New England Classic Day 2

Day 2 is in the books. 72.8 miles. It was a much better day today, although at the beginning of the ride, I thought it was going to be "more of the same."

The departure from University of New Hampshire was at 7:30, but it was not a "mass" start. As people were ready to roll, they set out for the days ride. I did not know that, so I hung around the start waiting for someone to gather the troops and say "GO"! So, once I found out that I could leave when I was ready.... I left. I set out alone, figuring that the faster groups would catch me, or I could latch onto a slower group that was ahead of me.

I was able to catch up with a couple of riders that were going a pace that I would be comfortable. One of the guys in that group was wearing bib # 1, so I asked what he had done to earn that number. Turns out that he was the top find-raiser for the ride. We turned on to a road that was too busy for us to ride side by side and chit chat, so I let him lead and absorb the blunt of the head wind. After a couple miles of that, I was feeling guilty so I took the lead, and within a mile (mile 9 of the day) I had a flat. Now I have ridden with the Severna Park Peloton for alomost a year now, and in that time I have had two (2) flats that entire time, and that was at the same time due to a very large pot hole. Now I have had 2 flats in two days. Fortunately, this one was on the front tire, which is just a tad bit easier to change. I am hoping that the puncture fairy goes and visits somebody else for the rest of the week.

With the tire changed, I was back on the road. Fortunately, the first rest stop was only a couple miles down the road, and becasue of the "leave when you are ready" policy, There was a better selection of groups to ride with. Unfortunatey, no one was ready to leave when I was, so I set out on my own again. In my mind I was figuring that I am destined to ride this ride alone.

I did catch up to a group of rider that were not with the ADA ride, but rather they were with a tour group that was riding from Boston to Montreal. For those who remeber, there used to be a ride called BMB, which was done by randonneurs that went from Boston to Montreal and back to Bostom. It was a 1200k event, and can still be ridden as a permanent. In any event, their rest stop was at the same place as our was so I rode with them for the final few miles before the stop.

The second rest stop was at Nubble Light in York Beach, ME. It is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the US, if not the world. I am sure you have all seen it in a photo at least once.

Because it was such a great spot for a rest stop, a lot of people were hanging out there, enjoying the lighthouse and ocean views. I enjoyed some snacks, refilled the bottles and I was able to join the group of riders that I had dinner with the night before. There were about 8 of us, and we had a pretty good pace line going with all of us taking a turn at the front. We passed the Bush homestead in Kennebunkport. The houses in that surrounding area are beautiful. The Bush house is still quite a tourist attraction, with quite a few cars parked along the side of the road, allowing the occupants to get out and take pictures.

I was able to hang with the same group of riders through rest stop 3 and to the end of the days ride. Riding with the Severna Park Peloton, I have become accustomed to riding in a paceline, with my front wheel inches from the rear wheel of the rider in front of me. On some level, you put your trust in the rider in front of you, that they weill not do anything drastic, like stop pedaling. This group was made up of people that are used to riding in a pace line like that, and I was able to reach that comfort level while riding behind them.

So, the fun begins tomorrow. I have not looked at the profile, but if my memory serves correctly, it is a gradual uphill from The University of New England, where we are staying tonight, to our destination tomorrow night, Attitash Ski resort. There is quite an climb up to the resort at the end of the day, and with 50 or 60 miles of gradual climbing in the legs, I will become a hill slug, and as slowly as I need to, get my fatt butt to the top.

The two day riders have all gone home now, so we are down to only about 40 riders. It is a group of only a few first timers, and some of the riders have been doing it for over 10 years now. They all say how bad the hills are, and how much they suffer up them, but if they are that bad, why do they keep coming back? There must be something that keeps their interest. I guess I will find out, won't I.

Time for bed... I will need the rest for what lies ahead. Thank all of you for your prayers and support during the ride. I am helping to make a difference for those that suffer with diabetes, and I am enjoying myself, but I am anxious to get home to be with all of you. Continue to think about me, especially as I "reach new heights" in the mountains of New Hampshire.

Garmin data below:

New England Classic DAY 1

The first day of the New England Classic is complete, and I have never enjoyed such a horrible day of riding so much.

