ATC Saturday Ride

If you havent experienced the ATC Saturday ride just play along.

Its been awhile since I have done the ride due to injury/laziness/etc. but I jumped into the game today. I was hoping for a somewhat relaxed ride since the roadies would be at Copperas Cove Road Race.

We set out from the shop and sure enough I see Pro Triathlete James Cotter ride up on his Cervelo P3...dang it. Followed by Pro Triathlete Jason Mcmillan...dang it...and Pro Triathlete Chris Tremonte , and Pro Triathlete John Kenny...dang it. It was okay though since 4 tri pros just ride at a steady hard pace so its a not so easy draftfest for me. (thank you Pros Brandon and Amy Marsh for not showing up this time).

Two more blocks pass and Super Squadra apprears....things just turned ugly. Dave Wenger(2008 State TT champ and CAT 1 roadie), Phil Wicoff (scary fast CAT 1 Roadie dude) and another guy which I know meant trouble hopped on. It looked like the ease into it ride just turned into the sufferfest known as the ATC Saturday Ride.

The ride consist of a 5 mile warmup and then the turn onto Southwest Parkway which means GO TIME. I had my garmin on so here is a taste of the pace.
(very slight headwind going out)
Mile 1 of SW Parkway 22.9
Mile 4-5 at steady 19.5 up a solid hill
Mile 6,7,8 - 25 MPH, 29 MPH, 25.2 MPH

At this point I am starting to go cross-eyed....

I get dropped and somehow manage to bridge back up only to dropped again on the infamous (more than famous) Reflector Hill.

I catch DCR on the HWY 71 hill and we stroll back to the shop with a group of riders never dropping below 22 mph and hitting a 5 mile stretch never dropping below 27.1 mph.

In a nutshell it was a OUCH day.

If you havent done the ATC Saturday WORLD Championships its a lot of fun and a total painfest that only makes you stronger. I would highly recommend trying it over and over. It can be a bit scary going at it that hard, but it is worth it even if you get dropped a few times and come riding in solo.

See you next saturday at 8:30am!!!


-Adam