BikeRide

This past Saturday I completed my second D2R2. I got up early and drove up to Deerfield, Masachusetts with Rob from my cycling club for the 9:00 am start of the 100K ride. I wasn’t quite ready to do the 112 mile route. Earlier in the season I may have attempted it, but the past month my time on the bike has suffered due to long hours at work, and family visiting from out of town. The start of this year’s ride was near Historic Deerfield in some farm fields. We parked and walked over to the registration tent to sign in and get our brevet cards. The organizers had a nice spread of food for breakfast, which I’m sure the people that camped over night appreciated. I got a cup of coffee and a muffin.

A large group started out together at 9:00 at a moderate pace. Rob and I moved up a little in the group. I remember the previous year’s first hill was a little crazy, and this year was the same. A lot of riders were in the wrong gear or couldn’t keep moving on the first steep gravel climb. When one person lost momentum and got off to walk, it caused a big chain reaction. I was just caught in the mayhem, and had to get off my bike and run for a bit before I could remount on a less steep section. Rob and I got separated for a bit, but he caught up to me before too long and we stayed together the rest of the ride. The weather was perfect this year, and I felt a lot better than last year, but this is still a very difficult ride. We made and effort this year to make quick stops at the check points to keep the legs moving.

Making it to the midway stop. Photo by PyZahl.net. See his ride album At the midway point next to a covered bridge in Vermont was the main lunch stop. It was a perfect location next to the Green River in the shade. I saw a lot of riders in Rapha cycling gear at the check point and figured out that this was the Rapha Continental team cataloging the D2R2 as one of their epic rides on the East Coast. I look forward to seeing their ride report and photos. Their report from a ride in Litchfield included many of the roads I have the privilege on riding on frequently from where I live in Northwest Connecticut.

After the lunch stop the 100K route follows the Green River on a mostly flat section for about 10 miles before the climbing resumes. We were to take a tight left turn from the river road. I just missed the turn and had to turn around. While I was pulling a U-turn my front tire sunk into the soft sand at the side of the road and I immediatly went down hard on my left shoulder. That hurt, but I there was no serious damage, so I got up and brushed myself off and continued on. I also got some sand in my front shifter, so for awhile shifting to the big ring was a problem. The last few hills were tough, especially the stair step climb to the last checkpoint at the orchard, but it was rewarded with some of the best ripe peaches I have ever had. The last dirt section includes a very steep rocky descent that tested my bike handling skills. Chris from my bike club came flying past me on the downhill. He was riding the 112 mile ride on a suspended mountain bike.

We made in back to the finish in about 5:10 ride time and 5:39 total time. That is probably the hardest 100K you can do. For tires I was running 32c Specialized Tires at about 95 psi. Next time I would run lower pressure. Maybe 75 or 80. I felt like I was bouncing a lot on rocky sections. The food at the finish was not quite up to the Burritos of the previous year, but I didn’t care too much. We didn’t stick around too long and before long we were on the road back to Connecticut.

Flickr Photo Album from the ride

The Tour of the Litchfield Hills is one of my favorite organized tours in Connecticut. This year I rode the 30 mile course with my 10-year-old daughter on our tandem. The hills on a tandem were very challenging. We had a great time, and the ride had a record turnout, and beautiful weather. We even got our picture in the local paper.

A couple other blogs with ride reports:

Cool Hills, 77 Miles, No Sweat

Mike’s Blog: Tour of the Litchfield Hills

Hobgoblin Rides: Not a Century

The 2006 Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day was my big cycling goal for the year.  As in 2003, I traveled from Connecticut to do this ride that I have done a number of time in the past.  I had been staying with my friend Gordon who was joining me on the ride.

We got up early and drove from his home in Renton to the start in Enumclaw.  When we arrived there were not too many cars yet in the parking lot, so we found a good parking place, and beat the crowd to the packet pickup.

We got on the road before the sun came up.  The local police were at main intersections to control traffic as we made our way out of town.  As usual in this ride, I always tell myself I’m going to take it easy on the first part of the ride, but I usually find myself in a group and the competitive spirit takes over.  Plus, the first part of the ride has narrow roads and you have to deal with some drivers an their way to work who are not excited about big groups on the road, so it just feels safer to me to string the group out single file than to constantly be passed by large groups of riders.

We were some of the first cyclists to reach the first water stop just past town of Eatonville.  We stopped just fast enough to fill our water bottles before continuing on to the Mt. Rainier park entrance.  For this next part of the ride the roads are much better for cycling, but it is a gradual uphill.  Some of the interesting sights along this section of the ride are the old steam train in Elbe, and a yard full of large metal animal sculptures.

Just before the park entrance was the first food stop of the ride, and as usual the RAMROD had great food with a great assortment of bagels, fruit, and cookies.  We stopped and refilled the tank before heading into the park.

