Wow, two years in a row I got to do the late August North Shore Cyclists' Blazing Saddles Century! This year I did a bit of tapering in preparation for this ride: I took two days off from bicycling to work. I'd been on a heck of ride streak. It had been about two months since I had taken my car to work.
By the same token, I think I've been burning out a bit. I've been working really hard since the turn of the year. Like last year, Blazing Saddles coincides with the start of my summer vacation. I'm planning on a couple big rides, but I'm also looking forward to stepping away from the daily physical grind of my 30 mile round trip bike commute.
Anyway, my alarm went off at 5:20 AM. Thankfully, I had once again followed best practice, prepping all my stuff for the day the previous evening. I poured my iced coffee into a bottle, grabbed my packed bag, and took my bike out to the car for the drive to the start of the ride, Triton Regional High School.
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| Bridge Over the Merrimack |
I fueled up with an egg and cheese on multigrain from Brueggers Bagels. 6 AM on a Saturday and they were impressively ready for their customers. I asked what time they started prep work for the day -- 3 AM(!). Now that I think of it, I wonder what time the people there "wake up" to go to work in the morning? How long does it take them to get to work? Be nice to the people working the counter, folks. They always work harder than you realize.
Since the forecast for the day was for scattered showers I took my commuter bike, my trusty Specialized Secteur with the full fenders. It's heavier and slower than my pure road bike, a Trek Emonda, but it's a little more comfortable in wet conditions.
After checking in, picking up my schwag bag, and getting the wrist band indicating I was a registered rider, I rolled out. A fair number of riders were doing the same. Most seemed a bit faster than the pace I wanted to do. Quite a few packs of very fast cyclists passed by as well. I made a few efforts at jumping on the back of a couple groups, but ended up getting spit off the back in each case.
At this point I had a pretty negative experience with a pickup truck driver. When he passed me he "rolled coal". It's some kind of aftermarket addition that (illegally) injects motor oil into the exhaust so a dense acrid black smoke comes out of the truck. There wasn't much I could do except hold my breath and ride through the black exhaust smoke. Fortunately, I had a good look at the road before he did this. A few miles later I saw a line of cars backed up and a group of cyclists ahead of them standing by the side of the road. "What could be going on?" I thought. It turned out that the drawbridge over the Merrimack River was closed.
Waiting patiently for the bridge to reopen
Split from these people who were doing one of the shorter routes.
A troubled young man overcompensating.
Who did I see in line? Mr. Coal Roller himself. A young guy. I managed to say -- and only say -- "Hey, that was very amusing." through his open passenger side window as I coasted by him. Well there you. Middle aged restraint. I told the other cyclists what he had done while we were waiting for the bridge to reopen. They hadn't heard of rolling coal! Sure enough after the bridge reopened and he passed us he tried doing it again -- a little too far up the road for whatever reason. What a nice fellow.
Around this point I rode for a while with an English cyclist who currently lives in Illinois. He was visiting Massachusetts while his wife was running in the Falmouth Road Race. I was bummed that he was riding just a bit too fast for me and eventually we parted ways.
LOTS of food at the second pit stop.
All day the roads had been really wet. There had been a bit of spitting rain at one point too. Slowly the day got brighter and hotter. The humidity was kind of high and that might have prevented the roads from completely drying. This had two repercussions: my shoes were getting wet (the full fenders don't quite protect my feet). The cycling socks I was wearing were kind of on the thick side and boy I was getting sick of having damp feet. The second repercussion is debris sticks to the tires just a bit more than when it's dry out.
I was riding with another cyclist when I could feel that tell tale squishiness in my bike. Yup, I had punctured. What a bummer. I ride All Condition Specialized Armadillos. These are tough tires with kevlar belts. They are darned puncture resistant and handle very well on wet roads. Resistant doesn't mean puncture proof, unfortunately. I pulled off the road right by a man doing some yard work. He asked if I needed anything, and I said I was OK. I took the tire off the rim and felt along the inside while inspecting the casing looking for whatever holed my tire. I found two things: the shard of glass that penetrated the tire and wow, that tire was worn out! There were quite a few holes in the rubber -- those kevlar belts do excellent work. Past time for a new tire for sure!
