May 2005 Ride Report Page            
Here you will find the reports of our exploits for the month May 2005 more or less as they happened. Please note that the ride reports are the results experienced by the writer and not necessarily a reflection of all the rides. We have rides for all abilities but I only publish the reports that I receive. This means that if no one from the beginner rides send me a report, then you will not see that ride  listed here. 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.

Sunday 5/1: The weather has not been the best lately and after the forecast of last night I decided not do a road ride in the morning. I did schedule a MTB ride for the afternoon. At 5:00 we had warm temperatures and sunny skies as well as a large group of local kids ready to ride. I loaded the van with 9 bikes and three kids to head over to Montague. Vance's father volunteered to drive some of the kids and he along with Matt followed me to the common. Waiting at the common was Steve and  Flyin' Brian. After unloading our bikes we headed down the road to the Telephone Pole Trail. Before we left the common, Steve mentioned the dead moose out on Brushy Way, and of course the kids were all excited at the prospect of seeing the carcass.  I promised the kids that I would let them see the moose, figuring that they would forget about it before we got to where he was. After we left the common, I rode sweep behind the kids and everything went well until I got to the trail, where Dakota stopped alongside the trail and called me over. It seems that his left crankarm had come loose, so I whipped out the Alien and went to work on tightening it. As soon as that was done I rode up to the fire pit to where the rest of the group was waiting. MAC had joined the group at the fire pit and since the kids were going quite a bit slower than the adults, I decided to split the group up. We followed Curt and company over to the Toilet Bowl Trail where the adults pulled away from me and the five kids. The kids were pretty evenly matched and they all stayed together on the trails. This worked well for me because I could keep them all in sight, but at times it caused problems for them. Josh was riding at the front of the group (picture of Josh is below) and he would suddenly slam on the brakes and the rest of the kids would then pile right into him. This happened a couple of times and eventually I rode over to Josh and asked him why he was doing that. He said that he did not want to ride into the horse poop on the trail. He said that he wanted to stop and walk around it so the poop would not get onto his tires. He also said that because he was going so fast, he had to slam on the brakes because the turns in the trail prevented him from seeing the poop soon enough to slow down gradually. Seemed reasonable to me; so I told the boys to try to watch the rider in front of them. I told the boys that when the rear brake started to move that meant that they should get ready to stop because the rider in front was slowing down.  This worked like a charm! Each time that Josh encountered a pile of horse poop he would slam on the brakes and the boys behind him would all slam on their brakes. They did this with such precision that there were no more rear end collisions. After getting the boys out to the power lines we encountered the stink from the rotting moose carcass at then end of Brushy Way. The boys wanted to see the moose and I had to think creatively in order to get them riding onward. I told the boys that the moose was at the other end of the trail and I would take them to it later. (Hoping, of course that they would forget about it.) Anyway, we headed off and I followed the boys out to Plains Road where I again tightened the crank on Dakota's bike. We then road over to Red Rock where the boys tried to ride up the hill. None of them made it, but they all had fun trying. At the top of the hill I did Dakota's crank again and at this point it began to look like the crank would not stay tightened. I rode with the boys down the other side of Red Rock and we headed for the BPT Trail. Along the way we came upon the large puddles that were left over from the rains of last week and the boys rode through every one of them. We arrived at the BPT just as Curt and the rest of the group came down the trail. Curt said that Brian and Matt were coming from the other direction because Matt was getting tired. At this point we decided to turn around and go get Matt. This delighted the boys who would get another chance to ride through the puddles. Curt got some photos and they are at 5-1 if you want to see them. After the photos we split up again with Matt joining me and the boys for a ride over to Plains Road where we encountered even bigger puddles and one very large pond. The boys made sure that they got to ride into each of them and the icing on the cake was a ride down Plains Road, which is actually a brook. I had to stop several times to fix Dakota's bike and we were the last to arrive at the power lines where the rest of our group was waiting. After one last tightening of Dakota's crank the boys started asking about the moose again, so I relented and we set off to see the moose. We rode down Brushy Way to the end and there he was. It stank so bad I had to leave, but the boys could not get enough of it. They probably would have stayed longer but I insisted that we get going. Also in my favor was the fact that the boys were soaking wet and they were getting cold. We rode straight down the power lines with me pushing Dakota for the last mile or so and the other boys following us. When we got to the road I pushed Dakota most of the way back to the common. Mr. Cunningham was waiting for us and after seeing the condition of the boys, he was OK with them riding with me rather than them soaking the seats of his nice car. We got back to the shop and where the boys unloaded their bikes an rode home. I drove Dakota back to his house and then I headed for home myself.

Sunday 5/1: Turtle Pond Circuit Race. I woke up this morning very tired and contemplated not racing today. I knew that if I didn't race though, I wouldn't ride at all so I got up and drove to Concord. Kerry was there and was registered for the 1/2/3 race. I had registered for the 3/4 race and apologized for not riding the 1/2/3 race to give her some support. As it turned out, our races were combined so we were all together anyway. We didn't find this out until after we had all ridden a few miles to the start line. The 3/4 women were very unhappy with this news, especially since it meant that our race went from 41 to 53 miles. We would still be placed separately so all was not lost. This was a more challenging course than I remember but perhaps that was due to the fact that I was trying to stay with the 1s and 2s this year. The course has what felt like a long series of short rises before the QOM/finish hill which took a lot out of me. We had to do this 5 times and on the first lap, my legs were burning. It was going to be a long race for me. Kerry was at or on the front and looking good from where I was. She always looks comfortable climbing hills. After the QOM, I had a short chase of less than a minute to get back to the front group. On the 2nd and 3rd laps, the chases were a little longer for me, but I managed to hang on to the front group. At some point, it started to rain and it came down hard at times. We were getting pretty wet and very cold. On the 4th time up the hill, the front took off and I tried to follow. I wasn't far behind them, but far enough.
I got to within 30 or 40 feet of them but had nothing left with which to close the gap. I chased and hoped that they would let up, but they didn't. Eventually I was caught from behind by a group of 5 riders. I was surprised to not see Kerry at this point as I thought she was close behind. We worked together (some of us more than others) and caught the lead group with a couple of miles to go. I had just had some food and I drank the last of my water and tried to get a little rest. When we came around for the last climb, the group split apart. I went as hard as I could. I could see 2 cat 3 women just in front of me and I caught one...
Then I just tried to ignore the pain and think about getting warm soon. I pushed as hard as I could but could not catch the other one who took first in our field. I took 2nd in the 3/4 race and 6th or 7th overall. It was a hard, cold day, but I felt good about my effort. The results placed a
lot fewer women than actually started. (About 40 started, 23 finished) We rolled back to our cars cold and wet. I changed into dry clothes and was still freezing. I ended up going to Dunkin Donuts for hot chocolate and then drove all the way back to Northfield with the seat heater on full blast and the heat turned up to 80. I drove like that for 90 minutes and I still only managed to get mostly warm.

Michelle
 

Tuesday 5/3: It has been a pretty chilly this past week and today was no different. The high temperature for this afternoon was 55 degrees and that kept the attendance low for tonight's ride. The plan was for us to ride the Cave Hill route or one of two other choices. Since there were only 15 riders we all opted for the Cave Hill ride. I decided to do the intermediate route with Georgie Boy, Jamie, Chris Dobson and Walters. We left the shop and headed over to Turners Falls where we tool the L Street route to the top of the hill. The group split up after we made the turn onto L Street and although we re-joined the larger group briefly, the four riders plus myself settled into a nice pace. At some point along the way, Socks jumped into the paceline and he stayed with us until Hatchery Road. After Socks left, I pulled the group along for a little way before pulling off to let Walters take a turn. The main pack of riders stayed just a few hundred yards ahead of us until we got to Montague Center. After we passed the common we never saw them again (except for me catching the back of that group on Cave Hill). We rode at a steady tempo and I tried to keep the pace reasonable enough so that we could finish the route without finishing off the riders. I had Chris take the lead on the ride up North Leverett Road so that he would not be weaving in and out of the line. After getting to the bottom of Cave Hill the group got pretty strung out and each of us set our own tempo to the top of the hill. We re-grouped at the top and headed down the other side and after making the left turn, we rode to Leverett Center. I stayed at the front for most of the way over to the pond, and relinquished the lead to Jamie on the rip down Depot Road to RT. 63. I must admit that I was a little pooped out by the time we got to Bull Hill Road, so I had no energy to chase after Jamie at the town line. Walters did his best, but he did not get a very good jump and Jamie cruised across the town line just ahead of Walters. After riding down Bull Hill and making the turn onto RT. 116 we were faced with a headwind. I pulled the group down to Sunderland Center at a modest 21 mph. We crossed the river and the group rode up to Sugarloaf Street behind Jamie. The ride back to Greenfield was pretty smooth but the setting sun and brisk breeze made for a chilly ride. Everyone took a turn at the front for the ride back into town. When we made the turn onto Main Street I looked at the clock on the bank and noticed that the temperature had dropped to 47 degrees. Brrrr!! We arrived back at the shop just before 8:00 with a 19 mph average. Everyone had a good time but it was cold so there was not much lingering around. I left the shop at 8:30 and headed for home after another nice evening on the road.

