April 2005 Ride Report Page            
Here you will find the reports of our exploits for the month April 2005 more or less as they happened. I will publish any ride reports or digital photos that I receive. Please send them to  bikebob@crocker.com and you too can get yourself published on the web!
Go to the Ride Schedule link; You will find information about ride schedules and how the rides are run.

Friday 4/1: Today was the second day of the rides with the boys from DA. I went down to the meeting spot where I was met by four of the students. After we got our tires pumped up we headed out from the Academy and rode down Mill Village Road. After the first mile or so I was able to see that the boys have a variety of skills and are not very well versed in group riding. I tried to keep the boys together but a kid named Marsh kept falling off the back so I dropped with him. I told the other three boys to keep going and wait for us at the Lee Road intersection. I rode with Marsh for a while and it was clear that he would not be able to do the 25 miles, so I gave him a shorter loop and sent him off to do that while I went rode up Lee Road with the other boys. The remaining three boys were  Barton, Elliot and Tom and we rode up the hills with the boys trying to challenge me to sprint to the top of each one. They have much to learn! At the top of the hill on Lee Road we turned left onto Stillwater and headed down to RT. 116. I gave the boys a rolling clinic as we pedaled down to Whatley town line. As we neared the town line I noticed that Barton was getting ready to sprint so I took off and pulled away from him as we crossed the line. After the sprint we rode past the farm and started to climb the hill to the Whatley Glen. Tom and Elliot had ridden ahead of Barton and I and they were a few hundred feet in front of us and there was another rider just ahead of them. I left Barton and started to chase after the two boys. Just as I caught up with the boys and the other rider, I noticed that Tom had pulled over with a flat tire. As I got next to the new rider, I recognized him as our own Snakeboy! I made Snakeboy stop while I fixed the flat tire and the boys were impressed with the fact that I know everyone who rides a bike. After the flat was fixed the five of us headed out to ride down to Hatfield. We rode through Whatley center and I schooled the boys in the fine art of not trying to out sprint someone you do not know on the hill out of town. After the hill we rode to Mountain Road where we took a left and rode over to North Hatfield where we roused Jamie who was working in his garden. After passing Jamie's house we headed for River Road where I pulled the crew all the way from Hatfield to the turn in South Deerfield at 22 mph. The boys were getting a little tired so we headed up Sugarloaf Street where we dropped off a fairly cooked Snakeboy at his street. After Snakeboy left we rode up North Main Street and crossed the highway to Mill Village Road. It was here that we were joined by Jazzy Jeff who was riding his 'cross bike. Jazzy stayed with us for a short time before heading off. We then rode back to the school where we got some plebe to take a picture of us.

April 5 Distance - 25 Average - 20
 

Tonight was the first B.U. Tuesday night ride of the year. We were all set to go at 5:30 per Bob's email, so we left the parking lot promptly at 5:45. Did anybody really think we would get going at 5:30?

We had quite a range of riders with us tonight all leaving at the same time, so we were depending on the old 'ride hard and see who drops' method of sorting people into groups. :) We rolled down to River Road at 20mph and all hit the first small climb together. As we went into the small drop under the railway bridge, I let other riders surge around me. I was planning on setting a reasonable pace tonight. If I got dropped, I was ready to let whatever group was behind me catch up.

As it turns out, we all came back together as we passed the lawnmower man's house. From there we all kept together to chase Steve, Jeff and Tom Martyn, who all dangled within site off the front of the group. When we hit the final climb, Steve dropped back to us and we let Jeff and Tom stay out front. We finally all regrouped at 116. I've got to say, somebody is going to get killed or seriously hurt here unless people start paying attention. From the back of the group I saw a few riders cross the busy road when there wasn't really a clearing. The more riders followed blindly without deciding for themselves if it was safe to continue. Some of these got caught on the yellow line when they were blocked by Eastbound traffic and almost got smeared by an SUV going West. A few more stragglers hung on the shoulder waiting for a clearing, but the end result was that traffic needed to watch riders in the right and left shoulder AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD as they passed.

We really have to work on this crossing, since every time we cross 116 here I feel like I am taking my life into my hands.

I opted to cut away from the group here and head through S. Deerfield for the trip back. I was feeling great, but didn't want to push too hard and would rather finish feeling good than have a fast hammer ride that would take me a few days to recover from. Steve turned with me, and we soft-pedaled all the way down Sugarloaf street to see if anybody else was going trying to catch us before accelerating up to 20 for the ride home.

The two of us had a great ride back up Mill Village road, then the 'usual' route back to the shop. I didn't feel worn out at all at the finish and probably would have enjoyed doing it all again if we had enough daylight left. Submitted by Curt

Tuesday 4/5: It has arrived!! Spring that is, and along with Spring comes the BU road rides. It was a warm 65 degree day with little wind and plenty of sunshine when the riders started to assemble in the BU parking lot. We had 19 riders show up for our ride and we pretty much got the show on the road at 5:45. I led the group out of the parking lot and we headed down to Main Street at a modest pace. I put the photo's up on the web at 4-5 and you can see them there. After taking the usual route down to Deerfield Street I set a mellow pace for the ride over to River Road. As we neared the town line I was looking for Parrott to go for the sprint, and sure enough just before the line, Parrott came flying by me. I was not impressed and since I did not want to embarrass him, I let him win. After crossing the bridge the group made the left turn and headed south. I dropped to the middle of the group to let the riders sort out who was going to ride with whom. Jeff, Tom Terrific, and Steve Power went hard off the front and that left a group of about 8 riders about 100 yds behind them. I was among those 8 and we rode pretty steady over the hills on River Road, but we never were able to close the gap. We did manage to catch up with Steve when he came off the front group, but that was as close as we were to get until we got to RT. 116. Kent, Parrott and myself did the lion's share of the work on the way to RT. 116 and when we got to the stop sign, Jeff and Tom were waiting. I rolled right through them and told the group that we needed to keep going. At this point, Curt, Steve and (I thought) Don McCool went on the 25 mile ride while the rest of us continued on the longer route. After some argee-bargee on the crossing of the highway that had me doing a "Lance" across a field, the group headed south on River Road. Jeff was at the front and I quite frankly was gasping to hang on. Several gaps opened as we rode down River Road and I thought that we would split up. But after the turn onto Christian Lane the group slowed a bit on the hill and we all came back together. I was a bit spent at that point and was glad to have Jeff pull off the front. This caused the group to slow down a bit and gave me a chance to catch my breath. When we got to the Whatley Ballet the group decided that there would not be enough time to do the ride up to North Street (For me it was simply a matter of not wanting to do another hill!) so we headed north on RT. 5&10. After turning the pace picked up again and soon we were flying down the road at 25mph. The speed kept going up from there, and we soon were cruising along at 30 mph behind Jeff. Tom and I were the next riders to take a pull and we slackened the pace to the upper 20's as we headed past Channing Bete. I was at the front when we saw Jamie and Paul at the stop sign on North Main Street. I waved as we passed them and headed on towards Greenfield. After I pulled off at the Volvo dealership, Jeff went back to work. He ratcheted the speed back up and once again my eyeballs were headed backwards. We hammered along for the next few miles with several of us doing short pulls at the front. When we got to Pine Nook Road, Jeff was at the front and it was "party time"! We pounded the pedals for the next 2 miles at a steady 29 mph and, I for one, was on the rivet for most of the way. As we crossed the Cheapside Bridge again, we picked up Georgie Boy and he joined our "merry band of fools" following Jeff. After the turn onto Washington Street, the white flag went up and the group settled into a "cool down" mode for the return to the shop. When we got back to the shop, Steve and Curt were waiting for us and soon the rest of the crew followed. After all were accounted for, we held a short NRM meeting where we discussed the Cyclocross race and a possible TT for the team. We adjourned, with the rides promising to put together some suggestions for the race and TT as well as an offer to help with the cross course. Some of the riders headed out to dinner while the rest of us limped back to our cars to head for the showers. It was a great first ride and I think things will improve as more of the intermediate riders start showing up.

