Ride Report: Mass Pike Tour - Day 4

09 Aug 2009.

A thick fog hung over the field as the riders slowly woke up for the last day; slowly meandering towards breakfast.

By the rider meeting, the fog had lifted to reveal a cloudless sky; however rain was predicted for the afternoon, so everyone wanted to get on the road quickly.

As the rider meeting droned on, a bank of storm clouds advanced across the sky; so much so that in less than an hour the blue sky had disappeared. The threat of rain was suddenly very real.

Once again, we departed in two waves. However, unlike every other day, nearly all the riders left with the first wave. The ride started slowly, riders warming up and testing their legs, but quickly evolved (once again) into a paceline.

Once the first paceline formed, attrition whittled the group until there were just 9: Howie, Lee, Sean, Steve, Ellen (from Day 1), David (from Day 3), Steve (whom I hadn't ridden with before), Gary (who worked for DCR, lived nearby, and was just riding with us on the last day), and myself.

Very quickly, Steve (new Steve) and Gary demonstrated their strength with long fast pulls on the front, so much so small gaps started to form in our paceline. Nothing serious, but enough that stronger riders filled the gaps, rather than cycle all the way to the back.

The pacelining continued until it was broken up by the day's only real climb, a four mile never-ending hill. One by one we suffered up this relentless hill, knowing what payoff waited at the top. 10 miles of descending. After a brief respite at the summit, the group raced down to the last rest stop.

The after-stop pacelines were far quicker than before, assisted by hills and rider motivation.

When I was handed my pull, I struggled to keep the pace high as I hammered into a headwind. After what felt like a miserably short pull, I pulled off to cycle back expecting to coast back 8 riders.Unfortunately my "miserable" pull had detonated our little group leaving only two riders (Sean and new Steve) on my wheel. This was going to be a very short recovery.

Together the three of us dug deep to keep the pace up. In no time, we were reeling in the 30 milers and then, the ride was done. We had reached the school; tired but satisfied. Not to long after we finished, as we were packing our bikes, a short small rain shower passed. We had beat the rain! A great way to end a great tour!

Distance:  54 miles
Climbing:   3120 ft
Ave Speed: 16.4 mph
Max Speed: 41.4 mph
Time: 3 hours 14 minutes 48 seconds

Ride Report: Mass Bike Pike Tour - Day 3

08 Aug 2009.

This was the day everyone was dreading: the Mountain Stage. A quiet undercurrent of dread had been percolating within the peloton; everyone knew this day was going to test their legs.

I left with the "early" group, a group of 10 or so riders including Steve, Lee, and Howie. We started very easy; everyone trying to save as much of their legs as possible. In short order our group was whittled to 5: Steve, Lee, Howie, Sean (a club-mate of Lee), and myself.

Five miles in, Howie called out a warning - he didn't think we were on the right road (which would explain why, despite our soft pedaling, we hadn't seen any other riders). A consultation with a map, and conversation with a local repair shop confirmed his suspicion. We had added a few more miles to the route, ten to be exact.

In short order, we were back on the route, albeit far behind everyone else. Over the course of our "easy" riding to the base of Mount Wachusett, we reeled in a rider after rider.

And then, before we knew it, we were at the start of the climb and our little group splintered. I "launched" off the front very early. In a nutshell, it wasn't that bad a climb. Each section had a short flat recovery portion, so you could catch your breath between efforts and before I knew it, I was at the rest stop.

At the rest stop, when the group had reassembled, Four of us decided to climb to the summit and finish this mountain off.

Lee climbing Wachusett

Sean summitting

Steve summiting

The reward

After the conquering the mountain, we picked up a few other riders: Sara, David, Tia, and Maria. Together we cruised to the Lunch stop: Calico & Creme in Hubbardston.

A great lunch stop, Calico & Creme is perhaps best known for it's home made Ice Cream and Yogurt (made on the premises) and great lunch fair. Shortly after our arrival, the owner welcomed us, had us sign the guest book, took pictures, and even interviewed a few riders for the local paper.

If you are ever in the area, be it traveling to Quabbin from the East or to Mount Wachusett, this is the place to stop for lunch.

