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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Slower is Phaster

Finding the Right Group...

The key to having a good group ride is finding the right group. I've been falling into the trap of trying to stay with a group that is too fast for me, only to tire out and et stuck riding alone trying to catch up. This time I had a goal of trying to stay with a group. The problem is finding the right group. Tonight it was more difficult trying to pick the right group because the start was more spread out and less orderly. The normal lead bikers of the group were posing for pictured with their 2008 PMC Pedal Partner. The rest of us headed out for the ride as if we were a crowd dispersing from a bad magic show in Quincy Market.

Joe and "No Man's Land, then Relief

Without trying to I wound up with the "fast" group. As usual, I got dropped at around mile 6. This time I was with Joe. It was his second time on the ride. Right about when we hit the farms in North Attleboro, I turned around and saw a good size group approaching us. Instead of making them try and catch me, I turned to Joe and said "Here comes a group. Let's let them catch us and we'll jump on!"

And we did.

We hung with that group all the way to the mid point rest stop.

Patience

Before we got to the rest stop we were all pretty much still together on the descent into RI on route 121. Typically here I get in the drops and try to max out my speed in order to try and catch up. This time I was part of a group and I was chomping at the bit, riding my brakes, trying not to "Jump ahead". There was one rider who did jump ahead and I could tell he was doing all he could do to stay ahead all by himself. That person was typically me. Not this time.

I waited until the group hit the last rolling ascent on 121 and then I made my move and broke away. I figured it was better etiquette and safer to break away on an ascent rather than a descent. I had a good amount of energy saved up from descending with the group. I caught the guy who broke away and rode his wheel all the way to the Rest Stop.

It felt slower being patient, but I think I put in my fastest "first half" so far this year.

Hiroshi, originally uploaded by Martinator.

This is Hiroshi at the halfway point rest stop. He bike, runs, swims, kayaks, and skis. I asked him "When do you work?", he replied "I fit it in..." :-)

Mount St.

Mount Street is becoming less and less intimidating with each and every ride. I just have to focus on climbing at my own pace and conserving energy. I hear some other riders breathing pretty heavy as they approach the top. I deliberately take long, slow, deep breaths as I pedal methodically up that climb. I find that by doing this, I have plenty of gas at the to to accelerate as the grade levels off.

The Neighborhood

Riding through the "Neighborhood" is fun when you are in a group. It is about a mile long gradual descent until the end. With a small group of riders (2, 3, or more...) you can get some good speed. If you are alone, you can still go fast, but you will never catch anyone. I was lucky enough to ride through here tonight with a group.

It seemed slower overall being patient and making an effort to not ride alone. However, in the end, I came within a minute of my fastest time this year. A lot of that had to do with energy conservation and using that stored energy at the right moments.

Slower is Phaster :-)

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Hot and Humid Phat Ride

Humid

It was hot. It was Humid. Occasionally there would be a breeze.

First Half

I kept up with the lead group until I couldn't. But I didn't get dropped until we hit the stretch of farmland in North Attleboro. I think the heat was getting to me as I took it easy rolling into RI where I usually try to push it on those rolling descents.

Keeping up with Ed in the Second Half

In the second half I decided to hang with my neighbor Ed. He races and is a more sane/tactical rider. I hung with him until he totally dusted me on a small climb. Then, off in the distance, I saw him motor-pacing. I eventually caught up to him at the top of Mount St.

Late Apexing...

LATE APEX

Turning into a corner late and missing the optimum apex point in order to straighten out the last part of the corner. This allows the driver to accelerate earlier and harder, gaining maximum speed down the next straight.

After Mount street there is a nice, fast descent on Union St (Arnold St in Wrentham). However, you do have to make a sharp 90° turn onto Vine St. That can be hairy. I like to late apex the turn and carry my speed. However, this time I found myself in a group descending the hill. Ed was in that group and he said something about "Careful, this guy will lead you out through the turn." I wasn't sure what that meant, but I knew it meant he wasn't going to take the same line I wanted to take through the turn. So I dropped back and left enough room to take my line. I carried a lot of speed and blew past that group right after that turn (maybe during). Ed was the only one who caught me and I hung on his wheel to the end.

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Phast Phat Tuesday

New Shirt :-)

For my birthday, my daughter got me the new Harpoon Brewery Bottle Cap bike jersey :-) She got the right size, but it is a little tight. After much thought I decided that the shirt is actually the correct size, it is just that my body is the wrong size. Time to lose some weight...

Phast Ride

I had thought I had jumped on a "moderate speed" group. However, the group was flying along at over 19 mph, probably over 20. I got dropped.