April 6  Distance - 36  Average - 19.8  Ending Mileage - 635.7

I checked my email this morning to find a message from Tom Silko who was looking for riding partners for a ride on Rte 30 at 5:30. I showed up a bit early to find a few other riders getting ready but they knew nothing about Tom's ride. I told them that if they waited until 5:30, we might be able to put together a nice group.

Well, by the time 5:30 came we had about 15 riders ready to roll. I was sure that the group wouldn't keep together long, since we had a broad spectrum of riding abilities represented, but the first 7 miles of Rte 30 is very flat so we should have a nice big group until things headed uphill. We set up a nice double paceline on the wide shoulders and had an almost effortless roll West at about 20mph.

I thought for sure that I would be one of the ones shelled out the back on the first hill, but all the early season riding I've been doing has paid off. I was in front with Tom Martyn and Jesse when we topped the first climb and turned to look at our group, which was now spread over 1/4 mile in ones and twos behind us. We slowed to regroup, but things kind of naturally fell into two groups, seven of us in front and the remaining 8 in a chase group behind. That group turned off (or turned back) shortly afterward so us 7 in front were now on our own.

Even the seven riders remaining had some people in it who hadn't been getting out much, so we slowed several times to get back together. We also stopped at the top of the major climb of the ride to regroup before rolling out to the turn-around of this out-and-back ride.

The route on the return has one major difference. It follows the river valley instead of climbing over one of the hills we had to go over on the way out. So we set up a paceline and motored East. In no time we were back on Rte 30. Some of the members of our group were getting pretty toasted by this point, so the regroups were becoming more frequent as we toped the last few minor climbs before dropping back to the flats of Rte 30 and the final 8 miles home. Tom Martyn, Jesse and I took turns on the front along here, and kept pace pretty high thinking that now that we were on the flats the tiring riders would just be able to suck a wheel and get pulled along, but we still ended up dropping three of them.

About three miles from the finish, I was daydreaming while third in line behind Tom Martyn and Tom Silko when Jesse went surging past. At first I just thought he was going up to relieve Tom at the front, but he passed Tom and kept going. It took me a few more seconds to put things together (Fast rider + town line approaching = sprint!). By this time he was 40' or more ahead but I decided not to let him have it without a fight. I pulled out and around Tom & Tom to give chase.

At first I didn't have much hope of catching him, but I soon noticed that I was actually closing the gap! This encouraged me, and I put even more effort into my pursuit. Soon I had the gap down to just a few feet and was planning on sticking myself onto his wheel until we close enough to the line that I could go around him and steal it, but I looked up and saw that the line was a lot closer than expected so instead of pulling in behind him I stayed in his draft as much as possible as I pulled up to him then cut out to go around him. He knew I was coming so put on a final burst of power, but I had the drop on him and ended up taking the line by a wheel.

He got stuck in front as the group caught us while I was smart enough (thanks for the lessons, Jamie!) to fade to the back of the group for a rest. Jesse pulled for a bit, then turned it over to Tom Martyn for a long steady pull for most of the remaining distance. I went to the front again for the final 1/2 mile before we got back to the parking lot.

This was one of the rides that reminds you what it is all about. Lets hope for many more like it this Summer

April 6- Greenfield Ridge

Ah Spring-sure it's cliché, but as soon as the warm sun returns everyone does get inexplicably giddy, eager, and restive-and I'm no exception-with or without the nice weather, I've been dying to ride. I put out an email and let the forces that be know that I was planning on leading a shop ride up on the Greenfield ridge. This would be my second true foray into ride leadership. The first was last year's ridge epic-which yielded mixed results (we lost half the group in Greenfield and spent an hour trying to find the putzers-only to learn they were at the shop drinking beers...a harbinger of tonight's ride!)...The Amish rides consist pretty much of Me, Big Mac and Hammerhead-which requires no actual leadership, we all know the routes, make good time and enjoy the wee hour riding. A full-on shop ride is different-tell you the truth, I don't know how Bob does it-he keeps riders of every level happy, focused, moving, feeling comfortable, and rarely lost. Anyway, I arrived (late as always) at the shop to Find Big Mac, Hammerhead Harold Green, Walter, and two new guys, Mike McIntyre and Jimmy all dressed up and revving to go. Bob and Norm had graciously worked double time to get my bike ready for it's first ride of the spring (thanks, guys!)-so I popped on my shoes and led out the troops. This was a real solid group-everyone appeared to be evenly matched, which is a pleasure. We headed right up the Poet's Seat cliffside trail-and you know what??? The rutted section has been groomed slightly (by our own Big Mac) and that made all the difference-for the first time I cleared it!!! We made good time up to the tower-I think only Mark and myself made the last rock climb-the trails were way drier than I had expected-any moisture at all and I just can't clear that rock. At the tower we regrouped and dropped down onto the white trail-with Mark in the lead, we all gathered again at the parking lot and I led the troops up the rocky blue trail-I don't know, Mark and I both felt as though it seemed somehow less rocky-has someone been grooming the trail??? Harold thought we were nuts and he's probably right. We then dropped down to the yellow trail (someone has removed most of the logs). We pedaled comfortably up bear's den road and got on the white trail to the powerlines.

Then, we took our first casualty. With Mark egging me on-I hammered up the powerlines to Joe's rock-Walter with his AWD Christini, patiently made easy work of the climb as well, with Jimmy and Harold in tow. And we waited, and waited-no Mark or Mike. Harold said he thought Mike had a mechanical so I rode back down the last two powerlines to find them. After shouting for a Mark a few times (it's no secret-my voice carries...perhaps even more than Bob's) but getting no answer I assumed he had taken the short cut to the other side of Joe's Rock trail (instead of climbing the last powerline). I rode back to the crew waiting at Joe's rock, where we all took a few shot at climbing the frustrating little bit of trail. I even gave it a shot on Walter's AWD Christini-cool bike but still not enough to get me over that last rocky outcrop (btw Walter is selling his well-appointed, lightly used Razor Back-contact him if your interested).

Anyway on the other side of the trail there was still no sign of mark and mike (I was surprised and now a little worried we had abandoned them prematurely!!!). We all took the usual route back-up the second left, to the red trail, out of the sachem's head side, across the street and once back on the Poet's seat side I gave the new guy, Jimmy (he's a young ripper-so I thought he'd appreciate this) the lead on the white trail...but about half way up the trail his wheel began to wobble uncontrollably-his hub had blown up and was spitting bearings on the trail...he was toast. After some deliberation, we steered jimmy back down the white trail to the road-we would speed back to the shop on the trail and pick him up. So now my group of 6 was down to 3-with both new guys down for the count (in fact, one completely unaccounted for)...my leadership skills being very suspect at this point! And man, did it get dark in a hurry; by the time we descended the cliffside trail back to the shop it was black in the woods. Back at the shop I was disheartened to find that Big Mac and Mike had not made it back yet. Furthermore, Harold informed me that Mike did not have a light and anyone who has ridden with Mark knows his lighting equipment is always a crap-shoot! Well, we all drove back towards sachem's head-Walter picked up Jimmy along the way (and evidently Mike, too-unbeknownst to me and Harold!). Harold and I parked on either side of the Sachem's Head trail and hiked into the woods searching for the missing Big Mac and Mike-had we only known that Mark had already made it back to the shop safe and sound...). Anyway, about a half hour later we returned to the shop to find everyone had gone home-'cept Bob who was helping Jimmy fix his ailing hub. Though I blew my first attempt at shop ride leadership-I had a good ride, as did Harold and Walter. I felt bad for the new guys-but mechanicals happen to everyone and we all walk out of the woods sometimes (see my disaster at dry hill back in early March!!!!)-so we'll get it right next time!!! Both Jimmy and Mike are good riders and seem to be of good cheer so I'm sure we'll see them again! Special thanks to Mark, his help to Mike is appreciated-thanks man. Well, until next time-keep the rubber side down!

