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.

fender smasher

Nicknamed "the beast" by my friend Connie in honor of the heft of her steel frame - my Lemond Poprad is one tough cookie.  She's climbed El Yunque, made two vueltas around Puerto Rico, climbed to Puerto Rico's ridgeline 3 times, withstood a season of cyclocross with a rookie rider, completed the dusty climbs of D2R2, raced duathlons through small mountain towns, made a pilgrimage to Santiago, and soldiered on through 5 New England winters and over 7,000 miles of commuting.  This past week she had a fender smashing encounter with the front end of a Ford Explorer.  It was sad to see (and feel) the end result of that.  Certainly, not the start of spring that I was hoping for.  The race is on.  Which will be first - bike in ride-able condition or leg returned to unbruised condition?

Ultramarathon

I've thought for a while that people that run ultramarathons have something a little wrong with them.  I decided to see just how crazy they are by running one myself.  A month ago, a friend told me on Wed that there was an ultramarathon near my house on Sat.  I had no idea!  - and a race so small that it depends on word of mouth to attract athletes is appealing to me - in fact could not be passed up.    That race was laps of a 10 K course through the woods and featured a challenging section of rolling single track and enough ice that you had to wear spikes or Yaktrax on your shoes to avoid slipping around.  I missed the start after I went back to the car to get my Yaktrax.  My friend and I started at the back.  Easy jog, he knew many of the other runners and we had a chatty first lap.  Lap number 2, steady easy pace - I got ahead of my friend in the singletrack and kept going, picked the pace up a bit.  I saw that a dog was running in the race, dog and runner were wearing harnesses and connected by a line.  Patrick and Mocha were waiting in the woods to say hi.  Lap 3, I couldn't see anyone ahead of me for some sections of the course and a few people passed me.  I passed some others.  The rolling single track took some effort, even at the slow pace - and I saw some people walking on it.  Not the leader of the race.  He passed me on the singletrack going so fast he slid through some of the corners.  The straight and flat section seemed to have stretched somehow - when did it end?    I had intended to run 3 laps, but I was going so slowly, it seemed like an opportunity to push for a mental challenge - heck I've been nothing but lazy for months now - many other people were running another lap.  Lap 4, alone for most of it and super slow.  Passed by a solid looking woman wearing a camelback - not just passed- left in the dust actually.  I did pass a old man with a flowing white beard and a dog that was running off leash in the race.  Chug chug - chatted with another runner -and was pretty happy when the parking lot came around again.  Good luck to those making the final lap- I thought I would have walked some sections had I kept going.

Last weekend we made an early morning trip to the Cape for a 50 K race on the beach.  That is an event that warrants more preparation that I put into it (none).  The race started on a cold beach - temps in the 20s and into the wind.  This was not the beach running I've done before (on a solid surface, for a half mile, years ago).  It was a rocky beach with plenty of loose deep sand - and the sections that weren't on the beach were on a road that had a surface or loose sand or rocks - not much better at all- except no wind on the road.  The race was 2 loops of a figure 8 type of course.  When we approached the first turn on the course, the leader was about a quarter mile ahead of me.  A few miles later and I could barely see anyone ahead of me.  I had to stop for a break in the bushes and quite a few people passed - so I had someone to look at again.  On we went, past beach houses - again I couldn't see anyone ahead by the footprints did indicate I was on course.  It was peaceful, nice back there in the dunes.  I had run out of food and water but surely we were close to the car and start of the 2nd lap was coming up.  To the contrary, about 5 miles on the beach into the wind stood between me and the car.  What a slog!  Sand was in my shoes, I was depleted, and motivation was in question.  I had come here because I like the beach - ha!  the beach was out to show me what brutal unforgiving force nature is.  I was thrilled to reach the parking lot and ate some soup with others that were finishing after only one lap.  I told Patrick about how hard it was to run on sand while dumping my shoes.  The 2nd lap was slow and more like hiking than running.  I later found out that I had been the 1st woman until about mile 20 - when I was left in the dust by the leader.   It allowed for plenty of thought and reflection.  Especially the long finish stretch on the beach - that really had some surreal aspects - run to the horizon on sand - it seemed like a dream.  The next person ahead of me was barely in sight - and pulling away farther as time went by.  It was not clear where on the beach the finish actually was - someone out there.  I ran the last mile or so with Mocha on a leash.  Mocha finished an ultramarathon!