Thursday 5/5: I decided to attempt last week's ride over to Mt. Warner again this week. It was a nice day with temperatures in the 50's, but unlike last week, there was very little wind and no clouds. I was a little frazzled at the end of the day, due to a customer coming in late and not enough help to make the sale. I finally got my gear ready and went out to the parking lot to find a gathering of 31 riders. MaryEllen and her group had about 15 riders as did my group. My group left the shop at 6:07 and headed for River Road in Deerfield. The pace was moderate on the first hill but the pace soon quickened as we passed the train yard. I was hanging out in the middle of the group, while Doug Dale, Jeff and Brian kept the pace at the front. I was a little concerned about the next set of hills because I am not at top form and if the pace got too high, I was going to get spit right out the back. Fortunately the pace was good and I was able to ride at the back of the pack over the hump. When we got to the bottom of the hill I was able to recover a bit and stay with the group for the ride to the bridge. After the hills our group was down to 10 riders, with the rest of the group following at a mellower pace. As soon as we got to the flatter section of River Road, Chris Williams did a good pull. Bob Croake was on the front of the group for the last pull to the bridge and he set a torrid pace that got some of the riders shot off the back. After making the turn onto RT. 116, Jeff took off to do the town line sprint un-challenged while the rest of us followed at a distance. After judging that the wind was from the south I decided to have the group head straight through the lights in the center of Sunderland. This would give us a slight cross wind for the ride to MT. Warner. Doug, Jeff, Brian and a few others did the first pull down to Plumtree Road where Bob Croake and I took over. Bob² did the pull all the way to the turn onto Maple Street. I led the group over the rough section of road and then pulled off to head to the back of the pack. I was a little weary when we made the turn onto Breckenridge Road and myself and a couple of others got dropped pretty smartly on the climb. Fortunately the group soft pedaled over the top and we managed to catch back on. We headed down the other side to MT. Warner Road where we saw Don McCool starting the climb (Don did the route according to the original plan). I hollered to him and he turned around to join us. After the regrouping we then headed north on RT. 47. With the tail wind we kept a pretty steady 23 to 27 mph pace for the ride back to Sunderland center. The group was working well and everyone one pitched in at the front. After making the traffic lights in Sunderland we headed for Falls Road with Chris Williams doing a monster pull up to the turn. After the turn onto Falls Road we ratcheted the pace back up as the sun was setting fast and we were going to have to hustle to get back before dark. The group stuck together for the most part until the hill on Ferry Road where Don came off the back. I had the group slow down to let him catch back on and then we motored over to the fire house. By the time we got to Hillside Road, Don was cooked. I dropped back and pulled him over to the turn at the fire house where we did a little Cyclocross shortcut and caught up with the pack that waited for us. From this point on we all managed to stay together until the Esleeck Hill, where it was every man for himself. I rode up the hill with Don and we both finished together. I was pretty well cooked when I got back to the shop and after doing some last minute repairs, I was able to get home by 9:00. I will need to get some more rest and training if I am going to be able to stick with the faster group. They are really flying!!

May 5th
West Hill Rte 30 Time Trial, 9.36 miles
Average HR - 180
Time - 25:16
Average (calculated by time/distance) - 22.23mph
See other times here

This was my first try at the West Hill Rte. 30 time trial. Being the first time, I didn't really want to go out at 100%. Instead, I thought it would be better to go hard but steady to see how much energy I had at the finish. This would give me a 'baseline' ride that would help me in the future. At the last minute, I decided to use my heartrate monitor, more out of curiosity than anything else.

I showed up about a half hour early, so went out for a 15 minute warm-up ride. I noticed that there was a slight wind from the East that pushed my on the way out, but made the ride back just a bit tougher. By the time the 6:00 start came, there were 5 riders ready to go. I elected to go in last place to save myself the embarrassment of being passed on the course.

I've always figured that my AT is around 165-170, so was going to try to maintain that for the entire ride. I had my HR monitor set to show HR and time, while my bike computer showed cadence and distance.

The course starts with a slight downhill drop, so I was able to get right into my big chainring and up to about 25mph without too much work. As soon as I was up to speed, I settled onto the drops of my handlebars, where I remained for the rest of the ride except for a few minutes at the turnaround. With an occasional look at my HR monitor, I mainly used my bike computer as a guide. I watched my cadence and shifted to an easier gear whenever it fell below 85 (and a harder one whenever I got above 95).

To my surprise I started gaining ground on my 'minute man'. I never let myself push hard enough that I needed to recover. I allowed myself to slow a bit on the shallow rolling hills (not really hills, being just a little more than flat) then would accelerate down the other side. By the time I was on the straight stretch leading up to the turnaround, I was only 150 yards behind the guy who had started ahead of me. I had to slow for one car at the turn, probably losing several seconds, then stood on the pedals to get myself back up to 25mph before settling once again onto the drops for the trip home.

I ended up passing my minuteman about 1/2 way back. About 1.5 miles from the finish, there is a small rise which I allowed myself to slow for so I could save something up for the final sprint. I 'rested' a bit for the last mile before giving everything I had on the rise to the finish line. I was sprinting so hard in such a big gear that I could feel my front wheel almost lifting off the ground with every pedal stroke.

I'm very satisfied with the time I got, since my goal for this first attempt was basically to come in at less than 30 minutes! The next time I do this, I'll know a little more about the course and how to regulate my output. I think I finished with energy to spare, which means that I could have pushed harder on the course. Now I'll have to focus on shaving seconds of my time. The next time I ride I should be able to break the 25 minute mark if I ride a little smarter than I did today.

Friday 5/6  5:00am: The start of a very Amish season. Here's my advice to the MTB riders of Franklin county---watch out for Hammerhead Harold Green.
When he first earned that nickname, I must admit it was somewhat euphemistically. Now, however, it's just plain accurate! This morning we met at Park Street in Sunderland for the Mt. Toby uber-power loop. I figured I'd be able to keep a moderate pace since it was just me and Harold...how wrong I was. Armed with a new NRS dualie, a winters worth of road riding, and a kicking attitude-Harold dragged my butt at speed up Mountain Road leading the whole way. We held together on the sugarhouse trail-which had been littered with bramble and logs by, what we guessed was a disgruntled hiker (we pulled most of the feeble barricades as we went). Harold again took the lead on the squirrelly descent down to the bottom of Toby Road and then on the long haul up Toby Road. Well, I put the hammer down, so to speak--but Harold was always in eyeshot and upon reaching the Upperlink Trail he refused to pause and zipped along to the Telephone Pole Trail which we both descended without dab or disaster. We both made short work of the Robert Frost crossover (real nice section of trail--needs a little chainsaw work, though) and we both nailed the climb back up to the sugarhouse trail. Harold kept the pace high and we were soon whizzing down Mountain Road, bunny hopping everything in sight in no time. Soon, we were back at the cars marveling at our good time and the discussing the need to ride more.
An auspicious beginning to the Amish season, I must say.
Liam
 

Saturday 5/7: Jiminy Peak Road Race. The weather forecasts were grim: mid 40s and rain. It was still chilly when we lined up, but the rain was thankfully absent. I was racing in the women's P/1/2/3 field and we were to complete 3 laps for 90 km. I knew it was going to be a long, difficult day when I saw that our field included a Canadian Olympian, the entire Lipton Team and numerous regional big guns. We rolled out of the neutral zone and down the hill to turn right into the wind. We had quite a headwind until we turned right to go out to Route 7. As we turned onto Brodie Mt Road for the first time up the climb, I was in good position and stayed with the big kids without too much trouble. The second lap wasn't too bad, but going up the hill on that lap, I lost the front of the group.
I found myself in a small group going around the corner into the wind and the 5 of us worked well together and caught the group again. As this was the last lap, Route 7 brought many attacks as we approached the turn to the final climb. The pace picked up and the attacks seemed continuous. I was too far back in the group and got shelled out the back. Shortly thereafter as I was chasing to catch back on, my calf started to cramp. I hadn't even finished half a water bottle at this point so I knew I was dehydrated. I drank as much as I could and kept chasing. I was caught by a group of 4 or 5 and we tried to catch back on, but no luck. By half way up the climb, I was cooked. I rolled in for 26th place just behind my teammate. Although this was not the result I had hoped for, it was much better than last year when I got dropped after the first time up the climb and finished 42nd. Definitely an improvement. As I rolled down the hill back to my car, I saw a happy looking Doug Dale standing by the prize table with his first place mug in hand :)