Liam

Thursday 4/7: It was a cool and sunny day today and we had a small crew show up for the ride at 5:30. Joining me was Keith Olsen, Jeff, Jamie, Steve Power, Chris Williams, and Mike. We left the shop and rode down High Street to Sanderson Street which led us to the Poet's Seat Tower climb. I got stuck in too big of a gear at the bottom of the hill and I struggled to keep pace with Jeff up the hill. We rolled down the hill to the stop sign where Jeff was waiting for us. (He went over the hill before most of us got three quarters of the way up!) After crossing the river we headed up Greenfield Road at a pretty mellow pace and the group stayed together all the way up the hill. Once we got to Turners Falls Road the pace quickened and we were motored through Montague Center behind Jeff. Jeff did most of the work at the front and I for one was on the rivet of a good part of the way out to RT. 63. After the turn onto RT. 63, I went to the front and pulled up the hill at what I thought was a reasonable pace. My bike computer is out for repairs so I was "flying blind" in respect to my speed and I relied on the riders behind to tell me what my speed was. I got half way up the hill and I took a peek behind and I could see that Jamie was coming off the back, so I pulled off the front of the pack and dropped back to give Jamie a hand. At this point I was feeling a little tired myself and a slower pace worked well for me. I pulled Jamie back to the group, but when they accelerated again, Jamie came off. At that point I sent the boys on ahead and I settled in to ride with Jamie. We rode along together down to Bull Hill with me on the front for the flatter sections and Jamie at the front on the hills. We kept a steady pace down to RT. 116 where I was able to kick it up a bit to 26 mph. We blew through Sunderland Center and rode over to Sugarloaf Street where we had a bit of a headwind. We rode up North Main Street and crossed over to Mill Village Road where we got a tailwind again. Jamie kept giving me my speed as we pushed over to Old Deerfield where he took over the lead. We got back out onto RT. 5&10 where I did another pull and we cruised back into Greenfield at a 22 mph pace. After getting onto Hope Street we slowed the pace and soft pedaled back to the shop. We did a 21 mph pace for the 30 mile ride and shortly after we got back Jeff and his group rolled into the parking lot. It was a really nice night for a ride with plenty of sunshine and 50 degree temperatures.

April 8  Ending Mileage - 657

Another ride arranged by email. I got a message from Tom Silko announcing a ride leaving from his house on Western Ave. at 5:15. Jeremy and Kent Webster declined since they had already made plans to ride from the common at 5:00. I showed up at Tom's a few minutes before Jesse rode in. We rode to the end of the driveway where Tom told us that he had spoken to Jeremy and they were going to ride in this direction and pick us up on the way past. After a few minutes, we got tired of waiting and headed East to meet up with them. Soon, Jeremy came into site with Kent nowhere to be seen. It turns out he couldn't make the ride after all, so the four of us set out. We started up the long climb up Greenleaf street, but kept the pace so nice and mellow that I didn't even feel like I was climbing for much of the ride. After we dropped down the other side, we hit dirt road and decided that we had enough time to continue on to loop through Guilford.

The road was a typical Vermont mud season mess. It was all twisted and buckled by the frost coming out. Even where it looked dry in some places it was soft and springy, almost like riding on the bending surface of a trampoline that sank under our wheels then sprang back up after we passed.

Just past the covered bridge in Green River, I heard the 'bang' of an explosive flat tire. I pulled over with Jesse and Tom to fix it while Jeremy continued on to get a head start on the long climb ahead. I called 'Bob is Fat!' and looked around for a few minutes for Bob who usually changes my flats, but he was hiding somewhere so I finally realized I would have to change it on my own.

Just as I was finishing up, a 4x4 with a couple of young kids in it stopped to ask if we were lost. The occupants just couldn't believe we were on this muddy road with road bikes on purpose! We noticed that they were dressed for wet weather and had whitewater kayaks on the roof. When we asked them if they were really going into the freezing cold Green River at this time of year their reply was "Hell yeah, the water is great this time of year". They just didn't get our point that "Hell yeah, the biking is great too!"

I was filling the tire with CO2 just as they started pulling away (and was a bit distracted by chatting and finishing up the tire change at the same time) when *bang* the tube blew out. I had failed to notice a slice in the tire (I had looked for one, but things were muddy). Jesse waved the 4x4 down as they were driving away and they backed up to us again. We asked if they had anything we could use as a patch and they guy offered us a roll God's universal fix-it material... Duct tape. Tom ripped off an 8" piece and handed me small squares one by one as I built up a layer of tape behind the tear. To finish it off, Jesse gave me a Powerbar wrapper and a square of plastic cut from a milk bottle. With the tear reinforced, I finished the change and we were soon once again on the road.

The climb took a while, since we were fighting against not just the slope but also the glue-like mud. But in no time we were over the top, down the other side and back on to pavement. We stopped to give Jeremy a chance to get his jacket on then found my tire once again flat :(. I was pretty frustrated by this time and told the guys to go ahead without me send my wife back with the car to get me (since we were fast running out of sunlight), but they insisted on hanging around for (I was hoping) one last repair. It turns out that Jesse's tube had been a patch-job and blew out at the patch. We put a new tube from Jeremy in, filled it with a THIRD CO2 and were finally on the way home.

The last stretch through Guilford and into Brattleboro flew past in no time. We split up on Canal Street just North of Exit 1 where Jeremy and Jesse continued on to downtown while Tom and I turned up Maple Street toward his house.

All in all, even with the mud and multiple flats it was a great ride.

04-09 Wendell SF; Well it's not all work up here at Wendell SF, you know-we like to play, too, on our work days-and today, we got a good lesson on playing really hard. After quitting trail work around noon (Mark and I had been at it since 6:00am, and the rest of the crew worked very hard since 8) we headed back to the Ranger Station and suited up for the ride. Unfortunately Howard, Doug, and Jason who had all worked very hard during the morning couldn't stay for the ride (next time guys), but Big Mac, Slim, Dennis "Slapheadmofo" and Ron "Storkman" and Mike McIntyre (Bob, he needs a riding nickname, pronto!) quickly headed back into the forest to ride. I lead the gang out to the first trail we built up there-the original race course trail. From there we turned left through the laurel and up the switch climb trail (which we all built in January) to the top of Baker Rd. From the top of Baker Rd, we regrouped and headed down the trail we had just built-even though it dead ends (until next Saturday)-we we're excited to see how our handiwork handled, and also, we wanted to see some jumping. While building the trail this morning we uncovered a big flat top boulder whose shear side drops down to a short, steep, smooth downhill making for 8-10 ft drop depending on far one jumps off of it.
Slaphead and Storkman put in some extra work to clear out this feature as they were eager to jump off of it-and we were eager to see such a feet in action. When we reached the boulder, Storkman sized up the drop, backed up and as cool as the other side of the pillow leapt off and easily stuck the landing. Then, plucky Mike McIntyre, swept away in the rush of the display quickly launched his short travel, aluminum, Cannondale XC HARDTAIL off the same obstacle also smoothly sticking the landing (very impressive by the way!). On the return trip Slapheadmofo would also launch and land with great flair and aplomb. Pretty impressive stuff actually-good riding, gentlemen. From here we continued down our trail and were pleasantly surprised a tricky rock ramp/cliff area we worked hard on turned out to be smooth and stable riding. Then we returned back the way we came-noting the need of the trail to be ridden in ASAP.

From here we dropped back down to Wickett Pond Road and over to Jerusalem hill. We climbed up to the midway point of Trail to the lookouts and rode in the downward direction. This is a great, very technical trail-again, saphead and Storkman put on a clinic-but Mike Big Mac and I all held out own as well. It was getting on in the day now and we all had various obligations to attend to so we called it a day and went back to the lot for beer and socializing. We left on a beautiful day from Wendell with the incomparable élan of a good ride and a job well done.

