Memorial Day Ride

(Very late post...completely forgot to submit)

So Julia, my wife, says to me,"How'd you get that scratch on your back?" I laughed and replied, "Ron did it." She nodded nonchalantly, "He must be a good friend...."

It was a beautiful Memorial day morning when I arrived at North Windham school to head out for the ride.
Joe cruised in shortly afterwards. We talked beer jersey stuff (my favorite apparel) and soon after the rest of the crusaders arrived.

The A and B groups took off into Colchester. We started out with Joe, Eric, Chris, Ed, Phil, Dave, Amanda, and myself. Amanda was sporting her sexy new machine, and she looked way too comfortable on it. I think her fitting went very well.

Somewhere before we descended onto Route 207, we caught up with the B group. I am not sure why we "caught up with them", because I thought we were following the same roads and left ahead of them.

So as I passed my riding buddy, Ron, it is typical to offer a pat on the back, or some other gesture to let him know that I'm passing him and that I care about his safety. So, I goosed him.

Mildly shocked, since he probably hasn't had that happen on a ride in a while, he barked out a "Hey!!!". I continued to jam along 207 until we turned onto the road with the goat (who was recently "sent to the farm"- not sure if that is a happy ending), when I felt something grab my backside. At first I thought "Goat attack??", then I heard Eric A. say, "Your going to get in trouble with your group..." I heard Ron's voice say," I know...But this is why you wear bibs..." And then proceeded to pull my non-bib shorts past the point of the worst plumber's situation.

I guessed I asked for that and Ron and I chuckled when we caught up with each other at the store next to Starbucks in Colchester.

The 2 groups splintered again as we darted into the Hopyard. We had an opportunity to motorpace behind a car all the way through. It was very intense but exciting. I think Phil said we averaged around 30mph, but I kept both eyes on the car and hands on the brakes.

As we exited DHY, we proceeded onto Rt. 82 and turned left after 3.5 miles. I won't forget this next turn for a long time. We hit a wall called Brush Hill Rd. Steep and long and Eric said it had a part 2 as it plateaued then kept going up. We all hunkered down and slowly made my way to the top. We waited until everyone regrouped at the summit, then continued down, down, down Mount Archer. Scary steep; I felt I was on a roller coaster ride and I held my brakes all the way to the bottom- if I didn't, I'd be over 50 mph and in the hospital.

I eventually regrouped with the rest and we pacelined into Old Lyme where we watched the parade for 20 minutes. Lots of shiny fire trucks- lots of them. They must have a lot of fires in Old Lyme.

We found an ice cream shop where we ordered sandwiches. I inhaled as fast as I could and offered my chips to Eric. He looked really hungry still and I needed to fatten him up/slow him down (he was sprinting for town lines and got them all except for one- thanks, Joe).

The rest of the ride was lots of pace lines and good team work.

It was fun to have that synergy to make the ride seem to go by so quickly.

Thank you to Eric and Joe for setting a manageable pace, and everyone else for good camaraderie. 95 miles (Eric and Dave stretched it for additional 5 or so- my cramping legs said enough). 17.7 mph and 5048 ft. of climbing (my legs knew that already).

Christian

Mt. Greylock Century - July 10, 2010

For those of you looking for a vertical challenge, I think we found one. The Mount Greylock Century in the Berkshire Mountains has been a tradition since the 1970s and an event I have wanted to do since former TCC President Joe Groeger first mentioned it to me about 5 years ago. The route features over 9800 vertical feet of climbing, including a trip up (and down) Massachusetts' highest point, Mt. Greylock at an elevation of 3490 feet. Once you're done with Mt. Greylock, which is a Category 1 climb on the European scale, you're still faced with two Category 2's, a Category 3, and a Category 4. If you're looking to average 20 mph, this is not the route for you.

Photo by Dave Jacobowski: Expo Teammate scaling the Mt. Greylock switchbacks

This year's Greylock adventure included four TCC'ers - Skip Kuzel, Agatha Pohorylo, Dave Jacobowski, and myself. Showers had been predicted, which was enough to dissuade about half the normal riders to forego the experience, including the incomparably wimpy Mr. Jeffrey Buske, who was subsequently harangued mercilessly on Facebook. The skies grew grayer as we headed west on the Mass Pike toward Lee, and by the time we got to the starting point north of Pittsfield a steady rain was falling, a meteorological condition that would accompany us for about the first 70 miles of the ride.

We hooked up with Dave's Expo Wheelman group from central Connecticut for the first few miles of the ride, pedaling easily on a flat bike trail for the first 5 miles or so. Mount Greylock comes at about the 10-mile mark and climbs about 2300 vertical feet over 10 miles. While it is not a particularly steep climb, it is relentless, and I was happy to have a triple chainring. About halfway up the hill Mr. Jacobowski decided to show his stuff and headed in front of the group on a solo slow-motion breakaway, fighting the rain and a steady torrent of water flowing down the road in the opposite direction. I caught him about a mile from the top and he graciously awarded me the yellow jersey at the top, which in fact I was already wearing in the form of a yellow tyvek raincoat.

