Stats Don't Tell the Full Story

When I go on a ride I usually look at the route to see the mileage and terrain to see how hard the ride is going to be. However the stats don't always give you the full story of what a ride will be like. For example I did a ride down the shore just over a week ago. It was along the ocean which is flat but the headwind made it feel like a slow climb. At the end of the ride I did a loop away from the beach through a couple of neighbors that had a few small hills. Even though at the end of the ride I only had 300 ft of climbing and 28 miles it felt like I did a 40 mile hilly ride. 

This past weekend we had a perfect day for a hilly ride. I decided to lead a ride out of Gladstone through the hills around Califon and Chester Township. It is a hilly route but a route we have done a few times before. It's over 3000 ft of climbing so it is one of the hillier routes we do. However I have been feeling good and wanted to push myself to see how good my hills legs were this season.

The actual ride banter started a day before the ride when the one of the insane posse complained that they didn't want to do anymore hills but signed up anyway. I reminded them that they were mentally unstable for signing up for something they didn't want to do but that is the make up of the people I ride with. I do promise some interesting routes and adventures on my ride but that comes with a certain amount of anxiety and pain.

I have a number or rides that climb over 3000 ft and some feels worst than others. The thing that makes the route out of Gladstone feel harder is that there are no real flat spots to relax. It doesn't help that the ride starts out with a couple hundred feet of climbing within three quarters of a mile of the start. 

And the hills keep coming with a few steep but short ones along the way. Still it is a scenic route with some good downhills and the longest climb up Rockaway is a very gentle 300 ft climb that is enjoyable. My legs were feeling okay at the rest stop at 25 miles but there was still a few tough climbs to go. The steepest one was up Pleasant Hill Rd which the stats says was 13%. It felt a little harder but that was probably because I couldn't get into my granny gear. There were a couple of other tough climbs before the cool downhill on Ironia Rd. I usually put in one last hill before the end of the ride but skipped it this time as I wasn't sure I could handle it. 

At the end of the ride I was glad I was able to do the ride but knew that my legs didn't have anything left. I know the people on the ride will say that it was hard and that they don't want to do this types of rides anymore but if I list another hill ride they will probably come along no matter what the stats are.