After lunch, our little peloton wasn't a very serious place. We were just cruising, enjoying the scenery - puntuated by the occasional riders sprinting up a hill or racing down descents. In general, we were just touring the Eastern side of Quabbin.

At some point, our collective decided to push home and we organized into a paceline. Not a word was spoken, the group just coalesced into a rotating paceline.

Tia, a very strong rider who obliterated every hill tossed her way, had just finished a long pull on the front. I was sitting second wheel to Howie, who was pacing us down Route 122 on our way to Orange. Out of no where a rider passed us like we were standing still. A rider dressed in work clothes.

Tia wasn't going to let this affront stand and she jumped to catch him, which she did in short order, and on the next hill, passed him. An insult, he was not going to let stand. For the next few hills, they battled, until she sat up, letting him go.

Another great day on the bike.

Distance:  76 miles
Climbing:   5769 ft
Ave Speed: 14.0 mph
Max Speed: 43.3 mph
Time: 5 hours 24 minutes 18 seconds

Ride Report: Mass Bike Pike Tour - Day 2

07 Aug 2009.

After leaving with the "early" group, I soon found myself off the front with a rider named Howie. We were cruising at a pretty decent clip; or so I thought. Thought, that was, until we were passed by a couple pacelining by. Up for a little early morning play, I turned to Howie, "You want to catch them?" "Sure," was the reply and we were off. I jumped (somewhat aggressively) and closed quickly closed the gap.

When the lead rider realized we were in tow, he pulled off and a rotating paceline was started; each of us taking our turn at the front.

On the front of our little paceline, Howie is a force: on the flats - he buried himself; on the descents - he set a blistering pace. His one weakness was hills. Throughout the ride, more often than not, Howie was "rewarded" for his pace setting efforts by a hill that ultimately resulted in him being dropped from the line. Never giving up, more times than not, he realed us back in on the descents.

Day 2's morning was not one of those occasions. Pacing us down the straights, Howie ran headlong into the first major hill of the day. Our paceline quickly splintered. The climber jumped pass around Howie (with me in close pursuit). The lead rider hung with Howie for a bit, before moving up. The hills were long and gradual, but enough to put non-climbers (like Howie and the "lead rider") in moderate difficulty.

I caught up with the climber after this little sequence of hills (some 3 or 4 miles later), and we were soon joined by the lead rider (I unfortunately can't recall this couple's names. Nice folk, good humored and very competitive). We chatted for a bit, while recovering, before returning to our race to the first rest stop.

If our goal was to beat the SAG wagon, we were 100% successful.

After the rest stop was set up, I switched riding partners. I didn't want to stick around to long, so I left with the first group to leave. Which just happened to consist of people I knew: Steve (whom I met at last year's ride) and Lee (whom I had met the previous day, having parked next to him).

Lee and Steve were great riding partners. Riding fast and serious can be fun, but stopping to explore creates far more interesting memories. One particulrly memorable moment occured somewhat early on in the ride. I was halfway up a somewhat gnarly hill, when Steve said, "Oh, a beach. Hey Fred want to stop?" My first though, honestly, was, "Are you kidding me, I'm halfway up this hill, you want me to go down and climb it again later?"

Lee, Steve, and Me

As the picture above attests, I opted for the beach.

The water was perfect bathwater warm, a surprising temperature for a body of water in Massachusetts. Sitting and relaxing our legs, we called out to the passing riders - tempting them with the cool waters.



Far later (after our lunch stop at Calico & Creme in Hubbardston, more on this great place in Day 3's report), Lee noticed a sign for a Mass Mass Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and another adventure was had.



Sitting on 1200 acres, the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary features 12 miles of trails and a summit that offers excellent hawk viewing in the fall.

Shortly down the road, in the center of Princeton, MA, we were treated to this view:


And these great buildings:

Distance:  70 miles
Climbing:   5627 ft
Ave Speed: 14.1 mph
Max Speed: 40.7 mph

Ride Report: Mass Bike Pike Tour - Day 1

06 Aug 2009.

Bruce Lederer (Tour Director) addressing the riders

In the Tour meeting (pictured above), the Tour director highlighted some of the changes from previous years: Harder climbs, out-and-back (i.e. Amherst to Amherst instead of Concord to Northampton), indoor camping options each night, and ride leaders on every ride.

