After-Action Report: Bourbon and Bluegrass Ride 2017

This year, the Kentucky Century Challenge folks added a new--the Bourbon and Bluegrass Ride (BBR)--to a lineup that includes the Redbud Ride, The Horsey Hundred, Bike Morehead, and the Hub City Tour.

I had already completed the Redbud (at least the makeup ride), Horsey Hundred, and Bike Morehead. Morehead had been downright brutal: most of my group agreed that Morehead had been one of the hardest rides due to the heat, humidity, bad road quality, and one missing rest stop in the worst possible section, not to mention some really tough climbs that made the total elevation of under 5,000 feet seem deceptive.

In contrast, BBR was billed as a comparatively flat ride.

For the day, the weather was about as good as one could expect for an August day in Kentucky: morning temp was 57F, with highs getting into the low-80s. With a total elevation gain of roughly 1,700 feet, BBR is easily the flattest century course in Kentucky.

Not only that, the BBR is also the SAFEST of the century rides: with the entire course being on lightly-traveled roads. The only main road exposure are a few instances of crossing those roads, and even then those spots are marked well.

Not surprisngly, the turnout was pretty substantial. The ride begins and ends at O.Z. Tyler Distillery in Owensboro. The total course is 102 miles.

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We started at 0700.

The first 20 miles was the easiest 20 miles ever. our pace group, once we got out of the city, was easily pulling 17-18 mph. I was barely sweating heading into the first rest stop. There were long port-a-potty lines, so we lingered a bit.

The next 15 miles were just as easy: we also pulled about the same pace--17-18 mph--and felt really good going into the mile 35 stop. My only complication: I got tied up in the port-a-potty line and my group left without me. The next 12 miles weren't bad, although there were some nasty headwinds that slowed me a bit. Still, going into the stop at mile 47, I felt really good.

The next 15 miles were a little tougher, although--checking my time at 56 miles (the half-Iron bike distance), I was under 3:30, better than a 16 mph pace. This was my best split for that distance to date, and it was on a course not unlike the triathlon I have next month. I was happy. But between mile 56 and 62, we had some significant climbing. Not as bad as Morehead, but it was significant.

Still, we all felt good going into the rest stop at mile 62.

The rest of the ride was tougher due to more hills and headwinds, but still wasn't as bad as the other rides. I did have one incident: at about mile 68, pulling out from a stop, my chain came off. Then my bike tipped over to the left. I couldn't get my left cleat unclicked in time. So I went down and got a nice scrape on my left knee.

'Twas just a flesh wound!

Complicating matters, I accidentally stopped my Garmin. As a result, I only got my ride through mile 68. So I re-started the Garmin to capture the rest of the ride. So my Ownesboro ride is actually TWO rides on my Garmin!

Heading into the mile 72 stop, we all felt really good. We wanted to be done, but we weren't hurting either.

The next 12 miles featured a little climbing, but mostly flats. It was getting warm, but not unbearable. We pulled into the rest stop at mile 84 feeling very good.

The last 18 miles featured three medium climbs, but other than that, it was flat. We had a couple riders who missed a turn, so we waited for them. But we were otherwise doing fine.

On the positive end:

• That was my best pace at any 100-mile ride. Even with the hills, my riding pace was slightly better than my Redbud makeup ride, the latter of which was flatter.
• I spent most of my ride in the big ring.
• Even late into the ride, I found myself able to pull at 17+ mph on the flats.
• I had my best 56-mile split. In fact, I met my goal of getting inside 3:30.
• Unlike my Redbud makeup ride, after which I was very sore, I was only mildly stiff after this one. In fact, I had no problem driving 2 hours home, and then driving 8 hours the next day.

My only negative: I must get better at climbing. I am all endurance but no power. Improving in that area will require more power work, and losing some weight. If I can get a little better at the climbing, I will be in better position to hold my target pace on a full-Iron bike course.

Here is the Garmin version:

First 68 miles 

Last 34 miles

Overall, this was by far the the most enjoyable of the century rides; it was well-organized, almost as well as the Horsey Hundred. The course was perfect. The weather was perfect. They did a wonderful job on the rest stops. And the road quality was as close to perfect as you can get.

If you are looking to get into centuries, this is an ideal ride. If you are an experienced rider, this is a ride to get a PR.

This needs to be a regular stop for the Kentucky Century Challenge.