Tim's Ride

Tim's Ride

Tim is the captain of the PHAT Tuesday PMC team. The first time I rode on the Tuesday evening rides he rolled up next to me and said "Don't kill yourself trying to catch up (to the fast riders who just dropped me)!"

This was a 55 mile rider that meandered around Metro West. Tin, his brother Mark, and I were the only ones who downloaded the ride to our respective GPS units prior to the ride. Mark and I were the only 2 riders who did the entire route correctly.

The "pack" missed a turn in Westwood. Tim set out using 21st century technology (a cell phone) to track them down. I rode with Mark wondering if: a) we were going to catch up to the group b) the group was hopelessly lost.

It had turned out it was b). Mark needed to make a pit stop and we were at a point in our ride where we weren't going to pass any more convenience stores or gas stations. However I knew we would be passing the Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk. They had bathrooms and a "bubbler".

While Mark was inside I figured I would stand by the road and see if Tim would catch up to us. In less than a minute, I saw a pack of riders approaching. It was Tim and the lost pack. Talk about timing.

Tim was nice enough to route the ride right past my house. So when I got home I stopped and waved as everybody else rode by :-)

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PHAT Tuesday Ride: Marty Sucking Wind

Need to ride more

I was sucking wind by mile 5. Stupid me trying to hang on to Ed's wheel early on in the ride.

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Cold, Slow, Phat Ride...

It's May, Right?

Overcast, just under 60° F (and dropping), it was cold. Long bike pants, feather weight thermal under my North Face Shell and I was still a bit chilly.

I rode with the slow group, only they weren't as slow as h was. I got dropped at mile 4.5 on Burnt Swamp road. Thank goodness there was an even slower group behind me that I was able to jump onto. That group was being pulled by Jamie, the newest member of Team PHAT Tuesday. I was determined not to get dropped by Jamie, so I rode tight on his wheel and matched every gear change a change in cadence that he made. By doing that I was able to settle down and get into a groove.

Slow

Last September 1st I did this ride in 1:21:38, averaging 18.4 mph. Tonight I rode it in 1:34:27, averaging 15.9 mph. It was my slowest PHAT Tuesday ride on record.

Well, it can only get better from here on out.

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Tuesday Morning - Last Day of Unemployment

Nice Weather

It was a perfect morning for a ride. I debated on whether or not to go because I was planning on joining up with the Phat Tuesday ride later that evening. However there was a chance of thunderstorms in the evening.

I decided that the weather was too nice to NOT ride, so I went out for a 20 mile ride in the morning. It was a sweet ride :-)

Phat Thunder

It's a good thing I got that ride in. There were severe thunderstorm warnings for right when the training ride was supposed to happen. We're talking about hail, 70 mph gusts, and other fun stuff. I think about 10 people showed up. Then the winds came, then it rained. I knew more was on the way. The ride was cancelled. Simply unsafe even if it did stop raining

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Phast PHAT Ride Tonight

Phast Group

Tonight I decided to see how long I could hang on to the fast group. I made it almost all the way to mile 9. I got dropped by the "farms" in North Attleboro. I averaged 20.8 mph at the half way point.

I took a long break and rolled out with the third group. I had a good second half and averaged 19.2 mph for the whole ride. I haven't ridden this ride that fast since September 2007. I tied my second fasted average speed :-)

I am so behind on my bike blogging. I need to blog about my PMC Ride, and my subsequent trip to NJ.

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Over the shoulder

Over the shoulder, originally uploaded by Martinator.

Here comes Phat Tuesday on the last training ride before the PMC.

PHAT Birthday Ride

Happy Birthday to Me!

It has been 3 years since I did my first Century. It was on day 2 of a 3 day, 250 mile ride from High Point, NJ to Cape May, NJ. [http://martinator.com/bikenj/].

New Tires

My Conti 4-Season tires were shot. The rear tire had a puncture hole it it (it was also worn flat like a drag racing tire) and the front tire was coming apart at the seams (on the sidewall). So I waited until the last minute to pick up some road tires from the bike shop in Maynard across the street from where I work: Ray and Sons Cycle.

The owner is a bit of a character and I sometimes wonder if he is all there. Their selection of accessories and supplies is very limited. However, like I said, they are across the street.

