Lets try this again.

Getting in on lunch time, need to maybe get the write up finished to get one more thing off my shoulders.

I did start reading Laird Hamilton's book the other day.  Or one of them or just the one that Fred loaned me.  Good stuff mostly, fluffy, quick reading.  Decent points very superficially developed, almost outlined but good.

More unsaid than said.  Sometimes a good thing, sometimes not so much.

Wednesday last week.


Seems like months ago now.  Granted it was last month...  It was a magical ride.  A magical day even.  Things fell into place nicely.  Russ and Myles emphatically wanted to do it, and their enthusiasm buoyed my spirits on the ride.  I've got to own the ride, it was mine, but it wouldn't have been the same without them.

I was up about 5am that morning.  The bike was readied Tuesday night, seat bag packed, Garmin Edge 605 borrowed, jersey pocket contents thought out, second tube wrapped in a race number and attached to the seat bag with a toe strap.


First thing that morning I got the breakfast sandwich production line going.  Made six total.  A big pile of food.  The Coffee was cold and waiting in bottles.  I made and sucked down a couple long drawn quad espressos while making the sandwiches, ate a bowl of granola with raisins milk and cream while waiting for Russ to show.  Drank a bit of water and kitted up and rolled out with Russ after slathering myself with a good pile of Blue Lizard Sunscreen (yup, no burn, no reapplication, not the best ingredient list but it works better than anything else and it mechanically blocks the sun instead of just absorbing it). 


We hit the bike path on a gorgeous morning.  A headwind greeted us as we made our way north to Benz Automotive meeting point to hook up with Myles.  I handed off Myles his sandwich and we rolled out.

My map didn't start till well after we rolled out so I did what I typically do, I went to the front and set tempo.   We turned onto Prospect and Myles took over, after the left onto Broad we kept the speed up, a decent pace, not too bad, definitely not too slow.

Soon we were linking up to the road to the Berkely/Dighton bridge, i made a wrong turn after the bridge, mistaking a B named road for the wrong one.  And we just were rolling, riding.

Before the bridge I was not spun out but down hill tailwind looking at riding another 120 miles, i was wishing for a bit taller of a gear than 46x12.  I don't have a problem with 120+ rpms, can hit a cadence respectably higher than 200rpms but not all day.  There were maybe a half dozen times, or more when I would be flicking the shift lever looking for more gears.    I know, I know 100 gear inches should be plenty for anything, and it was fine, I used that end of the cassette, and with the 46 and the 28 I never needed the small ring for the rollers we encountered.  I may have downshifted to the 38 for the big bourne bridge.

Rolling out was great, weather was nice, tailwind was fantastic.  Weather was beyond nice.  It was perfect that morning.

We nailed the navigation with only a few mis-cues, fortunately caught by Russ.  Very fortunate that he programmed the route into his garmin 500.  Made a big difference getting there easily.  Once we hit Wareham I kind of took over the lead to the bridge, I'd studied that section of the map enough that I knew it well enough to navigate by feel.

Took a quick nature break at the west side of the bridge.  Myles popped into the Starbucks to grab some more water, Russ answered some client emails, I took a few photos.  And we headed off across the bridge. I too the lead.  And I will admit. I'm afraid of heights a bit.  I grew up going across the Narrows Bridge in a VW microbus.  Cross winds were nuts.  the drive would be turning the wheel 45° into the wind to keep the van going straight, and when you hit the support columns you had to be quick with the adjustments or you're going to wreck.

This wasn't so bad.  Even the two foot drop to the road way with the cars wasn't bad.  You could look far enough ahead and the railing on the outside of the bridge made a continuous visual wall.  Easy to pretend you're riding next to a solid wall.

Texted Chad just before we crossed the bridge to relay status.  Gave him a call after he started texting directions we already had.  He said he was still kitted up and would be riding north to meet us and show us the rest of the way there.

So many gorgeous vistas on the way.  So many perfect sandy beaches.  Summer camps with kids playing, boat yards, yacht clubs, anchorages...  no doubt we were in New England.  If we'd stopped to take pictures every time we'd never have made it home before dark.

Chad met up.  I jokingly relayed to Russ and Myles that a Corner Cycle Fighter Escort was going to meet us.

No.

Joke.

70 miles after we left my house Chad joined us and was flying.  Dropping me and gapping the other guys on the hills.  I'd like to blame it on his fresh legs and our mileage but, hey, lets face it, Chad's just a monster.  Russ was esp tweaked that he was getting dropped by a dude with full coverage fenders and three sections of old tires zip-tied to the flap.  It was nice just following a wheel with local knowledge.  Just trying to hang on.

