Ride Information and Ratings:
- Date: April 10th, 2016
- Distance: 195,2km
- Total Ascent: 1.300 meters
- Location: Rio das Ostras to Frade and back.
- Total Riding Time: 8:13h riding, 9:17h total
- Scenic Views Rating: 7 - Pretty
- Ride Safety Rating: 7 - Safe Ride
- Cultural and Tourism: 6
- Level of Exercise Rating: 10
- Type of Terrain: Aslfalt
- Description of Terrain: 100% asphalt, for the most part in good conditioned shoulder. On a few roads we had to ride with traffic, but they were rural roads with little traffic. The worst part from Córrego do Outro to Frade, which is the ascent, where not only the asphalt was in terrible condition, but there was no shoulder and there 4 1km stretches of cobblestone.
Ride Map:
- https://www.strava.com/activities/541740731
- GPX (download here)
Ride Details:
- What a fun ride! About 60 cyclists, 40 of them riding the 200km event, having a great time, despite the hot temperatures, especially on the climb to get to Frade, the highest point, halfway through the ride.
- It was amazing to ride alongside two friends, Mauro and Diego. Mauro set out to ride the 90km event, so we rode together until the first Control Point (Km 51). Diego and I rode together just about every kilometer...and thanks to him, I had my best performance on a long ride. He kept on pushing the pace and made it a lot of fun.
- Making new friends is priceless, which is one more reason to participate in the Audax. For those who are not familiar, the Audax is a cycling event that has been around for quite some time and the main goal is to complete the event within the time limit, as there are no awards for the best finishers. The environment in the Audax is different from other events, you can sense people sticking together before, during and after the race, which makes the feeling of travelling and cycling even better.
- As for the route, it was a mix of rural, urban and hilly areas.
- It goes through Macaé, which was supposed to be a very rich city a few years ago, when there was a promise to be THE oil city in Brazil, but this dream is long gone and many companies and people are fleeting the city.
- Between Rio das Ostras and Macaé, we rode through the rural area, which is rolling hills and can have strong wind on the way to Macaé, but it´s a great place to ride.
- Between Macaé and Frade, it´s a mix of rural areas with the hilly areas as you get closer to Frade. It´s not a very tough climb, although under the hot afternoon sun and having ridden 100km, it takes a toll on the body and mind. But it was a great challenge!
- The ride back is definitely much easier, especially after Macaé, as the wind tends to be on your back or there is no wind, and the adrenaline of finishing a 200km Audax kicks in.
- What an amazing feeling to complete a 200km Audax, after riding 171km the day before to get to Rio das Ostras, and doing so alongside good friends, while making new ones.
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