April 10  Distance - 41.9   Average - 19.5  Ending Mileage - 699.5

I was surprised to not see a bigger turnout for today's ride. I hope that all the people that didn't show still got a ride in even if it wasn't with us. It was too perfect a Spring day to sit inside and wish you were riding :)

Of the 12-13 riders that showed up, three (or four?) left to do their own thing leaving 9 of us waiting for Bob, who was pretty much right on time by his method of timekeeping. Before we could get going, Nancy wheeled his bike into the shop and asked Bob "Is this your bike? I think your tire just exploded!" Sure enough, Bob was fat and the ride hadn't even started yet! He made quick work of the tube change. After a few more short delays we were just about ready to pull out when *bang* it blew out again. It turns out he was suffering from the same problem I had on Friday... a sliced tire through which the tube was being extruded under pressure until it blew out. Several minutes, a new tube AND a new tire later we were finally ready to roll.

The 9 riders left formed quite a mixed group. Our aim was to keep everybody together at least through Deerfield then see what the group wanted to do from there. Bob set a nice pace of about 20MPH down to Old Deerfield, then set up a double paceline and spent some time showing some of the new riders how it worked. Soon we were on the climb up to Lee Road where some of the riders struggled a bit, but we soft-pedaled over the top and were soon back together.

We had a nice roll down to Sunderland where Big Al and Nancy decided to turn off to make a different ride, leaving 7 of us to continue down 47 toward Mt Warner. With a few slower riders gone, some people in the group decided to bring the pace up a bit so we were now riding in the mid-twenties, but it was still a good pace since (for the first time this year) we were riding WITH the wind in this section.

Even so, as we got to within a few miles of the turn up the 'Mountain' Tim and Lauren started to tire out. Bob decided to take them a different route to avoid the climb. That left 4 of us to go over the hill. I thought that plan was to meet Bob's group again on the other side, but I guess this plan changed at the last minute and instead they just headed back on their own.

Knowing that we still had 20 miles ahead of us and were about to turn into the wind, I let myself set an easy pace on the short hill (which is only a 'mountain' compared to the flat farmland it sits on). After crossing 116, we stopped a bit to decide if the group wanted to go home via 63 (Bob's original plan) or follow where he was taking his group; up 116 to 47 then Falls Road. I think we were all starting to feel the miles, so the final decision was for the easier run up Falls road.

The trip back was pretty uneventful except for the fact that I started to feel the hills more and more in the final miles. I adopted the strategy of trying to be in the front when we got to a hill so I could control the pace and not be dropped like a rock.

One last climb over Poets Seat and I rolled back into the shop with my three companions. I was tired, dehydrated and showing just the first hint of my Summer "biker's tan"

Ride Report Sunday April 10
Fat Tire Classic @ Winding Trails Rec Ctr. Farmington Ct.

Since early spring last year Matthew has been pestering me on a regular basis about wanting to try his luck at a Cross Country Mountain Bike Race. Finally the stars aligned and we had a free day with a race scheduled for relatively close by. I debated for a while which class to register us for - you don't think I'd just take him to the race, do you? I finally decided that Sport made the most sense. True, neither of us had ridden in competition before, but Slim and Bob assured me that both of us would hold our own in this grouping, plus our races would be about 15 miles rather than only 10 for the beginner race.

We arrived at Winding Trails just as the beginner racers were being called to the start. It was good to be early since we could see the starting procedures and get a feel for how the first couple hundred yards would be. While the beginners were on the course, we pre-rode portions of the trails including the start and finish. These sections were beginner cross country ski trails and were wide and flat - the only challenge here were the occasional sandy areas, but I wasn't too worried about these after all the hours we have ridden on the plains. Finally our 12:30 start time came around, it was scheduled for 12:00 but the last few beginners were still straggling in so they postponed it for a half hour, and we lined up for our start. We lined up by age group with Matthew and the fifteen other Juniors two groups ahead of the much larger group of Over Forty's with whom I would spend the next hour and a half. Consequently I could watch my son start his first race, though not from a position where I could capture any photos. There was quite a bit of jostling for position as his group left the start, after the race he showed me a big gouge in his rear derailleur courtesy of someone's pedal. Fortunately XTs are pretty rugged so he didn't mechanical in the first 100 feet. He crested the hill off the start and I wouldn't see him again for a very long time.

After the Juniors the next group to start was the Singlespeed riders, boy can most of those guys rip, though I ended up gapping a couple of the slower ones. Matthew said they tore, as a group, past most of the Juniors before the end of the first lap.

Finally it was time for the older guys to start, as I said it was a pretty large group and I positioned myself toward the back to let the sprinters get out of the way. At the top of the hill after the start there was a large sandy area that knocked down 2 riders spilling their bodies and bikes all over the trail, fortunately it was wide enough so I could plow around them on onto the aforementioned flat cruising section of the course. The trail remained flat for the first mile, but then it dove down a nice single track for most of the second mile. I found myself picking off riders pretty regularly throughout the race, probably passing one an average of 1 per mile. Seems that a bunch of the weaker riders in the group had shot off the front early on and then found they didn't have the legs or lungs to keep up the pace. The course was very fast, almost plains fast, with only 3 or 4 small logs and one big log about a foot in diameter. On the first lap I was stuck behind someone that dismounted for the big log, so I couldn't even attempt it - second lap I cleaned it pretty smoothly but the last lap I nearly endo'd as my timing was a tad off. The few climbs in the course were all pretty mild and short, I only used the little ring for the short steep ascent to the start/finish area, but they still managed to create a problem for several of the guys, on the second lap I gapped a couple Juniors on the longest climb. I continued picking off riders for the rest of the race when what do I see in front of me at about mile 14 of the race but that familiar blue and green of a Bicycles Unlimited jersey, the old man was about to close the gap on his son. We rode the final mile pretty much together. Matthew ended up just barely in the points at 10th out of 15 12-18 year olds. I finished well out of the points at 20th of 37 in the Over Forty class. Either way we each have some bragging rights, mine earned for a faster time and Matthew for getting the first points in a race series.

We agreed that we would have to do this again.

Hammerhead

Tuesday 4/12: It was another blustery day with the temperatures barely getting into the 40's. It was sunny but with the wind it felt like winter. The riders tonight were Jeff, Jamie, Jim Hayssen, Socks, Bill Hamer, Steve Power and myself. We left the shop at 5:45 and headed north into the headwind. I did not think the wind was all that bad until I got out onto Bernardston Road. It felt like I rode directly into a hurricane. I really struggled to keep a 14 mph pace for the first quarter of the hill. I just figured that I was tired and I pulled off. After I got onto the back of the group I realized that we were in for a tough ride tonight. The group yo-yoed for the next few miles before Jeff and I took control. Jeff pulled us into the 30 mph wind and I spelled him whenever I could. We rode at a steady tempo until we got to the turn onto RT. 10 where we lost Socks and Jim. This left the group down to 5 riders. We pressed on and headed for Northfield. Everyone took a turn at the front with Jeff doing the longest pulls. As we rode along Steve and Jeff got a good jump on us and by the time we got to the golf course they were several hundred yards ahead of Jamie, Bill and myself. I kept the pace reasonable for the group and we kept the gap the same until we got to the downhill run to the Bennett Meadow Bridge. I closed the gap to Steve and Jeff but by that time we had got onto the hill up to RT. 63 and the group came apart. I told Steve and Jeff to go on ahead and that I would ride with Jamie and Bill. I rode at the front for the trip from Northfield down to the hills on RT.63 where I pulled off and rode behind my comrades. When we got down to the hill into Erving, we caught up with Steve who had dropped off from Jeff's pace. The four of us then headed through Millers Falls and up to Millers Falls Road to head back to the shop. After climbing the hill to Millers Falls Road we were hit with the headwind again and I suffered to keep a 18 mph pace for the ride to Turners Falls. We rode down past Scotty's Store to the Third Street hill. We all rode together across the river and then back to the shop. I, for one, was pretty tired when I got back and I think that sentiment was the same for the rest of my group. It was a pretty hard ride!!

