My First Crash

The good news: the 4000lb rock set ornamentally on the grass was unscathed, as was the red maple, as big around as one of those 'Fat Loser' personalities. My bike, checked over by our wonderful veteran, Pat, was in perfect working order; However, yours truly was a different story!
The B group, led by Steve G. headed up into Canterbury to points unknown by me...new roads and scenery awaited and I was having a great time...about a 1/4 mile behind as usual, but hey, we were climbing...anyway, a new downhill came along (finally!) and I was third in the group with plenty of distance from other riders so I figured, go for it..no one in the way right?
WRONG!!
At the bottom of this kick-ass downhill was a lovely 90 degree right turn...well, I knew pretty much immediately that I couldn't make the turn and I was going far to fast to stop, so I braked, starting slowly, but I got little result, so I just slammed them on, kept the bike as straight as possible, somehow managed not to hit the above mentioned stationary objects, and used my right side body parts to bring me to a gentle stop in the grass!
I wasn't knocked out and I could hear everyone's voices as they came running over...I lay there on my back, checking for non-moving parts as Eddie came over to kneel at my head....eventually, as I looked up, a ring of helmets hovered over me...so concerned. I tried to be brave and for the most part, did not cry, but I was feeling embarrassed and a fool for letting myself get out of control like that...
I got up after a bit and Patrick assured me my bike was in good working order...thank God for that steel spine. I dusted myself off and we continued on our way.
It wouldn't have done any good to turn around, we were halfway through the ride. I took some ibuprofen and at the pit stop...took a breather, but it was a LONG ride home. My right shoulder took the brunt of the fall and is pretty bruised, my knee too. My ego...yeah, that too.
My plan was to ride down that morning, which I did, and ride home, giving me a long (for me) ride. I did the smart thing though and asked Eddie for a lift.

Tammy, Dave, Steve, Dianna, Sue, Dan, Patrick, Eddie, Doug, Don and Steve: thanks for being a great bunch...I hope the pain goes away soon and am back on the bike soon...now's a good time to clean it!
I did have my longest ride to date: 50.1 miles at 13.7avg...seems unimportant though...

Dianna: I got ice on my shoulder by 5...I had to go to the grocery store for food and beer!

Memorial Day Rides & Banana Bikes

OK Folks - here it is - the place for all the buzz about those great Memorial Day rides you are about to have, are presently having, or just returned from. Feel free to chime in with a response.

But first - my tale of woe: I headed out last night for the "B" Scott's ride - wanted to take it easy since I am running my first marathon in 10 years on Sunday and I'm trying to rest my well-tuned running musculature. Everything went according to plan until we passed from Bedalam onto Federal Road in Chaplin and into the big hills. My rear derailleur cable chose that precise moment to rebel, severing itself into two halves and resulting in an instantaneous shift to the smallest (hardest) rear sprocket. I rode much of the last 20 miles in high gear, which worked pretty well going downhill but pretty poorly the rest of the time. There's a reason we shift!

Photo: Banana bike at Ragbrai 2009 (Iowa)

Have a great weekend of riding! - John Hankins

Saturday, May 1, 2010
96 LB BIKE
I always pictured a touring ride as a moderately paced journey, maybe 40 to 80 miles a day, depending on the terrain, weather, and how I was feeling that day...and if I was touring with someone, how they were doing as well. It would never be rainy or cold...and I'd never need to change my clothes.

My gear would be nominal, a rain layer perhaps, tucked into a back pocket...some carb nibbles, money/credit card, spare tube, some allen wrenches and all that sort of thing in my little saddle bag swinging under my butt... and plenty of water....the usual stuff. Just enough to get me to my hotel, where a cold libation, food and hot shower awaited me....

Well, Neil Fein, my Warm Showers guest, had a different take on touring...