I'm alive in 2013!

Kicked off the New Year with a ride to the beach with a great group from Exeter, New Hampshire.  Good challenge to increase my fitness this year when they reminded me what it feels like the get the legs churning and heart pumping.  My puppy Mocha gives me daily inspiration to wake up rejuvenated, each day totally fresh and full of possibilities.

New Year's was the 60th anniversary of the date Peace Pilgrim set off on her pilgrimage.  My news Year's resolution is to take her teachings to heart.  http://www.peacepilgrim.org/steps1.htm

 I gave the inside of most of the house a good deep clean for the New Year over my Christmas break and I see why Peace Pilgrim viewed possessions as burdens.    First weekend of  the year I ran an ad hoc 40K slowly in the woods and took a gun safety course during which I loaded, shot, and cleaned handguns (already contradicting the resolution of cultivating peace).    I also picked up Pablo Neruda's Extravagaria again and found this poem which I think is great for long distance hiking couples.

Con Ella
Pablo Neruda
Como es duro este tiempo, espérame:
vamos a vivirlo con ganas
Dame tu pequeña mano:
vamos a subir y sufrir
vamos a sentir y saltar.
Somos de nuevo la pareja
que vivió en lugares hirsutos
en nidos ásperos de roca
Como es largo este tiempo, esperame
con una cesta, con tu pala,
con tus zapatos y tu ropa.
Ahora nos necesitamos
no sólo para los claveles,
no sólo para buscar miel:
necesitamos nuestras manos
para lavar y hacer el fuego,
y que se atreva el tiempo duro
a desafiar el infinito
de cuatro manos y cuatro ojos.

With Her

Pablo Neruda
This time is difficult. Wait for me.
We will live it out vividly.
Give me your small hand:
we will rise and suffer
we will feel, we will fly.
We are once more the pair
who lived in barbed places,
in harsh nests in the rock.
This time is difficult. Wait for me
with a basket, with your clothes,
with your shoes and a shovel.
Now we need each other,
not only for the carnations’ sake,
not only to harvest honey -
we need our hands
to wash with, to make fire.
So in this difficult time
let us face up to infinity
with four hands and four eyes.

Celebrating Life

Great weekend to celebrate the lives of cyclists!  Anna and Sasha married on Saturday in a wonderful ceremony followed by night at the museum.  Susanne back in action in a 60 mile group ride.  Ironically, the dog bite incident encouraged her back into group riding.  She had previously sworn off most group riding following a head injury from a crash at Mayor's Cup.

On the topic of brain damage, I heard this very interesting article about an athlete on the radio yesterday.  This goes to support a few ideas

mind over matter
something is wrong with ultra runners

http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2011/apr/05/in-running/

Added in 2013, the link to Anna and Sasha's blog - continuing to celebrate life as a grand adventure in Germany http://annaandsasha.blogspot.com/

Ladies' 6 Gap

Belated post regarding my May 17th assault on the 6 Gaps Route with Jessica Eckhardt.  I was excited about the prospect of a all woman (yes, even just 2) 6 Gap ride.  Jessica has been riding likely about 10 x more than I have this year so I figured if I could stay on a bike all day, Jessica would have no problem.  The Friday morning before the big day I was so tired that I felt queasy- sadly this state was brought on my late nights at work not overtraining.   Thinking about getting up at 4 am to drive to Vermont seemed ridiculous.  I decided to call Jessica to cancel, but did not have a break to get to my desk all morning.  By the time I did get to my desk, she had sent an e-mail about how excited she was and had purchased and installed a mountain bike cassette.   I hoped for the best.

Jessica arrived after 10pm at my house with bug spray and sunblock attached to her bicycle with velcro.   Hmmm, I have never found bugs much of a problem on a road bike.  I have found extra weight to be a problem.  I assisted her with lightening up this set-up.  

