Maple Syrup Ride

Did a bit of exploring yesterday and I think I have found close to the most awesome route around here - cannot wait to go back and try a variation with a bit less main road and a bit more exploring of the hills in the north.  http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1411544  This ride has the highlights of starting place a short half hr drive from my home- and 15 min from a Pho restaurant to grab carryout on the way home.  Cycle friendly roads the whole way.  Some opportunities for solid efforts on hills and fun descents.  Shade.  Goes by appealing farms in the hills with the opportunities for a stop for ice cream here https://plus.google.com/116956412404407061357/about?gl=us&hl=en.  Ice cream comes in a portion size perfect for mid ride and tastes incredible - favored with maple syrup from the farm.  Also has a stop at a public water fountain with shade and park bench in Townsend. 

Other cycling misadventures - last weekend - threw the chain a few miles into what promised to be a fun race at Purgatory.  Had a fairly solid and enjoyable 50 mile TT after that - just too out of shape to catch back on.  Did manage (true sign of out of shapeness) to tweak my lower back grinding up the little wall there which has put a damper on subsequent efforts this week.  Had intended to go to Wells (practice crit) 3 times now and keep finding excuses 1 rain, 1 got an invite for social ride, today used the back and Patrick's reluctance to drive an hour when we plan to entertain this afternoon and have massize clean up to do yet as an excuse.  Not getting any faster here.

I have overall felt considerably better this spring than all previous here.  Better rested, less irritable, more able to clear the mind. 

Possible Titles for yesterday's misadventure: Real Slow, Shorts not to Wear for Long Rides, Catastrophic Bike Failure

Sometimes at D2R2 http://www.franklinlandtrust.org/randonnee.html, a wonderfully long hilly bike ride in the late summer - I see people that look like they rode to the start on bicycles loading with camping gear.  The area around Deerfield is so quiet and scenic and ripe for bicycle exploration that this has been a little fantasy of mine for a while.  Yesterday was a 300k Brevet from Bedford, Boston area to the river valley in the Berkshires.  I decided to bag on plans for training for racing to go on this exploratory trip.  The morning got off to an excellent start as I arrived to the start on time at 6 am fully packed up and ready to roll.  I rode near the front of the group, enjoying following others through the turns and not worrying about the cue sheet - I had decided to leave my GPS off to conserve battery for later in the ride.  About 8 miles in, I shifted into the big ride on a slight descent and felt the chain drop - to the outside - then an odor of burning tire and significant bike wobble.  I wanted to raise my hand to alert those behind me - but I was holding the bars tight trying to keep the bike up.  Those behind me made some yelps as I worked through the group to the ride side of the road and dismounted.  The derailer had torn into multiple bits which I assume scattered on the road, severely scratched the crank and wrapped around the cassette - oh and on further inspection had also bent half the spokes and broken the seat stay. 

Well, there went any chance of completing the ride and getting home for dinner - actually how to get home at all was a bit of a question.  The ride coordinator offered to pick me up and drop me at my car.  Back to the race training plan (no exploring) except crap - no racing bike to train on.  I called former teammate, Sam, and we had a good laugh about the demise of the bike.  Patrick to the rescue bringing the beast out ready for action - minus pedals or wrench to remove the ones from the race bike.  A friendly jogger led me (coasting the bike with no pedals) to her house to borrow a wrench - and I was back on the course about 1 hour and half later just as the summer heat was moving in.

 It seemed like I just couldn't get the beast to move - kept stopping to check out directions, backtrack to the course, look for more water.  Following the cue sheet gave me a chronic case of "Are we there yet?" constantly looking for the next turn and wondering if I had missed it.  I considered how long it would take me to catch up with others at the slow pace - quite some time indeed.  There were some lovely views and it was a hard ride.  My shoulder ached and my shorts turned out to have been a very poor selection for the trip.  After a while fingers on the  left hand started to tingle from that shoulder.  Oh and did I mention hot foot - I got into the habit of coasting down about any stretch of road that could be coasted.  Stops were minimal as I pressed on in the hopes of catching up to someone and having a chat.  The empty roads seemed terribly lonely.  After over 6 hours, I did catch up to other riders that we nice enough, but they also kept stopping so it was hard to ride with them.  After a lengthly stop to chat and try to force food down followed by a pretty significant scenic detour - I realized I had made 5 miles of progress on the course in nearly 2 hours.  I was on pace for a 2 am finish - my rear end was flaming and my shoulder was irritated by riding in drops, standing, bumps, and gravel - pretty much all riding conditions.  My mindset in the previous hours made me consider just how challenging a long solo trip really is (this had been less than a day after all).  I decided that at least today (and yes at the time I thought NEVER AGAIN - I didn't have it in me and was greatful for an offer of a ride back after 140 miles.

