Well, all I can say is that we survived. The Tour de Victoria seemed like an average ride for us looking at the pre-ride profiles and distances. Uh . . . guess again! Here's what we didn't know:
The green line is the elevation. This graph depicts the ride to, up and over and after Munns Road. Notice the number of times the tan/gold line (percent grade) crosses the 10% line on the graph. Yeah, EXACTLY! There were a handful of 10% plus climbs and about three 15% climbs, and oh AT LEAST TWO EIGHTEEN PERCENTERS! We've done similar climbs before, Little River Road for example (10% - 13%), but never so many in succession. It was nothing short of brutal! What's more, the course was timed from about mile 34.5 to about mile 37 (not exactly sure). They told us we were at the top when we crossed the top of the Munns Road climb. Then came a couple of asphalt walls to the tune of 18% at miles 38.5 and 40. It's a wonder our hearts and lungs didn't explode!
Ryder did this segment in about 7:32 (min:sec) at a rate of around 17.76 mph. We did it in 21:00 (min:sec) at a rate of about 6.37 mph. Yeah, we weren't even gonna see him or former Vancouver Canucks Captain Trevor Linden for that matter. However, we actually did see AND ride with our favorite Victoria radio station (100.3 the Q: http://www.theq.fm/) morning show host, Ed Bain. In fact, we conversed with him along the route periodically as we all rode at about the same pace. Here're the stats for the two timed sections:| Munns Road Climb | |||||||||||
| mph | Place | Min | Sec | Name | |||||||
| 3.6 | km | 17.76 | 1 | 7 | 32 | Ryder_Hesjedal | |||||
| 2.23 | mi | 6.46 | 484 | 20 | 42 | Randall McCoy | |||||
| 6.37 | 487 | 21 | 00 | Lisa McCoy | |||||||
| 6.42 | 485 | 20 | 50 | Ed Bain | |||||||
| 12.91 | 45 | 10 | 22 | Trevor Linden | |||||||
| Waterfront | |||||||
| mph | Place | Min | Sec | Name | |||
| 12 | km | 27.76 | 2 | 16 | 05 | Ryder Hesjedal | |
| 7.44 | mi | 14.38 | 706 | 31 | 03 | Randall McCoy | |
| 14.38 | 707 | 31 | 03 | Lisa McCoy | |||
| 13.95 | 761 | 32 | 00 | Ed Bain | |||
| 26.21 | 22 | 17 | 02 | Trevor Linden | |||
As you can see, we didn't improve over time like Trevor Linden did. To be frank, we were wasted after Munns Road. It rained on us too. But, after we got south of Sydney, about 5 - 10 miles or so, the weather let up and the sky opened and our feet that were floating in our shoes began to dry out a few more miles down the road. All in all, it was a spectacular ride. It was also our first Gran Fondo (timed event ride that's NOT a race). We now know where we stand compared to some of the top athletes of the world.
We enjoyed our stay at the Parkside Resort & Spa (http://www.parksidevictoria.com/) and were sad to leave but we have to earn more greenbacks to pay for all this fun and fury. We came back on Sunday morning and bumped into Mike and Kathleen Hales of Hales Brewing (http://halesbrewery.com/) riding their bikes up Lincoln Street of all places. We dropped into Peaks Pub (http://www.peakspub.com/) for a cool one or two with the Hales' and had them over for some pool. What a way to end the weekend. The jury is still out on whether we'd do the Tour de Victoria next year or not. Time will tell. For now though, we've plenty of riding to do. We'll keep you posted.
