Culpeper Cycling Century – Saturday October 6th

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Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
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  • July 9, 2012 at 8:51 pm #945211
    consularrider
    Participant

    Note: This is the same day as the Seagull Century, but closer and not as flat. ;)

    July 10, 2012 at 7:24 am #945246
    JimF22003
    Participant

    Recommended. I didn’t get to do this last year, but I did it the year before. Lots of rollers and beautiful country in the foothills beneath the Blue Ridge Mts, and some more farmy country as well.

    July 10, 2012 at 4:28 pm #945332
    americancyclo
    Participant

    I’d be in for this if I wasn’t already riding a century in upstate NY. 2013 for sure!

    July 10, 2012 at 7:31 pm #945372
    culimerc
    Participant

    Time to start making the Fall calendar.

    Devils Backbone monster cross 8/25
    Jeremy Bishop gran fondo 9/15
    Back Roads century 9/23
    Culpeper century 10/6
    DCCX 10/21

    July 10, 2012 at 8:39 pm #945382
    txgoonie
    Participant

    @culimerc 24802 wrote:

    Time to start making the Fall calendar.

    Devils Backbone monster cross 8/25
    Jeremy Bishop gran fondo 9/15
    Back Roads century 9/23
    Culpeper century 10/6
    DCCX 10/21

    Good list:)

    (If anybody has tire recco’s for mounting on the road bike for Devil’s Backbone and the Alpine Gran Fondo, it would be much appreciated.)

    July 10, 2012 at 8:59 pm #945383
    jabberwocky
    Participant

    @txgoonie 24812 wrote:

    Good list:)

    (If anybody has tire recco’s for mounting on the road bike for Devil’s Backbone and the Alpine Gran Fondo, it would be much appreciated.)

    For the Alpine last year, I just ran my plain 23mm Pro3s. All the offroad sections are uphill (aside from the very top of the second big descent). Climbing dirt at low speed on road tires ain’t bad.

    I know the loop has been switched up a bit this year, but unless I hear there are some truly MTB-worthy sections I’ll likely just ride my normal road tires again.

    July 11, 2012 at 1:24 pm #945420
    txgoonie
    Participant

    @jabberwocky 24814 wrote:

    For the Alpine last year, I just ran my plain 23mm Pro3s. All the offroad sections are uphill (aside from the very top of the second big descent). Climbing dirt at low speed on road tires ain’t bad.

    I know the loop has been switched up a bit this year, but unless I hear there are some truly MTB-worthy sections I’ll likely just ride my normal road tires again.

    Not sure the same can be said for Devil’s Backbone though. I know at least at the very end there’s a gravel descent. I was rocking Gatorskins for a while, which are pretty bomb-proof. Might try those again.

    July 11, 2012 at 1:29 pm #945423
    Dirt
    Participant

    I rode Alpine GF on my cross bike with cross tires last year. It kicked butt on the dirt sections, but really slowed me down on the paved sections. I’m a diesel, but powering through the rollers on the last 30 miles was a lot harder than it could have been. Doing the first big paved descent on knobbies was fun too. Big, sweeping turns at 50+mph on small block 8’s was an adventure. I kept saying to myself “They’re gonna grip, they’re gonna grip, they’re gonna grip” as the edge of the road got closer, and closer and closer.. Eventually they did. :D

    I’ll probably use the cross bike again this year because it is the only bike that I’ve got with compact gearing. I’ll just put 700×28 tires on it.

    July 11, 2012 at 1:38 pm #945425
    jabberwocky
    Participant

    @txgoonie 24852 wrote:

    Not sure the same can be said for Devil’s Backbone though. I know at least at the very end there’s a gravel descent. I was rocking Gatorskins for a while, which are pretty bomb-proof. Might try those again.

    Not familiar with that course, it might be more cyclocross-worthy. The top of the second descent on the Gran Fondo was a little sucky on the road tires, but totally manageable. And I’d definitely not want to push bigger tires for the rest of the loop just to make that section a little faster.

    @Dirt 24855 wrote:

    I’ll probably use the cross bike again this year because it is the only bike that I’ve got with compact gearing. I’ll just put 700×28 tires on it.

    Compact gearing is definitely nice on that loop.

    July 11, 2012 at 1:56 pm #945429
    Dirt
    Participant

    @jabberwocky 24857 wrote:

    Compact gearing is definitely nice on that loop.

    ‘cept I had 35mm tires and only a 25t large cog. I’ll put a 27 on this time and run smaller tires.

    July 11, 2012 at 4:08 pm #945445
    culimerc
    Participant

    @jabberwocky 24857 wrote:

    Not familiar with that course, it might be more cyclocross-worthy. The top of the second descent on the Gran Fondo was a little sucky on the road tires, but totally manageable. And I’d definitely not want to push bigger tires for the rest of the loop just to make that section a little faster.

    I used my “cross” bike for the Devil’s Backbone last year, and was glad I did. 32mm cross tires and compact gearing. There were still sections I ended up walking up and the main descent is one lane gravel road, that can be done fast if you’ve got the confidence that you’ll make the corners.

    @jabberwocky 24857 wrote:

    Compact gearing is definitely nice on that loop.

    For the Gran Fondo I used compact gearing and 28mm road tires. I spun out gearing-wise a little on the downhills, but it was really nice on the uphills

    August 31, 2012 at 2:11 am #950097
    vvill
    Participant

    Ok I just put a brand new Gatorskin on my rear wheel for the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo. I only bought one tire though (they’re expensive!) as I already have a spare Panaracer RibMo 25mm with low mileage on it from when I switched my hybrid over to 32s.

    I’m wondering if it’s really worth putting it on the front wheel though… is there any dirt climb around here that’s comparable to what’s on the GF? The RibMo is a nice commuter tire but I don’t want to have to be putting out extra watts all day if I don’t need to – interesting graphs here linked by Certifried:
    http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?2888-Is-there-a-source-online-for-specs-for-old-bikes&p=29861#post29861

    I’ve only flatted my front tire once in ~6000 miles of riding, and I wonder if the 2mm will really make that much difference. My current tire is a Hutchison Fusion 3 (clincher, 700×23). Chances are I’ll be slowing down on the dirt sections anyway, as I’m not the best bike handler.

    August 31, 2012 at 2:40 am #950105
    acc
    Participant

    I’d like to give a thumbs up for Culpeper. I was there over the summer for a triathlon and the roads are scenic, rolling, but not jaw dropping. The town is interesting and there are good places to eat. It would be a lovely weekend of biking fun.

    ann

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