running in springtime

This winter was a fun one for running with the BRC  http://www.borderlinerunningclub.com/, around the neighborhood and on local trails.  I ran the Stu's 30K in March - something of a tradition for me - I think this was the 4th time.  Last year I ran quite slowly and spent my time chatting with ultramarathon friend Neil, getting ideas together for future free time activities.  This year I decided to pick up the pace and try to give pace with the most fit looking woman.  It was a challenge and my legs starting hurt after about, oh 4 miles.  Twice a week training didn't really do it but I pressed on to the half way point at which time I was leading the women at an unsustainable pace (for me).  At that point, the previously identified most fit looking woman of the race and two others picked up the pace and gradually disappeared down the road.  I continued my chugging around the reservoir enjoying the views of snowy trees and pace of feet ahead of me.  Happy to make a personal record this year, beating my time from 2004.

A friend (cyclocross racer) suggested that I run the Seven Sisters Race in Amherst http://www.7sisterstrailrace.com/.  This turned out to be an great idea - as it involved a trip to Amherst on a day with wonderful spring weather and blooms.  A large tent on the green housed a women's association booksale and we made some wonderful find there, A Year in Provence and Coyote along with a handful of travel books I hope to take to the beach later this year.  We enjoyed exploring a woods in town with Mocha and discovered a lovely river and labyrinth there.   An of course the race - this is really one for a cyclocross racer - as it consisted of a series (12 miles in fact of steep run ups - followed by steep descents.  With no bicycle - I was pretty slow on the descents - especially compared to the seasoned trail runners.  I started near the front of the race and was passed by about 30 guys on descents.  The race has a lot of people and I'm happy that I got up near the start line - even then I was stuck in traffic for the first mile but plenty of space after a few miles.  Since the race in March I had taken my running down to once a week and since shoulder injury (Ford Explorer I'd stopped going to the gym).  I'd say I had about the min training I'd consider trying to do this event with and really I'm fortunate to not have sprained an ankle.  I did learn something about cross training though - it is a good idea to put in the time on core training.  The day prior to the race I rode a 200K brevet on my racing bike and I'd noticed that my lower back felt a bit sore during that.  The results of that during the running race were comical.  I felt like a great ape running up the steep slopes.  My lower back was so fatigued that I couldn't hold my torso upright - this of course made me prone to tipping over in the forward direction.  Yes, I do still have all my teeth but finished with a bit more mud and scratches than most.

A week before the seven sisters race I got an e-mail that my number had come up on the waitlist for the Wapack Race  http://wapacktrailrace.com/, one that Neil had told me about as a particularly brutal ultra which ran up a mountain.  Hmm, I didn't remember signing up for that in Feb but the website promised pretzels at aid stations along the trail and for the short version (21.5 miles) a shuttle bus to the start of the trail.  Neil, his dog, Mocha, and Patrick, and I had a wonderful hike on a portion of the trail a week prior and it seemed like a real gem, lovely views and few visitors.  I signed up for the race - after all with the 7 Sisters race the week prior, I'd have one solid training session.  The race turned out to be wonderful!  Small so no congestion on the trail at all!  Wonderful trail - even up the mountain wasn't that bad - rocks and roots but at my own pace it was fine.  I was able to see runners ahead a good portion of the time to keep my motivated but also had some peaceful time on the ridge by myself (then blown by on the descent).  I got some personal satisfaction by passing a number of guys on steep sections.  The race goes by a pond which is remote and really lovely - trying to figure out when I can find a full day to hike in and see it again.  The way that the race works is people doing the short version start mid morning on one end of the trail and those running 50 miles start on the other very early.  So, coming down the mountain, I got to say hi to the all of the ultramarathon runners including Neil - all of whom were very encouraging - I thought this was kind of funny - they have very positive attitudes for people that have been running rough trail - for hours.