9:30 on Sat morning, out bikes were rolling towards Brandon Gap.  Patrick did a nice job driving us to Vermont as well as climbing Brandon and Middlebury Gap.  He then left us for a nap.  Lincoln Gap was tough for Jessica, as she had a pinched nerve from a previous injury act up during the slow grinding section.  Given that there really was no rush, I found that it is possible to do a track stand for half a mile and finish the climb without getting the heart rate up.  This is a super slow method, but faster than pushing.  On the descent from Lincoln, my cable broke in the right shifter, setting the stage for the most challenging climb of App Gap ever.  We tried to give Patrick a call to let him know we could be stuck on the other side of the mountains with the mechanical- the call went to voicemail so we set about jury rigging the shifting.  Jessica really did a wonder on the bike and managed to get the chain into the 2nd easiest gear.  The cable was held in place using a multi tool and medical tape we bought in Lincoln. We had finished Baby Gap when Patrick arrived.  He got a signal when he got to Warren to bring us snacks.  We replaced the cable and I headed up App with all gears in play.  Jessica was not in great shape when we took our snack break- the pinched nerve was a frustrating concern.  She was determined to knock off the last 2 gaps though so with the sun low in the sky we headed up towards Roxbury.  Roxbury is a dirt climb which is challenging with 80 miles in the legs.  Loose gravel made it quite more challenging.  Considering Jessica's modest experience riding gravel, I wasn't too surprised to see her pushing through that section of road.  (I found here that if you go slow enough a dusk, actually bugs can be a problem)  I thought that this might be it for the ride and offered to turn around.  No turning around for Jessica - the bike could be pushed to the top and off we went.  We worked though most of the last climb in the dark and had a thrilling nocturnal descent to the car.  Jessica's headlight is so bright that I briefly thought that she was a car.

We finished around 9 or 9:30 and happily ate the two pizzas had Patrick bought for us while discussing the constellations overhead.  Really a great ride.  Unfortunately, Patrick had spent nap time delivering the cable to us, so did not get a nap.  He did manage to drive us back home with home sweet home at about 1 am. 

I'm hoping for some more long scenic rides this summer and hope Jessica is able to fulfill her dream of racing across America next summer.  This weekend she is riding her bicycle to Maine where she has business.  I hope that she is expensing the miles and lots of gummi worms.

Bicycle Race

Most unusual sight at the Sunapee Road Race today.  I passed a rider with only one leg.  That man has a remarkable attitude to enter a cycling race.  I think that the bicycle may be very special to him because I think that he can move around more smoothly on a bicycle than by hopping.  Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to discuss his motives for entering the race with him, although I am very interested. 

Also, I saw Susanne at the race today and she looks great.  I'm happy to see that she is back riding her bicycle as well. 

In general, turnout at the race today was quite low.  16 ladies in the Pro, 1,2,3 field.  I appreciate the promoter having the race for us.  Last weekend I drove 2.5 hours to Connecticut to find that the promoter had cancelled the Pro,1,2 race at the Nutmeg Crit on the day of the race because of low numbers of preregistered ladies.  I arrived a half hour before the men's race and missed the chance to jump into my kit and jump into the men's race - so I went back home bummed out about waste of lovely day in the car.

Today was a great day for a bike race.  This one left me motivated to improve my fitness.  My long hours at work combined with laziness has left me in sluggy condition.

The Susanne Diaries

Cycling has been on the back burner lately for me as I'm busy with work, finishing up my master's degree and enjoying some time with Patrick. After nearly 18 years of spending a fair bit of time enjoying solo outdoor activities and not heeding the warnings of others regarding the risks of these, I was quite shaken up by some recent news from my friend, Susanne. She was riding her bicycle home from work on one of the first warm spring days here when a pit bull ran into the road and bit her on the shin. I call this post the Susanne diaries because when I went to visit her yesterday she was losing track of the events of the days she has spent in the hospital. One day was marked by the beginning of shots in the stomach. Another by feeling horrible from pain medicine and throwing up. Another day was surgery prep. Another day was bad news that the surgery did not go as hoped. Another day was when a needle was sewn into her and she became a mass balance - bags of fluid going in bags of fluid coming out. The real Susanne diaries are typed on a i phone inside of Susanne's forest of flowers and stuffed animals. Tough times for Susanne and Tim.