Thread City Cyclers

Andover Scouts C&O Rail Trail Adventure (by Bill Penn)

2012-01-25T18:47:00.001-08:00

A linear National Park with a 183-year history and extending 184.5 miles from Washington DC to Cumberland Maryland, the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal offers an array of experiences for people to partake. For Boy Scout Troop 124 of Andover Connecticut, the C&O was an invitation and a challenge to try something new: bike-packing, with a goal to complete the entire C&O towpath in 6 days.

The first challenge was practicality: how was each scout to carry a week’s worth of food, camping gear and clothing and not spend lots of money on panniers (bike packs) that may only get used once? After much research, we decided to make our panniers by re-using plastic kitty litter containers: a choice that was economical, watertight, portable and environmentally favorable. For $8.00 of hardware, each Scout converted two kitty litter containers into panniers. Ok, they looked good but would they work? Before the big adventure, our panniers were field tested on a 25-miles bike ride on our May campout. The buckets proved themselves trailworthy, and we learned that minor tweaks were needed.

The next challenge was how to prepare for the physical task of riding many miles, sitting on a bike saddle for many hours a day, many days in a row. The answer is … to ride! So ride we did, together and individually to prepare for the trip.

After all the preparations, the time to ride finally arrived. Our group of nine youth and five adults arrived at the elusive C&O mile 0 at noon. The C&O canal begins in the posh Georgetown Washington DC suburb with the mile 0 marker will hidden at the start, by the Watergate Hotel on the Potomac River. Its quiet waters and narrow path are hidden within the bustle of the nearby shops and traffic but after a couple of miles, the towpath assumes its natural character, sandwiched between the Potomac River and the canal.

Over six days and 266 cycling miles, Troop 124 camped for 5 nights, ate 17 meals together, visited many historical sites, heard many trains, and bicycled past, over or thru 74 canal lift locks, 7 dams, numerous lock houses, 4 tunnels, 11 aquaducts and much wildlife. Here are some of the experiences that we shared for the week:

Bicycling: It does not get much flatter than the C&O towpath: for every mile toward Cumberland, the average elevation gain is 3.28 feet. We also diverted from the towpath to cycling to national landmarks and nearby towns for supplies and meals. We completed the C&O Canal on day 5, 26 hours ahead of schedule – attributable to the Troop’s positive attitude, co-operation and hard work, with good weather and no severe bicycling issues assisting. And where the C&O Canal ends, another trail, the Great Alleghany Passage (GAP) starts. The GAP is a 141 mile rail trail from Cumberland, Maryland to the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and it is not flat. On our extra day we had a new challenge – cycle 24 miles uphill along the GAP to the Eastern Continental Divide. Then celebrate, turn around and bomb downhill to meet our rides in Cumberland.

Camping: Campsites along the C&O are frequent.and include luxuries such as a portolet, picnic table, and potable water, although iodine is definitely an acquired taste. Since 12 of our 14 campers use hammocks we learned that some campsites were not suitable for hammock camping because they only had a handful of very large trees or not enough medium sized trees that weren’t covered with lush vines of poison ivy. Swimming in the Potomac River was a great relief from the heat for two evenings, and also provided much needed bathing experience.

Food: Most of our meals were cooked or assembled by the troop – typical backpacking fare like oatmeal, PB sandwiches and own pasta-based dinners. The four meals we ate out were a treat: not just for the food but the air conditioning. Ice cream was another savored treat during those hot days; per person consumption ranged from 1-2 servings per day.

Engineering: Historical plaques dot the towpath’s route, explaining the river’s dams, the canal’s aquaducts, natural history, geology and the canal’s most impressive engineering feat – the 3,118 foot long, hand carved Paw-Paw tunnel. This tunnel, one of the world's longest canal tunnels, was constructed over 14 years, is lined with ~6 million bricks. Cycling this tunnel was an exciting dark experience, with no light except for our personal flashlights guiding us along the five-foot wide path- the brick tunnel wall on one side and on the other, a wooden railing separating you from a dunk in the canal.

History: US history, as far back as the French and Indian war of the US can be observed at the trail. Our longer historical stops included visits to Fort Frederick (1756), and two key Civil War landmarks: the town of Harpers Ferry and Antietam National Battlefield. As we cycled the battlefield tour, it was difficult to imagine the peaceful setting of the present day: the river, the bridge, and the hundreds of acres of cornfields were the site of the bloodiest single day of battle of the Civil War.

Murphy’s Law influences all and our trip was no exception. Our obstacles included: our overheating vehicle, raccoon thievery of food on our first night camping, chigger bites, a 21 speed bike converted to a single gear by a branch, various crashes, a spoke-popping rear wheel, and a persistent flat tire. Fortunately all obstacles were minor and overcome without losing bikes, participants or impacting the trip’s success.

In conclusion, the leaders were not surprised that the boys completed their goal. They were resolute in their intent, even to the point that on day 4, when offered the choice to ride 14 miles of the paved smooth surface of an adjacent, parallel rail trail, they insisted, ”We came to ride the C&O – that is what we are going to do”. So we completed the C&O, and more. Each day brought new discoveries and challenges and the scouts kept journals during the week. When one of the thru cyclists we encountered was asked about the C&O trail, he blandly stated, “The C&O is just a towpath”. In a very narrow mindset or focus, one could interpret it as such. But like life, the C&O canal is ever changing – sometimes wide, other times narrow, at times wide, some days offering peaceful reflections, other times completely covered with duckweed, and even dry. But like life, the C&O offers experiences that you need to seek out. For us, the C&O Canal offered 184.5 miles of opportunities’ to experience a physical challenge, nature, history, and for Troop 124, a time to bond and memories for a lifetime.

2011-08-21T13:33:00.001-07:00

Hey all...here are some great photos from our Thompson Dam ride of 8-20-11...enjoy! your Queen B, Fran

Colorado Bike Tour - Our Excellent Adventure - June 19-25, 2011

2011-06-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

The seed for the Colorado Bicycle Tour was planted in our heads several years ago by Alan Chasse, who has ridden the event twice before. The event, which is now in its 17th year, follows a different route each years but always involves climbing and descending half a dozen or more of Colorado's premier passes, many of which top out at elevations of over 11,000 feet. This year’s event was held over a 7-day period and featured 450 miles of riding.

We'd been looking to do this tour for a few years, and when we put out the invite to the Thread City Cyclers e-mail list, nine answered the challenge:

Eric Anderson
Bill Penn
Skip Kuzel
John Hankins
Beth Hankins
Keith Hurley
Jeff Buske
Tammy Walesczyzk
John Jackman

In addition, I got a call from Garth Bean's wife Andrea, who was looking for a creative Christmas present for her husband. Rob Recalde from the Expo Wheelman rounded out our 11-person contingent.

We arrived at the starting point for the tour in Blackhawk, Colorado two days early in an attempt to acclimate ourselves to the elevation. Blackhawk is a former mining town that has re-invented itself as a gambling mecca. The town features about 30 casinos and nothing else. Really, nothing else. When we asked the young man behind the counter at the hotel what there was to do he reported “Unless you gamble, there is nothing to do here. It is a terrible place.”

Presented with that glowing testimonial, we elected to get out of town, hopping in our rented Ford Explorer and driving over to the Mount Evans Auto Road, which at 14,000+ feet of elevation has staked a claim as the highest paved road in America. On the way up we saw a mountain goat and a herd of elk, as well as 20-foot high snowbanks on the sides of the road left over from an unusually snowy winter in the Rocky Mountains. We also saw plenty of cyclists making their way up the road. By the time we passed 12,000 feet on the drive up the weather had gotten nasty, with cold wind and light snow falling. As we drove back down the road the snow and rain had picked up, and virtually all of the cyclists had abandoned their quest for the summit. We saw a wet couple tentatively negotiating their way down the wet switchbacks, clearly unhappy with their situation. We said aloud, “it would suck to be them right now”. Little did we know how soon we would be in a similar situation.