My strategy was to ride at a VERY comfortable pace these first two days so that I don't wear my legs out on the flats and have nothing left for the climbing on days 4 - 6. I was going to find a group of riders, even if it was the pre-schoolers on their tri-cycles, that I could keep a comfortable pace with.

As all 150 + riders left the parking lot at the same time, I hung in the back and was one of the last ones out. I did not want to get tangled up in a big group and end up running into someone. So as the line of riders stretched out over the road, I moved up the line and settled in with a group of 4 guys, and up until mile 15 all was well. Then I hit a pot hole that flatted my rear tire. This was a huge pot hole and I could hear that my rim hit it as well. I thought I would either have to buy a nes rim or this could be it... ride over.

I pulled off the side of the road, under the shade of a nice big oak tree, and removed my rear wheel. I first checked out the rim to make sure there was no damage, because there is really no sense changing the tire if the rim is messed up, right. I have to say, that all the hype about the Mavic Ksyrium Elite rims being bomb-proof is true. I spun the wheel and it was barely out of true. No dents, or ripples. I was very surprised. I changed the tire without incident and was back on the road.

I was determined to not push the pace too hard to try and catch up, I was going to ride a steady pace and try to cut some time at the first 2 rest stops. When I got to the first rest stop, i refilled the water bottles, grabbed some granola, Raw Rev snacks, a banana and was ready to hit the road. At the time I was ready to go, no other groups were leaving, so I could wait around or set out on my own again. I decided to set out on my own, and out of the parking lot I took a wrong turn. It rode 3 miles before I realized it. So I turned around and headed back, and as I was passing the first rest area again, they were closing it down, which meant that I was last. I was at the back of the pack. Well, isn't that a great way to start of a ride that I am already anxious about. I kept a fairly steady pace and began passing the slower riders one by one.

Around mile 45 or so, there were 3 woman on the side of the road, with one of them obviously having a flat. I was riding with 3 other guys at the time and as is customary, we all asked if they had what they needed. They said they did, but they didn't know how to change a flat. The other guys either didn't hear them, or didn't want to ruin their record breaking times and kept on pedalling. I stopped and changed the tire for them and I didn't feel to bad about doing it, because it was this group of ladies that I asked to take the picture of the jersey above.

Flat tire changed, it was back to riding. I made it, uneventfully to rest stop 2, where i did more of what I did at rest stop one. Filled the water bottles, grabbed some snacks and hit the road again. Now on the way to rest stop 3, the weather took a turn for the worse. It started raining, but not too hard. At first, it actually felt kinda nice, but as it continued to rain and as the feet started to get wet, it was not so nice. As I crested a small hill I realized that I was at the ocean.

 This ia Rye Beach, NH. The picture does not do a very good job of showing the true weather conditions. It was raining pretty hard when I took the picture, and the clouds looked very ominous.

The rain continued as I rode along Route 1-A, and I was getting a little concerned because now that I was right on the water, soaking wet, with the cool ocean winds hitting me, I was getting cold. If the rain made the temperature drop for the rest of the ride, I would be in deep trouble, but as I turned west, away from the ocean, there was a noticeable rise in the air temp.

Rest stop 3 had a tent to stand under, which was nice to get out of the rain. I filled up on watermelon and a banana, filled the bottle and I was off again... headed for The University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH.

Once I arrived there, I checked in, so they would know that #29 was off the roads, put my bike in the large room that is housing all the bikes, got my room assignment, grabbed my bags and headed to my room.

I took off the wet clothes, showered and walked to the dining hall, where I enjoyed some real food. I had pasta and marinara sauce with some sauted Italian chicken breast and a wonderful salad and some bread sticks. After riding all day it was exactly what I needed.

So, the first day is done and I am happy that I completed it. I was afraid that what they were calling "flat" would be more hills than I was able to do. There was one hill that was a little steep, but even I would consider this first day to be very flat.

Tomorrow we head out to Biddeford, ME by way of Nubble Light. I will stop and take pictures there, even though it is surposse to rain all day tomorrow. Tomorrow is about 20 miles shorter than today, so I am hoping to settle in to a nice pace and make better time than I did today.