I walk in and ask if they have any Conti's. "No. We haven't ordered any in a while" was the response. I told him I was looking for a set of road tires, size 700x23. He goes into the back and comes out with Specialized Armadillos and All Condition Sport tires. With such a limited selection I opt for the less expensive (and lighter) All Condition tires.

I really wanted a set of Conti Attack/Force tires, but at least the set I did get was half the price.

I arrive at the PHAT Tuesday ride early enough for me to mount the new tires onto my bike. Of course I mount the rear tire backwards (they're directional). I'll fix that this coming weekend, like it really matters.

The Specialized All Condition Tires

They feel heavier that tires I have run in the past (Conti 4000, Attack/Force, 4 Season). They are meatier and almost feel like I have motorcycle tires. This actually helped me when I lost my concentration descending past the Big Apple Farm and almost ride off the road. I had to quickly brake and turn to avoid going into a ditch. When I did that my bike over-steered a bit but the meaty rear tire regained traction real fast when I got pointed in the right direction.

I'll keep these tires for a while and see how I like them. Maybe I'll get a different set when my personal economy gets better and use these as a spare.

Mistake #1 - The Fast Group

Yup, I tried to hang with the fast group. Yup, I was out of my league. Yup, I burned myself out a bit trying to hang on. Nope, the motivational coaching by the guy in the Team Landry's gear didn't help my legs pedal faster.

I dropped back and rode with the second group. I got dropped by them on Fales St. Not by much though. They were probably 200" ahead of my all the way until 120. Jonathon (blue jersey, blue & silver Trek), and I worked together to try and catch the group. We lost the group on 120 and that is where I got dropped by Jonathon also. I need to get better on the climbs!

Hiroshi came up behind me and pulled me into the halfway point. As he was doing so, Maryellen passed us by riding like she was on a leisure ride on a bike path.

Dam Dogs!

After the rest stop a group of us was climbing onto the Dam by the reservoir. There were three teenage girls with two Chocolate Labs, unleashed. The dogs were running in front of, around, and chasing down the riders ahead of me. One dog was running less than 6 inches along side Jonathon's rear wheel. Not a good situation. I knew I was next. So I grabbed my bottle of Gatorade and got ready. As soon as the one dog started to chase me down, I turned around and gave him a face full of Gatorade from my bottle.

That stopped him in his tracks.

I learned about this trick from the article on Roadbiker.com: How to Deal With Bad Dogs

Play douse the Doberman. If you see big, fast Prince up ahead and know that he sees you, sprinting might not work. Especially if the road is tilting up. Take out your water bottle. Just having it in your hand may make him stay away. If he does come near you, give him a faceful and a loud yell. This distraction will slow him down, though he may come back for more. Just don’t distract yourself and ride off the road.

-Roadbiker.com

Mistake #2 - Make Sure the Rear Wheel is "On"

With the dogs behind me I focused on riding with the group I was with. We were slowly reeling in the group ahead of us. The ride around the reservoir it typically moderate as at the end we start to climb up into some rilling hills.

Things are going good when we hit the first climb. "Crunch" "Grind" My rear derailleur is making weird noises as I stand up to attack the hill.

Apparently, when I changed my tire, I didn't tighten down my rear wheel enough. So when I applied extra torque, it torqued the wheel loose. I had to stop and reset the rear wheel. So now the second half of tonight's ride would become a solo excursion.

Summary for this Ride

18.7 avg at the halfway point; 17.4 avg overall.

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Late for PHAT Ride

Meeting Moved

My 1:00 pm meeting got moved to 4:00 pm. Ugh! I normally get in early so I can leave at 4:00. That would normally give me pleeeenty of time to make it to the PHAT Ride. Sometimes I even go home to change. The meeting end just before 5:00. I should have time to make it down to the PHAT ride (from Maynard).

Getting There...

My Garmin nüvi 750 is telling me that I should arrive at the PHAT Tuesday Start around 5:42. Ok, that's good. But I'm hungry and I don't want to ride hungry. So I stop off at the Dunkin Donuts in Stow and grab a Gatorade and a Turkey Cheddar & Bacon Flatbread Sandwich. I get back in the car and the GPS now estimates that I'll arrive at 5:47. Ok.