The park entrance fee is included with your ride registration fee, so on the way into the park the riders are directed through a set of cones where the park ranger checks to make sure you have a number and are paid for the ride.

After you enter the park, you begin a gradual climb through the thick old growth forest, with an occasional view of the mountain when there is a break in the trees.  The first really good view of Mount Rainier is at the Longmire Ranger Station where there is a lodge and some very scenic meadows.

Just after Longmire the climbing gets a little more steep as the road heads up toward the Paradise.  Along the way there is a great view of the Nisqually River and Glacier from one of the bridges.  This year there was a construction project going on at the Paradise parking lot, so the ride turned off before heading all the way up.

Along the climb to Paradise there were some more great views of the mountain.  There is a nice little downhill after the Paradise climb, then one more climb before descending to Box Canyon.  At this point the organizers had stopped all the cyclists at a turnout because a rider up ahead had crashed, and they blocking off the road so that a helicopter could come and land to pick up the injured cyclist and fly him a hospital.

This was a reminder that these beautifully scenic roads also could be dangerous if you are not using caution.  There are some steep downhills, sharp corners, and long drop offs.  If you take a corner a little to fast, it could really be seriously injured.

We sat there for a little while trying to find some shade, as it was really starting to warm up in the sun.  After the road finally opened up again we got back in the saddle, but then it wasn’t far before we stopped at Reflection lake to take a photo, which is probably the most popular stop to take a photo of the mountain.

After Reflection Lake the descent to Box Canyon is one of the most fun parts of the ride with some sweeping switchback turns, and then a long winding descent to the next food stop.  The Box Canyon food stop was again well stocked with food.  I saw at least one rider there with some road rash who must have fallen on one of the tricky turns.

After the food stop there was just a little more downhill before the turn to Cayuse Pass.  I had a rear blinking light on my bike that fell off on the downhill so I had to stop and turn around to get it, but it was pretty much broken into pieces from hitting the pavement.

The climb to Cayuse Pass is always a killer.  It comes at the 100 mile mark in the ride, and it takes me about an hour and a half to climb.  The last time I did RAMROD in 2003 it was really hot and I had to stop a few times to cool off.  This year I felt much better on the climb.  Not only was I in better condition this year, but it was cooler, and I think getting an earlier start helped us get to the climb while some of the road was still in the shade instead of in the full afternoon sun.

After a stop to recover at the top of Cayuse Pass there is another fun downhill to the park exit, and the Crystal Mountain turnoff, where the final food stop is located.  This is where they have the RAMROD Deli.  The great volunteers will make you a sandwich just the way you want it, and there was plenty of other food to help the riders top off their energy and make the final miles back to Enumclaw.

The final 30 miles or so back to finish are mostly gradual downhill, but there was a headwind.  We settled into a good pace and finished up the ride feeling good.  I’m glad I made the trip out to do this ride again because it had to be one of the best in the country.

Photos …

This past Saturday I planned and lead a 125 mile ride with my cycling club. We met in Collinsville, Connecticut at 7 am. I made up the route and tried to string together some of the roads from some of my favorite rides I have done in the past. We headed over the Nepaug Dam, then took lots of backroads to Winchester Center and Norfolk. Scott and Pat suggested an alternate route to avoid the super steep Burr Mountain Road. Randy got a late start, and caught us on the way to Norfolk.

At Norfolk we took Mountain Road. I had scouted out this road earlier in the year. There are some dirt sections, but it was hard packed and smooth for the most part, so it was passable on skinny tires. The road passed the edge of the Canaan Resevoir which is very scenic, and on the other side of Canaan Mountain there is a fun downhill past a dairy farm.

When I was planning out the ride, I saw a road called Cobble Road. To me that didn’t sound very smooth, so my original plan was to go farther to connect to route 63. When we got to Cobble Road, I could see that it was paved, so I lead the group right onto the road, but just after the turn, there was a sign that said “Road Closed.”

I was about to have the group turn around, but there were a few chants of “I’m sure we can get through”, so we headed down the road. Soon we could see that water was over the road. Scott lead the way, and made it around a few puddles, but the water got deeper, and soon he had no choice but to go through about a foot of water. After a few of us had ridden through, there was no going back. Water was above the botton bracket on the bike, and we all had wet shoes after the crossing.

There was a short hill before connecting to Route 63. We were only on Route 63 for a mile or so before turning onto Music Mountian Road. I had first discovered this road on a fall drive a couple of years ago, and ridden it in the opposite direction last year. Music Mountain is a gradual climb, and a very nice backroad. Just after passing a waterfall, we made the turn on Cream Hill Road. This hill is longer and steeper than I had remembered, but the climb is rewarded by a fun descent. I saw some other cyclists heading the opposite direction.