The first day of the tour was a relatively easy 56 miles spin from Blackhawk to Estes Park. The ride featured three significant climbs, but nothing that would be considered a “Pass”. As would be the case each night of the tour, the local high school was co-opted and became a Tent City for the 1500 riders. There were four options for overnight accomodations. The majority of the crew (and all of our contingent) elected to sleep in tents each night. A variation on this theme, which John Jackman and Tammy used, was to use the “Shuttleguy”, a service that rented you a tent and a pad and set your tent up for you each day. Those less hardy had the option of sleeping indoors in a gym or taking the truly wimpy option of sleeping in a local hotel. Three meals a day were provided by the tour and administered in the High School Cafeteria, unless like Keith and Rob you elected not to sign up for the meal plan. In that case you stood outside in the cold parking lot and ate warmed over breakfast burritos from a local vendor. This, combined with the fact that neither Keith or Rob had ever slept in a tent, provided humorous fodder for their team-mates.

For months before the trip we had been fearing Day Two, which started in Estes Park at 7,500 feet and climbed relentlessly up Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park to an elevations of 12,183 feet, the highest point in the trip, and also the highest paved through-road in the country. The weather forecast for Monday June 20th was not good, with rain and chilly temperatures predicted. Trail Ridge Road had been closed two days out of the last eight due to new snow, and with the wet weather blowing in it was likely that there would be fresh snow at the top of the pass overnight. The tour director announced that we were to assemble in the high school cafeteria at 5:00 AM, at which point he would tell us the plan for the day. They had already warned us of the importance of getting an early start to avoid afternoon thunderstorms.

On Monday we woke up in the dark at 4:30 to the sound of rain falling on the tents. We dutifully made our way to the cafeteria where we found a sign that said the announcement would now be at 5:30. At 5:30 we learned that the road was closed, but that it might re-open later in the morning. We were to sit tight and listen for another announcement at 7:00. 7:00 became 7:30. A rumor spread that we would be getting on our bikes and riding back to the start in Blackhawk, where we would be bused 3 hours around the mountain to that night's camping spot in Granby.

At 7:30 the organizer was back on the microphone, “I think we have a solution. It is not the best solution, but it is a solution. Trail Ridge Road is open to Aid Station 2 at the 18 mile mark at 10,850 feet. At that point the road is closed to the top because of 4 inches of new snow overnight and treacherous weather conditions. The Park Service has announced that the road may re-open later this morning. If it does, we will allow people to ride over the top. If it does not, we will all ride back to the start and you will be bused to Granby. The weather at the top of the pass is 27 degrees with 50 mph gusts and sleet blowing sideways. Wear everything you brought, as these conditions are very dangerous. Good luck.”

With that dire announcement, we were off. As was the case most days, we broke into small groups and headed up the road. The climb to the top started right away. Although the roads were wet, it had stopped raining and the climbing kept us all warm. When we got to Aid Station 1 at the 10 mile mark we learned that the road was still closed above Aid 2. We snarfed down some peanut butter sandwiches, filled our water bottles, and headed upward to an uncertain fate. Patches of snow became common along the roadside at elevations above 9,000 feet. Eric and I arrived at Aid 2 at about 10:00 and found the “Buske Boys” waiting at the closed gate – Jeff, Rob, and Keith. The temperature had dropped to 40 degrees, and the sky ahead looked grim. Cyclists continued to pile up behind the closed gate, and in the next hour about 300 of us had accumulated.

Meanwhile, the officials were stopping the rest of the group at Aid 1 back at the 10 mile mark, and telling the riders that they could not continue until and unless the road re-opened. As they waited, the weather at Aid 2 continued to deteriorate, and eventually it started spitting rain on us. The Buske Boys and I decided it did not look like they were going to open the road and we were all starting to shiver in our wet clothes, so we stared back down the hill. Eric continued his patient wait at the gate. As we approached Aid 1 on the way down the hill we ran into Garth, Beth, Skip, and Bill on their way up the hill. We learned from them that they had opened the gate and that it would now be possible to ride over the top. The Buske Boys continued down the hill, while I turned around to re-gain the 2,000 feet I had just donated to mother nature. Beth, Skip, Bill, Garth, and I climbed as a group toward Aid 2. John J. and Tammy decided discretion was the better part of valor and headed back to the starting point in Granby.

When we arrived at Aid 2 the gate was open as promised and they were letting riders through. The skies, if anything, appeared darker and the wind had picked up a bit. Eric had waited at the gate with 150 others and proceeded upward when they opened the gate. Beth and Bill were not certain whether they would continue because of the weather. Skip and I were afraid they would close the road, so we pushed out of Aid 2 and up the road. We turned the corner from Aid 2 and were blasted with a wind coming over the ridge laced with froze ice pellets. As we climbed the visibility dropped to about 30 feet, which diminished further as the moisture accumulated on our glasses. The trip from Aid 2 to the top was only 7 miles, but we needed to climb another 1500 feet in this distance against heavy wind and sleet so it took over an hour. Although we couldn't see anything, we later learned that much of the route is at the top of a ridge, with steep drops off to one side and 20 feet or more of accumulated snow bank on the other side. At one point I realized that it was not sleet I was feeling on my face, but instead it was wind-blown snow dropping onto the road from a snow bank that loomed high over our heads on the roadside.

At the 25 mile mark, only about a mile from the ultimate summit, the organizers had erected Aid Station 3. It was a cold and miserable place and volunteers were directing those too cold to go on into the support vehicles. Most of us just rolled by, unwilling to sacrifice our effort-driven warmth for a handful of wheat thins and a few gulps of Gatorade.

At the head of our group, Eric made the mistake of rolling past a visitor center just over the crest of the hill at about the 27 mile mark. It would prove to be a costly mistake, since it was the last opportunity to get warm before the long descent off the pass. When I reached the visitor center at an elevation of about 12,000 feet, I parked my bike in a snow bank and made my way quickly to the building. After I'd cleaned off my glasses, I realized that the building was choked with several hundred shivering riders, all trying to warm up and all wondering how they were possibly going to ride down this mountain without launching themselves off the edge. Garth stood in front of me shivering uncontrollably. He had been in the Visitor Center for over 20 minutes and could not get warm. The ranger in charge announced that they would be bringing buses in to transport the riders down, but it would take more than an hour for them to reach the top. They did not recommend that anyone attempt to ride down.

A few minutes after the announcement, Skip arrived. His jacket was covered with ice. His ashy white face poked out of his black rain jacket hood. He was also shivering uncontrollably and when we asked him how he felt he stammered some jibberish that convinced us he was not in a good way. Recognizing that riding in such a state might not be the safest choice, I pretty much ordered Skip to stay put and not even think about riding down the hill. The next day Skip found out that in addition to the cold he was experiencing he was also hypoxic (low blood oxygen) as a result of the sustained effort he had been putting out in the rarefied Rocky Mountain air, a condition he recovered from after another day.

As I stood in the Visitor Center wondering what to do, Alan Chasse's voice spoke to me from a cold wet ride we did a decade ago in New Mexico. He said to me “You paid the money to do the ride, now do the damn ride!”. With that, I told Garth and Skip to stay put unless they warmed up, I pulled my bike out of the snowbank, and I followed Eric down the hill. According to a display at the Visitor Center, temperatures tend to climb 3.8 degrees for every 1,000 foot drop in elevation, so my plan (and Eric's) was to drop as many feet as quickly as possible to regain some warmth (it was about 30 degrees at the top). I started my descent in heavy sleet with a guy named Jake from Missouri. We agreed to use the buddy system on the way down for safety reasons. After about a mile down the hill we were both shivering enough that it was affecting our ability to control the bikes (a condition known as the Dave Burdette shimmy after a particularly chilly descent of Middlebury Gap a few years back). We stopped on the side of the road and each did about 20 heat-producing pushups, ran in place for a few minutes, and then hopped back on. I'd learned this warming technique from the Buske boys an hour earlier at Aid 2, and Jake and I used it every mile for the next four or five miles until we got below the snow line into the warmer air.

Little did I know during my chilly descent that Beth and Bill had decided to continue up the road from Aid 2. I had remarked to Skip earlier that Beth was “one tough chick” but I honestly didn't know she had this kind of climb in her (and she reported later that neither did she). She and Bill made it to the top even as the weather deteriorated further. By the time they got there, the tour organizers had recognized how dangerous this situation was, and they were pulling people off the course at the top and preventing them from going down the hill. They ended up busing 300 people off the top of the pass at 12,000 feet, 30 of whom they brought directly to the hospital with signs of hypothermia. Perhaps 200 of us got down the hill and made it to the finish, although none would probably describe their decision to descend the hill as a “good idea”. The balance of the riders turned around at Aid 1 or Aid 2, or in some cases elected to “Sag” the entire day. Those that elected to return to the start were rewarded with a three hour bus ride around the mountains.