No Man's Land...

Once dropped, I was in what I now learned is called "No Man's Land". That big empty void behind the lead group and the next group. There was no hope of catching the lead group. The next group behind me was out of sight and probably too far back to catch up with me. I wasn't alone though. I was with another rider, Steve, who had suffered the same fate as me. So we rode together to the mid-point.

19.3 MPH Average at Mid-point!

The Ride Back

I made extra sure that I was with a group of riders for the second leg. I wasn't the last time I rode and I paid the price. It was tough. I was biking right behind the lead rider on Reservoir Road and I was chomping at the bit forcing myself not to pass him and take off ahead. I'm glad I was patient as I stuck with the group all the way to Mount St., where the steep grade brakes up any group that tries to climb it.

Strong Finish

I felt good at the top of Mount St. Only a few people passed me, and I left a lot more behind. The funny thing is, is that I was once again in a "No Man's Land" with Steve again. I hung with him until we got to "the neighborhood" approach to the School. He said he was done. I saw a group off n the distance. I knew I would never be able to catch them, but I was feeling strong and decided to try for the hell of it.

I averages 18.8 mph in the final mile and 18.4 overall. Better than at the same point than last year.

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Phat Thunderstorm, NOT!

Thunderstorms Roll Through

All day long there were threats of a Thunderstorm occurring during the time frame of the ride. I kept an eye on the radar all day on my-cast.com. There were scattered ones rolling through. A particularly strong one rolled through about 20 miles south of the ride less than an hour from start time. There were warnings of hail and severe winds and lightening.

We even heard thunder nearby as we got ready in the parking lot at about 5:45 PM. I checked the radar on my cell phone and saw that a cell had popped up just east of us and was headed further east. Whew...

We hit dry roads and sunny skies for the entire ride :-)

Clean Bike

This is the first ride for me since my bike went into the shop two weeks ago. I took some pictures of my new components so I know how clean I should try and keep them :-)

New Rear Cassett, originally uploaded by Martinator.

That is one clean rear cassette. That is what they look like brand new. Now the challenge is to keep it looking that shiny...

New Chain Rings, originally uploaded by Martinator.

Nice clean chain and chain rings. I actually wiped them down after the ride.

Good First Half, Slow Second Half

It had been over two weeks since I had ridden last. Well, there was the ~25 miles back and forth from the car dealership on my Mountain Bike. Anyway, my overall time and average speed was down for the Phat Tuesday Ride. I thought that was odd since I remember rolling into the halfway point averaging ~19 mph. Hmmmm...

When I got home I uploaded my ride data and compared it to my other rides viw the Dot Race feature on Motionbased.com. I saw that compared to my fasted ride to date this year, I kicked butt on the first half. Then I tanked on the second half.

• Phat Dot Race (IE only) 6/3/2008 vs. 6/17/2008

Going over the numbers in more detail, I can confirm that I tanked on the second half.

Earlier in the month, I averaged 15.4 mph on the second half (mile 13 to the end) and last night I only averaged 13.3 mph along the same segment. The biggest difference between last night and earlier in the month was that I didn't hook up with a group of riders coming out of the rest stop last night. that and my chain derailed, but that shouldn't really have had much of an impact.

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Bike in Shop: Day 3

1:57 PM - No Call Yet...

The bike shop hasn't called yet. I don't think I'll be making the Phat Tuesday ride tonight.

I do have all my gear in case they do call :-)

Phat Tuesday Ride: Close Calls and Chickens(?)

Phat Hiatus

Prior to last night, May 6th was my most recent Phat Tuesday ride. Here's the breakdown of the Hiatus:

• May 13th: Recovering from a Stomach virus/bug that I caught from my daughters
• May 20th: I have a friend vsiting from out of town. I told him to bring his bike. He almost did, but didn't. We went to Chili's instead and talked like men should talk when the wives aren't around :-)
• May 27th: Worked late fixing defects on an upcoming release.

Close Call

At about mile 2.25 on the first significant climb on Vine St, a bunch of us were, well, bunched up. Somebody next to me, (I suck at names), lost control of their bike when their shoe unclipped from their pedal as they stood up to climb. The front wheel went wobbly and people quickly gave him as much room as they could. right about when he regained, oh, say, 90-95% of his control back, he ever so slightly brushed up against me. I saw it coming, but there was nowhere for me to go. So instead of doing a panic move I just held my position and stayed straight. Better for him to hit me when I'm in control of my bike than hit me when I am in the middle of my own awkward avoidance maneuver. (Or hit someone else while trying not to get hit myself...) It worked out.

