With all of the recent hurricane and tropical storm activity, I was really looking forward to the Tour De Moore Century this Labor Day. There was another tropical storm making its way towards NC, but I really didn’t care. I just wanted to get back out on the road and do some hard work on the bike. I rolled out of Raleigh at about 5:30 AM towards Southern Pines. 30 minutes down the road I realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses, which would be a problem since I wear contact lenses. Luckily, I found a 24hr BP gas station and bought some stylish specs for $8.
As far as cycling goes, Southern Pines is a great place to bike. There are lots of great horse farms for scenery, and very little vehicle traffic. Oh, and this course will work you pretty hard. This is a course of constant rollers. Nothing too long, but long enough that you can’t just power over it either. Just guessing, but there are probably about 30-40 rollers that keep you honest.
Here’s quick video that I took on my Go Pro as everyone raced out of town.
Compared to last year, I road almost exactly the same:
9/5/10
Distance 102.28
Time:5:53:04
Speed: 17.4
Avg HR 137
9/5/11
Distance 102.64
Time: 5:56:06
Speed 17.3mph
Avg HR: 145
My HR was a little higher this year, but I think that has more to do with the humidity being above 90%. The ride kicked my butt equally both years. I think the 3 min time difference oddly may have been due to still having mud caked in my bike cleats from the previous weeks lightning/hail storm. The 2 times I stopped to refill water, I just could not get my cleats back on the pedals for a minute or two…Oh well, live and learn.
These rides are great for Ironman training. You’ve got lots of time to practice your nutrition, and there’s SAG support and rest stops just in case you need anything extra.