As I departed the final Aid station at the bottom of the pass, Garth rolled in from the long descent, cold but smiling – apparently Alan’s voice had spoken to him as well. Our group all recovered from this arduous day, and no one got to have any toes or fingers amputated. Eric took the worst of it, having completely missed the opportunity to get warm at the top. He did not return to his normal riding form for another two days.

The balance of the trip was thoroughly enjoyable, with great weather and spectacular climbs every day. On Day 3 we did a 80 mile ride over Rabbit Ear's Pass (9426 feet) to Steamboat Springs, which Beth declared her favorite climb of the trip. The following day we rode over two moderate passes on our way to Glenwood Springs, where we took a rest day. During our day off we took advantage of record high water levels on the Colorado River to do a 20-mile whitewater rafting trip and hit a mountain-top theme park with a terrifying giant swing that launched you repeatedly off the edge of the cliff 1500 feet above the river.

Day 6 was an 80-mile ride up Vail Pass (10,666 feet), which was a climb of nearly 6000 feet from our low spot on the Colorado River. Much of the trip up Vail Pass was on bike trails and a highway that had been closed to motor vehicles. We stayed overnight in the town of Frisco at an elevation of 9500 feet, with snow-capped peaks visible in every direction. To celebrate the beauty, Rob declared that we must ride our bikes the four miles into the downtown area wearing sandals and no helmets. Once we got into town and had a few beers, he further announced that the sub-set of us in attendance should partake in the drinking of shots. His selection of alcoholic beverage, colloquially termed the “Red Headed Slut” was a concoction of liquors of which I was not familiar. Our libations were followed by a wild four mile ride down a winding downhill bike trail. At one point Keith attempted to bunny hop an obstacle, which works well if you are clipped into your pedals, but not so well if you are wearing sandals. The abrupt contact that his nether regions made with the top tube of his bike will remind him of this in the future.

We wound up our trip on Day 7 with a climb to the top of Loveland Pass at 11,990 feet. As we ascended the switchbacks to the top we passed Arapahoe Basin ski area, where the lifts were still running and skiers were happily making their way down the slopes – on June 25th ! Their season will run this year into July. Part of the descent from Loveland Pass was on Interstate 70, where we screamed along down the hill at 40 mph being passed by trucks going nearly twice that speed.

All in all a great trip, with the proper combination of adversity, adventure, and camaraderie. The organizers put on a first-class event, and I would recommend this tour to anyone – as long as you're willing to roll with some surprises along the way.

Thank You Steroids

2011-06-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. I manage to post a little something from each of my TCC rides on my diary on YouTube, but this edition deserves special mention since a good chunk of the video is dedicated to last Saturday's ride. It was a good one. Thank you Dave Waldburger!

TCC A- ride, Saturday, May 28, 2011

Biking with Cancer

2011-03-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

My first bike ride since cancer treatment began.

More of my videos here.

More of my writing here, including today's post, about yesterday's bike fitting.

PS. About vlogging on the bike, and vlogging while driving: I am a professional. Do not try this at home.

2010 Uber Epic Rail Trail Ride

2010-10-03T04:29:00.001-07:00

Photos (from the top down):

1) Turnaround in East Hampton, 30 miles.

2) The four survivors at the Bolton Notch Tunnel, 63-mile mark.

3) Joe Drivere admiring the sunset in the Amston woods (he is not doing what you think he is doing).

4) The author mugs in front of the terminus sign in East Hampton at 30 miles

5) Crossing the Lyman Viaduct in Colchester

6) Ten depart from Eric's House in Andover.

The e-mail arrived from Eric Anderson in early September: "It has come to my attention that TCC is in need of an epic rail trail ride. Why you ask? Well don't ask, just rest assured we do. So, before the winter comes and we all retire to the couch to begin the winter transformation from in-shape to pear-shaped there is time for one last stand against the lethargy of modern life. Like any epic journey (think Beowulf, or Lewis and Clark, or Lord of the Rings for that matter), it begins with a quest. In this case the quest is to ride the length of the Airline Trail and Hop River Trail in one day/night and then spending more time regaling ourselves with tales of our boldness and woodsman-like savvy all the while consuming chili and drinking the bubbly nectar of the gods (AKA beer)."

On the afternoon of October 3, 2010, ten arrived at Eric's house in Andover to answer the challenge. They came equipped with all manner of cycling paraphenalia ranging from fat-tired mountain bikes (Chris Stoltze, Ray Torres, Eric Grove) to modified road bikes (Agatha, Joe Drivere) to the Cadillac of rail-trail travel, the cyclocross bike (Eric Anderson, John Hankins, Kathy Manizza, Ken Larson, Dave Jacobowski). Their bikes and helmets were festooned with all manner of illumination equipment and pre-ride discussions focused on lumens, candle-power, and battery run-times. Part of what made this ride epic was its 3:00 PM departure time, which meant that about half of the ride would be completed in the autumnal darkness.

With a celebratory "we're off", the crew departed Eric's house and rocketed from the highest point in Andover down Bear Swamp Road to the entry to the Hop River rail trail along Route 6 in Andover Center. From there we headed west toward Willimantic encountering the occasional stick and log that had been introduced to the trail by the previous day's tropical storm. At Flanders Road in Columbia the trail becomes impassible, so we hit the road for about four miles and connected with the Airline Trail South, which runs from Lebanon westward to East Hampton. Amanda Lawrence found us here, and the our numbers grew to 11. The Airline trail through Lebanon, Columbia, Hebron, and East Hampton has been greatly improved over the last few years, and we rolled easily on the smooth surface. By the time we crossed under Route 2 in Marlborough we had picked up another rider (Aaron) boosting our size to 12. At the 30-mile mark we arrived at the western terminus of the trail at Cranberry Bog in East Hampton, took a few photos and then turned ourselves back the way we came. Along the way coming and going we crossed over the Lyman Viaduct. The viaduct is a half-mile trestle that was built nearly 100 feet above the valley floor when the rail line was originally constructed in 1877. By the 1890s the locomotoves had gotten too heavy for the trestle to support, so they simply filled the body of the trestle with gravel, leaving the trestle in place. The very top of the structure is still visible as you travel along the gravel trail.

By the time we had reached the end of the Airline South on the return trip in Lebanon the headlights were on and we were heading into darkness. Skip Kuzel had joined us in Amston, and Kathy and Ken jumped in his car and headed back to Eric's, all part of a well-orchestrated plan. At the start of the Hop River Trail we found a bag of goodies that John's wife Beth had stashed for us, and took a fig newton break. We then continued up the Hop River Trail to the convenience store in Andover, where Eric's e-mail had promised a stop that had it all: "Dunkin donuts, Subway, an ATM machine, various munchies, and an extensive porn magazine collection". I was not specifically aware of anyone taking Eric's generous porn offer, but I did notice that Dave Jacobowski lingered in the store a suspicously long time while the rest of us waited outside.

When we reached Eric's road in Andover, five of the remaining group declared that discretion (as well as chili and beer) were the better part of valor, and bailed out, heading back to Eric's house. Five of us (Skip, Agatha, Eric, Chris, and yours truly) continued another 9 miles to Bolton Notch. Although the original plan had been to head all the way into Manchester (another 1.5 hours of riding), we looked at our watches (8:30 PM) and decided that beer and chili seemed like a more sensible option. We rolled onto Eric's driveway at 9:30 PM, with 72 miles with a blazing 13.8 mph average on the odometers.

The spread at Eric's was delectable and comprehensive. Evan Johnson, serving as Eric's Boy Friday, had shown up early to host the activities, which featured chili, jambalya, chicken shishkabob, and home-brewed oatmeal stout which had been concocted by a guy named Tony, who had signed up for the ride and then bailed when he got Red Sox tickets. The important thing here was that he left the beer.

While we fell a bit short of making it all the way to Manchester, we did establish that the Twighlight Rail Trail concept is viable and it appears that a new annual tradition may have been created. We will leave a little earlier next time so that we can make it to the Manchester end-point. Tony will be invited back - as long as he brings the home-brewed oatmeal stout.