Wednesday 4/13: Last week I missed the MTB ride due to a very busy shop schedule, but this week I have Nathan, Norm and Noah all working, so I was able to get out to do the ride. Liam had called me earlier today to tell me that he wasn't going to be riding with us. MAC also called and said that he would be arriving at 6:20 or so. I got my MTB bike out of mothballs and put air in the shock and tires and I was ready to roll at 6:00. Two local boys, Josh and Dakota, had spent the better part of this afternoon hanging around the shop so that they would not miss the ride. They actually had ridden pretty hard for most of the day since they did not have school today. Joining the boys and myself for the ride was Mike McIntyre, Jimmi, and Vern T. Biznatch. We all waited until 6:20 and then headed out to ride the ridge. We headed out from the shop with Jimmi at the front and that kid rocketed up the road at breakneck speed. I started to think that this was going to be a long evening for grandpa. I kept my pace steady and hit the trails at the ridge just behind Josh and Dakota and well behind the other three riders. I rode all the way up the hill to the Blue Dot Trail while the rest of the bunch had to walk at least some of the hill. After getting to the Blue Dot Trail I directed the group to continue at their own pace. I rode along the ridge to the rocky climb up to the tower where the group was trying to ride up the rock. After a few tries, Vern and Mike made it, but the rest of us did not. We continued on the Blue Dot Trail to the entrance to the park and then crossed the road to do a run over to Sachem's Head. We had to stop a few times to wait for the kids to catch up and when we got to the final stretch we decided to skip the run out to Sachem's Head so that the kids would not get too far behind. I led the group down the hill from the switchback turn to the Yellow Dot Trail. Vern could not remember the trail so I had to remind him that this was the 400th time he has ridden here and then I sent him on his way. I rode behind the two boys as they made their way down the Yellow Dot Trail and I could see that they were getting tired. They had a hard time staying on the trail and Josh lost control of his bike on the steep descent to Bear's Den Road, and landed hard on the top tube. When I got down to the road Josh was laying on his back on the road writhing in pain. He had that look on his face and I assured the dear boy that they would in fact grow back. Mike on the other hand was having tire difficulties. He flatted on the downhill and he did not have a pump. I fixed the flat and before we headed out to do Joe's Rock, I told the boys that it was time for them to head home. They did not argue because they both were pretty tire so I sent them on their way. Before they left, I thanked them for coming on the ride and I told them to come again. They did a great job considering they are only 13 years old. After the kids departed we headed over to ride Joe's Rock from the southern side. This is a very rideable route although you have to pick a good line to do it. I made it all the way to the tree, but Jimmi was stopped there and I could not make it around him. We all walked the last section of the hill and when we got to the top, Mike said that his goal this summer is to ride up this hill. We rode across the ridge and down the other side and ended up on Bear's Den Road again. From Bear's Den Road we took the Yellow Dot Trail up to the Red Dot Trail which led us back to the entrance to Poet's Seat. At this point it was starting to get dark so we rode the White Dot Trail back to the entrance to the park and then rode down the hill to French King Highway. We all were tired from the ride but we had a great time on a really nice evening. After getting back to the shop we made plans for next week's ride.

Thursday 4/14: We have finally had a week of nice weather and it is now starting to get warmer so Spring is really here! Today it was 60 degrees at 6:00 and there was plenty of sunshine to go along with the strong winds. The plan tonight was to have Christina "the crab", Penny and Jeannie take a shorter loop while the rest of us went over to do the Cave Hill/Bull Hill ride. I was a little whipped so I was planning on hanging back with the Bull Hill group while Jeff took the remainder of the group over to Cave Hill. I led the group after we left the shop and we headed over to Turners Falls via Greenfield Road. After crossing the river we took the new Seventh Street route. This is a much smoother hill to ride up and it puts us out at the Fire House. After getting the group turned onto Turners Falls Road I went back and re-joined the group behind. We had a pretty good sized group which pedaled along at a 19 mph pace through Montague Center and then out to RT. 63 where we turned right to head for Bull Hill. The group got stung out on the hill but I managed to get everyone back onto the pack. We rode the hills at a modest pace and when we got to the last hill I went to the front and put the speed up to 35 mph. I carried the speed along the flats and then motored up the hill to the railroad bridge and I crested the hill at 31 mph with several riders right behind me. Soon after we crested the hill Curt came along and said that Michelle had a flat. She limped off the side of the road and soon the group was watching a tire change. As the repair was being made, there was a little kid yelling out the window. He kept saying "get out of here" so the repair was made and soon we were on our way. I led the way over to Bull Hill and held off Steve to get the town line sprint. After the sprint I rode near the back of the group until we got to the bottom of Bull Hill, where I took over the lead again. I made the corner onto RT. 116 and slowed up to allow the rest of the riders to catch up with me. After everyone was back on, Curt and I pulled the riders down to Sunderland Center at 25 mph. We crossed the bridge and then headed up to Sugarloaf Street. After turning onto Sugarloaf Street we got hit with a headwind so I went to the front again and pulled the group over to North Main Street where most of the riders took turns at the front. Georgie Boy was a little whipped at this point so he dropped back. Soon after that Nancy and Lauren joined him while the rest of us rode on ahead. The group got a little strung out on Mill Village Road with Socks and Don McCool dropping off the pace. That left Curt, Jamie, Michelle and me to press on ahead. We kept a 25 mph average through Old Deerfield and when we got back onto RT. 5&10 we stormed back into town at 27 mph. After turning onto Washington Street we slowed the pace and some of the riders behind us caught back on. We then rode easily back to the shop and arrived just a little ahead of Jeff, Steve, Doug and the rest of his crew who had done Cave Hill. It was a little chilly with all the wind, but we all enjoyed the ride.

Sunday 4/17: Adelphia Gran Prix. It seems that this race is becoming the traditional opening of my racing season. The weather was great - warm and not nearly as windy as usual. The roads were still horrible and definitely worse than last year. The Women's P/1/2/3 field was fairly small with only 25 of us on the start line. I was a little nervous.... it was the first race of the season and I really didn't know how I would do and my two teammates had decided that the plan was for them to set me up for the sprint since I was likely the strongest sprinter of the 3 of us. If I was our best hope.... yikes. Anyway, we went off and I tried to ride aggressively and hold the wheels I wanted. I didn't allow myself to get pushed around and actually even did a little pushing myself. I stayed close to the front most of the time and chased down one attack and found myself off the front with the 3 that had attacked. Our break was short lived, but I was psyched to have held on to their wheels (the eventual winner and runner up were in this group). So, I was feeling great and having fun and then a little later... a wheel eating pothole. I hit it hard. My front tire flatted. Campy neutral support was right there much to my surprise as we were told initially that only the men's Pro/1/2 field would have neutral support. They did a quick wheel change and gave me a good push, but I couldn't catch back on as this occurred in a section that on every lap saw attack after counterattack. There was an attack on when I flatted. It was lap 5 of 10 and I chased and chased until I could see the group, but I couldn't catch them. A couple of laps later I ended up in a group of 3 (we had all flatted and were sporting the blue tires of the neutral wheels) and we worked together determined to finish. Towards the end of lap 9 we caught two other riders who had been dropped and we were now a group of 5. We went through the start/finish area for the bell lap and almost got killed by some cat 4 women who were cooling down on the course in the middle of the road. Flashbacks to last year! I didn't see a soft spot to land in so I started yelling and we managed to miss them.
On the last corner, I went through first and just bombed right through and put the hammer down to finish first among our group of 5. The final result was not much to write home about (18th of 25) but it was a good test of my health. (Cold is gone!) Overall, I raced much better today than I did at this race last year.

Michelle

04/17/2005: Today marked the last race of the Bethel Spring Series.  The weather was perfect for racing.  It was nice to actually be able to race in short sleeves and shorts instead of finishing a race with a coating of ice of the bike.  I went into this race as the series leader for the 4th week in a row.  The final race was worth more series points than previous races.  I was pretty secure with my lead but if the second place rider won and I did not place, he would steal my lead by one point.  I sat in for most of this race and just watched the field.  Towards the end of the race, there were 4 or 5 racers about 20 seconds off the front.  They remained there until the final lap.  Most of the race, I was more concerned with the series than this individual race.  On the final lap, I bridged the gap of the tired riders off the front, grabbed a wheel for a few seconds then decided it was time to give it a go.  I accelerated past them and took 1st.  I finished the series as the overall leader with the following finishes - 5th, 1st, 1st, 1st, 3rd and 1st.  I have requested my Cat 3 upgrade and am eager to move on to other races.  I enclosed a picture of me in my leader's jersey after the race.
 