Michelle

Sunday 5/8; Hills O' Terror: Mark, Liam and I met at the appointed hour, 5:10 AM, for our first attempt at scaling these formidable challenges to mountain bikers of the valley. I have to start by saying that none of us were in the best of form for this ride. Mark was fighting a cold and ear infection, and both Liam and I had hard rides on Sunday, leaving us a bit more fatigued and banged up then is recommended for the challenge ahead. Enough excuses, we headed out of the Hillside Rd parking area for the climb to the ridge. Nothing like a good steep road climb to get the blood flowing and find out how the legs are going to do on the rest of the ride. No problems were apparent at this point and we headed into the woods. We hit the trail and made pretty good time up to the Clapp's Pond Trail and all of us got across the brook with our shoes still mostly dry. The run up to the gate was still pretty wet leaving us all with nice slippery tires at the base of the climb. (That sounds like an excuse doesn't it). Eventually we reached the top, but none would ride it all. Stairmaster 3 - Amish Riders 0. Now came the fun part. The long gradual descent from the top of Stairmaster back to Stage Rd is some of the best riding in the area. Twisty, rooty, a few log obstacles (one big one that Mark & Liam occasionally clean) all at high speed, a great recovery from the climb. We then ripped down the road and back to the parking spot to attempt part 2 of the morning climbs. Since we were running a tad short on time we opted for the fire rd climb. I wasn't too surprised by the occasional spot that offered no traction and forced a few feet of hike a bike. We stopped short of the summit and tore down 'Big Mac's drop' and made the cars in plenty of time to get to work.

Harold

May 8th
Montague Plains - Solo

I was watching the wind all day and knew I wasn't going to enjoy a road ride.... so I was really looking forward to MTB biking in the evening. It occurred to me as I almost reached Bob's shop that I hadn't seen an email announcing a ride!

I got to the shop at about 4:40 only to have Bob tell me that there wasn't a ride scheduled. I headed right over to Montague to ride by myself. I parked at the Book Mill and had a really nice 2 hour solo ride. I explored a lot of trails I'd never been on before. Whenever I came to an intersection, I turned in the direction that looked the least familiar. Now I have a better internal map of how it all fits together.

Tuesday 5/10: Today was a sunny day but it was cool with temperatures in the middle sixties and a strong gale blowing from the North. I decided to do a ride to Huckle Hill so that we would have the benefit of a tail wind on the way home. There was a crew of 30 riders waiting for me out in the parking lot at 6:00. There were 15 riders for the Beginners and the Leisure Group ride and they went out on a 20 mile while my group of 15 headed out for our 28 mile ride. We left the shop and headed down Silver Street with me at the front. I knew that I would have to stay off the front for some of the run up to Bernardston, otherwise I would not be able to stay with the pack on the climb. I rode near the front for most of the way to Leyden Road and then I turned the pace making over to Jeff and a few others. After a somewhat dicey turn onto Barton Road the group headed up the short hill. I stayed in the middle of the pack for most of the way up the hill, but when we crested the hill it was clear that Jeff, Ron and several others were pulling away from us. I was in a group of seven riders and I decided to let Jeff and his crew ride away. We rode at a pretty steady 20 mph pace and we were able to keep Jeff and company in sight for most of the way to Bernardston. After we got past the center of town I took over at the front until we made the turn onto Mountain Road. Chris Williams and Curt did a pull down to the turn onto Huckle Hill. As we made the turn onto the hill we were joined by Jimmy Smith who got a late start and chased all by himself. We could see Jeff and his group just going over the top of the first hill as we got to the bottom. I was in the middle of the group as we began the ascent and planned on setting a modest pace for the ride up the hill. At the top of the hill I suggested that we re-group before riding back to the shop. I rode up the hill behind Keith, Steve Power and Michelle Lombardo and when I got to the top only Steve was waiting for me. I told him that I would go to the bottom of the hill and gather whomever was there for the ride back to Greenfield. I zipped down the hill at 52 mph and I was only able to catch Keith. Ahead of him was Michelle, Chris Williams and a couple others. I was tempted to chase after them but I decided to wait for the riders behind me to arrive and then we all could try to catch the group ahead. I waited with Keith and we were joined by Curt and Steve but after soft pedaling for a minute or two, we decided to head out. We chased the group ahead down Pond Road to RT. 142 and although we got within a few hundred yards, we could not close the gap. After crossing the state line into Mass., we sort of gave up on the chase. As we neared West Road, Curt's seatpost suddenly slipped down and he had to stop to make the repair. I asked him if he wanted me to stop with him and he said no but he asked for my tool kit. I handed it off to him as he slowed down and I continued on to catch up with Keith and Steve. I caught up with Steve and Keith at the bottom of the steep pitch in the road just before Lane's sand pit. At this point I told the boys that we would just ride tempo and not try to catch up with the group ahead. We rode down to the intersection with RT. 10 where we met up with Walters and Jamie. It seems that they missed the turn onto Mountain Road so they did the course in reverse. When they got to Huckle Hill they saw Jeff and Ron coming towards them so they turned around and rode back the way they came until I caught up with them. After we made the turn onto RT. 10 we saw Michelle peel off Chris William's group to head home. At this point I got in front and pulled Jamie, Walters and Steve down to River Street in Bernardston where Steve headed for home to get his van. Steve offered to go back and sweep the course to make sure that Curt was OK. I turned left onto River Street with Jamie and Walters in tow. We rode at a steady pace all the way to Adams Road where we caught up with Roger's pack. We rode up the hill and picked up Keith Olsen from Roger's group and all of us rode back to the shop together. Soon after getting back to the shop, Curt pulled in with Mark Newton and one other rider. In the end, Steve had gone out to look for Curt but since he had made the repair his efforts were for not. After Steve called the shop, Curt drove up to Steve's house to pick him up so that he could get his car that was still at the shop. It was a great night for a ride and I am sure that many of you who missed this ride will regret it when we next run it in 85 degree weather.

We headed out Silver street toward Leyden Rd. It wasn't long before the pace picked up (25+ before we even reached the end of Silver street) and we were rolling North at a pretty good pace. Not much of a warm-up, but at least there were no hills in the first several miles! The first hill we did hit (Barton Rd) split the group. I dangled in the middle with Mark Ziter until we got swept up by Bob and the group he was putting together a few miles later. By the time we got out to Rte 5, we had a dozen or so riders together but could still see the 'A' riders just a few hundred yards ahead.

We saw the last of them as they turned onto Burke Flats Rd. By the time we took the same turn, they were nowhere to be seen. It was my turn to go to the front, so I started off slow after the corner then slowly brought the group back up to 21-23mph by the time we reached the bottom of Huckle Hill. The hill instantly blew the group apart. I dropped right to the back and watched the rest of the riders flow past me and slowly get strung out up the climb. As we topped the first sharp climb, I could see all the other riders in ones and twos up ahead of me. This spacing basically stayed the same all the way to the top. I could see Michelle² a few riders ahead of me, followed by Keith Streeter and Bob. In view behind me were Chris Dodson, who pretty much stuck to my wheel for the entire climb, and Mark.

I hit the top of the climb just a few feet off Bob's wheel. We found Steve Ellis circling at the summit waiting for us. Bob rolled right over the top without stopping, so I followed him. The descent was fun (54.5mph) and minutes later we were rolling out the flats toward Pond road. By this point Bob, Keith, Steve and I were together, with Michelle just 50 yards down the road. We soft-pedaled for a few minutes to see if we could add anymore riders to our group, but nobody showed up behind us so we finally took off to give chase to Michelle. Within a few minutes, she had joined up with a few other riders ahead of us, making our chase harder. We buckled down and really pushed to close the gap and slowly ate away at the distance between us. I was sure that we would be all together well before we reached 142.

Just after the state line I was in the front of the group when all of a sudden my seat lost 6" in height. My seat post had come lose somehow and fallen all the way down. There was no way I could continue like this, so told Bob I had to stop and do something about it. He was about to stop with me, but I assured him I would be all set and would just ride with whatever group caught me from behind after my repair. He handed me his alien tool and continued on.

Within 3 minutes, I was ready to go again. Just seconds after packing the tool away, Mark and Chris rolled past me. I told them not to bother slowing down, I would catch on as they rolled past. They made me work for it and I didn't catch them until after the climb up to the gravel pit.

The three of us worked together to keep the pace high all the way back to Bernardston, where we caught Keith just as he was turning to ride home. I noticed that my average speed so far was just below 20MPH and thought it would be worth the effort to go for a 20+ result, so I kept pushing the group's speed up whenever things started to flag. There wasn't too much resistance from Chris or Mark... the few times I really sat up, one or the other of them would blast past me forcing me to struggle to catch a wheel.