Josh Billings Runaground - 2010

2010-09-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

TCC sent six of its members to Stockbridge, MA on September 12th for the 34th Annual Josh Billings Runaground. The race is the second oldest relay race of its type in the U.S., with an unbroken streak dating back to 1977. The event includes a 25-mile mass start bike race followed by a 5-mile paddle and culminated by a 10K run that finishes on the scenic grounds of the Tanglewood resort.

The seed for the 2010 event was planted in my head several months ago when Dave Jacoboski sought me out to be his cohort on a two-man relay team. Dave’s plan was that he would do the bike leg, then we both would canoe, and then I would run the last 10K. Perfect, I thought - I haven’t run a step in two months and I have not been in a canoe in 10 years – I’ll be well rested for both events. Dave’s chosen name for our team, “No clue what to do”, was reassuring.

Neither of us had a serviceable two-person water-craft, so I sought out a boat from Sue Audette of the Columbia Canoe Club. She had an ancient Jensen racing canoe made of Kevlar (same stuff they use for bullet proof vests). Weighing in at a meager 30 pounds and possessing a set of sensual hydrodynamic curves, this boat was designed for one thing – going really fast in a straight line. All other attributes, such as comfort, maneuverability, and balance come a distant second. Staying upright in such a craft is akin to keeping your feet in your bike pedals when your forward progress halts at a stoplight. I’d done some canoe racing in high school with my father, but that was in the good ‘ol days when we raced the same boats we used for bass fishing.
Dave and I decided we’d better see if we could keep the boat upright prior to race day.

We headed out to Mansfield Hollow for a test drive. After paddling around the reservoir more or less successfully for a half hour, we decided we’d try our Le Mans starting technique whereby we would run to our boat parked on the shore, pick it up and sprint to the water’s edge, quickly plant ourselves in the skinny seats, and power onto the course. Before a small army of spectators assembled at the Boat Launch, we zipped into the water and headed out to sea at a smart pace. This all ended abruptly when we got a little wobbly, Dave grabbed the gunwales (a canoeing no-no), and we both took a trip into Willimantic’s drinking water supply. The crowd cheered wildly, we sheepishly swam back to the shore, and declared to all assembled that we were now race-ready. I told Dave not to grab the gunwales again and threatened him bodily harm should he disobey this order.

The week before the race Dave had made a tactical error by sending TCC member Kathy Manizza (a woman he had never met) a picture of his rump adorned with his Expo Wheelman bike shorts and sporting the caption: “this is the last thing you’ll see as we go flashing by you”. Unbeknownst to Dave, Kathy has raced her canoe at the national level, and she and her partner/husband Ken were well positioned to spank Dave’s aforementioned rump.

Dave's Unfortunate Rump Shot, which was included with immature Trash Talk to Kathy Manizza prior to event

“The Josh”, as it is affectionately referred to by the participants, is unique for relay races in that it starts with a 400-person mass start bike race. Licensed riders are allowed to start in the front to help sort things out. When the gun sounds, it is a mad sprint right off the line. Speeds approach 30 mph in the first several miles before the course take a turn and heads up a hill at about the two-mile mark. The objective is to position yourself in a pack that is moving as fast as you can manage, and to not get dropped by that pack on the hills. Both Dave J. and Skip Kuzel, who was riding for another team, were victimized early in the bike leg when they got behind others who dropped chains or otherwise slowed down on the first of the big hills and prevented their ability to get into front groups. Both eventually managed to get into reasonably fast packs and headed toward the transition to the canoe.

Meanwhile, back at the transition zone, I had discovered another TCC’er, Amanda Lawrence, who had signed up as the runner for a team of folks she found on the Josh Billings website. Amanda has cycled the race three times and run it three times, making her the TCC veteran of the Josh. As I waited for Dave I saw Kathy Manizza take the handoff from Ken and saw Skip Kuzel make his handoff. Dave’s rump was nowhere in site as Kathy flashed by. Dave came in a few seconds later in about 75th place, and by the time we’d morphed him from a cyclist into a paddler at the transition zone we had probably slipped to 125th. Remembering the previous day’s unfortunate outcome, we placed our boat carefully in the water and started off cautiously. As our confidence grew we got into a rhythm – seven or eight strokes on each side before I yelled “hut” from the stern, the international utterance for “switch sides before we go in a circle”.

The boat course makes two trips around “Stockbridge Bowl” before the transition to the run. Dave and I were pleased with our paddling prowess, weaving our way through 25 or 30 slower boats during the five mile voyage and avoiding (mostly) collisions with our fellow competitors.

On one or two occasions as the boat got wobbly, Dave considered grabbing the gunwales again. As is the custom in canoe racing, Dave got a strong dressing-down from his stern-man to dissuade him from this temptation – KEEP PADDLING, YOU DOG! Kathy was competing in a solo racing kayak, which we had no hope of catching, so although I saw a lot of Dave’s rump from the stern position of the canoe, his promise to show Kathy his back-side was not realized.

As we completed the canoe leg and came into the transition to the run, I hopped out of the boat and grabbed my running shoes and socks, which I had strategically stowed in a large Ziploc bag with a towel to keep dry. As I pulled the bag from the boat I was disheartened to see that the “waterproof" Ziploc bag was half full of water and the contents were no drier than the shoes I’d just waded ashore in. Undaunted, I changed into my sodden New Balance’s, and hit the running course.

Transitioning from the canoe, where your legs are all curled up in the boat, to the run, where they are expected to propel you powerfully over the tarmac, is a cramp-laden challenge that any triathlete can appreciate. With leaden thighs, I trudged onto the course, competing against the three and four-person relay teams that were using fresh runners untainted by having already done the bike or canoe legs. I had aspirations of catching Ken from the Kathy and Ken team (and showing him my rump), but this was not to be as Kathy had kayaked her way to an insurmountable margin. The 10K running route goes around the Stockbridge Bowl on rolling roads and then up a nasty one-mile hill to the finish on the grounds of Tanglewood. I pushed through the run, passing another 10 or 15 people, and turned into finish stretch in time to see 2:59:50 on the finish line clock. Pretending that breaking three hours actually meant something, I sprinted across the line five seconds ahead of that lofty goal and found out to my shock that no one really cared.

The Josh Billings organizers stay up late at night concocting creative racing categories. The result is that the race has an amazing 35 categories, and lots of people walk away winners. Of the TCC members present, Dave and I won the two-person canoe category (out of 13 in our class), Kathy and Ken won the two-person mixed kayak category, Skip won one of the relay categories, and Amanda’s team came away with a second in yet another category. Now that we’ve tasted the sweet nectar of victory, it’s going to be hard for Dave and me to stay away next year. I’ve already suggested to Dave that he not send Kathy any inflammatory e-mails or rump photographs prior to next year’s event.

Dave and John heading into the Berkshire sunset with their victory mugs.

TCC TFCE Fast and Furious 2010!