Sea Otter Classic, Monterey CA, April 14-17, 2005.  Last month, my teammate Nancy had convinced me that in order to have a full west coast downhill experience, I should make the trip up to Monterey for Sea Otter.  It didn’t take much convincing, though, since I had watched the races on television last year and dreamed about one day going to the “distant land” called California and participating in this classic event (that part is no exaggeration).  With a little bit of logistic work, I arranged for Nancy and Roger to take my bike up to the race and had another teammate, Laura, turn in my registration materials for me.  I decided to fly up to San Jose, then drive down to Monterey instead of making a very long drive all by myself (since none of our other Phoenix contingent was making the trip).   
    So, on Friday, I went to work, then drove to the airport and sat on the short flight up to San Jose.  Unfortunately, I missed both official downhill practices (which occurred on Thursday and Friday afternoons), so had to face the prospect of making only a few runs before the race.  On Saturday, I headed over to Laguna Seca and rode around the vendor areas, making a few purchases and scoring a new spring for my Swinger, courtesy of Manitou.  I also introduced myself to a few of our sponsors (Beyond Bikes and Morewood) and just soaked in the atmosphere of bikes, bikes, everywhere.  In the afternoon, I decided to suit up and go over to the “Ride Zone”, a little BMX style park that had some dirt jumps, ladder drops, and other tricks.   Primarily, I was interested in the ladder drops, as I knew there were two on the DH course and thought it would be good to practice.  I rode off the 3 footer without a problem and decided to try my luck with the 4-½ footer.  Problem was, there was only a 10-foot run in, and before I could get my foot on the pedal and get a few rotations in on the cranks, I was on the ladder without enough speed.  I instantly knew it was going to go bad, and before I could think of anything else, I came off the bike and slammed down hard on my left side into the concrete-like dirt.  I remember thinking that it (duh) hurt a lot, but moved around and got up right away.  My shoe had come off and I retrieved it and my bike, and sat over on a dirt pile to take inventory.  Nothing seemed broken, and my uppers had saved my arm from getting shredded.  I did have a large scrape on my hip, which started to swell immediately.  My time at the “Ride Zone” was over, so I went and got some ice for my hip, then limped up to the dual slalom finals to lick my wounds and watch all the pro DS action.  On the way, I stopped at first aid, where the medic told me I would probably be fine (seemed to be no kidney or spleen damage), though I could have some internal bruising/bleeding which I might want to go to the ER for (of course, she had to say that so there would be no chance of it coming back to bite her)! 
    After watching dual slalom, we decided to go up and hike the DH course, since poaching (riding) was out of the question for me.  Up to that point, I hadn’t even seen the course, but it turned out to be what I expected, since many folks had described it…fast, lots of jumps, berms, and pedaling at the end.  I tried to etch a mental image of it into my mind, and then resolved that I would practice tomorrow and give it what I could.  I honestly had no expectations of winning or even doing really well, and my main goal was to come out, make it to the bottom without crashing, and to have fun (cliché, I know, but true).  Saturday night, after lots of icing and quite a few ibuprofen, I fell asleep at 9 pm and slept well through the night.
    I woke up Sunday (race day) with the same lump on my hip, but thankfully it hadn’t gotten worse, so I knew I would race.  We made it up to the venue, and shivered a bit, as it was cloudy and damp (luckily, that would give way to bright sunshine and cool breezes…as it did each day I was there…quite uncharacteristic for Sea Otter weather, I’m told).  I got dressed around 10 am, knowing that the expert DH practice started at 11 (and our race started at 12), and hiked up the hill to get a decent place in line.  Surely enough, at 11, we lined up for a practice run and I decided to go down the course behind my friends Donna and Gabriela.  I went off the first ladder drop without a problem and continued down to the bottom, stopping occasionally when I was not sure of the lines or when a little drop surprised me.  We lined up for the shuttle, and I missed the first one, so I knew that I would only get that one practice run in.  By the time Donna got down from her second run, it was only 20 minutes till race time (expert women went before the men), so our friend Steve kindly shuttled us back up to the top.  I had so little opportunity to get butterflies, and when I lined up for the race, I felt like I just wanted to be conservative on the berms, pedal over the jumps, and pedal like mad on the flats. 
    I was the 3^rd rider to start, and out of the gate, I pedaled hard and railed around the first corner.  At the second, sweeping turn, I braked and then started to track really low on the exit as I approached the small jump before the ladder.  I hit the bump and my foot came unclipped from my pedal.  I did the go-around instead of hitting the first ladder drop (with so little practice, I didn’t want to do anything stupid and fall), and tried in vain to get my foot clipped in.  As I did, I hit the first tabletop and rolled it, my foot coming unclipped again.  I could hear everyone yelling, “pedal!  pedal!” so that’s what I did.  I entered the first sweeping berm and went high to stay out of the sand.  Then, it was a few more jumps, which I rolled over and on to the long run-out section after the log drops.  I wisely avoided the log drops and railed down the hill, never touching my brakes and going insanely fast.  Before I knew it, I had dropped to the lower section of the course, did the second ladder drop go-around, and was pedaling some more, staying high and rolling smooth over the steep off-camber sections.  I was rolling fast until I hit the last mud pit…my tire went in and I felt my front suspension compress and my bike slow considerably.  Realizing I just cost myself a second or two, I pushed down hard on the cranks and downshifted to get moving.  I crossed the ladder bridge and sprinted to the finish, happy that I made it to the end in one piece.
    The announcer called out my name and time…I rode the course in 3:12.9, which was good enough for first place among the expert women 19-29.  I would soon find out that I rode the fastest time of all the expert women that day.  What a fabulous weekend to spend in Monterey…a dream realized as I rode in my first Sea Otter Classic. Submitted by Stephanie

Tuesday4/19: It was a warm day with temperatures in the 70's and we had 24 riders show up for the ride. Several riders went out with Roger at 5:30 and the rest of us left at 6:00. The route was the Conway-Whatley loop of 35 miles and all of the riders left with the intention of doing the whole ride, but we had a plan to cut off the hill for those not with the group at the Stillwater hill. After leaving the shop we rode down to Deerfield and took Old Main Street over to Mill Village Road. At this point we were all together in one pack. After turning onto Stillwater Road the pace quickened and Jeff took off on the hill. He along with Parrott, Ron, Steve and Jim raced up the hill, leaving the rest of us in the rear view mirror. I rode in the middle of the group to the top of the hill where I sat up to wait for riders just behind me. I gathered a few and we set off to catch up with four riders just in front of us. When we made the turn onto RT. 116 there were seven of us left. We rode up RT. 116 behind Chris Williams to the town line where I took over. I rode at the front up to Matthews Road where I pulled off. As I dropped back I noticed that two riders were just behind so I slowed my pace a bit until Walter and Jamie caught back on. We rode together up the hill and after making the turn onto Whatley Road I thought that it was just going to be the three of us. But when we got to the church I spotted the rest of the group soft pedaling just ahead. We joined the group and headed for Whatley. Everyone worked hard on the climb up Whatley Road and although some riders got strung out, we were all together at the top. Jim H., and Todd did the honors for the ride down to the reservoir, where I took over for the descent. The roads were a little sandy and I wanted to be at the front to slow things down if necessary. It turned out that the road was not as bad as I had imagined and we were able to carry our speed to the next climb. We rode over to Strippe Road and I led the troops onto Haydenville Road to the descent that leads to the last climb of the day. I zoomed down the hill at 45 mph and had quite a gap on the group. I kept a modest pace over to the hill when suddenly a blue and white blur went zipping by me. It was Jamie!! He was towing Michelle and a few others at 30 mph just to make me chase. Well that didn't work because I just picked it up and managed to finish the hill just behind Jim. Jim and I rolled down the other side to the Whatley Inn where the rest of the group joined us. At this point it was getting dark so I decided to take the riders back to Greenfield via RT. 5&10. After everyone got safely onto the highway, we formed a paceline which enabled us to keep a 25 mph average all the way back to Greenfield. After we got up to Hope Street we caught up with Roger and John who joined us for the soft pedal back to the shop. It was nice to do a ride in shorts and short sleeves for a change. I hope that the good weather will continue for a while.