He had a Novara hybrid rigged with plenty of aluminum racks and brackets to hold enough gear to be completely self contained. Tent, blanket and sleeping cushion behind the saddle. This was the largest pack. A camp/cookstove were hidden in back panniers. Clothing including a pair of plastic looking crocs strapped happily atop his tent. The rest of his clothing was packed inside saddle bags on either side of his forks. Attached to the outside of these were two extra water bottles. On top of his bars was another bag sitting upright...presumably holding cell phone GPS, camera (he took a picture of our woods), easy access food and printed directions.

And it all weighed 96 pounds.

He was touring from Boston to NYC for no apparent reason except just to do it. He'd shipped all his gear from his home in NJ to Boston by rail. Was it the joy of cycling...freedom of the open road, wind in your hair touring fantasy like I envisioned? ...no, not really like that. He did enjoy doing it though and had done a number of short and long tours, so he knew how to do it in the most efficient manner.

Amy and I met and then met him on Bedlam Rd in Chaplin. He had rear derailleur trouble and he couldn't shift. Fortunately he was on the innermost gear (high?) and he could climb up grades. But moderately steep hills forced him to walk...and push his 96lb bike uphill. We came down 89 and Amy left us at the sharp corner...good to see her out and about...and we managed the intersection of Browns Rd and 195 at rush hour with little problem. Neil walked his bike up to the second knoll on Browns Rd. where I discovered I can balance and ride at 2.7mph...not much fun but nice to know...

He was tired and a little shaky. Being an epileptic and on new medication, he was alert for anything that felt out of kilter. We got to my house and after a cold soda, he felt okay. We chatted and I had made some pesto dip with good bread to go along with it...I figured he'd be hungry and we had offered dinner as well as an inside bed and shower. In our emails he'd mentioned he didn't eat meat, so I asked him why...it's not Kosher, he replied..Oh. I said. So I had made sure to include beans rice and cheese in our dinner, as well as pasta with homemade marinara...it was all good and he liked it very much.

He was a very nice man, 40something...friendly and polite. He'd been laid off several months ago from a pharmaceutical company and was getting counseling on how to change careers. His wife was laid off too. Very techno-savvy, he left Dan and I blinking on some things that came up in conversation and over all, it was a very pleasant evening.

In the morning, we gave him directions to Scotts Cyclery to check out the shifting trouble...they told him his shifter was broken but didn't have a replacement in stock. Just as well, a shop in Glastonbury deduced a frayed shifter cable: problem solved.

His GPS directions took him out to the Andover area rail trail and he headed to West Hartford, his next stop with friends for two days. He emailed and said he'd made it safe and sound. I had given him Rein's Deli's address...I don't know if he made it, but I'm sure he had a great ride anyway.

All in all a good experience...

Blogging 101, Lesson 1: How to Post a Comment

It's really very easy, but since I'm hearing some folks are struggling with this, I thought I'd break it down for you:

1. Click on "COMMENTS" directly below this post (or below whichever post you want to post a comment to). PS. On certain pages of the blog, you can skip this step and go directly to step 2...

2. Write your comment in the box provided.

3. Directly below the comment box is a drop-down menu labeled "comment as:" There are many choices. NOTE: at the bottom of the list is "Name/URL" and "anonymous". You can choose to put in just your name (you don't have to enter a URL) or you can post anonymously. No password is needed.

4. Click the button that says "Post Comment"

5. A preview of your comment will appear. Below that will be a short nonsense text and a text field labeled "word verification." Transcribe the nonsense text into the text field and click "Post Comment" again.

6. You did it! Celebrate your success!

Ride to the Beach- 251 miles/3 days

Ken and I had an awesome 3 day trip to the beach. We packed as light as we possibly could (although now we've thought of ways to go even lighter on our next trip) and we basically rode our bikes, ate a lot, relaxed and worried about absolutely nothing.... which for me is an amazing thing. :-)
We stopped once or twice on each ride, for either a snack or a stretch break, and we averaged about 16 miles per hour each day (90/97/65 relatively flat miles) I decided to post the link to my blog on the TCC blog in the hopes that maybe we can talk some other folks into joining us sometime. We haven't been able to join many rides, but hope that changes this summer, at least occasionally as we'd love to find some riding buddies.

