The Flatest Century in the East

This past weekend was The Flattest Century in the East (TFCE). This wasn't a ride I was really looking forward to, as I like to climb, but I had a few family members doing the race so I joined them.

Before we started the ride I set the goal of breaking the 5 hour mark, but I wasn't too committed to it because I figured I would be doing a lot of the pulling and with last mountain bike race of the season next weekend I didn't want to burn myself out. So I started out with my Dad and we keep the pace comfortable at just above 20 miles and hour. About 15 miles in we got picked up by some local shop guys from Village Bicycle. When I looked back the group was about 14 deep, it wasn't too long before the pace was kicked up considerably. Over the next few miles guys started pealing off the back as we held a steady mid-20's pace reaching close to 30 at times. I jumped into the group a few guys back so I got a chance to watch they dynamic of the group before it was my turn to pull. When I stepped up I keep the pace around 23 miles an hour and did my pull for a solid mile or two. As I came off the front I got a lot "nice pull" from a few out of breath guys in the back. This was my first ride with an aggressive pace line, it was really fun.

As we approached the 30 mile check in the group faded to just 6 or so riders and I was surprised to see my dad still hanging in there. After a quick top off of the Water bottles we headed out again but with a few extra riders. There was only 17 miles to the next checkpoint so the pace was pretty fast; I put in some solid pulls and again got a few complements from it. By time we reached the 47-mile check in the group was down to just 3 shop riders, my dad and I. It was here Dave commented that the pace was "comfortable" at that point I realized comfortable is a relative term.

As we left the mid-way checkpoint we again had regrouped to a crew of 10+ riders with just 3 or 4 of us up front doing the work. It was on a long flat section here that my Dad decided to take a pull; unfortunately he picked a section of exposed road along a very open marshy river with a strong headwind. He ended up burning himself out and as he slid off the front he wasn't able to hang on. At this point the group really faded, it was just Dave, another shop rider and myself. From here to the last check in at mile 71 Dave and I took turns pulling. Despite the fact that it was just Dave and I doing the work we were able to keep an aggressive 22-24 mile an hour pace. This was a really fun section of road with some slightly rolling hills, with a bigger group to work with this section could have been really fast! I ran out of water, at about mile 67 or so and really needed the last check in. As we pulled into the stop we had worked our way up to the front of the ride, there was just a 50 or so riders at the check in at that point. I topped off the waters and grabbed a quick bit to eat; just in time to see my dad roll in. As my dad was topping off his water Dave and the other shop rider asked if I wanted to head out again, but I decided to hold back and finish with my dad.

So my dad and I headed out for the last 30 miles, at this point I kept an easy high teens pace. It wasn't too long before we had another pace line going. I needed some help and wheel-sucked for about 5 miles, that gave me the rest I needed. I then pulled the group along for a few miles but as soon as we hit a slight grade I started to drop guys. For the last 14 miles or so the group was reduced to just 3 riders. Despite the fact that this ride is called TFCE it does end on the biggest hill of the day. I like hills, so knowing how close I was to the finish with just a short hill in front of me I let loose and sprinted in to the finish.

This was my first solid group ride and it was really fun. Most of my road rides are solo, after this ride I know how much more efficient and fun riding in a team can be. For a ride that I wasn't really looking forward to, it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Distance 103.2
Overall time: 5:31.36
Ride time: 4:56.19 (under 5 hours!)
Max Speed: 35.5
Ave Speed: 20.9