Route 495 Traffic

I am moving along quite nicely though I notice there is significantly more congestion at this hour. That's to be expected. Then I hit traffic as I approach Route 9. Now I know from my past commutes back and forth to Merrimack, NH that there is a trick to dealing with this particular choke point.

No matter how much slower the right lane it, get in it. There are more cars traveling more tightly together in the fast lane. The slow lane has slower cars, but much less dense.

It's pays off. As I hit the route 9 exit, the traffic in the slow lane has much more room to "compress" and I eventually pass the cars I used to be behind in the fast lane, by a lot. Now, at the Route 9 exit, is when you start getting back over to the fast lane to avoid the cars coming in from Route 9 and the eventual backup getting on to the Mass Pike (which is the next exit).

After all the traffic, my ETA is now 5:56. That is cutting it close!

5:56; I Get There

I arrive and everybody is all line up and ready to go. They are listening to Tim promote the PHAT Tuesday Night at Cole's Tavern Event. I scramble. I get the bike off and as I am starting to change my clothes, they leave.

I get dressed, jump on the bike and GO. I am going to try and catch the group. It is a large group. I don't even bother to activate the track log on my GPS.

I pedal my ass off.

I eventually catch the group in my sights in the Jefferson neighborhood. I almost catch the group 1.5 miles in. I round the corner and see Marc Mann finishing up allowing the group to cross at Vine St & Forest St. That is the last time I see that large group.

I keep going thinking I might have a second chance catching them at the descent past the Big Apple, but it was not meant to be. I join up with one of the stragglers and I ride with him until Fales St.

Short Cut

I know I am not going to catch the group, but I do know a shortcut that will shave off 4 miles and get me to the halfway rest point much faster. I take it and at 6:30 I am waiting for somebody to show up. 9 miles and I feel like I haven't even wrmed up yet. The fast group rolls in. They were averaging 21+ mph. Then the second group rolls in, and then everybody else. I'm the only one who isn't sweating. I averaged 17.0 mph over 9+ miles getting to here, by myself.

The Second Half

The second half of the ride I rode with the usual suspects. At one point Ed attacked the group on a climb on Hancock St. I was on his wheel and I wanted to see if I could hang on. I did :-)

At the top of that climb Ed noticed I was riding his wheel and called me "a lazy bastard". I enjoyed that immensely :-) I've learned a lot about tactics since I've joined this ride 2 years ago.

Mount St.

My new 12-25 rear cassette served me well. I had less trouble climbing up this road. I didn't "grind it out" as much and I recovered a lot faster towards the top.

The rest of the ride was uneventful yet fun.

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A Gray Phat Ride

A Gray Phat Ride, originally uploaded by Martinator.

Tim, Bob, and a few others making our way over the dam at the Diamond Hill Reservoir. As you can see from the picture, it was a lovely, late spring day here in New England ;-)

When I left my house (I had time to swing by and change) it was overcast and dry. I checked the radar and no green blotches were on the horizon. I get to the start and, well, it wasn't exactly raining, but it wasn't exactly "not" raining. Sort of heavy misting. Scott was circling that parking lot on his bike. It didn't "suck enough" to cancel, but it was right on the line...

I ate a good amount of Strawberry Speckled Peanut Butter M&M's at work, and that played heavily in my decision to go ahead and ride. I had to burn those off somehow...

As it got closer to 6:00, more people showed up, about 15 or so riders. It was going to be a cool, row, ~wet ride, so I wasn't predicting and speed records for the night.

Since there was only 15 people, there was only a fast and a slow group. I tried to hang on to the fast group. I should have known better than to try and hang onto the wheel of somebody with an NEBC jersey ;-)

Dual Device Failure

My GPS turned itself off early in the ride a couple of times and my CatEye was skipping beats (it only logged 23 of the 25 miles.). I am going to have to do some math with the available data to figure out my moving average.

UPDATE! (June 11, 2009)

After hacking into the incomplete GPX file my Device generated, I calculated that my average for this ride was 17.1 mph. not bad all things considered.

Anyway, it was worth it to get out and just get some more miles under my belt.

Even PHaster...

Hungry...

