2008 Cow Creek Country Classic

I finally completed my first century bike ride today! 100.11 miles in 6 hours, 4 minutes and 34 seconds at the Cow Creek Country Classic. Don and I did this ride last year and I got close to a 100 miles, but ended up taking a short cut and completed 97 miles in about 7 hours. This year, I did the whole route and cut my time by almost an hour! Route Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://pages.andrien.com/CowCreekCountryClassic2008-06-28.kml

Even though thunderstorms had been threatening for Saturday even up through the middle of the week, the forecast got better by Friday and the rain stayed away. It wasn't too warm at the start of the ride, but reached the mid-90s by the time I finished around 1:40 PM. There was some wind (11.2 MPH average) but since it was out of the SSW, it didn't really come into play until about Mile 15 when we turned south in Midlothian. The headwind was tough until we turned north and east at Mile 63 in Merkins. Having the wind at my back (plus there was a rest stop there as well) re-energized me for the last 37 miles.

At Mile 78 in Italy, the 100-mile route merged with the 75-mile route (at least temporarily - they split off again at Mile 83.5 in Forreston until finally rejoining again at Mile 94). It was nice to see the other riders as I was mostly riding by myself since the Mile 49 rest stop. By that point, all of the 100-mile riders had pretty much found their pace - there was very little passing so it was "lonely" except at the rest stops.

As I returned to the Waxahachie High School and the finish line, I noticed that I was still about a mile short of a full century, so I did a lap around the parking and school access road to make it an even 100. Don had done the 46-mile route so he had already showered, changed, and eaten lunch by the time I got off my bike.

The ride was moderately hilly (3,713 ft of elevation gain). The steepest climb was right before the 49-Mile rest stop.


Interestingly, my speed for the second half of the ride was faster than the first half. Two reasons for this: (as shown above) the last fifty miles was more "downhill" than the first fifty and since the wind was out of the SSW (11.2 MPH average), I had a tailwind instead of a headwing for the return leg. Average speed: 17.4 MPH when moving; 16.5 MPH overall. As you can see from my speed, I hit the rest stops at Mile 35, 49, 62, 72, and 82.


My heart rate during the ride was not too bad - 147 BPM average, 166 BPM max. It was definitely my legs and sore back/posterior that were holding me back as the miles piled on. Cardio was doing fine. On this chart you can again see when I hit the rest stops. Toward the end, they became more frequent.


Ride Review (very similar to last year):

• Course: 3/5 - road conditions were okay; some chip-seal; turns were well marked, rest stops were not, some "straight aheads" could have been better marked because other area race road markings made for confusion
• Rest Stops: 3/5 - cookies, bananas/oranges and Gatorade - nothing special except for Pickle Juice; good spacing; need to make them better; nice volunteers
• Logistics: 3/5 - online registration was available; I was able to get registered and pay by credit card on race-day); good starting area at the Waxahachie High School (easy to find, real bathrooms); reasonable entry fee; race route maps were not available :-(
• Overall: 3/5 - will do again next year; not the best course, but not many rides have the century option