2010-09-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

And here's my contribution to the TFCE blogging. I had a WONDERFUL time! It was great to see everyone, and gather at the port-o-potties for the requisite photos. Christian was sporting a new, only mildly beer-related jersey from a Belgian rock festival. We got in a few good shots and then all rolled out together. As we were in the first mile or two, I began to feel a bit antsy. I saw Christian roll ahead and confer with Ron; it turns out he was telling Ron he was feeling spirited and that he wanted to motor ahead. Once he did that, Amy decided to do the same thing; in my antsyness, I caught her and hopped on her wheel and attempted same. Before too long Ray had caught up and we had Christian in sight, and then Jim came along for the ride. Until the first rest stop, I think I had the ride of my life, matched only by triathlons and the crits I did this summer. I chased as hard as I could, alternating between chasing whoever was there, Amy and Ray. Up to the first rest stop, our average speed was between 18.5-19.5 mph! When I saw that staying with Christian meant maintaining a constant heart rate of around 85% max, I decided that it would not be prudent to shoot for this for 100 miles. Turns out that Christian had more legs than, well, any of us that day...so we let him go. Occasionally we'd see him in the distance hauling whole groups of hopefuls up the hills, and we did hang with him at every rest stop. Ron had stayed back and we found out that he'd ridden ahead of the B group and hung with a bunch from East Granby. He caught us at the first rest stop. So the rest of the journey included me, Ron, Amy, Jim, and Ray. I was determined to PR on this course, which led to some interesting shifting techniques; 3x this meant shifting completely off my gears. I finally figured out what I was doing wrong and it stopped happening. After that rest stop, it was a better ride because our little group decided to stay and work together. We took alternate turns pulling, having varying levels off spitfire. Ron certainly did his share; when I fell off the back a couple of times Jim was the gentleman that brought me back. Ray was absolutely a motor and would often take over for Ron when he got tired. Amy performed valiantly despite some back pain and having fewer miles than she'd hoped for this summer. We rode together and paced together, banked corners and accelerated out of them. Everyone was riding very well! This course is clearly much flatter than we are used to in NE CT, but there are its share of false flats, and by the end of it my altimeter read 3500 feet of climbing (1100 feet more than the Princeton Freewheelers Century). Lovely homes, beautiful countryside. Rose hip fruit was very apparent right by the beach; I always look for it. Mile 72 was a very loooonnnggg rest stop because we were working so hard, there was a whole lotta stretchin' goin' on...and then I just had to stop at Gray's and get the Mile 72 Coca Cola! It's UNBELIEVABLE how well that works. When I arrived at the finish I felt like I had money in the bank. After that Coke I would take pulls, Ron would bark at me to fade out, I'd stay at the back, and then we'd hit a rise and I'd be slowly making my way to the front....and then felt I ought to offer another pull! Everyone was very patient (I think) during the fixing of my 2 flats; I actually sliced through a brand new Michelin tire and needed the ol' dollar bill repair! I was so impressed with how strong everyone was riding and how well we all worked together. When I admitted I wanted a course PR everyone pitched in and helped! I was hoping to finish over 18 mph but we were just shy of it...I got 17.77 avg on my computer. This is the 2nd fastest century I have done; the first was 2009 PFW at 19.1! Oranges, bananas, PB&J, gatorade, these are the stuff of cyclists' weekends. At mile 72 we saw a group that had this purple Cancer Sucks t-shirts, who were riding in support of a friend who couldn't ride that year, and they were planning to visit him after the ride. Ray, Ron and I had to refuel in Seekonk on the way home for a Starbuck's celebration. Why do I have to watch calories, and Ron can get a Venti Java Chip, full fat with whip cream and a shot of espresso? How is that fair??? So I enjoyed my nonfat, decaf pumpkin spice latte, and Ray his Vivanno protein shake. A great time, a great ride, great camraderie...you couldn't ask for more!

TFCE 2010-B Riders

2010-09-13T04:05:00.000-07:00

It was an epic day for four TCC B riders...Karen, Doug, Donna and Eric completed thier first century rides!
As per usual the TCC group met by the port-o-potty line at lot 7...it was a cool morning and the sun tried to peek through, but was absent for the remainder of the day. While we all took off together, we let the fierce and fiery group of Amy, Jim, Christian, Ray, Fran and Ron ride off our front, they were setting pace made for them! As they rolled out of sight, Donna had the only mechanical difficulty of the day...a flat. Tammy and I adjusted our layers, Eric set the pace and we headed off. I was not really ready for this century. I hadn't ridden as much as I had in previous years and felt it; my companions however, were riding their usual strong rides.

The Fantastic Four(above mentioned) started as novices on Scott's beginner rides last season and progressed quickly up the TCC alphabet. Eric and Donna started leading B rides, Doug was getting broke in on C, B and B+ rides! Karen and Dave, our resident tandem team could be seen at Ron's spin classes during the past winter and were soon showing up on for Spring rides, long and short! Tammy made up the rest of our group; a seasoned hill climber with four centurys this year, including an Adirondack Tour...this little flat century had her dozing, I think!

The first 50 miles were uneventful, really. This portion of the tour heads north and then west, wending through mostly residential areas...nice homes,plenty of stone walls and long grades. Neon-garbed Dartmouth police collecting overtime helped us through intersections...nice touch. Well, I started to bonk, big time...as I said I am not the rider I was last year and anything resembling an uphill grade was sending me towards the single digits. My great companions waited up for me periodically...showering me with GU, bonks, chomps, nuts, and mysterious powders which looked like a score from the north end of Hartford ( great line, I stole it from Eric)! I took 'em all!

The second leg of this journey follows the southern shoreline of RI. Beautiful scenes of Long Island Sound, sailboats and really expensive homes abound; pretty typical shoreline communities. The intersections started to blur together: neon cop, lefthand turn, tree, house, cornfield...the sky was growing grayer as the miles ticked by and the headwind was present all the time. As I rode down to yet another left turn, Tammy and Doug were hanging out, waiting for me. Donna and Eric had ridden on...they were on a PR mission and I was glad to hear they'd done so. At this point I'd lost track of the tandem. We had 20 or so miles to go and I was just counting them down...Doug and Tammy were still riding strong and I was hanging close...this last part of the century is quite scenic...corn fields, vinyards, and fields of veggies interspersed with pleasant looking homes surrounded by tall stone walls.

A spit of rain fell from the darkening sky, but never developed into anything more. By now I knew the tandem was behind us, but knew they were keeping each other company. We three took turns leading, along the shoreline and across the bridge by the big marina. Last year when I rode this century, the sun was shining and this was beautiful. I felt pretty good, (must have been that white powder!) and we all finished together. We hit 100 miles in the access circle and that was that. We found Donna and Eric at the registration area...they had 16.5 avg...A wonderful PR...Doug and Tammy had 16.3avg and I came in at 15.5...Karen and Dave were still back and we never connected with them...we'd no idea where their car was, but were confident they finished strong!

Scott Johnson's beginner ride is bringing some excellent riders into the club. While these centurys belong to each rider, I feel compelled to give him a great shout-out for his energy and enthusiasm each Saturday morning! Thanks to him I got to ride with Doug, Karen, Dave, Donna and Eric, all new and excellent cyclists.

And always a pleasure to ride with Tammy!

Mad River Century - 2010

2010-08-30T17:17:00.001-07:00

Photo: Team Tammy at the Start in Waitsfield

TCC was proudly represented at the Mad River Century on August 28th by over 20 people with a tie to the club. The event, now in its 20th year, is an annual tradition for many of us. Alan Chasse has done the event something like 19 times, and many of the rest of us are now pushing double digits. The Century is put on by "The Hideaway", a local restaurant that figured out a few years back that people would be willing to pay for an organized ride sprinkled with good food before, during, and after the event.

The weekend starts out on Friday night with a pasta fest at the restaurant. Most of us rolled in between 6:00 and 7:00 and spent an hour or two carbo loading before finding our way to local hotels to sleep off the gluttony. We assembed as a group at 7:45 for a few photos and by 8:00 we were ready to head out in two groups. Team Tammy consisted of its namesake, Tammy Walesczczyk, as well as Beth Hankins, John Jackman, Dave Burdete, Rob Yost, and Bill Penn. Their mission was to ride a steady solid pace line and work as a team to lay down the fastest average they could.

Our second team, which I dubbed the Ontario Express, consisted of my high school buddy Adrian Zahl (now from Ottawa), Barry (another Canadian), and a cadre of people that ride our A-Group including yours truly, Eric Anderson, Alan Chasse, Dave Jacobowski, Chris Stoltze, Phil Forzley, and Marty Spallone. Our goal was to demonstrate to the world that even fat people over the age of 50 can average 21 mph at Mad River.

The ride starts in Waitsfield, VT and heads north on Route 100 toward Montpelier. The first 25 miles to Montpelier are gently rolling but more down than up. The Ontario Express got to work quickly, and picked up a couple of racers from the Green Mountain Bicycle Club along the way. We realized the pace was quick, but were a little suprised when we arrived at the first rest stop at the State Capitol lawn in Montpelier with a 24.0 mph average. A few minutes later Team Tammy rolled in, with smiles on their faces and 20.5 on the odometers.

After peeing in the same urinal as the Governor of the Green Mountain State, we were back on our bikes for a 35 mile ride down Route 12A to Bethel. Speeds dropped somewhat as we realized that none of us had the legs to continue our initial sprint. Beth and Team Tammy limped in a little while later. Beth had broken her rear shifter cable and had been riding in her 12-tooth cog in the back for 15 miles. Dave Burdette had broken one of the 16 spokes on his rear Rolf Wheel and his brake was rubbing badly - he hadn't really noticed this, because he is Dave Burdette. Alan and John Jackman completed some speedy repairs and all hands (and legs) were back in business.

