A Quick 16

Squeezing in a Quickie

In between a lunchtime First Communion celebration for my neighbor and an extravagant birthday party for a 4-year old in the late afternoon evening, I managed to squeeze in a ~16 mile ride.

I'm glad I didn't go longer because my wife said we had to be at the birthday party by 4:00 and I heard "we have to leave by 4:00". Oops! Oh well...

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Tax Day Ride

Benchmark

Today I had a short window for a ride, so I decided to do a variation of my old benchmark ride around Franklin. Only 15-16 miles.

Kept it in the small ring. This time of year it is more about the miles and less about how fast you go.

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Tuesday Ride with Scott

FaceBook Message

Scott sent me a FaceBook Message early Tuesday morning: Want to go for a ride? Yes.

It was a chilly morning. It was 33° when I got up. So, with memories fresh of last Wednesday's 80° sunny weather, I don my feather weight thermals, my long bike pants, and my shell and head out. Thankfully, I dressed just right :-)

I met Scott at the town common in Franklin. Scott was planning on doing the PHAT Tuesday ride later that evening, so we had an easy "conversational pace" ride. It was a good ~25 mile ride.

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Monday Ride: Norfolk & Wrentham

Sunny and Chilly

It was sunny and chilly. Somewhere around 60°. I wore my long cycling pants, no shorts today, although I did wear a short sleeve shirt. It was a nice ride and it was good to get out.

Rear Derailleur

My rear derailleur works much better after getting it back from the bike shop. They adjusted it and fixed the hanger which was bent. However it is still making some clicking noises. When it was working perfectly, it was dead silent. So any little noise is noticed. I'll have to keep an ear on it.

Today

Today it is even chiller. It might not break 60° today (it was 33° this morning). I plan on meeting Scott from The Grace Bicycles Velo Club

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Out of Work, Sunny in the 80's, Time to Ride :-)

Contract Ended

My contract ended rather abruptly last Friday. Since then I have stained my deck, contact recruiters, and taken care of a number of other "to-do's". One item was: Clean Bike Chain!

So I cleaned the bike chain on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the forecast was going to be sunny and in the 80's. It was. I went for a ride :-)

I decided to head east and north toward Dover. I wanted to see if Rt. 109 between Millis and Medfield had opened up yet. It had been closed due to flooding. That part of 109 crosses the Charles River is what is known as the Charles River Wildlife Storage Area. This is a big marsh that, due to all the rain, became a temporary lake.

Flood 109

Rt 109 was finally opened. I stopped and took some pictures.

Dover

I headed up Center St. from Medfield to Dover. It was a nice ride. Then when I got to Dover Center I turned right and headed south. I didn't realize heading south from Dover Center also meant heading "up".

Rear Derailleur

My rear derailleur was acting up. If I was in the small ring up front and any of the smaller 4 rings in the back, it would skip. And If I stood for extra power, it would skip even worse. Time to take it to the shop.

Need to be back!

Ok, so I am heading back from Dover and I realize it might be tight getting back home before noon. Noon is important because that is when the school van drops off my youngest from Pre-school. So I decide to just take 109 straight back home, foregoing the scenic route. Rt 109 may be busy, but it also has really wide shoulders. So I push it getting home. I make sure not to be in the "big ring" too much as it is too early in the season to stress out my knee. I didn't what to risk incurring the Patellar Tendinitis that has happened to my when I pushed too hard in past "Early Seasons".

I make it home by 11:40 AM, down some yogurt (for protien), shower, and wait for the van :-)

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First Warm, Spring Ride

Rusty Legs, Squeaky Chain, and Brand New Bike Pants

Saturday was the first real warm weekend day we've had this year. I was able to get in an 18 mile ride before our visitors showed up for Easter. I needed to preemptively burn some calories for the feasting we were about to do.

This being only my second ride of the season, my legs were a little rusty. However at this point of the year, it is all about logging miles and staying in the small ring.

I should have cleaned the chain before I headed out. It was squeaking. I should have taken better care of my bike this past winter. Usually I give it a good cleaning over the winter. I didn't this year.

My rear derailleur was also acting up. It had started doing this last fall, but I never took it to the shop. The winter is the best time to take it in but I never did.

Last fall, while at my local bike shop, I was walking out when out of the corner of my eye I saw a pair of Cannondale Chrono 8 Panel Bib Shorts hanging on the clearance rack, for half price. They were in my size! I grabbed them and headed back to the cash register. Saturday was the first opportunity I've had to wear them.

For a cyclist, nothing says comfort like a brand new pair of cycling shorts :-)

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Pan Mass Challenge

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Riding with Grace Velo

It's February...

It's February, and the bike isn't even set up on the trainer. I'm not really even thinking of riding when in my inbox arrives an email (from the Grace Velo Bike Club list) about a ride on Saturday at 1:00PM. The weather is supposed to be sunny and north of 40° F. I check the calender. It falls right in a sweet spot where I have nothing scheduled. So I go for it.

A Good Showing

I bike to the center of Franklin where I meet up with about 11 riders. It supposedly is going to be a "Conversational Pace" ride. Some of these guys are retired and ride all winter. Some of them race.

I hang on more or less for the first 10 miles. Andy, with the gray steel bike and 70's era shifters breaks off the ride 2 the Sheldonville Post Office. A few miles down Burnt Swamp road another riders turns around at the RI border (Near Adam's Farm).

I simply try to keep the riders ahead of me in my sights.

Shortcut

Another rider (I am terrible with names) drifts back and we take a short cut. The group is going to "Hammer it" through the "Farm Section". I am familiar with this as it is part of the PHAT Tuesday Training rides I take part in. The other rider hasn't been on a bike since may due to ligament surgery. I am just out of shape.

We reconnect with the other riders and make our way along 120 where I get dropped again. We regroup at the rest stop and I get dropped by the reservoir. I know my way home so I don't mind. Plus, I knew I was still behind the group from the tell tale tire marks exiting the occasional puddle on the side of the road. It felt kind of cool that I was able to "track" them like Locke on Lost :-)

Some of the rides waited at the end of Burnt Swamp Rd (the route came back on this road). I get dropped again on Summer St. Beck at the park there were 2 riders still there. that was nice of them ;-)

Hey, at least I finished :-)

Ride Stats

It was a 30 miles ride (including the ride to and from the start from my house, and the shortcut).

• Distance: 30.03 miles
• Moving Time: 2:13:59
• Moving Average: 13.4 MPH

The Map

For a change of pace I am embedding a Trimble Outdoor Map. Motionbased has essentially been turned off, Garmin connect (it's replacement) is lacking, and I am a bit tired of MapMyRide.