist said:

The last 3 miles of the climb were tough

Hitting double digits after already climbing for almost 10 miles can be tough!  Your blue sky looks amazing, though! And someone is cruel to be taking a photo of you on the side of the road pooped out!

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22 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Hitting double digits after already climbing for almost 10 miles can be tough!  Your blue sky looks amazing, though! And someone is cruel to be taking a photo of you on the side of the road pooped out!

It was one of the organizers.  The organizers, by the way, did a pre ride the week before, so they had good advice on the climb.  I was impressed by the cyclists on the 300k route.  Their ave speed was much better than mine, and I didnt think mine was all that bad.

I was just a few hundred yards from the lunch break. On any climb  my goal is to make it to the top without stopping, expect for a good photo op.  The pics I took were on the descent. 

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On 3/6/2020 at 1:39 PM, az_cyclist said:

It was one of the organizers.  The organizers, by the way, did a pre ride the week before, so they had good advice on the climb.  I was impressed by the cyclists on the 300k route.  Their ave speed was much better than mine, and I didnt think mine was all that bad.

I was just a few hundred yards from the lunch break. On any climb  my goal is to make it to the top without stopping, expect for a good photo op.  The pics I took were on the descent. 

Cool.  I always aim to ride the climb without stopping and have gotten significantly better at pacing on rides.

I know, in my younger days, I was more naive (quite often) and definitely a few memorable times it caught me.  One of those was an epic ride for me where I was 100 miles in, almost out of water, sweating profusely in the almost 100o sun, and there in front of me was the final 7 miles up Alpe d'Huez.  There are 21 switchbacks, and I rode each one by swinging as far wide as possible to flatten the hairpin. I stopped on at least two of those sweepers, and once more about 2/3 up to get a bottle of AWFUL sports drink from my cousin.  It was brutal and humbling, but it laid the foundation for appreciating a tough course and not being too cocky about it. I have a couple photos of me looking beat down from that part of the ride courtesy of my cousin's wife.

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