I think every cyclist or group of cyclists that passed me while I was working on my bike offered assistance. It was an impressive demonstration of cycling etiquette. I really appreciated it. Anyway, in short order I was back up and running. I did do an extra careful search of the area to ensure I was not leaving any garbage or debris behind.
I ran into the English guy again. He was beside the road with a woman -- I asked how they were doing and I heard she had been stung by a bee and they were waiting. Later on at the second pit stop I found out she had SWALLOWED A BEE and was waiting for her friends. YIKES. Even when I found out the rest of the story at the pit, I think my response was far too laconic. It seems like evidence that I was having a weird day.
The second pit stop had an excellent selection of food. I was most interested in the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat bread. I ate quite a bit and washed it down with gatorade. I also pumped up my tire to 120 PSI. The CO2 cartridge I used to inflate it when changing the tire managed about 85 PSI. Safely rideable for sure, but my preference is for an old school 120 PSI.
I had a nice conversation with a woman on an e-assist bike who was doing one of the shorter routes. She said she hadn't ridden a bike ever until she was 71 and got an ebike. I asked her how old she was -- she said she was in her 80's. I could not believe it. She looked like she was in her mid-60's. She smiled and said her doctor was very happy that she had taken up cycling.
In retrospect I made a mistake at this pit in not sitting down to eat. Sitting down and stretching a bit would have been a good thing. The next section of the ride I had a bit of a tough time and my pace suffered. It was hot and over this section I drained both my bike bottles. I rode this stretch entirely by myself. It was kind of a bummer.
Finally, I got to the third pit, around 85 miles in. There were some very threatening dark clouds in the sky. Still, the riders around me were in good spirits. I ate and drank A LOT and I SAT DOWN. In fact, I went one step further and TOOK MY SHOES OFF. Boy, what I would have given for a dark roast iced coffee.
I kidded around with a couple cyclists that they had an iron clad guarantee that it wouldn't rain -- I brought my bike with fenders AND I was carrying my vest! Well, it was time to mount back up and get the rest of the ride done. Shortly after leaving the pit I was passed by a group of three cyclists. I jumped on the back and drafted. I was pretty sure this was it. A group whose pace was doable for me. It really made a difference for my morale, that's for sure. There was another guy in a Nashbar American flag jersey who could have joined -- and probably should have. We leap frogged him for much of the rest of the ride.
A few minutes into riding with this group it started raining steadily. I noticed one of the other cyclists checking her phone and putting it back into her jersey -- without any kind of bag. She mentioned that she was worried about the phone being ruined. Well, the arrows had been fantastic all day and I hadn't looked at the cue sheet once. It was sitting in a ziplock bag attached to a cue sheet holder on my handlebars. I pulled up next to her and offered the bag for her phone. It was the least I could do after just joining their group without asking if it was OK!
We worked a pretty decent paceline, taking turns pulling at the front. I didn't do such a great job -- I worked too hard on climbs and split the group. I felt bad about it. I was so glad to be working in a group though. It really made the last 24 miles fly by. I got utterly soaked by the rooster tails of water kicked up by the other bikes. I felt great though. At the time I wondered if I had been just getting too hot before it started raining. It's a possibility. I could have felt stronger due to drafting & chatting. Or maybe I just need crappy conditions to feel tough.
Anyway, before I knew it we were a scant few miles from the finish and then -- we were there. Rolling back into the Triton Regional High School parking lot. What a great feeling. The rain had slacked off and stopped in the last few miles too.
I was glad to get out of my soaking wet kit and into dry street clothing.
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| I am DONE |
At the post ride meal I got the last veggie dog -- and man, did it taste GREAT. I sat with John from the group I finished the ride with. Santina and Jen were talking with some other people from the NSC -- the three of them seemed pretty active in the group. Like an idiot I didn't get a photo of the four of us. I really did have a fun time riding with them all.
Chatting with John after the ride
What is a hot dog but a condiment delivery system?
The cherry on the sundae was checking my ride time from the previous year. Also on the Secteur due to an iffy forecast -- I beat my previous year's time by about 50 minutes! What a difference 40 pounds makes.