We wound up at the Market for sandwiches. Eaten on the back porch by the water.  Pretty amazing view of the little harbor.  Great day.  Blue skies, sun, not too hot.

After topping up the bottles and draining two of them, filling em back up again we headed out, quick stop at the Coffee O for an iced coffee.  Then Chad suggested we follow tightly, "fun roads" and we drilled it up and down along the water to the Lighthouse.  The wind was very strong pounding the waves on the beach.  Idyllic.  Really.  Amazing.  At that point I realized my card on the camera was full.  I'd made sure to start with a freshly charged battery but totally spaced on clearing out the card.  So I was trying to delete a few shots and well, our fighter escort had taken off.  Took a while once I put the camera back in my pocket before I was able to catch on.

After weaving in and around the roads we hit the bike path and a slightly more reasonable pace was established and we rode side by side, talking a bit.  Finally.  But it wasn't slow.  Chad was still pushing the pace pretty well.  And then the path ended and we kept pushing the pace.  Chad said good bye and good luck and we headed off on our own north.  I went to the front and just rode a tempo... tried to keep it pretty easy, still managed to ride myself and only myself into a few potholes.  Fortunately the Durano Plus tires did their job.  So nice.  No flats for anyone.  Good tire selection all around.

We traded pulls a bit but I think (or it just felt like it) that I did most of the pace setting to the bridge.

Once we hit the base of  the bridge Russ took the lead, pulled out his iPhone WHILE on the bridge, riding, one handed, with a cross wind, facing traffic, taking self portraits.  I was getting a bit concerned with his wiggling around, until he put his phone away.

Myles eventually rolled off the bridge a bit slower than the two of us and we headed over to starbucks for more iced coffee and water.

I should have eaten a sandwich at that point.  I didn't.

I hadn't taken any calories in since Lunch.  I started eating Russ's rice bars once we hit Wareham and i started feeling slow. Uh oh.  Nearly two hours without taking in calories.  Oops.

once you start feeling slow it is wicked hard to recover.  I wound up eating all three of the remaining packages of rice bars and then sandwich #3, and I started to turn around.  Felt much better.  Then drained the rest of the iced coffee and much of the water.  Much better.  Restored.  The one thing that I noticed, or noted that I didn't notice, I didn't notice when the other guys were eating, if they were eating.  They were, they were just doing it like i was, when they were last in line.

We headed back, a couple turns missed, only a few hundred yards added.  stopped for water, i filled up bottles in the restroom, the other two bought water and stuff. I sucked down a tube of Margarita Cliff blocks to go with the plain water I was drinking.  And we rolled out.

It was hot.  We'd been fighting a headwind since the bridge.  But, no one was really cracked.  remarkable.  And it was still fun riding the bike.

And we rode some more.  Pretty soon I got that feeling of being closer and closer to home. Roads became familiar, and I started pushing a bit.  We all took turns pushing the pace a bit.  I also noticed that the timing might be such that we'd be able to meet the Wed Night ride heading out if we didn't dally.

We got back close to 44 and I made a slight change to the route, we took the 'normal' route back, skipping Rocky Hill and Hillside coming back up Broad.  And surprisingly Broad/Jacob didn't feel like a hill at all.  I thought I'd die on it.  I didn't.

And I kept pushing it, the pace. And then we were back...  and I realized I hadn't eaten anything since the water stop.  Shit.  I cracked.  Was cracked.  Russ tweeted that i was so cracked I was almost speaking in tongues.

With a couple miles to go I thought, hey I should eat.  I still had one sandwich left (idiot).  Ate that.  Ate the second tube of blocks all on the bike path. (another two hours w/o calories)

Never touched the gels but my pockets at least were empty of the food.

Got home and started making dinner, in my kit.  Russ hit the shower, i cooked, made a quick pasta sauce, had food ready when Russ came out of the shower.  I ate a small bowl, jumped in and scrubbed off.  And ate some more.  And some more.  And drank some more.  Repeat.  All. Night.

And then i slept.  Got up and ate.  And ate all day.  And then did the TT.

Garmin says the ride was 156 miles.  It might have been.  The heat and the headwind in the afternoon made it exciting but it was great.  No issues.  My feet don't like my shoes, at least for rides that long, but hey, like I told jack when i dropped off the thank you six pack with the Garmin, I have Sidi Feet and a Bontrager Budget.  Some day I'll have nice shoes again.  Right now I have to figure out how to pay for mounting some prints that wound up costing way more than I planned for.  Oh well.  It is only money.  Anyone want to buy a print?

Finally written.

heddwch
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