On my way to tinight's ride I was feeling hungry. It isn't good to go on one of these ride hungry from the get go. Hmmm, what to eat? I swung by the dunkin Donuts and grabbed myself a Ham, Egg and Cheese on an English Muffin. Mmmmmmmm...

Blog Fan Base

Apparently this blog is getting a fan base :-) People have started coming up to me once they find out who I am and tell me they follow me on this blog. Cool!

Fast Start

Typically the first few miles of this ride the group rolls out at about a ~15 mph warm up pace. Tonight, I looked down and noticed the pace was more like ~17 mph. The line was fast tonight and it hung together for the most part (except for the skinny fast people traveling at Warp 2 way ahead of us).

Fast Group

Once we rolled onto Burnt Meadow road I was working pretty hard not to get dropped. Not so hard as to burn out, but closing the gap at strategic moments, drafting whenever possible, etc. Once we got to the farms in North Attleboro I was still hanging in there I was happy.

As I am hanging on to this group, I keep thinking: "I sure am glad I stopped off at Dunkin Donuts..."

Dropped on 120

Pulling onto 120 I found myself pulling the group into a head wind. I didn't want to kill myself because just about everybody in this group are better climbers them me. So I dropped to the back, and then halfway up the climb I got dropped, but not too bad.

The "Catch" on 120

I was at least able to minimize the gap climbing up 120. I knew I could go faster then the paceline on the descent. I reeled them in soon after crossing the RI border.

Dropped once again on 120

After catching the group I was hanging on the back. The good thing about that is less work. The bad thing is that you are dependant on the people in front of you to hang on to the group. The two riders in front of me got dropped and thus, myself along with them. No big deal as we were almost to the halfway point.

19.5 @ The Halfway Point!

Fastest split time so far this year!

Bill Wiping Some Bugs Off of His Face, originally uploaded by Martinator.

Bill did his fair share of pulling the line. Is there any irony that we are all camped in the Handicapped spots for our break?

Refueling, originally uploaded by Martinator.

Ingesting Gu, Clif Shots, and the like at the Halfway point in Cumberland, RI.

Martinator Pleased with his Average, originally uploaded by Martinator.

The obligatory self portrait :-)

Fast Ride Back

It was a fast ride back and I was doing my best to hang on again.

"I sure am glad I stopped off at Dunkin Donuts..."

Solo Finish

I got dropped on Mount Street and had a fast, solo ride back to the start.

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Faster Phat Tuesday Ride

Chilly Weather

It was a cool gray evening, and the winds hinting of oncoming rain... Enough bike noir... It was cool enough to justify long pants, long sleeve shirt shirt, and even an Under Armour Mens HeatGear Loose-Fit T-Shirt. I kept thinking about biking in the cold rain this past Saturday in summer gear. The more I thought about that, the more I was convinced I should dress warm. I'm glad I did.

Decent Pace

There was a large group heading onto Burnt Meadow road, almost everybody. Heading south towards Attleboro I was with a group that was going a decent pace, but I felt I could go faster. I saw Ed break away and join the group ahead of us. I wanted to bridge the gap before it got to wide, but I had to be patient and pick my moment.

Jumping the Gap

After the last minor climb on Fales St. before the stop sign I made my move. I saw the group that Ed was in slowing down for the stop sign and I jumped out of the group I was with and poured it on (but not too hard). I knew that they had to slow down and check traffic and I could gain enough ground during that time. It worked. Myself and another rider who jumped on my wheel had caught the group :-) I hung with them all the way to route 120.

Passing on the Climb Up 120

Route 120 has a decent climb into Rhode Island. Usually I get dropped here. This time however, I found myself passing the other membersin that group as I climbed. It was a unique experience. After that I hung on somebody's wheel on the descents (I was itching to pass) until Ed made his move. I quickly jumped on his wheel.

18.4 at the Half Way Point

We rode into the halfway point (where we rest and regroup for a few minutes) just as the "fast" riders were heading back out.

Heading Back

The pace to Mount St. seemed quicker than usual. However I was able to keep up. I think my thigh muscles were awakened on this past weekend vertical rich metric.

Of course, how fast could we be going if the new girl on the hybrid bike was keeping pace with us ;-)

Admittedly she looked like a cyclist who simply looked like she had borrowed a bike, any bike, for this ride. I have a feeling that when she shows up with a road bike, we are all doomed.

