Since moving to Richmond about twelve years ago, I’ve spent quite a bit of seat-time on my bikes. When I arrived, I had a “hybrid” that was really just a low-end mountain bike frame with tires that were clearly meant to be used on pavement rather than dirt & mud. It served me fine for exploring my new location but it was heavy and inefficient for rides longer than 10-15 miles. After my first foray onto the local trails, I realized that I needed better equipment. I upgraded to a “real” off-road bike and began riding regularly with some co-workers.

Not long after that, I got a used road bike. That sealed my fate and I started moving towards being a full-fledged “roadie”. The road bike allows me to have both speed and frequent change of scenery while on a ride. During my brief stint living in NYC is was absolutely giddy when I first rode around Central Park’s six mile loop. I still have a bike for the trails but it gets far less use now.

This past Saturday I rode the Capital to Capital Century for the fourth time. This organized ride (not a race) goes from Richmond (current state capital) to Jamestown (former state capital) with starting point at either end. The first two years I did the full century (100 miles). However, last year I turned around at the mid-point because I was fed up with cold, misty conditions and this year I decided to do only 50 miles since I didn’t want to be wiped out for Sunday’s kayak class (more on that in the next post).

Starting at Dorey Park, I set towards Jamestown and pushed to make good time. Even though this event isn’t a race I still like to go fast and try to improve my overall speed and stamina. The mid-point of the route is at a church in Charles City County and the organizers have a BBQ lunch available in addition to water & snacks found at the other rest stops. Wanting to stay fueled-up, I had some BBQ, chips, and a cookie but didn’t sit around too long as I didn’t want my legs to cool down too much.

The topography for that first 25 miles was generally downhill, not steep by any means but enough that I expected a slightly slower pace on the return trip than the 18.5 mph average of the first half. About five miles into the second half, I was caught buy a peloton of strong riders, including several from Richmond’s own pro cycling team, and I managed to latch on around mid-pack.

Riding in a paceline is a blast! The group aerodynamics means you go faster with less effort. To be efficient the bikes have to be fairly close together, ideally a few inches behind the rear wheel in front of you and no more than a couple feet. This means you have to be confident of your handling skills, stay aware of what’s going on around you, and don’t make any sudden movements.

I was in the pack for most of the ride back but the high pace (my average speed was 21.8 mph while with the group) eventually took its toll and i was popped of the back about 5 miles from the finish. At that point my speed plummeted to 16 mph but my overall average for the return trip was 18.9 mph so I made it back to the car in much better time than I expected.

The organizers did a great job again this year and I hope that next year my circumstances will allow me to the full 100 miles to Jamestown and back. Of course, there’s no reason I couldn’t do it myself, during the Summer Of Jay.