After one final push on the rolling hills just North of Greenfield, we were on the final descent into town. My computer still showed 19.9, so I pushed for all I was worth on the downhill and managed to finish with 20.1 as we turned onto the side streets to cool down over the final 1/2 mile back to the shop.

Thursday 5/12: Tonight was yet another cool, windy and sunny day that has been so typical of this spring's weather. We had 37 riders for our trip to Hatfield, which was almost evenly divided between the Leisure Group and the Intermediate/Expert group. I rode with the snowflake division. I led the group out of the parking lot and down High Street at 6:00 sharp. After making our way down to the Cheapside Bridge, I got everyone safely onto River Road. As soon as we got to the first hill, I dropped back to let the natural selection take place. This is a process where Jeff and several others ratchet the speed up significantly and take whomever is willing with them. After a getting a gap for a mile or so my group of ten actually caught back on with them and we all rode together to the next set of hills. At this point Jeff along with Doug F., Tom Terrific, Silko, Ron Rancourt, Bentley, Jim H., and Bob Croake took off and we never saw them again. The remaining 10 riders settled in for the 30 mile option. I picked this route to keep us out of the headwind for as long as possible but as it turns out we actually had a head wind on the trip south. I asked that the riders who got ahead on the hills to soft pedal when they got to the top of the last climb and then I dropped to the back of the field. I rode with Paul Rachel and Bob Rigby over the two larger hills and we joined up with the rest of our crew who were waiting for us at the intersection of Pine Nook Road. I then rode down the hill to the flatter section of River Road and led the riders for a short way before pulling off. I told the group to take short pulls and to keep the speed at 20 mph or so. We rode down to the RT. 116 crossing where we all made the turn together. After the turn, Socks took off to take the town line sprint unchallenged. Soon after the town line, Tom Silko joined us, having dropped off Jeff's group. The rest of us knew we had a tough ride ahead of us, into the headwind, so we refrained from that nonsense.  We rode down to Christian Lane where we made the right turn. When we crested the hill we were slapped in the face with a really stiff headwind. This brought the speed down considerably. I rode with Silko and we chatted for a while before we got to the Whatley Ballet. After the Ballet we headed across RT. 5&10 to continue up Christian Lane. At this point some of the riders were beginning to fade a bit so I spent the next few miles pulling the group back together. After we turned onto North Street we caught up with Roger. Bob Rigby decided to hang back with Roger for the trip back to the shop. The remaining ten riders then headed off towards Deerfield. As we neared the town line I could not resist the temptation of jumping the group for the sprint, so I took off. I was a bit early and Curt caught my wheel and took the sprint as I wheezed in for second. After that energetic romp I rolled along until the rest of the group got back on my wheel and then we headed for Lee Road. At this point there were several riders who were getting a little long in tooth, so I kept the pace pretty mellow for the ride into Old Deerfield. As we got onto Old Main Street the sun was setting so I had the group pick up the pace somewhat and we all headed over to RT. 5&10. I pulled the troops back to Greenfield and after we all got onto Washington Street, we began the cool down ride back to the shop. As we neared the shop we overtook Betsey who was sprinting back to the shop on the finishing leg of her hike This was a really nice ride and the group worked well together. We ended the ride with a 17.5 mph average which is just as advertised.

Saturday AM, May 14: Stage 1 - Time Trial. I had received my start time for today's 16 mile TT last night when I picked up my race packet. I was scheduled to go off at 8:05:30. I arrived with plenty of time to get ready and warm up. I set up my trainer under an overhang as it looked like it could rain any minute. It was very chilly and the roads were wet so I was getting nervous about the TT. I warmed up and felt ready. I went to the line with my skin "wet with perspiration" as advised by Doug. Well, that was all well and good, but they were behind schedule and had not started yet. Uh-oh. I rode around trying to stay warm and periodically checked back to see how the start was progressing. It didn't start progressing until 8:20 or so. Basically by the time I started, I was cold. I was actually shivering a bit as they held my bike at the start. I used the first km or 2 to find a good rhythm and then settled in for what I expected would be a grueling 40+ minutes. The course went along a lake and had rolling hills with one that was a little big for my liking. The wind was a brutal crosswind and I had contemplated using my Ksyrium front wheel instead of my Zipp, but I went ahead with the Zipp. It was fine. I was passed only 5 minutes into the course and was disappointed for a moment, but told myself that it was early yet and to keep my pace. This was actually a good strategy since I passed this person 10 minutes later and she finished well behind me. I took the turnaround at a decent speed and then put the hammer down for the ride back. I was still feeling less than my best but was getting better as the time passed. I passed 3 more people and found myself at the 5K to go sign which was very encouraging. As I approached the 1K to go sign, I was really moving. I felt awesome. It only took 21 km, but hey, better late than never. I was turning the 53x12 at 95 rpm at this point feeling great and then as I approached an intersection, I saw that the marshall had traffic stopped so I just kept on going when all of the sudden, the truck that was stopped started to make a right turn in front of me and I had to hit the brakes hard. He hit the brakes too and we managed to avoid colliding by about 1.5 feet. Now I had to reaccelerate and was in a gear that made that very difficult but I got it cranked up again and sprinted as hard as I could across the finish line. I rolled in at 43:38 for 6th place. I was 68 seconds down from the leader, about 34 seconds off the podium and 13 seconds out of 5th place. I had hoped to do better, but all in all, it wasn't a bad showing.
Saturday PM: Stage 2 - Criterium. This was the stage I was most worried about. Originally they were going to make us ride with the Pro/1/2 women for this stage and I feared getting dropped and losing lots of time. Thankfully, as we rolled to the start line, they told us that we would race separately. It was warm and sunny as we warmed up but the clouds had moved in as we started and by the 4th or 5th lap, it was raining so hard we could barely see. By the end of the race as I moved up the side, my foot was partially submerged in a deep puddle! Anyway, I was surprised by how good I felt. I was shocked actually. I went out for a time bonus and barely missed it. At some point in the middle of the race, I started getting stomach cramps. My stomach was bothering me for most of the weekend. Anyway, I drifted back into the middle of the field to get a little rest and after a few more laps started to feel good again. As they rang the bell for the last lap, I moved up a bit in the field and then got boxed in just before the last turn. As we made our way around that turn and up the hill, I fought my way past a few people and then sprinted for the finish hoping to not let a gap form. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I was 4th across the line. Woohoo. 2 down 1 to go.

Race Report Sunday May 14th
Root 66 Series; Belltown Classic - East Hampton Ct.
Last month Matthew and I survived our first race of the season without embarrassing ourselves too badly on a flat and fast course. The website promised that Belltown would be a much more technical course. I was a bit apprehensive since I don't consider myself a very good technical Mountain Biker. Well turns out, to get 4th place in the division, I didn't have to be very good, just better that a handful of other 40yr olds. It was certainly a fun rocky, hilly course. It started out with a long steep fire road climb that irreparably split the group, it rode pretty similar to the road up dry hill - rideable, but only barely, then continued for about 4 miles of rocky, twisty rolling single track, and finally a steep rocky technical downhill that rode like the telephone trail at Toby. The sport race was two laps which took just a bit over 70 minutes for both of us. As I said, I got 4th place about a minute and a half back of the guy in 3rd, Matthew ended up out of the rankings even though he finished with a 30 second faster time than his dad. I don't think he'll get over that very soon.

Till next time
Keep Riding
Harold
 

Sunday 5/15: Chris Williams stopped by the shop this afternoon to make sure that we were still riding and I told him that I was planning on it, so long as it wasn't raining. The forecast called for showers and thundershowers this afternoon so I was not to sure on how many people would show up. As it turns out the weatherman was wrong again and we had a pretty nice day. I drove over to Montague Center and only Chris showed up for the ride. I got my gear together and we headed out at 5:30. We rode over to the Telephone Pole Trail where I half expected to see MAC at the fire pit. When we got to the fire pit there was no MAC so we headed out for Willis Hill. We rode on the Toilet Bowl Trail to the power lines and then we headed over to Red Rock. We took the trail next to Red Rock Road and headed up the hill. I wheezed out about half way up and had to hike over the root section. After the 10 yard hike I was back on the bike and I was able to ride the rest of the way up the hill. Chris had ridden the whole trail and was waiting for me at the top. We headed from there over to the Pine Forest Trail via the Icy Brook Trail. After riding up to Willis Hill we headed down to the swamp. We kept riding at a steady pace for most of the time and only stopped for trail obstructions and some minor tree removal. After getting to the water tank we rode down the hill, across the brook and then we headed straight on the trail to Plains Road. We took the Banked Trails over to the Second First Left and then rode back to the Telephone Pole Trail. After getting down the trail we took the road back to the van. I loaded both our bikes in the van and then I drove Chris over to his house. It was a very nice ride and I was pretty tired when I got done.

