Race Report: Gran Fondo Maryland Medio
This is also known as the Hell of Frederick....I just made that up myself but it's astonishingly accurate. I wanted a challenge and that is what I got. I registered for this after moving back north. I spend many days in Frederick during my college years and after, working at two theatre companies located downtown. I would be nice to be in familiar territory for such a challenge. It is only an hour from me. That close, I decided to drive up in the morning. I think that was a good idea, sleeping in my own bed the night before.
The ride starts in Frederick's beautiful downtown. Frederick is such a quintessential northeastern American town with red brick houses and church spires everywhere. Small tree lined streets flow in a grid that lead from quaint crossing to crossing of a small stream. From there, the route headed west toward the Catoctin Mountains. This is where it lost the charm. Within the first five miles, we were climbing. Not just any climb, no this was Hamburg road, a Category 2 six-mile climb that averaged somewhere in 5% with ramps well up to 18% grade. It was also the first timed section. Many people decided they wanted to go fast but nearly 500 people were still bunched together. This meant not a lot of maneuvering room for wobbly climbers. Halfway up I had to stop for a second due to the heat/humidity and climbing. I walked for a minute because I couldn't remount until I found something under 15%. Finally, I got to the top.
What goes up must go down, they say. The screaming descent was technical and also wet due to the morning humidity. I passed a crash on the first turn. I hope he was ok but medical was already there. It did not look good. Flying down over 70kph, I felt both the rush of the descent and slight terror that I was one move away from the hospital ICU. Maybe I'm a bit more comfortable on the descent due to my skiing background but I certainly flew past others down the hill. Free speed.
Next was a little jaunt around the valley with rollers and nice farmland. There were a few steep kickers but mostly everything was fine. After the first aid station, we started back toward another ridge. Here, I found one of my least favorite things: chip-seal road. It's like riding on gravel at times. We climbed steadily up to the next ridge on this terrible pavement. Then, the fun began again with two back-to-back category 3 climbs. We turned into Catoctin Mountain National Park where we climbed up to Camp David. This was not as bad as the first climb. It was shorter and didn't quite reach the same ramps. I did enjoy this steady climb. Unfortunately, no views of Camp David as it's well hidden from the main roads. At the top of the hill, we flew back down toward the other side of the mountain. This descent was less technical and speed was allowed to build for longer stretched. That is, until about halfway down. Somebody put a stop sign halfway down the descent, which wasn't very nice. It made us all slam on the brakes because traffic was still in operation. So from 70kph - 0. And then we keep going. Good thing I checked the brake pads.
After an aid station at the bottom of the hill, it was back on the climb. We climbed up the Cunningham Falls climb, which was quite long. It wasn't as steep as Hamburg but it was unrelenting. It felt like up, up, and away we went. Halfway up the climb, we hit another surprise: gravel. The road turned to gravel and now we were on a gravel climb. That's wonderful. I managed to do surprisingly well on the gravel and got to the top. After a short fake-me-out descent, we were back climbing on what was one of the steepest sections. We were well over 15% here and the only good thing was the distance: short.
Now we were riding on the top of the ridge, so up and down and up and down over the spine of the mountain. This was also another timed section. There were some short but pretty steep hills but the road was recently paved and glorious. I made a friend and we pulled each other through the next 11 miles of ridge riding. There definitely were some good views and I had to stop for a picture at the top of one of the peaks. Finally we came off of the ridge and down the final long screaming descent. Wheee! more free speed. No stop signs this time meant just cruising in the aero tuck and catching my breath. This was a much needed respite for the legs.
Aid station three was at the bottom and it felt like we were almost home free. About two miles after the aid station, we had the final surprise. This little 17% kicker came out of nowhere. I ground to a screeching halt. As I was going up, I saw what looked to be a black racer snake in the road. I tried to go around it but gravity was not my friend. It was already dead (probably for a while) but wouldn't you know I toppled over right on top of the damn thing. Fun. Finally getting to the top of that kicker, this certainly would be it, right?
Well 20 miles to go and all is well, except for the headwind. No rest for the weary. Now it wasn't gravity but wind resistance that was holding me back. Apparently, I missed the memo that this would be a battle with physics. Of all of the elements, I really don't like headwind. I will complain about the climbing but in the end I actually do enjoy the toughness. Headwind is a different animal. I just have a visceral reaction to a powerful headwind. By this time, it had thinned and I was riding basically alone. It felt like a breakaway to nowhere. Finally, downtown and the run to the finish.
Overall it was a good ride. A challenge? Definitely. Worth it? I guess so. It was kind of lonely doing it by myself but riding 100km solo builds a bit of mental toughness. There were moments that I questioned why I do this and just wanted to give up and go home. The second half was very thin as people spread way out so I was mostly alone with myself and the physics. My head is a perpetual problem in my racing. It is good to train it too with rides like this, learning to get out of my own thoughts.