Chickens?

Then, about 2 miles after the above incident, the group I was in came upon some chickens crossing in front of us on Burnt Swamp Road. They were odd looking chickens though. Some people said they were Turkey Hens. I thought they looked more like a Pheasant, but they were lacking a long tail. I've searched some chicken sights, and the closest thing I found was a Wyandotte Chicken. But I don't think that is what we came across. Anyway, if you want to see the chicken for yourself then I imagine you can see them at Adam's Farm in Cumberland, RI during pumpkin picking season.

Strong First Half

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself hanging in there with a large group of riders. It is definitely much easier to ride with a similar paced group than to try and not get dropped from the lead group. I believe we rolled into the halfway rest stop averaging somewhere just south of 20 mph.

Don't Get Behind a Tall Guy...

After the rest stop I got behind a tall guy with long legs. I quickly decided to "not" try and keep up with him. He simply "just kept going forward" while I could feel myself struggling to hang on.

Mount St. Climb

I eventually reconnected with a group and hung with them until Mount St. Mount St. is a short, steep climb and it is every man and women for themself at that point. Some people take off and try to start strong up that climb, only to peter out at the top. Some others fly up the hill and are never seen again. Bastards!

Then there are people like me and Ed, who just focus on maintaining a slow, steady, and deliberate pace. During this climb I also focus on taking long, deep breaths. (Sometimes when one is pushing oneself, one forgets to breath.) I think the breathing helped. Not sure exactly how, but as I approached the top of the climb, I was passing about 70% of the people who passed me and I was actually had enough energy to accelerate past some as the grade leveled out. It was nice to have energy left over at the top of that climb.

A Good Ride

It was a good ride, despite the close call and the chickens. Looking forward to next Tuesday...

Phat Tuesday - Cramps!

Slower is Faster

This week I purposely hung back and let the faster riders go. I didn't want the temptation to try and stay up front or to try and close any gaps. It turns out to have been thr right choice. I averaged a bit faster than last time. It felt slower, but was actually faster. I think hanging with a group on the second half of the ride helped out a lot.

Cramps!

First the Right Calf...

Just after passing the reservoir on the second half of the ride, my right calf cramped up. I was with a group of riders and I didn't want to get dropped. So I unclipped and just used my left leg to pedal. It was a flat, rolling section so it wasn't so bad. Eventually my right calf de-cramped and I was good to go.

Then the left calf...

Right at the last half mile of the ride, I felt my left calf starting to cramp up. That meant no sprinting for the finish line. It was all I could do to pedal just enough to make it back without the left calf totally cramping up. I think it finally cramped up within rolling distance of the parking lot.

Next time, more electrolytes!

Phat Tuesday, Ride 1

First Group Ride of the Year

Ready or not, here we go. I figured I had gotten enough miles under my belt so far this season that I wouldn't be sucking too much wind on fast paced group rides such as this. "Ya gotta start sometime!"

I was doing pretty good. I focused on trying not to push myself too hard and just make sure I had enough energy to stay with the group. I was doing "OK" until about mile 5.

Chain Derailment

At mile 5 my chain derailed. I stopped. Quickly popped the chain back on, and tried to catch up with the group. No such luck.

After about a half mile, the lead group disappears...

Eventually, I saw my neighbor, Ed, in the distance up ahead of me. He had gotten himself a Garmin Edge 305 GPS bike computer. I saw him, but I couldn't close the gap. It turns out that we were both averaging 17.0 mph. You can see how I tried to catch him via MotionBased.com's (soon to be Garmin Connect) Dot Race feature: Me and Ed (NOTE: IE only!). I hope they keep this feature when the switch over is made.

I saw a number of other riders with the same, or similar, device. however, I don't know if they upload their data. It would be cool if they did. At least I think it would be cool...

Finish Behind Some Big Guys

In the last 2 miles of the ride, I linked up with a couple of, how shall I say, "larger framed" and "non skinny" riders. They really powered through the last two miles and it was all I could do to hang onto their wheel. In the last mile we were averaging 21.2 mph! A nice way to finish :-)

Pizza

While sitting in the parking lot after the ride I called and ordered a pizza from Imperial Pizza in Franklin. It was one of the few pizza places in Franklin we haven't tried and they claim to have "New York-style" pizza. It was also on the way home. Well, their pizza wasn't bad, but it wasn't "NY Style" pizza. Why is it so hard to find really good, (or just half-way good), pizza in Massachusetts? Papa Gino's should not be the best tasting pizza around. That's just wrong!