Photo 1: Phil Forzley at the State Capitol

Photo 2: Alan fixing Dave's busted spoke

The third leg of the ride cuts back west and heads up a river valley on Rte. 104. This section leads back to Rte. 100, where the ride turns back north toward the point of its origin. Route 100, which takes you from about the 70 mile mark to the finish line, has been deteriorating for several years and has become a difficult road to ride with potholes, crevasses, and all manner of busted up pavement. We soldiered northward - slightly uphill and watching the average speeds drop steadily. At the rest stop at the 75 mile mark we ran into Steve Yau, who had originally been caught in no-man's land between the two groups but had missed the second rest stop and ridden about 50 miles without a break (ouch). We also ran into club members Todd O'Keefe and Lou Blanchette, who were riding together and looking forward to the only large hill of the ride - Granville Gap.

Granville Gap comes at about the 85-mile mark of the ride and consists of a 2.5 mile hill, which is gently sloping at the base and then kicks up a couple of times more sharply near the top. It is the official Big D___ climb of the ride, although Beth claims that TCC women do not participate in Big D___ contests. Teamwork rules are suspended and the slug-fest is on for the duration of the grade. About three-quarters of the way up the hill I decided it was looking like I'd be this year's champ. Seconds later, my 51-year old high school classmate Adrian sprinted by me like I was on a 45-pound Huffy and I limped the rest of the way to the top. We gathered the group at the top of the hill, saw that our average had dropped to 21 mph, and headed down the other side of the hill determined to keep it over 21. The last 10-miles of the ride are downhill or flat, and allow you to add a few tenths to the average. We pressed on to the finish in Waitsfield and recorded 21.6 mph as determined by Alan's official computer (he stops it whenever we're in a town going less than 10 mph). Team Tammy showed up at the finish a while later with a very respectable 19 mph average. They'd ridden as a team the entire way and in many stretches other groups pasted themselves onto the back of the group, realizing what a steady and strong pace Tammy and her crew were setting.

Photo 3: Chris, John, and Eric at the top of Appalachian Gap

To put an exclamation point on the day, five of us continued up Appalachian Gap - a 7-mile 1500-foot climb from Waitsfield to give ourselves 120 miles on the day. Why? We still don't know, but it hurt.

A barbecue under a big-top completed a perfect riding day. We all slept well, and woke up Sunday for another annual tradition - a short bike ride over some covered bridges before heading home to the Nutmeg state. Rumor has it that they will be paving Route 100 next year. We'll be going back regardless.

Adirondack Trip Report

2010-08-08T15:49:00.001-07:00

The Riders - Anna Hankins, Beth Hudson-Hankins, Dave Waldburger, John Jackman, Eric Anderson, John Hankins, Tammy Walesczcyk

Way back when the snow was still flying, several of us began hatching a plan for a bike trip to the Adirondacks. Seven TCC'ers met the challenge and left on July 31st for an eight-day sojourn, accompanied by John Jackman's skilled and generous wife Ione, who agreed to provide baggag transportation and emotional support using their family's really big pickup truck.

We kicked the ride off in Niskayuna, NY, a suburb of Albany. After being told by the police that there was no legal place to leave a vehicle overnight in Niskayuna, John ditched his blue Dodge Caravan in a Walmart parking lot, subscribing to the theory that Walmart does not tow stray vehicles in their parking lots. As we were leaving we saw a tow truck hooking up to another blue Dodge Caravan about 50 feet away. We believed this to be a good omen, as the odds that Walmart would tow two identical cars in a week from the same parking lot seemed quite low.

We started the first day with a leisurly trek up the smooth pavement of the Erie Canal rail trail, dodging hikers, joggers, and wobbly Huffies. After leaving the trail we hit the highways north of Albany. This first day was our least Adirondacky, and much of the trip was on busy roads, including one clearly labled "no bicycles". We steered our way through the metropolis of Saratoga Springs, and wound up in Glenns Falls at about the 45-mile mark where we spent the night in our first of four different Motel 8's.

Day Two (August 1) was Eric's BIRTHDAY. For this fabled occasion we tricked out his bike and presented it to him during the continental breakfast at the Motel 8. The ballons and crepe paper did not survive on the road terribly well, but the sparkly gold frame wrap and the lacy helmet cover both made it through the entire day. Tammy wrote up a "want ad" of sorts announcing Eric's bachelerhood, eligibility, and birthday status and pinned sewed this missive on his back. The announcement included an invitation to single women that read "you may hug and kiss me if you want to". Although he got no kisses, he did get a hug from an impressed woman at a donut shop at the ten mile mark.

Day Two took us from Glenns Falls up to Ticonderoga. Our route out of town headed West and into the first of the hills recognizable as Adirondack terrain (hilly!). In the village of Lake Luzerne we crossed the Hudson River and then followed a nice set of lightly traveled and relatively flat County roads up the west side of the Hudson. We discovered on this day that John's copyright 1987 New York Road Atlas did not accurately reflect the current route numbers. This created a fair amount of confusion among the riders and our driver, but between Ione's innate navigational skill and Dave's GPS-map enabled Blackberry we were (mostly) able to stay on our route (unless you were with John Jackman, in which case you got lost). The end of the day took us along the west shore of Lake George, a smaller cousin of Lake Champlain located south and a little bit west. Ticonderoga, our destination for the day, sits at the exteme south end of Lake Champlain and the extreme north end of Lake George. We celebrated this geographical oddity by stuffing seven of us in the cab of the Jackman's truck and heading to the Town Beach for a swim. Mileage for the day was just north of 80 miles.

At the Ticonderoga Super 8 we met up with Stephen and Seth, two brothers from Fort Wayne, Indiana, who were pedaling from their home town to Bar Harbor, Maine, with full packs. Taking pity on these poor souls, we invited them to dinner. They wolfed down a sufficient volume of pasta primavera to power them over Middlebury Gap in Vermont, their destination for the next day. They shared their blog with us if you'd care to view it: www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/brosonpatrol.

Day three was a scheduled 55-mile run from Ticonderoga to Lake Placid. We headed north on Route 22 along the west shore of Lake Placid. This section of road refuses to stay flat, and we rolled through a series of relatively steep (but generally short) ups and downs. At Crown Point we saw a sign for a FREE ferry ride across Lake Champlain to the Vermont side. This is the location where a bridge had existed until earlier this Spring. When engineers did an inspection they decided it was about to fall down, so they accelerated the process by blowing it up. We took a 10-mile detour from our route to catch the ferry over to Vermont and back. John Jackman headed to the bow of the boat at mid-lake to claim the State Line, his first of many cheap victories for the trip. A few miles north of Crown Point we came to Fort Henry, where we turned west away from the lake and into the heart of the Adirondacks. The grades out of the Champlain Valley tested all of us, with Eric's tilt-meter reading over 12 percent on some of the up-grades. The elevation of Lake Champlain is 95 feet. The elevation of Lake Placid is 1900 feet. Had we done the math before the ride we would have realized that our two-dimensional map failed to tell the whole story. Mileage for this day was about 65 miles, including the side trip to the ferry.

We stayed in Lake Placid for three nights to "rest" and see the sights. Our lodging in Lake Placid was a 1907-era hotel called "The Pines", with a big covered porch that we made into our home base for breakfast and general hanging out. On our first full day in Lake Placid, Eric, Anna, Dave, and I elected to celebrate our rest day by hiking up Mount Marcy, which at 5344 feet is New York's highest peak. It was a 15-mile slog, and we were greeted at the summit with visibility of about five feet. We did get to meet Julia the savvy summit steward, who regaled us with her knowledge of the geology (1.2 billion year old anorthosite that occurs only in three places on the planet) and the plants of the alpine tundra. We wolfed down some sandwiches and got the heck out of there before the weather deteriorated further. Meanwhile, back at the camp, our cohorts had discovered that they could watch practices of an international ice dancing championship at the Olympic Ice arena (for FREE). That first night we also discovered a wonderful folk concert in the park (for FREE), and we hung out with the locals eating Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Those of us that had hiked Mount Marcy felt the rigor mortis entering our legs, a condition that accompanied us for the rest of the trip.

On second day in Lake Placid we rented some kayaks from a shady guy with a hernia named Captain Marney, and paddled around until we got tired. Mr. Jackman showed his true colors by splashing anyone that got within 20 feet of his boat. After we returned to terra firma we went in different directions. Dave, Anna, and I headed out to the ski jump area, where we saw olympic skiing aerialist hopefuls launching themselves off astro-turf launching pads and flipping to and fro at heights up to 40 feet before crash landing in a swimming pool. Dave and I took the elevator to the top of the 120-meter ski jump, which is indeed quite intimidating. Eric went for a bike ride because he could not think of anything better to do.