The first climb was an 11% grade. I needed my 27, or at least my 25. So, I went back to the car and quickly switched to my 12-27 and then rolled up to the start. It was a really nice day. Bright sun and warm, but not hot. There were 2 QOM climbs in this race and I had hoped to do well and get some good time bonuses to try and move up in GC. The first one (with the 11% grade) came at mile 5. I was surprised to see that I didn't have my climbing legs with me and only managed to be 5th over the climb for a 1 second bonus. The rest of the field caught back on and we continued on through some rolling hills. My stomach was feeling very unsettled and I was starting to taste my breakfast on its way back up so I drifted to the back and dropped off for a moment while I rolled slowly and puked up my breakfast. (I was careful not to get any on me or the bike). I then accelerated back onto the group and made my way up to the front to let my teammate know that I was feeling better now. The second QOM came at mile
15 and was 1.2 miles long with an average grade of 7.6% I did not get to the top with the front group of 4, but I was able to chase back on in a minute or two. We were a group of 5 for awhile and then 6 for about 30-40 minutes when were caught by a few more riders. It had a couple of hard climbs, but they were all done by mile 16 and the rest of the course was just rolling hills so it really wasn't the climber's course that it was made out to be. I tried to attack and break away to get some time, but the race leader and 5 of her teammates were in this group and chased me down. No one got away. The last few km were fast and flat and when we came around the last turn for the finishing straight, I was too far back and had to fight my way up for the sprint. I ended up taking 5th place. Not too bad considering I deposited breakfast out on the course. The GC did not change and I finished the race in 6th place overall.

Michelle

Monday 5/16: It was a fairly warm, sunny day today with light breezes from the south. There was a group of 15 riders waiting for me in the parking lot for tonight's trip down to Deerfield. At 6:00 I led the group from the shop down High Street to Main Street. I kept the pace at 15 MPH or so and the group stayed together in a long paceline. We all made the turn onto Hope Street and rode from there to RT. 5&10. After a little argy bargy at the crossing, we all headed down the road towards Deerfield. As we rode along I notice that there were several riders getting strung off the back, so I pulled off the highway into a parking lot to await their arrival. Connie, Anne Marie and Nellie had gotten behind Erin, and were getting dropped. I told the riders behind Erin to try to catch up to the group ahead and the did. Amber was out on her first trip so I stayed with her until we got to Old Main Street. At that point we caught up with Anne Marie, Nellie and Sarah. I left them together and told them that we would meet at the YCD parking lot on Mill Village Road. I caught up with the pack on Mill Village and quickly got everyone working together in a paceline. We rode along and I took the lead when Ant Penny wanted to get some rest. The pack stayed together until we got to the hill. As soon as we got onto the hill Christina took off like a shot up the hill, leaving the rest of us in the dust. When I got to the top of the hill, Christina was heading off into the distance. The remainder of the group was left to make it on our own. When I arrived at the YCD parking lot ME, Christina and the rest of the group was waiting for me. I had ridden along with Deb Kolpa to give her and Connie a few tips. After we waited a few minutes we saw Sarah and the rest of our ride coming into the parking lot. At this point the group split up with 6 riders heading back to the shop while the rest of us set out to do an extra loop down to South Deerfield. I followed Ant Penny as she and Mike S., headed out of the parking lot. I used my magic traffic button to make the cars go away and we all rode across the highway without a problem long line with Mike and Penny at the front. I was with Bad Bob at the back until we crossed the dry bridge where Bob put on a burst of speed and went flying by MaryEllen and Jeannie to lead our pack. Bad Bob was on fire!! He rode at the front until we caught up with Ant Penny and her group. After Christina nearly got killed at the stop sign in the center of town (She did not stop and a car was backing out of a parking spot.) we headed for RT. 5&10. As we made the turn I looked behind me to see Bad Bob drifting off the back. I slowed up to give him a hand and then I saw Deb Kolpa coming  around the corner. It seems that she got a late start and chased us the whole way. I dropped back to her and gave her a push to get her back onto the group. After that I rode with Bad Bob and we made the turn onto Mill Village Road together. We rode along for a while until we came upon three riders who had dropped off the back of the lead group. Bad Bob said that he would ride with them and I then took off to catch up with Ant Penny, MaryEllen and the rest of the group. I caught up with them at the Melnick Farm and we all rode together back to the shop. It was a hard ride for most riders but we ended the trip with a 16.6 mph average for the 20 miles. Everyone was pleased with the effort and we all cheered when Bad Bob and Sarah arrived a few minutes after we did.

Tuesday 5/17: Our ride for tonight is another favorite; Wendell. It was a cool day with a light wind and there was a good turnout for the 6:00 start. We ended up with 20 riders when I led the group out of the parking lot and over to Turners Falls. I took it pretty easy for the early part of the ride.  We all cruised over to Ave. A where the light was magically green, which allowed us to ride through without pausing. We rode all the way to the top of the Seventh Street Hill instead of taking L Street. It is a fairly steep climb for the last few hundred yards and I thought that the group would shatter pretty quickly, but to my surprise, we were all together at the top of the hill. We rode over to Millers Falls Road and that is where Jeff & Co. took over. As we rode past the ice cream stand the pace went up quite a bit and the group split in two. I stayed in the middle of the second pack and watched as the split widened. I was in a group of 8 or 9 riders who stayed about 500 yards behind Jeff's crew. After descending the hill into Millers Falls we made contact with Jeff's bunch. It was a rather brief stay because when we made the turn onto Bridge Street the speed went up and we went backwards. I rode near the back of the group and chatted with several riders as we made the turn onto So. Prospect Street and began the climb. As I made the crest of the So. Prospect hill, I could see that Jeff and his bunch were already making the next bend. I settled in and headed up the hill at my own pace. I ended up riding with Craig Vettori, Michelle L., while the rest of the group headed off into the distance. I rode to the Wendell State Forest where I gathered Craig, Steve, Curt, Jamie, Georgie Boy, (who had left a few minutes early to set his own pace.) and a few others into a group to begin the final ascent to the center of town. We all rode together to the top of the hill where Jeff, Tom Terrific, Harold, Will Kraham, and Jim H. were waiting for us. After a brief pause at the four way intersection, we all then headed for the rip down the hill. The pack stayed together for the 30 mph ride down to RT. 63. The riders all seemed to do very well with the speed and the large number of riders. We were pleased to find that the lower section of Leverett Road has been newly paved. The pack cruised down to RT. 63 where we crossed over to RT. 47 to begin the ride back through Montage Center. I led the group for the first part of Leverett Road but then I pulled off to let others have some fun. We kept a 25 mph pace through the center of town, although there were some spots where we had to slow down because of very rough pavement. We rolled down past the common and then we took Turners Falls Road back to the Fire House. The ride to the Fire House was tough on some of the riders and we had to slow up a couple of times to re-group. I was at the back of the group as the front of pack was making the turn at the Fire House. So I decided to take a shortcut across the closed road and made it to Montague Street ahead of everyone. We rode at a good tempo to the hill and made the descent to Avenue A again. After Jeff got us through the traffic light we rode over to Esleeck Hill where I rode near the back of the pack. I arrived back to the shop just as some of the Leisure Group got back and soon we had nearly everyone accounted for. It seems that Jaap had gotten dropped early in the ride and I had lost track of him. It was getting dark and I was about to go looking for Jaap when Jaap's wife came by to say she was going to pick him up in Turners Falls. After she left I headed for home.

