Day 2 tour de pink

So the second day was dubbed the hardest. And it was:

Here is the summary of the ride details, Note the 5,536 of climbing.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	6:41:15	5:31 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	5:18:23	4:22 pace
Distance (mi )	72.64
Moving Speed (mph)	13.7 avg.	42.6 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+5,536 / -5,384
Avg. Heart Rate	125 bpm	Zone 2.7
Temperature (°F)	57.6°F avg.	60.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	NE 14.2 avg.	NE 17.2 max.

Click here for details of the ride

So Day 2 took us from Trenton NJ to King of Prussia. The day stated out with 20+ miles on a rail trail that took us to the PA boarder. I wasn't too keen on riding on hard pack with my road bike, would have perfered to have my cycle-cross but alas, really wasn't worth complaining about.

For the first 10 miles we were in a large pack of rides just enjoying the cold damp morning, and not really pushing to hard. It wasn't untill Will, Josh, and I helped to change a gents tire, and then we decided to hammer to reel in the leaders. We dropped the hammer are rode at over 18+ mph but to no avail. All together we decided to save our energy to a resonalbe pace.



Tim on the rail trail (Courtesy of Will)


After stopping and using the facilities we crossed the bridge into PA. This is where the hills started.

I felt prety good on the rail trail, but that was flat, and easy, now we were going to see if i rode to hard on day 1 and truely see if i had it in me to ride to sizeable rides two days in a row.



We started out as a group, and headed into the hills of the PA. I was promptly dropped which was to be expected. However i was able to hold the lead group through the hills but couldn't real them back in. Once we got away from the river it became more rolling, and my motivation to catch the lead group increased.

I actually rode pretty darn hard to catch them prior to lunch, but with out the aide of some other riders it was a futile attempt. But boy was it fun.

I soled into lunch and ate the hell out of the subway sub. We quickly remounted to stay warm and headed to King of Prussia.

After mingling for a while, We headed into the hills of Valley Forge, where i again found myself not strong enough to stay with Will and Josh, but strong enough to hold off the pack behind me. I focused on climbing and technique to get through the hills, as they were starting to wear on me.

Then there was the wrong turn, the markings took us into a park, and then there was no signage signaling which way to go, So intuitively i headed left at the t in the road. I promptly ran into some girls that indicated they saw the lead group go right. So i turned around and headed off. Further other non tour riders said the same thing, so i took off after them.

Well after a mile of going straight down, i realized i was in trouble as there were no more markings, No Moto's no anything. So instead of turning around, i knew i was getting close to KOP so i decided to keep riding. I headed out and for a couple of miles kept riding looking for an alternative route to KOP and the mall. Unfortunately that was a futile attempt. So i turned around and headed back to where i was dropped out of the park. I made a couple of useless phone calls, and then headed into the Valley Forge industrial park, which took me back on track. I also solicited the help of a Good Samaritan, who was responsible for getting me back on track.

I got back on track and meet one of the support cars with Doc Laurie riding shot gun, and tried to hide how angry i was. Not at anyone in particular just that i was frustrated. So as i started off again, Lisa Frank and some riders were pulling in behind me.

I know Lisa made the comments that we could all ride in the last 7 or so miles into the mall. Unfortunately i realized that i was about out of fluids, so i just kept my pace up and in the process dropped them in the hills. One of the moto guys indicated that they were calling me not so nice names ;) Sorry Lisa!

After getting through most of the hills I rode for a while with Virginia (who is the YSC webmaster) Where she dropped me on the last of the hills. I idled in with my legs burning and darn tired, after 70+ miles.

The evening of Day 2 took us to the Crowne Plaza, and Will, Josh, Melissa and I headed over to the mall for a fine dinner.

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