If you'd like to read more about our adventure, just copy and paste the link below.

http://kanoeracer.wordpress.com/

OK OK, I need to jump on the bandwagon and tell you about the B+ ride. So, sometimes you go on a ride and it's just OK, or even pretty good. And sometimes, you go on one of those rides that makes you really glad you ride a bike. This was one of those rides! There were just 4 of us on the B+ ride. When I realized who I was with, I saw that I was privileged to be my little ol' self riding with 3 former bike racers! That's Ron, Christian, and Dave Etchells. The plan was to do a 45-50 mile loop, return to the school and then do extra miles. But, all the folks on the ride had the time and desire to simply extend the ride! So off we went out Boulevard Rd. (funny name, like Street Rd. in Philly) to Rt. 6, and climbed up Lynch. Then we powered down Back Rd. and climbed Kemp. After turning left on Brooklyn Tpke, Dave realized he needed to make a chain adjustment, so we stopped, and The Mighty B Ride caught up to us. We waved at all those people (I always love Kerry's peace sign greeting) and chilled for a minute; then we followed them down the rest of Brooklyn Tpke. left on Windham and rode up the hill with them; they were almost at N. Society and I fear we took a couple of them with us as we were headed for the end of Windham Rd. Sending them back to the Mighty B, we powered on across Rt. 6 and made our way to the Golden Lamb hill (huff, puff) and greeted 3 cute women who are friends of my friend; one really wanted to know how I liked my Pinarello and I suggested she go see Dave Barrow. Then we went on Kearney Hill and some other gorgeous roads I didn't know...wound up on 97 and then to the Vanilla Bean! For all you Gluten Free folks, they have EXPANDED both their awareness and GF menu. There were like 3-4 ready made GF pastries: black bean chocolate brownies (yum), GF chocolate chip cookies, and the piece de resistance, a delicious chocolate covered macaroon!!! We sat and chatted and admired the Harley's, BMW's, and Ducati's, and waved at a couple of nice Harley dudes making Kerry's peace sign and yelling "2 wheels! 2 wheels!" Camraderie all round. So we continued north to Woodstock to get the miles, and wound up by the Java Jive and Mrs. Bridge's, but we didn't need to stop (rats). Off to 169 to Roseland Park Road which is a fun downhill and now to the Steeplechase Route; but we DIDN'T take 197 because Ron is thinking of taking that out. Instead we climbed County Rd. which is much more shaded, and more of a roller coaster than an endless unshaded climb. We wound up on 171 and took my new FAVORITE road, BUNGAY HILL! There are some intense climbs but there is a WICKED FUN descend with some twists and turns, and my descending has improved so much that I couldn't wait to see where the next turn would take me. Tammy, you're on this one next time. John H., remember when I used to CLIMB hills faster than I went down them??? Those days are gone...Some rich guy lives on that road and has a landing strip! So Bungay Hill lets out onto 198, so we went north and then crossed to East Center and to the Baptist church. THEN, met up with Boston Hollow...and the nicest DIRT road in NE CT!!! Totally flat, well maintained, hard packed, and we avoided those harsh rollers on Westford Rd. Met the pavement again, climbed to 89...descended down those grand 1st 3 miles...and then for about 5 miles or so practiced the ol' ROLLING PACE LINE!! beth we needed you...Powered the rest of the way down 89, a woman on a Trek tried to hop on but we were on a mission, and I once again got to use my new vocabulary word, "shelled"...and then 4 happy campers made their way back to NW School, crowed about the great ride, got the A story from Ed, and Ron and I back home for a total of 71 miles and 4200 feet of climbing, at not quite 16 mph!!!

I'm just so psyched. I highly recommend "get lost with Ron rides" because he generally knows where he is, and you WILL ride on some gorgeous roads. HAVE A BLAST!!! thanks for sharing...qb, Fran

Wish Lists / Classifieds

Do you have a bike to sell or are you looking for one? Components? Accessories?