If nothing else, this really showed where I can work to get gains on the bike. Climbing is more plentiful here than FL and that will help in the long run. I look forward to working on this in the off season and heading to these climbs more often.
The ride starts in Frederick's beautiful downtown. Frederick is such a quintessential northeastern American town with red brick houses and church spires everywhere. Small tree lined streets flow in a grid that lead from quaint crossing to crossing of a small stream. From there, the route headed west toward the Catoctin Mountains. This is where it lost the charm. Within the first five miles, we were climbing. Not just any climb, no this was Hamburg road, a Category 2 six-mile climb that averaged somewhere in 5% with ramps well up to 18% grade. It was also the first timed section. Many people decided they wanted to go fast but nearly 500 people were still bunched together. This meant not a lot of maneuvering room for wobbly climbers. Halfway up I had to stop for a second due to the heat/humidity and climbing. I walked for a minute because I couldn't remount until I found something under 15%. Finally, I got to the top.
What goes up must go down, they say. The screaming descent was technical and also wet due to the morning humidity. I passed a crash on the first turn. I hope he was ok but medical was already there. It did not look good. Flying down over 70kph, I felt both the rush of the descent and slight terror that I was one move away from the hospital ICU. Maybe I'm a bit more comfortable on the descent due to my skiing background but I certainly flew past others down the hill. Free speed.
Next was a little jaunt around the valley with rollers and nice farmland. There were a few steep kickers but mostly everything was fine. After the first aid station, we started back toward another ridge. Here, I found one of my least favorite things: chip-seal road. It's like riding on gravel at times. We climbed steadily up to the next ridge on this terrible pavement. Then, the fun began again with two back-to-back category 3 climbs. We turned into Catoctin Mountain National Park where we climbed up to Camp David. This was not as bad as the first climb. It was shorter and didn't quite reach the same ramps. I did enjoy this steady climb. Unfortunately, no views of Camp David as it's well hidden from the main roads. At the top of the hill, we flew back down toward the other side of the mountain. This descent was less technical and speed was allowed to build for longer stretched. That is, until about halfway down. Somebody put a stop sign halfway down the descent, which wasn't very nice. It made us all slam on the brakes because traffic was still in operation. So from 70kph - 0. And then we keep going. Good thing I checked the brake pads.
After an aid station at the bottom of the hill, it was back on the climb. We climbed up the Cunningham Falls climb, which was quite long. It wasn't as steep as Hamburg but it was unrelenting. It felt like up, up, and away we went. Halfway up the climb, we hit another surprise: gravel. The road turned to gravel and now we were on a gravel climb. That's wonderful. I managed to do surprisingly well on the gravel and got to the top. After a short fake-me-out descent, we were back climbing on what was one of the steepest sections. We were well over 15% here and the only good thing was the distance: short.
Now we were riding on the top of the ridge, so up and down and up and down over the spine of the mountain. This was also another timed section. There were some short but pretty steep hills but the road was recently paved and glorious. I made a friend and we pulled each other through the next 11 miles of ridge riding. There definitely were some good views and I had to stop for a picture at the top of one of the peaks. Finally we came off of the ridge and down the final long screaming descent. Wheee! more free speed. No stop signs this time meant just cruising in the aero tuck and catching my breath. This was a much needed respite for the legs.
Aid station three was at the bottom and it felt like we were almost home free. About two miles after the aid station, we had the final surprise. This little 17% kicker came out of nowhere. I ground to a screeching halt. As I was going up, I saw what looked to be a black racer snake in the road. I tried to go around it but gravity was not my friend. It was already dead (probably for a while) but wouldn't you know I toppled over right on top of the damn thing. Fun. Finally getting to the top of that kicker, this certainly would be it, right?
Well 20 miles to go and all is well, except for the headwind. No rest for the weary. Now it wasn't gravity but wind resistance that was holding me back. Apparently, I missed the memo that this would be a battle with physics. Of all of the elements, I really don't like headwind. I will complain about the climbing but in the end I actually do enjoy the toughness. Headwind is a different animal. I just have a visceral reaction to a powerful headwind. By this time, it had thinned and I was riding basically alone. It felt like a breakaway to nowhere. Finally, downtown and the run to the finish.
Overall it was a good ride. A challenge? Definitely. Worth it? I guess so. It was kind of lonely doing it by myself but riding 100km solo builds a bit of mental toughness. There were moments that I questioned why I do this and just wanted to give up and go home. The second half was very thin as people spread way out so I was mostly alone with myself and the physics. My head is a perpetual problem in my racing. It is good to train it too with rides like this, learning to get out of my own thoughts.
If nothing else, this really showed where I can work to get gains on the bike. Climbing is more plentiful here than FL and that will help in the long run. I look forward to working on this in the off season and heading to these climbs more often.
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