Last Saturday...

An Afternoon to myself

My wife had a friend visiting and they took the girls to the Outlets to go shopping. That gave me the opportunity to go out for a long ride.

North to Holliston (then flying blind...)

I started out by heading north and west through Medway until I got to 126, then I kept on going north. When I got to where 126 met 16, I went straight. Now normally I like to preview a route on a map so I can get an idea of where I am going. I know the road on the other side of Rt 16 went somewhere, but I had no idea where. Sometimes you just have to go.

So this blind journey took me through some back roads and eventually through some more residential neighborhoods. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I was going north and west. I also saw that the house numbers were decreasing so I knew I wasn't going down a dead end.

To my surprise I wound up coming out right nest to the Out Post Farm in Holliston, MA.

I once again knew where I was. From there I headed east (ultimately to Dover) trying to stick to back roads and trying out new back roads. I cut through the Industrial park in Holliston (Lowland St. & Jeffrey Ave.). Not very scenic, but zero traffic on a Saturday afternoon. I was looking for a road that ran parallel to 16 and cut over to Hollis St. in Sherborn. I found it :-)

After reaching Dover center I headed back south through Medfield and Norfolk. I passed by a lot of nice houses.

My goal was to hit 40 miles. I did 38. Close enough.

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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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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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Pan Mass Challenge

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