Thursday 4/21: Today's ride was the Tyler Hill loop and I was just a bit worried about finishing it before dark. Although it was a sunny and cool day, the wind was pretty brisk from the north so I was concerned that the riders might not be able to keep the pace high enough to make it back before sunset. We left the shop and headed up High Street to the French King Highway with me and Jeff at the front. As soon as we got to the first light the group was strung out for a quarter mile. Jeff and I waited for the bunch to catch back on and we then headed for Adams Road. After crossing RT. 2 we began the climb up Adams Road. Jeff, Tom and several others quickly got a big gap on my group and were soon out of sight. I settled in to ride up the hill at a modest pace. When we got to the top of the hill there were nine of us left and we got together to begin the ride to the hill. In our group was Bee Boy who would not do any of the work because he wanted to "save" himself for the hill. That left the "old man" and a few others to do the work pulling the paceline over to RT. 10. When we got to RT. 10 I managed to get Bee Boy to go to the front and the two of us did a pull on the front of our double paceline. When we got to the turn onto RT. 142, Bee Boy took off ahead of the group to do a town line sprint by himself. Luckily, he won. The rest of us were fairly amused by this and fell in right behind the dear boy at the railroad crossing. The riders formed a line behind Bee Boy and we headed north towards the border. I took several pulls at the front on the way to the Vermont State line where Bee Boy, Stan and Jim went for the sprint. Bee Boy barely squeaked out a win before getting swept up by the group headed by yours truly. I led the peloton over to Pond Road where I dropped briefly to the back. Bob Croke, Stan and myself rode at the front of the line for most of the way along Pond Road. We kept a fairly high average speed after getting over the hill and we soon were out on Rt. 142 and heading for Governor Hunt Road. This is the road that takes us out by the nuke plant and then over to the hill. After getting onto the hill, it was Bee Boy and Bob who led the rest of us up the Tyler Hill Climb. At the top of the hill I waited for the rest of the riders to arrive and then we all went down to RT. 5 where Bob, Parrott and Tom were waiting. After everyone got across the road we all headed south. I stayed at the front of the pack for a short while before pulling off. At this point I was getting tired and I kept my turns at the front of the pack pretty short. We kept the pace pretty high as we flew down the road to Bernardston center. Everyone took a turn at the front with the speed staying at 26 mph or better. As we got to Bernardston it was getting dark so we pretty much hammered the last few miles back to Greenfield. We took Wildwood Ave. to head back to the shop and as we neared the end of the road we saw Tom Terrific and Jeff on the side of the street fixing a flat. It seems that Tom got two flats when he bunny hopped a curb after missing the turn onto Wildwood Ave. Of course none of us offered to help them and we just chuckled as we rode past. No mercy!! Tom and Jeff returned to the shop shortly after our return and we all then headed for home. I can tell you that I was pretty whipped and I am pretty sure that there were others who were in the same boat.

Saturday 4/23: Sturbridge Road Race. I went into this race with 2 goals:
to ride aggressively and get a top 5 finish. I rode a decent race for the most part. I made sure to stay close to the front which was necessary in this 3/4 field of nearly 40 riders. I got bumped a lot and nearly knocked over. Bumping doesn't bother me, it's part of racing, but when I get 'bumped' because some idiot isn't paying attention and just rides into me, I get a little annoyed. Anyway, the first lap of four was essentially a rolling tea party. As we passed the start/finish and rounded the 180 degree right hand turn, I took the lead up the climb and settled into a comfortable pace. I wanted to thin the group a little without burning myself out. I wasn't on the front for long before the first attack came.
I chased it down and we were all together. The rest of the second lap and much of the 3rd lap were filled with attacks by people, including me, trying to get away to no avail. I expected the last lap to be aggressive and fast so I was close to the front going up the climb waiting for an attack but no one went. The last lap was yet another tea party until the final stretch. Unfortunately as we rounded the last corner, I found myself on the front which was not where I wanted to be. I took it easy and hoped that people would get annoyed and come around but no such luck.
As soon as we got to the point where we could use the whole road, many people took off. We were still a ways from the line and then a car came up and forced everyone into the right lane which nearly killed us. Early season races with the 4's are always scary, but this sprint was perhaps the ugliest I have seen. I got swarmed, nearly taken out and then sat up as I didn't want to risk life and bike to sprint for 15th or 20th place.
Surprisingly I ended up in 19th place. I'm not sure how that happened, I figured I was 30th. My teammate Jen, however, was in front of the messiness and took 6th place.

Sunday 4/24: Palmer Library Road Race. I woke up this morning with earaches and a headache. I contemplated not racing, but I had already paid my fee and told my teammates that I would be there so I went. As I was walking back to my car from registration, my race numbers fell out of my pocket and before I had time to think, someone had picked them up for me. This happened in front of my friend Matt and I said, "damn... if I lose the numbers then I won't be able to race! Why did she have to pick them up?" :) My warm up was icky and my legs lacked zip. I rolled to the start line and stayed in the middle of the pack for the first few miles or so. About 30? minutes into the first lap, I found myself a little too close to the back and had just decided to try to move up when a crash happened in front of me. I heard the obligatory explicative and the sound of metal hitting pavement and then the person right in front of me went down as well and I had nowhere to go but down. In all 5 or 6 of us went down. I immediately got up and started to get on my bike and then realized that I should at least make sure I hadn't flatted. All was good so I jumped on and began chasing the group. They had accelerated since the woman who had won on Saturday (Heather) was also involved in the crash. I was the first person to get back on my bike and I was chasing alone for a bit until Heather caught up and then we worked together for awhile until my legs nearly came off at the end and it was all I could do to stay on her wheel. We did catch the group and I got a little bit of rest. We were the only 2 who caught back on. It was pouring rain and kind of cold so even though it was nice to rest and not have to pedal for a bit, I wanted to pedal to stay warm. So, eventually Heather attacked and was caught and then she attacked again, got caught and attacked again and was caught but it took a lot out of the field and after 2 days of chasing this woman, I'm glad that she lives in NJ and has upgraded to cat 2 (rumor has it she has signed with Quark) so I won't have to deal with her all season long. I was feeling pretty tired towards the end of the second lap and I was just hanging on trying to conserve energy. When we got to the last hill, I started out in a bad spot (the very back) but I managed to sprint (I use the term sprint very loosely here) to 8th place.
I guess enough other people had less left than I did. About 30 people started and only 21 finished. It wasn't the result that I wanted, but it
was OK.
Michelle