In the 65 mile rider meeting, the ride leader (David, pictured above, to the left of Bruce, and in the Purple MassBike jersey) reiterated the safety items ("car back," "be curtious," etc.) and expressed his desire to keep the pace low (around 16 mph) and the group somewhat together. All in all, pretty standard first day anouncements.

As we set off, I was somewhat relieved by the pace. Last year I tore off with the fast riders and burned out. This year, we headed out at a leisurely 14-15 mph; a pace slow enough that it was obvious someone was either going to start pushing the pace or was going to go off the front.

That move came on the first "real" hill. One of the riders, Ellen (a volunteer who would be SAGing the next day) tore off up the hill, quickly gaping us.

When no one covered her move, I relaxed. Perhaps this was going to be an easy ride after all, no one seems to want to play those rider games. That thought lasted but a few seconds; it lasted until I surprisingly found myself passing the ride leader on the same hill.

To this year's tour, I brought my lightest bike, a Cervelo R3. The downside with this choice was the bike's gearing (53/39 by 12-25), very similar to the gearing Pros use on the Tour de France (I'm told 39-25 is the generally granniest gear you'll find in the TDF). Although I am fit, I am no where near a Pro's level of fitness, so I expected this choice to cause me some difficulty in certain climbs.

Practically speaking, these gears committed me to riding up hills at my own pace. I had to make sure my effort was carefully measured on each climb, spinning on the smaller grades and grinding the climb out on the steeper sections.

This was the problem I faced on the first hill. I could stay behind the leader by grinding and digging into my reserves, or I could spin pass him and stay in my comfort zone. I opted for the later, so less than 2 miles into the ride, I became part of a two person breakaway off the front.

To call our ride a breakaway is do severely overestimate our effort. Generally, we cruised at a snappy, but conversational, pace. I did the majority of the pace setting on the flats and in the wind, whereas Ellen took over primarily after the climbs.

After one particularly nasty climb, we came upon two slow vehicles descending the winding road. Not wanting to pass I pulled behind, until one of the drivers motioned for me to pass. Slowly I eased by, to hear the driver say, "No Brakes." Not sure we wanted to be in front of a vehicle without brakes, we sped away as fast as we could.

Besides that, all in all the ride was mostly uneventful - just a nice ride through Western Mass. A good easy start to the tour.

Distance:  66 miles
Climbing:   4922 ft
Ave Speed: 15.1 mph
Max Speed: 33.7 mph
Time: 4 hours 21 minutes 37 seconds

Ride Report: Mass Pike Bike - Day 4

17 Aug 2008.

The last day. I woke up extraordinarily early (~4am) and by 5:30am nearly the whole camp was awake and back starting to pack up.

So, on the fourth and final start of the tour our group was the first to leave camp, and continuing our tradition of increasing our numbers we were joined by two new riders, Michelle and Karin. Karin and Michelle had opted for the 50 mile routes each day, after Karin had a fall on the first day (bruising her knee pretty badly).

In short order, Michelle established herself as an extraordinarily strong rider, dominating every climb. At the start of one of the longer climbs she had shifted to her smallest gear, early and was starting to power the bike (out of the pedals and forcing it up). In contrast, I still had 4 gears to go before I was in the same position. When she started powering up the hill, we were together but as the climb continued and I started to downshift she just maintained the same pace until the top. Impressive.

Like Day 3, the views and paths on Day 4 were beautiful. Farms, mountains, vistas. Massachusetts at its best.

Somewhere, early on, we hit the first serious climb. A nasty steep (and somewhat long) hill, Arnie and Michelle went off the front, with me barely keeping them in range (read 4 or so bike lengths). After a few false summits we finally arrived at the top, next to a little babbling brook. On an aside, riding in groups is fun. Everyone talks and jokes, that is until a serious climb is had. Then everything goes quiet as the riders become introspective, trying to will the energy to complete the climb. At the top, of course, the chatter returns.

The real climb came a few miles later. A smaller grade, but far far longer, this hill put me in a spot of bother. Steep climbs are my specialty, that's what most of my training is on. Long sustained low grade (~8+%) are not. Either way, we all managed. No doubt helped by the fact we all knew there were only two serious hills on the day and everything else would be cake.

