Beach to Battleship

Did anyone else get the sensation that hwy 421 had a slight, gradual upward slope for the majority of the ride northward??

Maybe may sense of perception has been clouded by too many barley and hop beverages over the years, but it sure seemed this way to me....

Of course it did. You were riding away from the ocean. That pretty much always happens when you do that. According to my Topo software, the elevation at the farthest point inland on the course was about 90 feet. The elevation at T1 was essentially sea level. There was actually a bit of a dip or saucer kind of profile in the middle somewhere. I can't recall exactly where. I think it was most noticeable on the return on Hwy. 421 before it became 4-lane. It was a swampy area with a number of creeks.

I have a Garmin Edge 305 bike computer that has an altimeter and records total elevation gained on a ride. Last year I did the fire-shortened Chesapeakeman Iron distance race in Cambridge; MD. The 106 mile bike ride included 3,600 feet of total climbing. This year's 112 mile B2B ride: 8,100 feet of total climbing. There were a lot of "false flats" where there's probably a 0.5% or 1.0% grade that you hardly even notice. But it slows you down a little.

I know we had great weather for race. Very little wind compared to what could have been. Checking the wind conditions/forecast in the days just prior to the race - winds were single digits from the N or NE.

Anyone know what they were on race day. To me it felt like we were riding into a very slight headwind (southerly winds?) heading back to Wilmington.

psappie wrote:I know we had great weather for race. Very little wind compared to what could have been. Checking the wind conditions/forecast in the days just prior to the race - winds were single digits from the N or NE.

Anyone know what they were on race day. To me it felt like we were riding into a very slight headwind (southerly winds?) heading back to Wilmington.

When I was coming in (I was the first rider into T2 [relay]) I had been looking forward to the forecasted tailwind on Hwy. 421, but I didn't feel it was a tailwind at all. I felt I was heading into mostly a cross wind to slight headwind. But I appreciated it when we made the final curve and lined up for the trip over the bridge. Then it was a tailwind. Of course, shouldn't call any of it "wind." It was a breeze at best.

I expected the first 20 miles out of Wilmington to be a little rough based on the way those big flags had been blowing in T1 upon arrival. But when I left T1 on the bike, I felt like I was getting a nice little push and was holding 26 mph at times without much effort ... even up the overpasses on MLK Blvd.

Jay wrote:I have a Garmin Edge 305 bike computer that has an altimeter and records total elevation gained on a ride. Last year I did the fire-shortened Chesapeakeman Iron distance race in Cambridge; MD. The 106 mile bike ride included 3,600 feet of total climbing. This year's 112 mile B2B ride: 8,100 feet of total climbing. There were a lot of "false flats" where there's probably a 0.5% or 1.0% grade that you hardly even notice. But it slows you down a little.

Jay,

I just plugged the route into my Topo software for grins. Came up with 1,717 feet cumulative climbing. That sounds a lot more reasonable to me. I think your Garmin was shivering or something.