As a side note, I took this picture as I was riding down Rye Beach, and I thought it was cute. Now I just need to find 2 boats named Mr. Nolan and Mr. Devin.

Garmin data is below the picture. See you tomrrow!

And so it begins....

This is it! I have trained for months for THIS ride, and it is finally here. I have done all the training I could do...I have put in the miles and now I am ready to enjoy 7 days and 550 miles on the roads of New England.

I am going to keep this entry short, because I still have some last minute preps to do before bed. I hope to do a blog entry every night of the ride and I hope that you all will enjoy following along with me during the ride.

I want to take the time to thank everyone who donated to this ride. Not only financially, but with your words of encouragement and support for me along the way. I have 3 jerseys that have been signed by friends and family that will keep me motivated along the route. I am humbled by the generosity that you all have shown. Thank you!

Now down to some business before I end this post. On Thursday night Beverly and I went to dinner at O'Laughlins, and with us we carried the container with all the raffles tickets in them. (Remember for each $10 donated you got a raffle ticket put in a container.) We asked our waiter (an impartial party to the raffle) to draw a name each time he came to the table. He did that, and the results are listed below.

HP 2140 Netbook - Sylvia Flewellyn
Memorex 250 GB External Hard dribe - Jeanne Salley
$40 O'Laughlins Gift Card - Charlie and Betty Gartlemen
$25 Deep Creek Restaraunt Gift card - Greg Matson
The Rover's CD and T-shirt - Tiffany Smith

Conratulations to all the winners. Thank you again for your doantions and your support.

Happy New Year!

Working for an agency that is so closely tied to State Government, our fiscal year begins on July 1st. Making today, New Years Day.

My New Years celebration started with a very cool ride to meet Mike in Severna Park who joined me for the rest of the commute to BWI. It was nice to have someone to ride with on the commute. Others in SPP have mentioned that they would like to join us, but I think that only one other person has, and I believe that was only once. Truth be told, there are a lot of mornings that I probably would have dolled over and gotten that extra hour of sleep if I hadn't told Mike that I was riding in the morning.

I am looking forward to a nice cool ride home this afternoon. I am planning (should I say hoping) to leave a little early to get home in time to get to the bike shop and pick up the Roubaix. She should be in great shape, rockin' a new rear cassette and chain.

Back on the bike (Afternoon ride added)

I was back on the bike today and I have to say, it felt really good. Of course it didn't hurt that the temperature was about 15 degrees cooler and about 3/4 less humidity than it has been. I considered wearing my arm warmers.

Last night while Bev spent time in her gardens, which look great by the way, I spent some quality time with the Allez. I gave her a good thorough bath, used my new Park Tool chain scrubber to degrease the chain and then gave her a good lube, put some air in the tires and got her ready for the ride in this morning. The one thing that I did fail to do was charge the headlight. It had NO life in it at all. I turned it on in the garage before I left and nothing. Fortunately, I have a back up headlight, I just have to mount it on the handlebars and I will be on my way. WELL, the handlebar mount for that light is on the handlebars of the Roubaix, which is currently in the shop. This ride is not starting off very well. I have a back up to the back up, which, like me, is not very bright but works in a pinch. I threw that on the handle bars and off I went. Fortunately, it gets light very early now, so the lack of a 'real' headlight was not that big of a deal.

I tried to set a comfortable pace, and not push too hard. I did not concentrate on cadence or speed, I just tried to keep my legs turning at a pace that did not burn my thighs. I took the road route from Jumper's Hole. For some reason I enjoy the change of scenery and the openness of Elvaton Rd. Not much of a shoulder, but not much traffic either.

I had a little bit of a head wind, which I would call more of a head breeze than anything, but I don't feel like it affect the ride much. I did think that it will be nice for Mike and the guys that he sails with on Wednesday nights to enjoy an evening with some wind. It seems like the past few Wednesday nights have been very still, to the point of canceling their races. Good Luck tonight Mike.

I am thrilled to be back on the bike and not feeling quite so sluggish. I will ride as much as I can until next Wednesday and then give myself a couple days rest until the big ride in New England.


Afternoon Ride:

What a beautiful afternoon. The ride home was uneventful and felt pretty good. The details are below.

In a bit of a funk...