Wednesday May 18, 2005: We're nearing the end of the beginning in the construction of our new trails up in Wendell SF--with a new bridge (thanks to Jason and crew!!!) in and the trail almost complete all the way to the far end of the M & M we were excited to get another chance to ride (and get others to ride) our sylvan handiwork. Meeting at the Park Headquarters were Myself (Slim), Big Mac, Chris Erickson, Walters, the irrepressible Mike McIntyre, PVNEMBA President George "Smokey" Willard, and, best of all-Bob! We were all pretty jazzed about having Bob on the ride--our longtime mentor and good friend---truthfully it's been a long time since we've ridden with Bob on an advanced mountain ride where he didn't have some sort of care-taking (baby sitting) duties to fulfill. So, this was certainly a treat for the Bikes-unlimited mountain faithful! Mark Courtemanche got out way ahead of us to 'fix' the first switch of the lower switchback climb which had been thus far unrideable. The rest of us hit the trails around 6:30 and headed out to Ruggles Pond following Bob onto the really nice singletrack warm up connector to the Pine Nook trail. Bob got some shots of us crossing a few rather tricky bog bridges-then we pushed on back out to the road and headed towards the first trail head on Damon Camp Rd/ Wickett Pond Road. This trail, the old race course, was the first one we built at Wendell back in December-though it's short and not too steep--it's a pretty challenging trail with a few sudden sharp ups and quite a few daunting rock gardens--I lead the way with Mr. McIntyre hot on my trail. We all exited at the bog and quickly re-entered the woods on the now very visible trail. At the next intersection we went left, through the laurel patch (the trail here looks and rides far better than I ever thought it would!) and up the switchback trail. Mark was sitting Yoda-like upon a rock shouting encouraging words of wisdom ("go over rock to left you must, young Jedi!") steering us all successfully around his very well-made improvement to the trail (good work Mark 100% better). This is a tough climb but I think everyone made it up (to be photographed again by Bob at the top) and out to Baker Rd in good order. Across Baker Rd begins the harder part of the new trail (we need names for these trails...suggestions welcome ginaliam@mac.com)-During the regrouping-I made sure to tell those who've never been on this trail to be careful, take it slow and pay attention--there are lots of sudden surprises, tough terrain, and cool lines you don't want to miss. Bob went on ahead to set up his camera on
"the big jump". Mark and I lead the gang out--we both could not stop remarking on how well the trail rode. When we first built an rode this trail (especially this first section), I must admit I was worried I had created something too nasty to enjoy-though others assured me that when it was ridden in and the soil more exposed it would ride great. I shouldn't have doubted them-It really rides great-this is the fifth time I've ridden most of this trail and every time it gets notably better---the future bodes well for our Wendell project. And I must also admit that I was swelling with Pride-I mean this trail-this thing, is the fruit of the thought, labor and sweat of myself and many other volunteers-there really is a big chunk o' me in that trail and so dragging some of my favorite riding cronies, the mentor (Bob), and the Chapter Pres. along it was a real pleasure. At any rate, we stopped for more photo's on the "Big Jump" where once again, Mr. McIntyre demonstrated that it's the rider not the ride as he flawlessly stuck the drop with flair and aplomb on his near-vintage Cannondale short travel-hard tail (by the way-only the builders of the trail have failed to make this jump-dang!!). From here we pushed on past Whale's head, up, down and around rock, root and ledge and finally over the recently built bridge (ride's like a dream, Jason!). And then finally along the new stretch of trail built early mornings this week--a big change in topography--from Rock, root and ledge to super smooth, fast, twisty, narrow trail---a real pleasure after the technical slog of the trail preceding it. The trail is still not finished-so some trail blazing was required to exit the woods--it was getting late so we all took the forest roads high speed back to the cars...a general élan pervaded the group-on what was only a 7 mile ride--we had all worked hard and enjoyed the fruits of our labor. Get out ride Wendell-it's only going to get bigger and better..
Liam

Thursday 5/19: It was slightly warmer today than it has been the last few days and we had 38 riders and Betsey who was doing a hike. The Super Secret Snowflake Society was doing the Bull Hill Ride, while Baby Bell and some of the faster riders were heading off to do the 40 mile ride down to Amherst. MaryEllen led one group while Christina "the crab" went out with another group for rides of 18 and 25 miles respectively. I led the pack of 23 riders out from the parking lot and over to Turners Falls. We rode up the L Street hill and then over to the Fire House in a large pack. After we made the turn onto Turners Falls Road the group got split in two when Baby Bell and Doug got motoring. I stayed back with Georgie Boy, Four Sticks, and eight others and we rode at a respectable pace. Doug's group was just in front of us and went to the front to control the pace so that we would not connect. As I rode along I hit a bump in the road which launched my glasses case out of the pocket of my branddy spanking new NRM jersey. The case hit Four Stick's front wheel and landed in the road. I did not even realize what had happened until Georgie Boy gave a "Bob is Fat" yell from behind. I turned around and rode back to see if I could find my glasses. I was sure that they would be smashed in the road, but I found them intact in the middle of the road with cars whizzing by in both directions. How lucky is that? After retrieving my case I headed off to catch the group. Fortunately Four Sticks, Doug F and a couple others waited up for me and we soon caught up with the rest of the group. We rode over to RT. 63 via Montague Center and as we made the turn we were joined by Jeremy who had dropped off the front group. After the turn I noticed that Jeremy was pushing the pace so I went to the front and slowed things down a bit. At the town line, Socks went on ahead unchallenged and I went to the front of the pack. My presence at the front kept the pack together over the crest of the hill. We rode along in a pack until the next town line a mile further down the road. I again got the pack in order and we started up the gradual hill near the Ashram. After that I rode at the front or in second or third place all the way to Amherst where we were joined by Curt and Michelle. We made the turn onto Bull Hill Road where Socks went for yet another town line sprint. I tried to keep up but I was a little tired from the last pull and Socks got away. The group rode down Bull Hill and onto RT. 116. Doug and I worked a double line and we pulled all the way to the center of Sunderland. After the light Curt, Doug and Michelle went out four the town line, which Michelle took. The group rode over to Sugarloaf Street in Deerfield where we got into a single file line. Almost everyone took a turn at the front, except for the Snowflake King, of course. We rode steadily for the ride up to Mill Village Road where we got a little strung out on the open road. After the rip down the hill to Melnick's Farm the group got split up again so I rode to the front to get us back together. Four Sticks and I rode up to Old Main Street where we sat up and re-grouped again. I rode with Four Sticks over to RT. 5&10 where I found myself at the front again. I towed the group over to Woolman Hill before pulling off. I stayed at the back until the town line sprint into Greenfield. The contest was between Curt, Four Sticks and Doug F. and was taken by Curt. After that we rolled up to Washington Street where the cool down began. We took the usual route back to the shop led by the Snowflake King and we were trumpeted into the parking lot by yours truly. It was a great ride and we ended the trip with a 19 mph average.

Saturday 5/21; Lake Sunapee Road Race

Ok, so I finally did it. After riding with the mighty Bikes Unlimited club for, what, five or six years, and watching Jeff, Michelle, Baby Bell and others take up racing, I took the plunge today. John Bentley and I talked each other in to it - it really helped to have a buddy plus Jeff and Michelle have been very encouraging. What took me so long? Honestly, fear - fear of crashing, fear of sucking, but mostly fear of looking stupid. That's a strange fear for someone who flaunts fluorescent orange lycra, but nevertheless.

I finally worked it out in my head - a big part of the hesitation was just the big unknowns of it all, so having John, Jeff and Michelle all attending really helped. I finally sorted out my goals - just show up, ride as best as I can, pay attention and don't crash, learn and have fun. If I could do that, it would be a win. Having brought my expectations down to a reasonable and concrete level, it wasn't so intimidating.

We got our shiny new Cat 5 licenses last week, and drove up to Sunapee for the Lake Sunapee Road Race. A huge scene - hundreds of riders, lots of fields - why did they all look strong, fit, fearless? My stomach was a little jumpy, my heart rate was definitely elevated just getting ready. I was walking in to the ski lodge to get some water when someone said "Tom Martyn?" I looked at him, drew a total blank - that awful feeling of oh shit, am I supposed to know you? He figured out my blank and panicked look and introduced himself - it was Chris Kimme - a guy I had worked with 10 years ago, no beard now, much thinner - I never would have recognized him. He was here to do his first race, too, in the same field as me! I took that as a good sign, plus now I had another goal - to suck less than him.

In a fit of madness, John had signed up for the Men's 4-5 race, while I had cleverly joined the Cat 5 - 35+ field. On the drive up, I wised him up, and he switched fields. There were 35 riders preregistered, but with race day entries, there were more like 40-50 at the start line, I think. We rolled down from the ski lodge, turned left, and started the first of two laps of Lake Sunapee. We had driven the course earlier - not much flat! - pretty much all rollers up and down, with only a couple of steeper ups - not more than 2-300 yards each. But I knew they were going to hurt. A team of 5-6 riders went to the front and set a pretty easy pace to start - at least it felt easy in the peleton. Aha- lesson # 1 - stay out of the wind unless there's a reason. My goal was to stay toward the front, but in the peleton. Riding the peleton is very different than a group ride - no planned organization, not a steady effort but lots of soft pedaling followed by little jumps to hold a position or move up, people sliding back, coming up the outside, trying to take the wheel you had your eye on. Lesson # 2 - it helps to be big and assertive - I felt like I had enough room all race - I only got squeezed a couple of times, and a little elbow or lean took care of that.