Mount St.

Let's just say I really need to order that 12-25 rear cassette for my bike. The 11-23 just isn't doing it for me.

The Chase

After Mount St. I pulled joe and Ed along the top of Union trying to catch Bill and a few others before "The Neighborhood". We eventually caught them at the entrance to "The Neighborhood". It is good to be in a paceline coming through "The Neighborhood". There is an ever so slight uphill grade at the beginning, then it descends all the way back to the start (essentially). So if you aren't in a paceline at the beginning of "The Neighborhood", you will never catch anybody in front of you.

The paceline I was in this night was averaging 21-25 through here.

Finish With a Sprint!

Right near the end of "The Neighborhood" is a good place to break away and sprint. You rest while you draft others in the paceline and then when the moment is right, you break away. Of course if you do it too early you just look foolish when you run out of gas and everybody catches and passes you.

I made my move and poured it on. I quickly jumped out front and was doing ~33 mph for a clip. Ed jumped out too and I think he rode my wheel as I sprinted out front. It isn't smart to look back in moments like that. Anyway, it was fun.

In the end I averages 17.7 mph for this nights ride :-) 18 is on the radar...

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Phat Tuesday Ride

Beer Shirt

Tonight I wore my limited edition Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen shirt. I love that it is yellow with a tall glass of beer on both the front and the back. I always get a comment from somebody whenever I wear it.

Not Dropped!

For the second time this year I hung with a group all the way to the half way point. It is just a matter of connecting with the right group. Someday I'll hang onto the 20 mph group...

Passed by a Mountain Bike

On Burt Swamp/Fales Rd I heard what I thought was a motorcycle coming up behind us. "Car Back!" I yelled. Soon after that, a guy on a mountain bike passed us by. He had a gas tank and a motor on it that sounded like an underpowered weed wacker. I think he was doing somewhere around 30 mph.

Big Ring!

As our group pulled onto 120, I figured I should shift into the big ring up front and get ready for the descent. Much to my surprise, I was already in the big ring. Nice...

18.6 at the Halfway Point, originally uploaded by Martinator.

18.6 at the Halfway Point. Not bad for this early in the season.

Mount St.

Here is where I wish I had a lower gear. I grind my way to the top as most others pass me by. I did pass one person, but he blew by me after we got to the top.

Descent Catch

The group I got dropped by on Mount St was within my sites. I knew I could make up ground on the descent down Upper Union St. I usually like, no, love to early apex the turn onto Otis St. and try to carry as much speed and momentum as possible. I think I took the 90° turn at 22 mph :-). the trick is to shave off speed on entry then accelerate once past the Apex. I learned that from AutoCrossing.

I eventually caught the group before we got back to "the neighborhood". If you don't catch a group by then, you won't.

Feeling Good

I finished the ride with a 17.6 mph average. It felt good.

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First PHAT Tuesday Training Ride

First Ride of the Year (at least for me)

Is it going to rain? How cold will it be? How should I dress for tonights ride? There are all the thoughts going through my head as I drive south on 495 through spotty rain, ominous clouds, and hints of blue sky. Well, it didn't rain, was 50/50 clouds and sun (before the sun started to set) and ~60° F. I wore my long riding pants, my Germany shirt, and a long sleeve featherweight layer under my shirt. just the right amount of clothing.

Familiar Faces

This will be the third year of riding this Tuesday Evening ride and the first as an actual member of (PMC) team PHAT Tuesday. It was good to see a lot of familiar faces. I even rememberd some names ;-)

Not Pushing It

This was my first time out with the group this year and I didn't want to push it. Typically I try to hang on to the faster riders and just wind up getting dropped and then slogging it along trying to play catch up in "no man's land". This time I made sure not to get tempted to hang with the fast group. I would up riding with Tim and a couple of other PHAT Tuesday riders (Kevin, and Pete) on the first leg of the ride. It was nice riding that leg with a group for a change. Usually I get with the wrong group and get dropped here.

While we were riding, Tim and I were discussing the new website, the new blog, and the team's page on FaceBook. Interesting experience doing pseudo IT support while riding a bicycle.