So the big ride in New England is less than 2 weeks away, and I am in a bit of a funk. I feel very tired, run down and weak. Nerves? Anxiety? Exhaustion? Loss of fitness? Whatever it is, I don't like it.

It seems to have started last week. We had a few days that were very hot and very humid. I had been off the bike for 5 days working the finish line at RAAM. I finally got back on the bike and rode to work Wednesday. Mike was not riding with me that day because of his sailing commitment on Wednesday evenings, so I brought along my iPod. I only used one ear bud, and I was rocking out, riding hard and feeling great being back on the bike. I did the same thing on my ride home and once I arrived at home in the evening I felt like I had a good work out.

The next morning, I rode with Mike into work and home from work. The way in was a struggle. It seemed like Mike was trying to show me how much faster he has become on the bike (or how much slower I had become) but when I looked at the Garmin, it showed that we were traveling at the speed that we normally travel. I was struggling. The ride home was even worse. If I had not checked my rear brakes 3 times on the way home, I would have sworn that they were rubbing. My legs were turning, but I could not get into a comfortable pedaling rhythm. I had zero power coming out of my legs, and looking at my Garmin data, my heart rate was higher than it usually is, but the speed was just a shade lower. So, I am working harder, and going slower.

Thursday night I slathered my thighs with Aspercreme to help with the pain a little bit and see if that helped me on the bike in the morning. I had already decided that I would ride with the peloton into Annapolis on Friday morning instead of commuting into work on the bike. The legs felt a little better, but the hill in Round Bay was about the death of me. I think I was the last one up the hill, and I could have sworn I saw a 4 year old on a tricycle blow by me going up that hill. Once I caught my breath, and the burning in my legs subsided, I was fine into Annapolis. The group split and I enjoyed a bagel and Iced Mocha at the end of ego alley at City Dock. The return home was uneventful, and although my legs were tired, it was not as bad as Thursday afternoon. Maybe the rest from the night before was what I needed. I made the decision to ride just the 7:30 ride on Saturday and to take Sunday off from riding.

Saturday was a fairly spirited ride from Severna Park to Annapolis and back. I was the last one to arrive at City Dock, but I was making a conscious effort to just ride comfortably and not push it. I also lost all my momentum from the Naval Academy bridge to ask another rider that was stopped at the bottom of the bridge of they were alright. Turns out their light had fallen off, and he had stopped to pick it up. After the ride, I did the normal Saturday stuff, trip to the market... a little bit of shopping with Bev, brought the Roubaix to the shop for a complete tune and lube for the ride in July, etc. By days end I could not keep my eyes open so it was off to bed.

Sunday I slept in as late as I could, went to church and after lunch I found that I, again, could not keep my eyes open. I went back to bed and slept until about 5:30. I came downstairs, had dinner, watch a movie and went back to bed for the night. I woke up Monday morning feeling like I could sleep another 12 hours. Along with all of this my stomach has had issues as well. I know, I know.... "quit your whining. Suck it, eat a little... drink a little... keep pedaling." Well that is my plan.

I have a meeting today that I needed my car for, which should get me out of the office a little early today. Depending on how that goes and what time I get done with that, I may try to ride with the 5:30 group from the Rusty Bridge. After that I am going to clean and lube the Allez and make sure everything is turning as smoothly as it possibly can and I am planning on riding in tomorrow morning. I will let you know how that goes. Stay tuned.

RAAM 2010

I have been off the bike for MUCH longer than I would want to be, but I have been working as finish line staff for The Race Across America. If you are not familiar with RAAM you can read all about it at www.raceacrossamerica.org In a nutshell, it is a bicycle race from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD.

Although I did not actually "ride" in the Race Across America, I did experience it differently than I had in the past. I worked as one of the vehicle drivers that had the privilege of meeting the riders at the final time station on Bestgate Rd, and parading them from there to the finish line at City Dock. I got so much more out of that experience than I bargained for, and I have already signed up again for next year.