The first lap - 23 miles - seemed to fly by - the steeper hills got my heart rate up to about 95% of max, but I stayed with the group - no problem. As we finished the first lap, the pace definitely picked up. As we headed north up the west side of the lake, I noticed that guys were falling back on the climbs, and not catching back on the descents. I didn't look behind, because I was paying such careful attention to my position and the wheels around me, but as we rounded the north end of the lake, I managed to look around, and the group was noticeably smaller. John was gone, and I'd never seen Chris after the start -long gone- one goal accomplished :). Heading south, we hit the series of two steeper and longer "climbs" - rollers, really, but one of the local riders said they call it Cardiac Hill. This time, the group blew apart on the climb, but again, I hung on to the front group. But by the top, I was 20-30 feet behind a group of 10 riders, heart rate pegged, loads of lactic acid. As I crested, they were moving away quickly, and I dug deep and chased hard. After 2-3 minutes, a group of five other guys caught back on to me, but didn't seem able or willing to work to bring the leaders back, so I stayed on the front and kept pulling. Finally I was burned, so I tucked back in, and a couple of the other riders then took up the reins. Lesson # 3 - everyone would be happy to have you do all the hard work - its hard to tell when they're playing you, or they're just unable to do anything more.

Around the southern tip of the lake, there's a series of short rollers up, before a loop around a traffic circle and the final 250 meter climb to the finish. We were making progress pulling the leaders back - I think maybe they were conserving a bit for the finish. We kept hammering, though, so at the base of the finish climb, I was feeling pretty crispy, then made the mistake of pushing too big a gear up the first, steepest pitch. I blew up, had to drop into the 42 and recover, then kicked up the last pitch to the finish. I haven't seem the results posted yet, but I think I made the top 15 - I know I was third in our group, so depending on how many guys were in the lead group ....

Woo-hoo - I survived, didn't suck, accomplished all my goals. Interesting - I averaged exactly the same speed on both laps, but I averaged 12% higher wattage on the second lap - that's what chasing will do to you, I guess. Feeling pretty tired tonight, but if it's not raining tomorrow, I think I'll do the Tour of the Valley ride and see how I've recovered. Was it fun? Absolutely. Was it hard? You bet - physically and mentally. Will I do it again? Well I've got this license now. I need to finish 9 more sanctioned races, then Bike Bob will come out of retirement and kick my ass around some Masters races.
Time for bed

Tom

Saturday, 5/21: Lake Sunapee Road Race. Jeff arrived at my place at 5:45 only to find that I still hadn't eaten my breakfast so I inhaled a big bowl of cereal and we loaded the car and were on the road around 6:00.
We arrived at Sunapee under partly cloudy skies and no rain. Yay! A dry race. We ran into Tom Martyn and John Bentley at registration. I just have to say that it was great to see those guys out there. Jeff and I were excited to see them and we hope to see more of them and perhaps a few others from the Tuesday/Thursday night rides at the races. I tried to warm up and I sort of did before rolling to the line to wait. Our group of about 30 1/2/3 women rolled down the hill for 2 laps of the 23 mile course. The first 15 or so miles were mostly uneventful. We lost a few riders early on, (at least 6 did not finish) but the pace seemed reasonable. I was still there so it wasn't too bad yet. There was one roller that was steeper than the others towards the end of the first lap and a handful of us were dropped from the main group. I caught up to my teammate Kerry and the two of us put in a mad chase and we caught the main group. We were pretty psyched. We stayed with what remained of the main field for the rest of the race. By the time we got to the finishing hill though I was cooked. I managed to get in front of a few riders, but I rolled across the line in 11th place just happy to have finished with the front. Last year at this race I was dropped even earlier in the first lap and never caught back on to the main field so this was a good improvement for me. Jeff took 13th and Baby Bell took 20th in the 3/4 race while Tom and John took 15th and 24th in their race. All in all, a great day of racing for the gang. :)
Michelle

Thursday 5/26: After nearly a week of constant rain we finally got a ride off. It was cloudy and cool out and there was a threat of rain but there were 7 riders ready to roll at 6:00. Joining me was John Munhall, Bob Croake, Curt, Baby Bell, Jaap and Jeff. We left the shop and headed for River Road in Deerfield. The group had some of our faster riders as well as the intermediate level riders. The group stayed pretty much together on the flatter sections of the road, but we got strung out on the hills. We regrouped after the hills to head for RT. 116 at a mean pace of 24 mph. Jaap was feeling the effects of his recent recovery from testicular cancer and he had to slow down a bit. Everyone slowed with him and as soon as he recovered we picked up the pace a bit more. Since it was cloudy and we had 40 miles to do we had to keep the pace up. When we got across RT. 116 we got the pace up quite a bit and we were clipping off the miles at a 30 mph pace. To do that we had Baby Bell, Jeff and John doing a rolling pace line at the front, with the rest of us tagging along behind them. After passing the school on River Road it began to rain and we had to contend with the spray off the tires of the riders in front of us, which quickly soaked us. Curt, Jaap, Bob and I stayed behind Bell, Jeff and John all the way to Bradstreet where we turned off while the rest of the group headed for Hatfield. After we turned off, the pace slackened down to 20 mph and we rolled up the hill towards RT. 5&10. When we got to the railroad tracks I stopped, got off my bike and walked across the tracks. This section of tracks has caused more flat tires than any other hazard we have encountered over the years. There have been rides where 5 riders have flatted on those tracks, so I was not going to take any chances. After getting out onto RT. 5&10 we headed north and settled into a nice paceline that carried us back to Whatley. We contended with off and on showers as we pedaled into Deerfield, but as we passed the fire house we got into a steady rainstorm. It rained pretty hard for a while and then we just got a steady shower. As we got to Mill Village Road, Curt said that he was done and would ride back by himself. I tried to encourage him to stay with the group because it was getting dark and I did not want to leave him out by himself, but Curt was done. I told him that I would come and get him in the van after I got back to the shop and he agreed to that. I then rode on to catch up with Jaap and Bob. I went to the front and was pulling the group down the hill by the butterfly museum at 35 mph, when my back tire blew. I yelled back to the boys behind me that "Bob is Fat" and pulled off the roadway. As I was slowing down the boys passed me and I told Jaap and Bob to continue on.  I asked Bob to get the van and come back to pick up me and Curt and he agreed. I stopped and took my wheel off the bike to begin the repair. I got the tire off and took out my new tube and a Co2 cartridge, but to my surprise, I did not have the inflator with me. I was about to give up when along came Curt, who gave me his inflator and I quickly got the repair made. After getting my tire fixed, Curt and I headed north again. At this point it was raining pretty hard and I was freezing cold. I rode at a steady pace for a couple of miles and was able to warm up enough to keep a pretty good pace back to the shop. As Curt and I got to Hope Street we saw Bob coming down the hill in the van. Since we were so close to the shop we waved him off and we rode back on our bikes. I was soaked and a little cold when we got back, but I got warmed up after getting inside the building and into dry clothes. This was a tough ride but I was glad that I made the effort.

Saturday 5/28: I got a call at 10:00 from Jamie, who wanted to do a ride at 6:00 this afternoon. (Actually he probably wanted to do it earlier, but since I was working he opted for a later start.) Since it was a nice, sunny and warm day, I agreed. Jamie also called Curt to join us and at 6:00 the three of us headed out. It was Jamie's idea to do a long ride. I was OK with 25 or so miles on a flat route but Jamie wanted to go out for a ride to Shutesbury. I reminded him that this ride has a 7 mile long climb but he was undaunted. I said alright and we headed over to Turners Falls. We took the usual route over to L Street and then headed over to Turners Falls Road. I stayed at the front for most of the way over to Montague Center and we zipped along at a 25 mph clip. I towed the boys over to Leverett Road and pulled off just in time for Curt to do the last leg before the RT. 63 climb. We rolled onto RT. 63 to begin the climb and I drifted to the back to let Jamie set the pace on the hill. We cruised up the hill and when we got to the top I went to the front to pull. We rode up RT. 63 to Montague Road in Leverett where we took a left. At this point I was in the front and was riding along chatting with the boys. But after a minute or two I realized that I was by myself. Jamie and Curt had dropped on the climb. I slowed up and waited for them to join me, before heading off for Leverett Center. I stayed on the front for most of the way to the center of town, but I once again found myself alone after the last climb. I waited at the turn until Jamie and Curt came along, and then we headed off to begin the climb to Shutesbury. I knew it was going to be a tough time for the dynamic duo because they got dropped on the short hills that lead to the big climb. At this point I decided to just go on ahead and wait for them at the top of the hill. I motored on up the hill and when I got to the last section of climb, I turned around and rode back down the hill. When Jamie and Curt came along, I got in front of them and we rode to the top of the hill. After getting to Shutesbury Center we began the descent down the hill. We ripped down to Lake Wyola where we made a left to ride back down to RT. 63. After crossing the highway, we retraced out route back to the shop. We got back to the shop just before dusk and ended the 40 miler with a 20mph average. After stowing our gear we headed over to my house where we feasted on dinner provided by MaryEllen and Betsey. I roasted a kielbasa that Betsey bought and we ate salads along with some asparagus that Jamie provided. All in all it was a great ride and a nice evening eating out on the deck.

