Sunday, March 29, 2009

Sprint zones on Donaldson Country Route

Not long ago, I asked the question how long should a sprint zone be? Today, I went out and marked three separate sprint zones as described in my blog about being a ride leader. This blog is to show the markings and describe the start and end points of the sprint zones.

First, the zones.
Zone I is along Old hundred road. This zone (intersection to intersection) is not quite 1.5 miles long, so the sprint zone will end up being something just over 1 mile. After the right turn at the little store, a short distance of soft pedaling will bring us to the 1.0 mile mark. The start will be somewhere slightly before the 1 mile mark. The end is at the intersection of a short dead-end road just before the stop sign. Re-group at the stop sign.

Zone II is along Holly road. I have marked 1.3 miles shortly after making the turn, but the start won't be until closer to the 1.0 mile mark. The end is at a tree on the right hand side of the road. This tree is maybe 100 meters from the stop sign. Re-group at the stop sign for Reedy Fork Road.

Zone III is along Perimeter road. I have marked all the way up to 1.5 miles, which is still about 0.25 miles (or so) beyond the RR tracks as you are heading back to the parking area. Start will probably be right near the 1.5 mile mark. This is the longest sprint zone. The end is at the fire hydrant on the right hand side of the road across from a large sign that says 2275 Perimeter Road. Since the ride will just about be finished, hopefully, this finish area will give us a little opportunity to say our thanks and c-ya next week.

The Markings:
I have marked all three zones in orange paint with the following minimum markings.
At 1 mile from the finish:


At one half mile from the finish:

At 500 meters from the finish: (all 'dots' are about 4-6" in diameter)

At four hundred meters from the finish:

At three hundred meters from the finish:

At two hundred meters from the finish:

At one hundred meters from the finish:

At the finish:

3 comments:

  1. VERY GOOD!! Now I will know what to look for on Tuesday. Thanks for doing this. :)

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  2. The markings are the same for old hundred road and Holly road (holly road pictured), but I actually did Perimeter road first, so the arrangement of the 3 dot and 4 dot is a little different (all in a row instead of how I have it pictured). You can't miss them though. The wind did cause a little havoc with overspray, but it is clear enough.

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  3. Very Cool! Thanks for taking the invested interest!

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