We made a stop at the West Cornwall Store to refuel and fill water bottles. Coleman found an unopened Bud Light outside the store, so Scott drank some of it. Beer has lots of carbs … right? We set off again across the covered bridge, and started climbing again on the way to Sharon, CT. This was another scenic section of road that crosses the Appalachian Trail. In Sharon we cut across Lovers Lane, a dirt road that connected to Route 361, and headed north to Millerton, New York. We crossed route 44 and continued on some more scenic quiet roads. I saw more cyclists out enjoying these great roads and nice weather.

We connected with Route 22, but I saw that there is a rail trail that we could have taken to Taconic State park, and that would have been a little better way to go. Route 22 has a good shoulder, but more traffic.

We stopped at the Depot Deli across from Taconic State Park. It was a good place to stop for lunch. There are picnic tables outside. The Deli is right at the end of the rail trail, and there is a bicycle shop across the street. I got a turkey sandwich and topped off my water bottles.

We left the deli and started the climb to Bash Bish Falls back over into Massachusetts. This is a very steep climb that I had done last year on the Berkshire 300K. We all made it up the climb and regrouped at the top.

After a fun downhill, we cut over to Route 7, but then missed a turn. Don’t trust Google Maps. They had the wrong name for a road, so we went too far on route 7 which was super busy with Memorial Day traffic. After a couple of miles we figured we had gone too far, so we turned around and backtracked. We turned on Maple Avenue and headed toward Mill River. I bonked at about the 80 mile mark, and fell behind the group. I just wanted to pull over and take a nap. I made it to the Mill River store, where we made our final stop. After a couple of ice cream sandwiches, I got my blood sugar level up, and I felt better.

There were two other cycle tourist at the store with fully loaded panniers doing a weekend trip. This is a really great area for bicycle touring. I struggled up the climb out of Mill River and back route 183 to Connecticut. After getting back into Connecticut the road has a lot of gradual downhill, so I recovered and felt better on the final miles down Sandy Brook, to Riverton, and back to home.

This was a really challenging route, but it was very scenic on backroads with very little traffic. It was a great group of people to spend the day with exporing the countryside. Eleven of of finished the ride.

With stops it took us about 9:30 with about 8:00 of actual time on the bike. I hope to make this ride an annual event.

Route: Collinsville CT, Nepaug, Winchester Center, Norfolk, Mountain Road, Cobble Road, Route 63, Music Mountain, Cream Hill, West Cornwall, Sharon CT, Millerton NY, Bash Bish, Egremont MA, Sheffield MA, Mill River MA, New Marlborogh MA, 183, Sandy Brook, Riverton, Pleasant Valley, Route 44, Route 179.

Photos

I drove up to Westfield with Randy from my club.  We met Coleman and Doug at the start at New Horizons Sports in Westfield. Due to a long line for the bathroom I missed the 7:00 am start by a few minutes.

Randy and I set a pretty fast pace for the start of the ride and we caught up to a big group about 10 miles down the road that included Doug and Coleman.  We hung with that group for a while.  Randy took off about the time we got to route 116, a long gradual climb before a turnoff to Shelburne Falls.

I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to go after him, and I set a pretty good pace up the climb.  The big pack kind of strung out there, and one guy caught me and we rode together over the top.  I could see Randy just ahead, but after the fast descent, I didn’t see him.  I made a turn toward Shelburne Falls, and backed off the pace a little.  I though Randy may have missed the turn, but he was at the Coffee Shop checkpoint when I got there 45 miles into the ride.  I ran into the bathroom and filled my water bottle and bought a big chocolate chip cookie.

When I came out of the coffee shop Randy had taken off, and Doug and Coleman were just pulling in.  I added some Cyctomax mix to my bottles that I had with me, took off my wind breaker and stuffed it into my seat pack since it was starting to warm up.

I waited and started of with Doug, Coleman, and one other rider who looked like he was an experienced Brevet rider. I figured it was better to hang back at a more moderate pace that try to chase after Randy and end up riding on my own the whole time.

The next section of the ride was the best part.  It made a loop into Vermont.  The roads was a lot better, and there were some good hills, and great views along the way. There was a great downhill section on a narrow winding road that passed a covered bridge at the bottom.

I took a couple of long pulls as we rode along a river heading back to Shelburne Falls.  The second checkpoint was at McCloskey’s General Store in Shelburne Falls.  It was a great store.  They had a deli area, and a lot of natural and organic foods.  I bought a large bottle of water and a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.  I also bought some sunscreen because my face was starting to get red.

The ride back to Westfield had some bumpy roads with a lot of potholes to look out for, but the route was a little different than the ride out.  With about 5 miles to go I pushed the pace a little and finished alone.  I felt great for a 125 mile ride this early in the year.

I could have gone faster, but it is more fun to ride with friends and enjoy the scenery than to go hard an bonk with 25 miles to go.  My goal was to get in a good endurance ride and feel good at the end, and that is what I did.

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