Sunday 5/30: Montague Plains ride. We had a busy day and when the shop closed at 5:00 I had to hurry the last few customers out the door so I could head over to Montague Center to do the ride. I loaded my bike into the van along with Jessie McMillan and his gear, and drove over to the common in Montague Center. Harold and Matthew Green along with Ken and Patrick Heider, and Steve Ellis were waiting for me and Jessie. I got my bike out of the van and all of us headed for the Telephone Pole Trail. We rode up to the fire pit where we waited for Jessie to arrive. After Jessie arrived we headed out to ride over to the Toilet Bowl Trail. I rode at the back of the pack with Ken and we chatted as we rode over to the Banked Trails. When we got to the trail we could see the riders ahead of us standing in the middle of trail. When we caught up to them we were told that Steve had broken his bike. When I looked at his bike, I could see that the bolt attaching the rear shock to the frame had broken and at this point there was not much that could be done, so Steve headed back to the car. After Steve left we then headed out to the Toilet Bowl trailhead where we all made the turn together. Ken, Jessie and I were at the back of the group and we were quickly dropped by Hammerhead Harold and Co. My group pedaled out to the power lines where the rest of the crew was waiting for us. As we rode up to the power lines we were overcome by the stench of the rotting moose on Brushy Way so we got the group moving to a point upwind of the carcass where we discussed the route. It was decided that Ken, Jessie and I would ride over Red Rock and then up the Swamp Road to the bottom of Willis Hill. The rest of the riders were to head up the Icy Brook Trail to the Pine Forest and then they would ride over Wills Hill and meet us at the bottom of the hill. Ken and Jessie followed me up Red Rock and onto the Swamp Road. I rode ahead of them and waited on the other side for them to catch up. We all then rode over to the bottom of Willis Hill where Patrick was waiting. He said that Harold had a problem with his bike and would be along shortly. When Harold got down the hill I could see that his pedal had stripped out of the crankarm and poor Harold was reduced to one legged riding. At this point we decided to take a shorter route back to the start. We rode down the hill to the BPT Trail and from there we headed for the Banked Trails. I took some shots of Harold as he rode along. Everyone was pretty impressed with the ease at which he adapted to the chore. We rode down to the power lines and then took a left to head back to the Telephone Pole Trail. I rode with Jessie and Harold and we got down to the hardtop road just as the sun was starting to set. When we got back to the cars I loaded the broken bikes into the van and then headed back to the shop. Although the ride did not turn out as expected, we all still had a lot of fun.

Memorial Day 2005: We had a beautiful day for the ride and I expected a good turnout for our annual ride. I arrived at the shop at 9:30 to get some repairs done on Doug Favreau's bike and the first of the riders started to arrive at 10:30. As soon as I finished with Doug's bike I got my gear together and headed out to the parking lot. We had 19 riders today and we split into two groups. My group consisted of Walters, Peter Truesdell, Will Kraham, Dave Minor, Doug Favreau, Curt, Lauren, Socks and Jamie. We left the shop at 11:20 and rode over to Turners Falls where we took the Seventh Street route to the fire house. We took it somewhat easy on the hill and I kept the pace pretty mellow on the run over to Ferry Road. We had a mix of abilities on this ride so I wanted to keep everyone together for at least the first half of the ride. Doug and Socks have been doing a sprint contest at every town line so I announced that there would be a sprint at the Sunderland town line after the pack got onto Meadow Road. My thought was that Will, Socks and Doug would duke it out while the rest of us cruised behind them. Well, as it turns out, the sprint began about a half a mile from the line when Peter pulled out of the group and headed for the town line. Peter got quite a jump before Doug went after him and they were a long way ahead of us when they crossed the line. Peter actually came from behind Doug and nipped him at the line. Quite a feat for a guy who shied away from the "faster" rides because he felt that he could not keep up. After that we settled in for the ride down to Sunderland. Doug, Will and I took turns at the front on RT.47 and when we got onto RT. 116, Doug and I raced to the town line. Doug easily beat me and the two of us rolled over the Sunderland Bridge together. The group came back together on the other side and we headed north through South Deerfield. Lauren, Dave Minor as well as several others who took a turn at the front of the paceline. After crossing RT. 5&10 we rode down the hill on Mill Village Road and then through Old Deerfield. After getting back out onto RT. 5&10 I went to the front to do the pull back to Greenfield. I kept the pace pretty high so that when the sprint went out for the town line, the riders who did the sprint were going to have to earn it. As it turns out, only Socks and Doug contested the sprint and it was won by Socks who barely held Doug off to nip him at the line. The rest of us rolled in behind those two and we then headed back to the shop. The riders who were going to continue on to do the fifty mile loop decided to stop briefly to get water. After the stop our numbers went down to 6 riders, the rest of the group having decided to head for home. After getting more water and some Gu, our group headed out to finish the ride. At this point we were down to 6 riders, Lauren, Jamie, Curt, Will, Doug and me. We rode up RT. 5&10 to Bernardston and after passing the center of town, we continued to Mountain Road, where we turned to head for the hill. I took a few turns at the front, but I did not overdo it today as I wanted to have some energy for the return trip. As we made the turn onto Huckle Hill we came upon Deb and Stan Kolpa who were just starting the hill (they live on the other side of the hill.) to head home after their ride. We said hello to them before beginning the climb. Will got onto the hill first and quickly distanced himself from the rest of us. I stayed in the middle of the group and rode to the top behind Lauren and Doug. After we descended the other side (56mph for me) we paused briefly to regroup before heading off on Pond Road. We rode at a pretty good tempo for most of the way down the hill to RT. 142, with Doug, Will and myself taking long pulls at the front. There was a sprint between Doug and Will for the state line,  which Doug won after a late charge from Will. At this point we were all getting tired and the group got strung out on some of the hills leading up to RT. 10. When we got to RT. 10, we eased the pace a bit until everyone was back in the group. We rode down to Streeter's Store where we made the left turn to head back to the shop. Soon after the turn, Michelle rode up towards us and she joined the group. Will and I did a lot of the work at the front since Doug could not keep his chain on the front chainwheel, (personally, I think he did that on purpose) and had to follow Will and I up the next couple of hills. As we approached the steep hill on Adams Road, I charged to the front and started the climb. That lasted about 20 seconds! I ran out of gas and ended up crawling up the last part of the hill. After the crest, I was able to recuperate somewhat and I rode down to RT. 2 and across the highway ahead of the rest of the riders. At that point I sat up and we did an easy spin back to the shop. After we got our bikes put away most of the riders headed over to my house where MaryEllen, Sarah, Sue, Jeannie, and Eddie were getting a picnic ready. I got to the house and quickly got the refreshments ready and fired up the grill. Will and Doug stayed for a few minutes before heading home, but they were replaced by Noah and Nathan who arrived at dinner time with more refreshments. (Noah was later to come down with an illness that he blamed on Nathan's home made cake, although no one else was affected.) We dined out on the deck and in the back yard until we were rained on briefly. I took some shots of the rainbow that followed, and soon after the rain stopped we were all back in our chairs enjoying our refreshments.

Monday 5/30: The day was warm and the clouds low in the sky. It looked as though the rain would hold off for at least the first portion of the fifty-mile ride. As a whole the ride was friendly and a steady pace was maintained through the rolling hills of Western Massachusetts. But on this seemingly uneventful ride stood out a brilliant display of strength and willpower. A single rider named Peter Truesdell who until recently, limited his group rides to a leisure activity stepped to the plate. The scene would take place on Meadow road as all the riders seemed anxious and determined to begin the sprint for the Montague-Sunderland town line. Few were prepared when Truesdell made a break from the group and raced toward the town line. A single rider, who wore a Team CSC jersey, counter attacked and quickly caught up. At that point few would have argued that Truesdell’s attack was early and poorly planned. A look of defeat and exhaustion swept across Truesdell’s face as the rider in the CSC jersey passed him. But all was not lost. Like Armstrong in 2001 riding the Alpe d’Huez in stage 10, Truesdell still had fight in him and perhaps wasn’t quite as exhausted as he might have appeared. Within sight of the town line the CSC rider had all but forgotten about Truesdell, who trailed by about 10-15 feet, but before he realized what was going on Truesdell renewed his attack and won the sprint. Although Truesdell would opt out of the second stage of the Memorial Day ride the credit earned by winning the sprint would be more than enough to keep him riding in the over-sized Ben & Jerry’s Jersey.