After composing ourselves with some chocolate chip cookies at the summit, we headed down the north side of the mountain, which drops much more steeply for about 2500 vertical feet. Because of the wet road conditions, we had to hang onto our brakes the entire way down with speeds on the straightaways of no more than 20 mph and no more than 10 mph on the switchbacks. We all decided this is a climb/descent that would be better done on dry roads. By the bottom of the hill, all of us were shivering, with Skip the worst for wear since his sense of machismo at the start required that he leave his raincoat in the car. We attempted to remedy our chills with a stop at the Family Dollar store in North Adams, where Skip and Agatha bought "rain ponchos" for one dollar apiece. They were essentially garbage bags with a neck hole and hood, but they did the job.

From North Adams we headed into the second climb of the day, a 5-mile 1000-footer up Route 2 to Whitcomb Summit. On the long descent off of the high point, we saw a sign announcing that the Hoosic Railroad Tunnel passed under the road at a depth of 1040 feet. We proceeded to drop all of that height, ending up at the low point of the ride at the 50-mile mark. As soon as we finished going down we turned onto East Hawley Road, which climbs back over 1000 vertical feet over a 5-mile distance. We all agreed that this climb was tougher than Greylock itself due to its steeper grades and the fact that we'd already done two major climbs. We got passed by two young whipper-snappers on the way up the hill and I gave chase for a couple of miles. Just when I thought they would succumb to my relentless pace, they cruised by me talking to each other and buried me in their wake. In a nod to their climbing prowess and youthful exuberance, I relinquished the yellow jersey for the balance of the day.

The event organizers had a nice lunch spread at the top of East Hawley Road and we re-energized ourselves with peanut butter and jelly bagels and pasta salad. After lunch the demeanor of the ride changed somewhat, with no more enormous climbs but lots (and lots) of smaller equally steep climbs. Judging from the vertical profile on the website, there were six or seven additional climbs of 200 feet or more, which led us to coin the slogan of the day, uttered by one of us somewhere on each twisty uphill "But wait, there's more!".

The rain let up late in the ride, which made for decidedly more pleasant riding conditions. At about 90 miles we turned west on Route 9, and started down a hill that continued all the way back to the finish, a very pleasant (and relaxing) way to complete a ride that provided an arduous test for all of us. I'm thinking we'll do this ride again next year, but without the rain.

B+ Ride 6/3/10

(Long ago.)
I used to play alot of pool..a lot, and I was pretty good. I always loved playing a great player...just knew you were going to get and give a great game.
(Jump to the present.)
The same goes for today's ride...I can't improve upon Skip's great narrative on the TCC list serve, but just to add my own reflections...it was a great ride. It was tough for me, I can't even begin to tell you how hard I tried just to keep up heading onto N. Society Rd, I cursed every cigarette I ever smoked during every smoke-filled hour I spent playing those games of pool! Cry? No. I had no extra oxygen! Just kept my head down and moved forward, one pedal stroke at a time.
So...15.1avg by N. Society.
We flew down this fine road and headed toward the usual rest stop, Michaels Market...but no!...we were not stopping and my Pavlovian response to stop was squashed and I forced myself to regain speed to catch up with the main group. Mind you, I was never alone... Dave E., John J. and/or Skip was always close by to pull me through my many (slower) moments!
We got to the beautiful, scenic Harry's Market in Occum for our rest stop. Tammy and I rode to the p o' potty and got back to Harrys to enjoy...water, our nutrition goodies and shade...oh wait...no shade! Tammy sqeezed into the only stripe left by a telephone pole, certainly was not going to share!
So...16.2avg by Occum.
We didn't hang out long...but muscles had already semi -seized and I slogged up and around the bend...again, thinking we were going one way, and ended up another. At the intersection of 97/138 a local in a decrepit pick-up let Tammy know that 'roads were made fer pickups, not bikes!' Idiot.
Great new roads criss-crossed old familiar ones and then we were on Cemetery...I could envision the rest of the trip...Brook, Kemp, Back Rds...so as I took that right onto 97...like a cow heading towards the barn...I was asked the question 'Hey Kerry, where are you going?'
Sigh.
As we took the right onto Plains Rd. I thought oh great, Scotland Dam Loop, backwards! Couldn't imagine how we would get back to Windham...but we did and I made it and John. J pulled me up 203 at a respectable pace, if I may say. Tammy cruised by on the last small rise and I was glad to see her riding strong til the end...love riding with her!
So...15.2 by the end.
I got a great ride and am a better rider for it!