Tim also introduced me to some of hte other team members. He also gave me tips on whose wheel I shouldn't ride to close to.

0:08 Seconds Faster

So I compared this ride with a ride from the same time last year. This ride I was 0:08 seconds faster :-) I guess I'm constistant.

The GPS

I loaded up my Garmin Etrex Legend GPS with brand new batteries before the ride. I didn't have any issues with it. A first for this year.

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Team Switch: I am now on Team Phat Tuesday

Why Not the PMC Monsters?

Well, to make a long story short: The team that was the PMC Monsters was not sanctioned by Monster this year and that really put a crimp in things. Most of the members of the PMC Monsters are merging with another team. I decided not to follow them.

Phat Tuesday

I decided to leave what was left of the PMC Monsters and join a team called Phat Tuesday. They are a well established team in the town I live in, (Franklin, MA).

I’ve ridden on their Tuesday Evening Training rides for the past couple of years so they are no strangers to me. Their founding member has been riding the PMC for 22 years.

I am eager to get my hands on their website: PhatTuesday.org. This team is also lacking its own FaceBook page. I plan on fixing that :-)

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Last Phat Ride for Me

Forgot My GPS

So the ride starts at 5:45 instead of 6:00, no problem. I arrive way too early as usual around 5:00. I make a phone call and start to get my bike together. At ~5:10 I realized I had left my Garmin eTrex Legend GPS at home. Hmmmmm, there is just enough time to shoot home, grab it, and get back. Barely enough time. Joe, another early bird says: "Forget about it. Enjoy the freedom." Timing would be too tight anyway and I decide to fore go it.

So as I continue to prep for the ride I realize that "Hey, maybe I could use my car's GPS device..." It is a Garmin nüvi 750. I know for a fact it keeps a log file in GPX format. I have also experimented uploading that GPX log file to Motionbased.com. So I take it off the dashboard, clear the log file, and pop it into my back pocket. It did the job :-)

Fast Start

Ed, Joe, Scott, a few others and myself rolled out first. These are riders I usually can keep up with. So it was a unique experience being in a lead group that I could hang on to. Or, at least that is what I thought. They were moving rather quickly and I got dropped at about mile 7 on the climb to Adams Farm on Burnt Swamp road.

Buh Bye...

Everybody regrouped at the halfway point and the second half was more sane than the first half. We were all moving along nicely and very civilized when Maryellen wrecked.

The Wreck

Maryellen, originally uploaded by Martinator.

As we were approaching the stop sign on Cherry street where it meets up with RT 121, Maryellen was at the back of the group and wasn't able to stop in time. She couldn't avoid the rider in front of her and lost her balance. A guy in a pickup truck that was behind us offered to take her bike and other's bikes back to Remmington-Jefferson. Somebody called 911 and the police and Paramedics were there rather quickly.

Maryellen Update from Bill Snapper

Hello All,

As you all know Maryellen was involved in a bike crash last night. She was banged up and bruised and has a broken wrist. I have not talked to her since she was brought into the hospital as she was in x-ray when I got there.

Bob Reed made sure she got home last night. Stephen Greco stayed at the hospital while I took Bob back to Franklin to get his car. Paul Metcalf took care of getting Maryellen's car and bike back to her home. Kevin and Debbie Robbins showed up at the hospital to see what they could do to help out when they heard.

This is a great community of people and last night was just one example of how everyone worked together to help out one of their friends. I'm proud to be part of this group.

I'm sorry I was not able to send this note to all that were there last night at the ride as I just didn't know who was there. If people signed up for the ride on the site sending out a note like this would have been so much easier. Please forward this to anyone you know that was at the ride that wants to know how Maryellen is. I'll send out an update later after I talk with Maryellen.

Best,

-Bill

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Phat Days are Numbered...

August Ends

As August comes to a close the days are getting shorter, the air is cooler and drier, and school starts. I may be able to sneak in one more Tuesday Evening ride next week, but after that I will be picking up my daughter from CCD.

New Seat Position

Riding with the new seat position felt more natural. I guess "not really noticing" the new position after the first 10 feet is a good sign. Though in the last mile I did feel some strain in my knees. I may need to raise the seat a notch or make it more horizontal.

