The good news is that the road around the reservoir is open again. However like almost every time I do this ride it was a cloudy crappy day. This time with the addition of heat and extreme humidity. Laura schedule the ride to start at 8:30am to try avoid some of the heat but we didn't get going until 9am because she had a flat on her car. Luckily she was able to get a ride from another rider to the start of the ride.
I was sweating just sitting waiting for the ride to start. I was well hydrated before the ride but was still worried I would cramp with the hot and humid weather we had especially since it was already 80 degrees and close to 100% humidity.
I was glad that once we started that the pace was reasonable as I didn't want to have to push myself to keep up. The first part of the route has just a few rolling hills and in general I felt pretty strong today although I knew we have a couple of long climbs ahead.
Around mile 10 Laura had another flat this time on her bike. I waited with a few others in the shade while it was fixed. I asked once we got started again if they found what caused the flat and they said they couldn't find anything. When I get a flat it always makes me a little anxious when I can't find the cause because I am worried I will get another flat.
We made our way to Stanton and started the trek along Stanton Road which brings us up to the reservoir. This is a 7 mile stretch that has a few rolling hills before the long climb to the reservoir. I fell back behind the group on the first roller when they stopped to regroup I kept going wanted to get ahead a little so I won't slow down the pace that much.
The traffic on Stanton Road was light. There are about 5 miles of rollers with some good downhills before the main climb. I spend this time like I do everytime looking around each corner asking myself when will the big climb start. I was surprised that the group had not caught up to me before the climb.
The long climb up to the reservoir is really three small climbs. Someone years ago named each part by painting words on the shoulder of the road. The first one which is the steepest and longest is called Papa bear. The next two are called Mama bear and finally Baby bear. I didn't see the name on the road this time for Papa bear but I saw the wall of the dam on the right that marks the start of the climb so as soon as I started up Papa bear I switched to Granny gear.
The actual climb isn't super steep or that hard if you are in shape. I really didn't need to be in the granny gear but took it easy and spun up just to conserve my energy and try to reduce my chance of cramping. Once over the top I glided down to the parking lot by the entrance of the reservoir for a view. As you can see by the picture at the top is was cloudy. I'm sure Round is very scenic on a bright sunny day but as much as I have been here I have no visual evidence to back that up.
I waited in the parking lot for the group to catch up but after 10 mins they were no where in sight still. When they finally showed up about 5 mins later they said that Laura had another flat so for those of you keeping score Tires 3 Laura 0. It turned out there was a small nail or radial thread in the tire that they missed before that caused the flat. This time they found the cause and there were no more flats the rest of the ride.
The road around the reservoir looks the same as before and there was not much evidence of any construction or they work that kept the road closed for over two years.
We made our way to the usual stop in Whitehouse Station. Although it was mostly cloudy the sun still peaked out and made if feel really oppressive. I was glad when we started again as the wind provided some relief. The way back from our rest stop does have a few rolling hills but no real climbs. I faded a little on some of the rollers but was able to keep up with the group. When ever I go on a hilly ride with this group I always feel a little pace anxiety. I don't want to be the one holding the group back. I am a little slower than I use to be going up hills but also some of the slower people I use to ride with don't come on these rides so the pace is just a little faster. When I start fading on the climbs I feel like an antelope that can't keep up with the herd and is about to be culled by a predator.
Laura doesn't leave anyone behind so the group stopped at major turns to regroup. The way to Neshanic was mostly flat so it was easy to keep up. There was just a couple small climbs on the way back but we all pulled about the same time and even though this was a hot day and more the the 45 miles I like to do for hilly rides I didn't cramp(although I was close to having one).
I ended up coming in at 14mph which is around my normal average for this ride which was good for such a hot day.
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