Just as we began to get used to our new home at The Pines, it was time to roll out on our fourth day of riding - this one a 65-mile ride from Lake Placid to Tupper Lake. Eric had scouted out a fantastic back road the day before along the Au Sable River leading out of Lake Placid. This was one of the finest roads of the trip. Generally flat, perfect pavement, and twisting along with the river. At about the 15-mile mark we turned onto the Whiteface Highway, a dastardly section of pavement that heads up at about 8 to 10 percent up the lower reaches of Whiteface Mountain. At about 2 miles into this climb the road forked, with a toll booth on the left fork for those that cared to continue to the 4600-foot mountain summit. Although we had decided earlier not to ride up the mountain, Anna, Eric, and I could not help ourselves. We paid the 5 bucks each, shifted to a lower gear, and trudged upward. The road turned out to be not too steep, never exceeding about 8 percent or so (for comparison, Mt. Washington averages 14 percent). Nevertheless, we were staring at another 2300 feet of climbing after the toll booth on top of about 1000 feet we had done before the toll booth. At the 3800-foot level we rode into the clouds, and by the time we hit the top the visibility was about the same as what we had on Mt. Marcy. We lingered at the top only shortly, got a naked picture of Eric in back of the summit sign, and then had an exciting ride down, made more so by the bumpy pavement and 30 mph cross-winds that would occasionally push across the road.

The excursion to the summit put us about 90 minutes behind the rest of the group, which stayed ahead of us the rest of the day. This day featured a lengthy collection of county roads which I had mis-numbered on the cue sheet (thanks again to the 1987 atlas). Ione did a fantastic job marking the road with yellow chalk at each intersection to keep us going where we needed to go. We rolled into Tupper Lake at about 77 miles, where we stayed in a cute little set of cabins each sporting a thick accumulation of moss on the roof. Tammy was particularly impressed with the diminutive size of the bathrooms, which required that women sit side saddle on the toilet if they wanted to close the door.

Our fifth and penultimate day of riding was our longest, 115-miles from Tupper Lake to Gloversville. This day featured flatter roads, no big climbs, and lots and lots of lakes. In general, we were on lightly traveled State highways with wide shoulders. The wind was an ever-present friend or enemy depending on which way the road twisted and which way each particular gust decided it wanted to go. Some of the State Highways, particularly Route 10, were fantastic, with smooth winding pavement, no big uphills, a tailwind, and spectacular scenery. We stopped for lunch on this day in Speculator, NY, which I gave the award for the coolest name. The end of the day featured a long descent into the Mohawk Valley to Gloversville, which as you may have guessed was once the largest manufacturer of leather gloves in the world. We un-did our enormous calorie outlay for the day by heading to the Chineese buffet.

For our sixth and final day of riding we threw away the cue sheet and figured out a way to ride the entire 50 miles back to Niskayuna on rail trails and canal trails. The route was as flat as you'd expect it to be. The trails were generally paved with the exception of about 8-miles of well-manicured and very easy to ride stone dust. The 40-miles of Erie Canal Trail we did on this final day was just a small section of the Erie Canal trail system that stretches over 300 miles from Albany to Buffalo. Dave had done a tour of this previously and knew something about the trail. All of us enjoyed looking at the working locks on the Mohawk River as well as the abandoned locks on the original Erie Canal.

Ione met us back in Niskayuna, where we retrieved my van - no worse for wear during its week in the Walmart Parking Lot, unless you count the three pounds of pigeon shit on the windshield that resulted from parking under a light pole. Upon my arrival back in Mansfield I stepped on the scale to discover that the 440 miles I had ridden had resulted in a weight gain of five pounds - truly the sign of a great trip.

Memorial Day Ride

2010-07-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

(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

2010-07-11T04:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-03T17:09:00.000-07:00

(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!

B Ride 6/26/10

2010-06-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to ride this ride. I'd been up late with family matters and wanted to be free for...well, anything that arose, but things settled down and at 6am I was awake and figured I'd better go. Dave B. and his colitis problems were a possible no-show and I did say I would be helping to lead this ride.

That said, we all took off towards Colchester and I'll tell you, we had a great ride. Every time Dave turned back to wait for me on the hills, I was there. The climbs up to Columbia Center usually set me back...maybe it was the combination of lack of sleep, little food and residual adrenalin from the night before, but I was hanging in there!

Welcome additions were Pete L., who pulled me through a B+ ride a couple of years ago in Hanover, Amy...always a pleasure, and running girl Dianna...who's RP had gone off, I don't know where.

Donna and Eric bailed early...not exactly sure why, but heard that Donna wasn't feeling well. Hope it's only temporary... Eric has a computer the size of a 1980's cordless phone and he could have told us elevation and all that good stuff ...they were missed.

We pulled into Starbucks amazed at our speed avg. High 14's...very cool! Dave figured we'd probably bonk a bit heading back, we'd been riding strong all morning. We ate, rubbed shoulders with the A riders...I believe they were heading toward the CT river, something about a ferry...and headed down Old Rt 2.

We talked about a 9 rider pace line down the highway...some figured they wouldn't be able to hang on, so we morphed into mini pacelines of 3 and proceeded to roll. I was VERY fortunate to hook up with Dianna, who loves to pull. Don, she and me avg around 22mph for the 8mile ride to Bozrah. Ahead of us were Dave, Amy and Pete; not far behind were Terry, Brian and Doug.

Our avg mph were still PR high for many of us...truly, we could not believe we were doing this type of riding! After the ride from Colchester, we were now +15avg and it never went below that for the remainder of the ride. Under The Mountain Rd, with it's beautiful cemetery and cornfields and deep, cool shadows...such an apt name for this road, is a favorite of Dianna's.

We took Briggs Road in order to stay off Rt 32N. It was getting hot and traffic was heavy. I still felt strong and stayed in the middle of the group most of the time. When we hit the shade up on top of Franklin...no idea what road but scenic vistas all around, Don wowwed us with his 'wringing out his helmet trick' that was pretty gross. We rested a bit and finished up the ride to S. Windham and home with Bergmann pulling three of us up 203. We caught up with Don and Doug and I showed off by powering past them....yeah, and Dave 'my calfs are bigger than yours' Bergmann blew by me! Well, we all met up at the school and compared avg mph. 15.6-16.2 was the range with yours truly having 15.6.

Not that it's about the numbers...but it was good to have something to focus on other than the stresses and dramas and disappointments in life, or humdrum weekend chores that all of us deal with daily. Reality creeps in when the ride is over....it's one of the reasons to ride.

B Ride 6/19/10

2010-06-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

Great day for a ride, eh?

12 of us started out from the school and headed towards Stoggy Hollow via James Rd..the usual. Terry led and Dave B. brought up the rear. No muss, no fuss heading N on 89....
James Rd is well a climb, but I survived and even managed to keep the main group in sight! Dave rode along with me and all that...good stuff. The first flat was Dan, a new fella. Doug's brother - in -law...it morphed into a stripped gear, I don't know how, but we left him there, with a call in for transport, amongst the hemlock and mosquitoes.

We made it to 198 no problems and heading down...a paceline was attempted, but it fell apart, or never really got started, anyway, we all flew down the highway and pulled into you know where.
The guy behind the counter almost didn't serve us because we were only going some 40-ish miles...he said a group of riders had gone through earlier and they were going 60-something miles, don't know if that was the A riders...seems like they go further than that.
Well, everyone snacked and hydrated and checked their phones and berries and palm pilots and all that techy stuff. It was the general concensus that, while yes, the muffins are good, they are just too damn big!

Second flat was down on 198 approaching the Chaplin line. Eric pleaded for us to just leave him, but no, we waited patiently while he and Don took care of it. You know, you ever want to see someone climb a hill like it was nothing...Eric's wife Donna has the nicest style... just as smooth, no upper body sway, just makes it look so easy! I am envious, as always, of riders who climb and speak in conversational tones! She is a very nice person and a good riding companion.

No other happenings to speak of...except on N. Bear Hill Rd by the Johnson Farm, Don Baxter, whose been in the club for several years now and just started riding B, hit a PR for mileage and avg, and he's one of my favorite people to ride with.