Sunday 4/24: It was a really nice day today and we were pretty busy at the shop. With all the rain that we have had, every sunny day brings the riders out, before it rains again. As closing time neared I had several riders waiting for me to either give them a ride (Josh, Jessie, Sam and Curt) or to follow me over to the parking spot (Mike and Becky). At 5:00 I got my gear and loaded the van with bikes, Curt and Sam, while Josh, Jessie, Becky and Mike followed me in Mike's car over to the start. It was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures. It was still pretty windy, but that is not much of a factor when riding in the woods. After getting all the bikes unloaded we did a quick introduction of the new riders. In addition to the above riders we had Steve Power, Laura, Ant Penny, Rae, Hammerhead, Matthew and Jeffery Green joining us. We left the common and headed over to the Telephone Pole Trail and headed up the hill. At the firepit we stopped to regroup and Curt took some photos which you can find at 4-24 . After the photos we decided to split into two groups. I rode with Laura, Matt, Harold, Sam and Steve. We headed off to the Toilet Bowl Trail while Curt led the rest of the riders over to Willis Hill. The plan was for us to meet at the BPT. My group rode at a pretty good clip over to the power lines and then we headed out for the Pine Forest Trail. We all stayed together until we got to the climb up to Willis Hill. First; Harold, Steve and Matt took the wrong turn and had to turn around to get back on the trail. After we were all together again we headed for the last big climb. We were almost to the top of Willis Hill when Matt broke his chain. I made a quick repair and soon we were on our way. We rode over the top of Willis Hill and then rode through the swamp and then back out to Willis Hill Road. After the swamp Harold was in the lead and I was at the back. Harold took the long route and I had to holler to get him to make the turn onto the Water Tank Trail. As we rode down the hill I could see that the road ahead was flooded, so I told Harold to stay to the left. This is because I knew that you cannot ride on the right side of this road when it is flooded. Well, Harold went to the right and soon I heard a large splash and an Oh S--t coming from behind me. Yep, Harold fell right in and had to swim out. I rode on with the group riding behind me on the left side of the road. We stopped at the field to wait for Harold. When he arrived he was soaking wet and a little cold, so we decided to continue on and hook up with Curt's group. We rode down the hill from the water tank and over to Willis Hill Road. The group stopped briefly to move some blown down branches on the Water Tank Trail and then we all headed over to the BPT Trail. After we got to the end of the BPT Trail, Curt was taking some shots and we all hammed it up a bit. When the photos were taken we all headed off to ride over Red Rock. After Curt took some more photos on the descent of Red Rock we all headed down the trail to the Telephone Pole Trail. By this time the kids were getting a little tired so we rode back down the Telephone Pole Trail and back to the center of town. It was a great ride and everyone enjoyed the day as well as the company.

Tuesday 4/26: Frizzle Hill ride was the route for tonight's event. We had another cool and blustery day with strong winds blowing from the north. There was a good sized group of 23 riders for tonight's ride with 15 of the riders heading out with me and the rest going out with Ant Penny. My group headed over to Turners Falls and after we crossed the canal we turned right and took the new route to the top of the hill. When we got to the fire house we continued strait and soon we were out on Millers Falls Road going at a good clip. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the group came apart as we passed the airport. As usual, Jeff took several riders and they sped off. That left me to ride with the remaining group. Everything went smoothly until we got to the hill leaving Millers Falls. Jamie was at the front and going hard. I wondered if this was something new or maybe he misjudged the hill. Jamie pulled off after the railroad tracks and that left me in third slot. As we got further up the hill Bentley pulled off and I was on the front. I rode for a short time and frankly I was done, so I pulled off to head to the back. When I did, I looked back and saw that Jamie had come off the back of the group. I dropped back and helped motor him up to Jim Hayssen who was also off. Jamie, Jim and I headed off to try to catch up with Chris Williams, Bentley, and Bill Hamer. We kept plugging along and shortly we had Bill with us. We all worked together and we caught up with Bentley at South Mountain Road and he slipped in behind the group. At this point the group was pretty much pulling hard to catch up with Chris who was just in front of us. We caught Jim at the turn onto RT. 10 and we all rode across the Bennet Meadow Bridge together. Soon after the bridge we caught up with Ian Grosse and Steve Power and then the bunch headed off to ride up the hill towards Bernardston. As soon as we got onto the hill, Jamie came off and was going backwards pretty quickly. At this point I knew that I did not have it in me to ride up the hill so I decided to wait up for Jamie. Jamie was cooked so I got in front and we rode together to RT. 5 where Steve Power was waiting for us. Steve, Jamie and I then headed south. We rode down to Barton Road and due to the fact that it was 7:10 and we had not started on the hill, I decided to head down Barton instead of doing Frizzle Hill. At first Steve seemed to be upset, but he agreed that we did the right thing. The three of us rode out to Leyden Road and then we headed back to the shop. I was really pooped and glad to be back. It was a hard ride for me even though I did not do the hill. I think that the wind and many long days at work have left the tank less than full.

Thursday 4/28: After another rainy day yesterday I was not too sure if we would get this ride off. The weather called for a cloudy and windy day with the chance of showers, but it was sunny at the shop when the crew arrived, so the ride was on. The plan was to do the MT. Warner 41 mile ride. I led the group out from the shop and down to RT. 5&10 via the usual route. I had my magic traffic dispersal button working and we breezed out onto the highway to head to River Road. I am still not at the top of my game so I was quick to relinquish the lead to anyone who would take it. I dropped back and chatted with Michael Beh and Georgie Boy before I rode to the middle of the pack. The trip down River Road behind Jeff, Doug, Tom and several others was pretty brisk until we got to the hills, when the speed went up considerably. I stayed in the group over the top of the first hill and followed Curt on the descent. At the start of the next hill I was able to come around Curt and I pulled ahead of the group  I slowed up at the top of the hill because I figured that the group would get strung out, but what I did not know was that Jamie was right on my wheel, and he nearly crashed into me when I slowed up. At the top of the hill I asked the group to coast down the other side to let everyone get back on the paceline. Tom was out in front and I pulled in right behind him to ride the last few miles down to the Sunderland Bridge. Tom, myself and Curt took turns pulling into the wind. It was pretty tough to stay out for very long so the pulls were pretty short. At the end of River Road we came upon Doug, Jeff and Bob waiting for us and we all then made the turn onto RT. 116. As we rode down River Road, I noticed that the skies were pretty dark to the south and it looked like rain falling off in the distance. That coupled with the very stiff wind blowing from the south caused me to consider a different route. Instead of riding south into the wind on RT. 47 we instead headed south on RT. 116 which gave us a slight tailwind. This would have been great, except for the fact that Jeff and Doug were on the front and the speed went way up. I heard Jamie and Curt discussing the fact that when those two are on the front the speed never goes down. Anyway they hauled us over to Plumtree Road where we turned while they continued on. It was somewhat of a relief for those in the back but it left Tom, myself and the rest of the group to do all the work. We hammered down Plumtree Road to RT. 47 and then headed north. The wind was un-relenting and we all had to take turns on the front to get us back through Sunderland Center. After the traffic lights in Sunderland, I found myself at the front and I worked pretty hard to pull the group all the way up to Falls Road. After the turn I went to the back to get some rest and I nearly exploded trying to hang on. I was whipped and not all that certain that I would be able to stay with the pack. I hung on and watched as Curt and Bob went for the town line sprint but was not able to even hope to participate. After the sprint we all came back together for the run over to Ferry Road. I had to keep the needle pegged at the red line for most of the way, but I was able to recover some on the hill up to Turners Falls Road. I felt better on the run to the fire house and after making the turn onto Montague Street I was able to do a pull down to the L Street Hill. As we got to the stop sign I was about to make a left turn when Curt came right up beside me and we nearly collided. We managed to keep upright and soon we were on our way down to the traffic light, which was magically green. We then made the trip over the river for the ride up the hill and back to the shop. I was passed by everyone and plugged my way up the hill. I caught up to the group and made my way back to the shop and I was glad to be back.

Saturday 4/30: NHIS Criterium. W 3/4 field. I arrived at the speedway a little later than planned and when I didn't see any teammates there already, I figured I would be the only Dansko woman in the race, but just as I was pinning my number on, Jen drove up. We went for a warm up ride and got a little wet as it was starting to rain lightly. Thankfully, it stopped before our race started. We lined up at 10:50 for 15 laps. There were about 15 women in our field and Jen pointed out who to watch out for.
The first couple of laps were uneventful and then the dreaded sound of the bell ringing for a prime lap. I say dreaded because I'm not a great sprinter and it just means more work :) I stayed up close to the front and though not competing for the prime, I wanted to be right there to make sure I did not get dropped. As it turned out, there were 5 of us that rounded the next two corners with a gap on the rest of the field. One more rider would catch us on that lap to bring our number to 6. Jen and an NEBC rider also closed the gap at one point but were unable to hang on.
For the remaining 11 laps, the 6 of us stayed away and I tried to plan my strategy. I knew that in a head to head sprint I was outgunned, but when it came down to the last lap and the last time up the hill, I hesitated and blew it. I needed to attack by half way up the hill. I'm sure I would have taken a few people with me, but I think it would have been my best shot to place in the money. But, I hesitated and then had to reaccelerate and could only power in for 5th place.