We turn off the road and begin a series of descents. We all knew the cue sheet warned us a five mile descent was soon, so we assumed the street we were on was that descent. The descent was fast, and a little more rolling than we would have liked. When we reached the end, Michelle commented she was disappointed in the "5 mile descent," she figured it would be less rolling. That is when I re-read the cue sheet. We were about the START the five mile descent. The previous road's descents were just an appetizer.

The cue sheet was right to warn us about the descent. It was fast, long, and winding. There's not much to say about it, the road was in good shape so we could fly with little fear. On the other side of the road were cyclists climbing this monster as we screamed down. Kudos to them and thank the route planners for not having us climb it.

Soon after the descent we came upon the rest stop. Because we had left early, we passed before the first stop was setup (this being the second). At the stop was the "A-team," hanging out and enjoying the food and shade.

In a stroke of genus the route planners placed the water stop next to Cushman Market in North Amherst. Great place, I recommend the Lox.

Replenished we carried on. At one point, pacelining our way through the flatter North Amherst roads. One anecdote. When traveling in packs, lead cyclists call out things for everyone else to watch out for (Cars ahead, hole, dirt, glass, etc.), these warnings are then carried down the line to make sure everyone is aware of the danger. As we pacelined through the North Amherst farms, the lead rider (Karin) called out "Cows Left," to which everyone Moo-ed!

As we closed in on the lunch meeting place, we happened to notice a fellow tour rider on the side of the road. We stopped to render assistance, but it turned out she had stopped to enjoy the view:

The Connecticut River, Hadley, MA

We arrived at the lunch stop and were served our choice of delicious sandwiches (I wish I knew from where). The names were whimsical and local in flavor, and the flavor combinations were divine.

The ride nearly over, there was only one thing left to do. Ride as a group down the Bike Path, into Northampton, down Main St, onto another bike path and end at Look Park.

Some of us were nervous about this portion of the ride. 82 riders of various speeds and abilities could mean accidents. Obviously everyone was thinking, get to the front to be ahead of the accident. We started rather abruptly, and the group, 82 riders strong, quickly overwhelmed the bike path. We restricted ourselves to on half of the lanes, but that meant if we passed someone they were engulfed for what must have seemed like an eternity.

What was "worse," as far as we were concerned, was everyone was wearing their tour t-shirt. Meaning, jerseys couldn't be use to differentiate riders. It took time to figure out who was ahead/behind you.

We arrived at the last rally point (before the Main st ride) and took over a parking lot. I positioned myself in the shade, close to the road, figuring this would easily put me near the front. The rest of our riding group (Team AZ) joined up here as well. The plan was to head out in mass, take one of the lanes, lead riders would stop for red lights, but once the pack started moving we would not stop (i.e. if the light goes yellow/red in the middle of the peloton we would not stop). Lead riders would pull off the front and perform rudimentary traffic control.

These instructions were relayed to everyone before we started the mass ride; however a modification needed to be relayed: We would pull over for Emergency Vehicles. The ride leader related that information to us and turned to confirm everyone heard him. However riders were chatting amongst themselves, seemingly ignorant of the message. I hollered, "Did everyone catch that?" Snap, everyone's head turns in my direction and some people say, "Hear what?" or "No!" I related, verbatim, what the leader had said then paused, waiting for some confirmation from the group. No confirmation received, I said something like "Go it" and gave everyone a thumbs up, to which the whole group responded in kind, "Yup!"

Message relayed, we headed out. The mass ride went as one would expect, save the local rider who was to lead us flatted within 200ft of the parking lot. The city of Northampton did not seem to surprised, or bothered by our presence. Taking is in stride. In no time we arrived at the end of our ride, Look park. For us 65 milers, 230 miles from our start.

We congratulated each other, exchanged email and business cards with those not returning to Sudbury. Then loaded our bikes and boarded the buses home.

Distance:  42.18 miles
Climbing:   ~2700 ft
Ave Speed: 12.2 mph
Max Speed: 37.0 mph
Time: 3 hours 26 minutes 55 seconds