Post for all the world to see (or at least the seven people who look at this blog!)

I'll kick us off with a cut-and-paste from a friend trying to get back in the saddle after many years away. Check the COMMENTS (by clicking on the word "COMMENTS") below.

May Day Metric Report (5/2/10)

May Day Metric Century, Cycling Concepts, Glastonbury – May 2, 2010

An even dozen Thread City Cyclers headed out to Glastonbury this morning to ride the 2nd annual May Day Metric Century, hosted by the Cycling Concepts Bike Shops in Glastonbury and Rocky Hill. The inaugural event in 2009 drew 88 riders. With temperatures projected to rise into the upper 80s, 175 showed up this year, with all but 20 of those electing to ride the longer 62-mile route.

We split into two groups, with the “B” group consisting of Beth (still my current wife), Fran, Ron, and Ray Torres. Ray started riding last year and was a frequent 2009 participant of the Scott’s 8:00 AM beginner rides. Today’s ride left little doubt - Ray has graduated!

The “A” group included yours truly, Skip, Joe D., Agatha, Steve Yau, Amy K., Eric Anderson, and Dave Jacobowski. As usual, we picked up few hitch-hikers along the way who were happy to ride our wheels on the flats and downhills and less happy when we pushed the pace on the uphills, leaving them shattered in our wake.

The route headed south out of Glastonbury on the smooth fast pavement of Main Street, but quickly turned west and rose up the fearsome Birch Mountain, crossing Route 94 near the top of the hill before a fast descent down the other side. At the 20 mile mark Dave indicated we had already climbed 2000 feet (that’s a lot). Somewhere on the Birch Mountain descent, a few of our super-charged youngsters (or at least, young at heart) broke from the rest of the group and beat themselves up for the next 12 miles to the first aid station. Eric, Agatha, and I embraced the concept of “discretion is the better part of valor”, and used our discretion to proceed at a more leisurely pace, with Steve Yau and Amy behind us being even more leisurely and making new friends.

Few of the roads were familiar to us with the exception of a 10-mile section in Andover and Columbia that overlaps with our route to Colchester (Lake Street, Hennequin Road). The route was well marked, which was a good thing, because there were lots of turns and the organizers seemed to hit every back road between Glastonbury and Andover.

The aid stations (one at 32 miles and one at 49) were well stocked with salt, sugar, and fruit – the staples of the cycling community. Agatha supplemented this fare with a hefty supply of beef jerky that she ferreted away in her jersey pocket. We have determined that dried meat is her secret to greatness, and several of us enthusiastically accepted when she offered to share her paleo-snack food.

The youngsters who had ridden off the front earlier were much better behaved in the second half of the ride, having all made major withdrawals from the endorphin Savings & Loan in the first half of the ride. We rode together for the balance of the circuit, which included a hill I call “the wall” – a truly nasty one-mile climb that came at about 47 miles and had all of our tongues on the pavement. Another interesting diversion was provided by a short dirt section at 50 miles with a hill steep enough to spin tires.

Everyone finished successfully with no incidents and none of the projected thunderstorms. My hero of the day was Ray – who after riding the Scott’s rides last year rode, chose a 60-miler with nearly 5000 vertical feet of climbing and a humid 80-degree day for his longest ride to date.

The spread at the end of this event is a thing to behold, with burgers and dogs, grilled vegetables, potato salad, chips, and a dessert table with cheese cake, cookies, and gloppy bar things that stick to your fingers. I highly recommend the ride to anyone ready to test that winter fitness with a little good old fashioned hill climbing. If Agatha offers you beef jerky – accept it – you will not be sorry.

How Was Your Ride?

I swiped this picture from the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen's site in honor of our first ride of May and also the opening of registration for The Flattest Century in the East - a great ride in September which fills up fast, so register NOW if you're thinking about it. I don't know who the guy is in the green, but all crazies behind him are OUR crazies.

So let's hear it, how was your ride today? Post in the COMMENTS section below.