A few months ago, I saw the email about an organizational/informational meeting at Capital Bicycle in regards to RAAM 2010. I somehow mis-read that email and showed up at 6:30 pm Wednesday for the meeting that happened 6:30 pm the night before. I was pretty bummed. So when another email was sent out looking for finish line staff, I replied immediately with a few questions. Once I worked out the logistics at work and at home, I signed up. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will say that my motivation was the money that I would make working the 5 days at the finish line. For those of you who are not aware, I am doing a charity ride to benefit The American Diabetes Association July 10 - 16 http://main.diabetes.org/goto/cslane (shameless plug) and I am donating all of the money that I made working at RAAM 2010 towards my fund raising efforts. Little did I know that I would get SO much more from the experience.

I was scheduled for the 2 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift and was fortunate to work with a group of great people on that shift. It was group of quality people who knew what needed to be done, and did it, or got word to the person that needed to do it. We spent some moments at the wee hours of the morning sitting around talking about cycling, professional badminton, mucking horse stalls and just about anything else that came to our minds at the time.

When the riders leave the time station in Odenton the escort drivers are sent out to meet them and their support crews at the final time station on Bestgate Rd. In regards to the racers time, this is the end of the race. It is here, I think, that you get to see the true raw emotion and excitement of finishing the Race Across America. On Friday morning when Team Type I arrived they had just ridden their bikes across the country in 5 and a half days and they still seemed fresh, and ready to ride the race in reverse. On Saturday morning the second place solo RAAM finisher, Gerhard Gulewicz, rode in with a blank stare on his face and mumbled "I am very very tired.". A little more than 2 hours later, the 3rd place solo RAAM finisher, Matthew Warner-Smith arrived and was nearly tackled by his crew as they were SO jubilant that he had finished. His crew then ran into the bathroom, leaving him laying on the asphalt at the Shell Station. He said that it felt good to lay down, and I am quite certain he dozed until the crew returned from the bathroom. On Sunday Team Type II (which our own Bob C rode RAAM with last year) and The Friars Club, both competing in the 8 person team division, were basically in a sprint to the finish. Team Type II finished 3 minutes ahead of The Friars Club, and were very excited about it. There are so many more great stories like those that I saw play out as more finishers came in.

Being able to interact with the racers directly was a source of inspiration to me. I was able to see the pride on 13 year old Connor's face explaining that he did normal pulls just like everyone else on Team Donate Life did, even in the mountains. I was able to see Sabrina Bianci break down to tears as she entered the Shell station, over come with the emotion of finishing 2nd place in the woman's solo division. I was able to look at Michele Santilahno's bicycle while she was preparing for the ride to the finish line. Last year Michele attempted RAAM, but was not able to finish. As I looked at the top tube of the bike I saw a piece of paper laminated to it. As I looked more closely, it listed all 55 time stations, distances between each, what time the station closed and what her average speed needed to be to reach each time station on time.

There were also some people who not only overcame the 3,005 mile course, but they also had to deal with what some people would consider obstacles. I am not sure that these people see them that way, and they certainly do not allow them to stand in their way. I did not do the escort for Operation Progress, but on that team was a former LA police officer that was shot in the line of duty and paralyzed from the chest down that completed the race. She was part of a 4 person team, using her arms to turn the crank. There was also team FARA (Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance) a 4 person team that included 2 members that suffer from Friedreich's Ataxia, that completed the race. Kyle Bryant had a very emotional and inspiration message for everybody at the banquet Monday evening.

Each night of the race, there is a banquet for the riders and crews to be recognized and some serious as well as rather humorous awards are given out. I attended the banquet last night and it is here that you really understand the quality of people that are involved in this race, as well as the passion that they posses for cycling.

Fred and Rick, the father and son team that put this event on every year are doing a great job at building the race and making it bigger and better each year.

As with ALL ride reports, there are lessons learned. Here are mine.
#1 - Sunscreen is your friend! I failed to apply any while I was down at the dock, and my face has just begun peeling.

#2 - The theme to Rocky sounds really really good when you are driving down Duke of Gloucester St at 4:00 a.m. at 15 mph.

#3 - I think that "Brazilian" is loosely translate as "moving party". They bring the party with them.

#4 - There are still a lot of people (drunks mostly) at City Dock at 2 a.m.

If you didn't follow RAAM this year, you can still go to the website and check out the video's and the web sites of some of the participants.

Back on the bike tomorrow. I am hoping that still remember how to ride.