Third flat happened just as we were rolling into the school...how cool is that right? Brian, who has only been a rider for this season, and started out as B...in order to ride with Terry, had a bit of a tough ride towards the end, but hey, who hasn't...anyway, no change was necessary and all 11 of us congratulated ourselves on great riding, great weather and great days ahead. While this ride isn't full of dramatic notes or (thank God) crashes...I think it will stand out as being one of my good ones...I felt good, was in good company and did 55 miles @14.7avg...getting ready for a couple of centurys if the planets line up right this year!
As Don and I rode back to Storrs we passed Dianna and thought maybe she'd lost her C riders, but realized they had all finished up and she was out enjoying some extra miles.
Happy Fathers Day to all.

2010-06-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

I really recommend trying the Quabbin rides. It's a really beautiful course. It's the 2nd time I've done Quabbin but the first time I did the double metric. You get to go to the Quabbin Reservoir, which is gorgeous, and increases the amount of time you're out (if you choose) because you want to stop and look at the reservoir, take pictures, climb the tower and see all the way to Hartford and all over the place!!! The double metric is the same as the century for the first 47 miles, so I'd done the route before. One of the things I'm happy about is that with all the hills up and down, my descending skills have gotten much better! Descents that used to spook me are now a joy. John H, remember when I used to climb hills faster than I'd go down them???

So anyway, the ride started and everyone left togther at around 7 am or maybe a little after, I didn't check. Dave Waldburger, Steve and Judy Borrman and I were all supposed to ride together, but the Borrmans decided to get their freak on and hang with the A pack in the beginning. Dave and I conservatively hung in the back, he because he didn't want to get splattered with damp road-stuff and I because I wanted to dole out my effort, not even knowing if I could complete the ride! The first 10 miles or so are literally downhill, it's really fun, and we stayed together for that time period! There was a rest stop at 22 miles, and then we managed to MISS the 2nd rest stop...so our next one was at like 75 miles!! I was feeling bonky at mile 72, not realizing that the rest stop was only a mile down the road. When I got there, I decided it was time for my secret weapon, Coke (shout out to Dianna H). The rest stop was at a store, so I went in...and realized it was the Leverett Food Co-op...a health food store!! No Coke!! They DID have Boylston natural soda, so Dave and I split a natural cola with real sugar. I fueled up, and then we carried on to the last rest stop in I-forget-what-town; by that point the double metric has rejoined the century. Then you leave the rest stop, go screaming down a really cool hill, and then climb a really steep grade, with no chance to warm up, ugh!!! One thing I'll say about that ride, there are some harsh climbs in the last 25 miles, and the last 2 miles is a nasty upgrade!!! **sigh** So, Dave and I have some photos of us and the Borrmans and reservoir and waterfall, which I'll have to share at some point.

Thanks to the A group for warning each rest stop and the staff at the school to look for me, that they'd know me by my bright pink bike. So at every rest stop, the staffers said HI FRAN!!! And when I finished, at the end the staffers said HURRAY IT'S FRAN!!! And thanks to John and Beth for cheering us on as we approached the school at the very end! And thanks to Dave for staying with me the whole way...looking forward to P2P!!! your Queen B, Fran

Quabbin Century & Double Metric

2010-06-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

Quabbin Ride Report - 6/13/2010

Quabbin Observation Tower and View from the Top of Windsor Dam

(route passes along road at base)

The Major Taylor Ride (AKA The Quabbin Century) has been a staple in the central Massachusetts cycling calendar since the inaugural version of the event 22 years ago. The ride is put on by the Seven Hills Wheelman, and features three distances - 100K (62 miles), 100 Miles, and 200K (125 miles).

The 2010 edition of the event was held on June 13 and a total of twelve Thread City Cyclists met the challenge. Beth Hankins, Alan Pelletier, and Ray Torres rode the 100-miler as a group and we had three groups riding the 200K: 1) Fran Storch and Dave Waldburger, 2) Judy & Steve Borrman, and 3) Agatha Pohorylo, Eric Anderson, Chris Stoltze, Joe Drivere, and Yours Truly. The following report is for the latter group, but others will likely chime in with their experiences also.

Of the five in our group that did the double metric, only Eric and Joe had originally intended to. Agatha and I were cajoled into it during the Saturday TCC ride, and Chris was ordered to comply. As Chris informed me by e-mail the night before, I'll be there for the 200K at 7:00, but not if it's raining.

At 7:00 on Sunday morning in Rutland, Mass., it was in fact raining; however, it apparently was not raining when Chris left Tolland, and now he was at the start, so he was pretty well committed. We rolled out of the parking lot at the start as the rain let up. Roads were still wet, and we cruised through the first five downhill miles imbibing worm-laden tire spray. At about the 30 mile mark the route turned into the Quabbin Reservoir Reservation and we turned onto a short loop that first descended down a long hill to the base of the Windsor Dam and then snaked several hundred feet back up to the top of the dam. Chris elected to skip the descent and climb and headed across the flat top of the dam to meet us as we climbed the hill. He was universally derided for his cowardly conduct and officially disqualified from the team. To our dismay, he ignored this edict and rode the rest of the ride with us, a dishonored man.

From the dam, the route climbed up a formidable hill to the 50-foot high Quabbin Lookout tower. While Eric climbed up the observation tower, the rest of us relaxed at the base making light banter and eating the beef jerky that Agatha has become famous for providing. Eric was disappointed to find that the windows at the top of the tower were sealed, which scuttled his plans to spit, pee, or hurl objects at his comrades below.

After the 50 mile point at the intersections of Routes 9 and 202 in Belchertown, the double metric course split off from the Century. The Century route heads up the big rollers along the western side of the Quabbin on Route 202, while the Double Metric heads further west on flatter terrain toward Amherst before hooking north and re-joining the Century at the north end of the reservoir. We picked up a couple of extra riders along the way and headed north on mostly back roads to a nice rest stop at a country store. Chris noticed that his rear tire had 30 pounds of air in it and was sporting a big bulge (the tire, not Chris). He was able to convince one of the event organizers to lend him a replacement tire for the balance of the ride.

At about the 90 mile mark we were coming down a steep hill and around a blind corner which was followed in quick succession by a stop sign. Our two guest hangers-on managed to ride into each other at this point, resulting in a high-speed trip to the pavement for one of them. We helped to scrape him off the road - he was generally OK but had taken a bit of a whack to the head (cracked helmet) and was too shaken up to continue. Fortunately, the owner of the property that served as a landing zone for our hapless friend was willing to give him a lift to a spot where his wife could retrieve him.

Shortly before we hit the 100-mile mark in Petersham, Joe said in a quiet and somewhat pathetic voice, "Hey guys, do you think maybe we could dial it back a little for the next section?" For those of you that know Joe, he is not normally one to file the request to "dial it back". After much guffawing and derision, we agreed to dial it back for a little while with the understanding that Joe's request would be publically outed in this venerable forum.

The last 30 miles of the Quabbin Century and Double Metric feature three serious climbs - the first one climbing out of the Quabbin valley on Route 122, the second with about 15 miles to go on an endless wooded road, and the third - a climb of about 3 miles back up to the start/finish in Rutland. These serve as the final test and give you something to remember the ride by.

The 125-mile distance was the furthest that Joe and Chris had ever ridden and tied Agatha's long career ride. Most of the day turned out to be relatively dry, and we were happy campers at the end. We will definitely return.

The Seven Hills Wheelman put this event on with a club that has only about one-third of the members of the Thread City Cyclers. There's no reason we couldn't do a similar event in our neck of the woods. Stay tuned - the Board is starting to look into this possibility for 2011.

My First Crash

2010-05-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-27T18:12:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-27T05:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-24T04:39:00.000-07:00

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/

2010-05-23T12:58:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-04T08:15:00.001-07:00

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)

2010-05-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-05-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Bicycle Ballerinas?

2010-04-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

I thought I would inaugurate our new blog with this photo, unearthed on the TCC web site proper, and offer those pictured an opportunity to explain themselves. Or then again, for those of us NOT in the photo, here's your chance make your own assumptions. Click on "COMMENTS" below to read or submit... personally, I'm thinking this looks suspiciously like a choreographed move to the dance-floor classic, "YMCA" - on the way to letter C, perhaps? Perhaps instead of a bike toss at the end of the season this year we'll be having a TCC talent show?