The Prouty

Saturday morning I took part in The Prouty, a charity bicycle ride for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center in New Hampshire. I must say this was one well supported and enjoyable ride. My goal was to get there early enough to be pedaling by 06:30. I met up with Tom, who encouraged me to ride in the event, in one of the parking lots at Dartmouth. The lot was nearly full of riders getting ready. There were three options & we chose to do the 100 mile ride. Tom rode it last year & said it was a great ride with good roads.

Tom, right before a nice decent.

When we started out it was rather cool, with lots of fog coming off the Connecticut River. This made for a good warm-up and for some nice scenery along the way. There were all sorts of riders at different levels on the road which made it rather interesting at time, but still nonetheless fun. The first 65 miles went by fairly quickly & without any problems except for Tom getting a flat tire. A quick change and we were back on the road. Up to the 65 mile mark we were averaging 18.1mph & it didn’t seem like we were working too hard, just having fun. However, that was all about to change.

One of many barns along the way.

We jumped in with a 20 rider group & stayed in the slipstream for a few miles until we hit a steep little hill along US 5 in Vermont. The group slowed up a bit & Tom launches himself right by them. I jumped on his wheel and off we went, never seeing that group again. Once we got clear, the winds picked up and we were fighting a 20-30mph headwind for the remaining 35 miles or so. This really shelled my legs and burned through a lot of energy. How much so? In a mere 35 miles, my average speed dropped from 18.1mph and feeling great to 17.3mph and feeling wiped out. When I finished all I wanted to do is sleep!

Elevation & speed from the ride.

When it was all said and done, I rode 100.11 miles in 5 hours, 47 minutes & 34 seconds, averaging 17.3mph and climbing 5,856 feet. I was very impressed with the ride & support overall and I would ride this one again. Plenty of food & drink to keep you full of energy. Until next time…Aloha!