Out of Gas

It felt like I ran out of gas on the first half of the ride. I haven't been riding much this month and I wonder if I have plateaued or regressed. I am doing the TFCE Century on September 7th so I hope I am in good enough shape for it. This Sunday I will be riding 50 miles on the NBW clubs Diamond Hill One ride. That should give me an idea how I will fare on the century ride.

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No Motionbased Data

The batteries died on my GPS unit so I do not have any map data. However I was able to get basic data like start time, end time and total moving time and get some stats that way. So for this ride I averaged 18.1 MPH overall, 18.9 in the first half, 17.1 in the second half.

Not bad for feeling like crap.

Slow...

Two Week Hiatus

It had been 2 weeks since I last rode and I think I felt it. I didn't feel 100% today. The first half of the ride I averaged somewhere in the mid 17 mph range. I accidentally wound up with the fast group and then got dropped. There really wasn't a B group(Maybe there was, but I wasn't in it) so I was alone for the better part of the first half. So I guess 17-something isn't bad for riding solo.

Taking it Easy

When I got to the halfway point, a "B" group of riders was there. Then a third group rolled in. Once we rolled out, I stuck with the third group of riders because I didn't want to struggle and try and keep up. Tim Brightman and Fred Paine were in the group I rode with for the second half. It was much more relaxed. The key sign of a relaxed group of riders is the fact that conversations are taking place during the ride :-)

The pace wasn't fast, but it also wasn't slow. I did notice though, that with the slower pace that I had much more energy for the climb up Mount St.

Seat Too High?

At the end of the ride Fred had commented that he noticed that I "rock back and forth" when I pedal. He though that my seat might be too high. Hmmmm. I had been raising my seat incrementally because my knees had been bothering me at the beginning of the season (Pateller Tendonitis). Now it turns out that I may have raised it too much. My manager at work had also noted in the past that my seat was angled forward and probably should be either neutral or angled back. Maybe I should actually get my bike professionally fitted?

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Phun!

Post PMC

For the core riders of the group, this was going to be a light, easy recovery ride. Well, I heard that last year and it was a pretty fast recovery ride back then. This year I thing they meant it though.

Nice Line

As always there was a fast group of riders. It was smaller this time. I stayed with Ed and a number of other familiar faces. There were about 10 or so of us and we rode together in a nice leisurely, pace line. Well, even though it felt leisurely, we still averaged 19 mph at the halfway point.

The line worked well together. People took turns pulling. the line didn't accelerate rapidly when the leader pulled off the front. There were also very few attacks.

We continued to hold the line together all the way to Mount St., which breaks apart any pace line.

Overall I averaged 18.4 mph. Which isn't too different when I am working harder trying to find/catch groups in the past and wind up in "No Man's Land". However is was much less work and much more fun :-)

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Dusted...

Damn Fast!

I don't know what the 20 or so bikers ate or drank, but I want some of that! They frigging flew last night. I heard one person who was with that group say they averaged well over 20 mph for the first half of the ride. No way I was keeping up with that. I didn't even try.

Fast Enough...

I averaged ~19.5 for the first half and ~17.5 for the second half*. About what I have been doing lately. I think I may need a different rear cassette for the climbing. Even in the lowest gear I am grinding up the ascents. Maybe I can just change the largest two rings on the back. We'll see...

18.6 mph!

UPDATE: I did 18.6 overall. Second fastest time this year :-)

*NOTE: The halfway point it at the lowest elevation point on the ride.

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Phat Tuesday Group Riding

(BTW: this is a pretty late posting for a Tuesday ride...)

This Ride's Goal

This rides goal was to stay with a group and not wind up in "No Man's Land". I made sure to start out in the back of the rollout so I wouldn't be tempted to be upfront. I didn't "fly" down Upper Union/Arnold St like I usually do. I waited at the Stop sign where the group as a whole usually breaks up making that left onto Rt 121/West St.

Then, on Burnt Swamp road, I found myself starting to separate from the group I was with. I purposefully slowed down and let them catch up.

I rode with this group all the way into Rhode Island. Then I miscalculated. I broke away from the group on what I thought was the last ascent on RT 120. It wasn't. I screwed myself.

Second Half...

I stuck with a group for the second half. It was much better than riding alone.

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