2022 Outriders: This is where I want to be, this is how I want to get there.

 It's a big deal for me.  Boston to Provincetown in one day.  Outriders.  I've been doing this event since 1999 (almost every year).  125 miles/200 km.  It's a long day in the saddle and I spend my spring getting ready for it.  Ideally, I'd have done a 100 mile ride in May.  As it turned out, my longest ride this year prior to Outriders was 87 miles.  There was some question in my mind whether or not I'd be able to do the whole thing in the saddle.

Spoiler alert: it was a great ride!

The night before the ride I packed my bag.  My family was driving to Ptown and we were going to stay through Monday.  I also prepped my bike and kit.  My tires were pumped up.  Bottles were filled (one with water, one with sugared coffee).  My clothing for the ride was set out.  I cooked a breakfast and popped it in the fridge.  The coffee maker was set to brew a couple cups.  In short, I would not have to think about much when I woke up the next morning at 4:50 AM.  Just start the coffee maker and pop the egg & cheese sandwich in toaster to warm a bit.  I went to bed early to give myself the chance to get a full night's sleep.  In other words, I did my best to ensure a low stress morning.

Kind of amazingly I got to bed OK.  I'd had butterflies all day.  I couldn't tell if it was excitement or nervousness.  

I was up like a shot when the first alarm went off.  I checked that my tires were still up to pressure and got the breakfast & coffee going -- trying to be quiet the whole time and avoid disturbing anyone in the house.

I got out pretty much when I wanted, 5:30 AM.  The streets were just about empty as I softly pedaled downtown to the start.  Around Kenmore Square I was passed by a couple cyclists who were also going to do the Outride.

There were a lot of cyclists at the Cyclorama (OK, OK, the Boston Center for the Arts) and quite a few red shirted volunteers already checking people in even though it wasn't quite 6 AM, the official start time.

I am wide awake. Yes, wide awake.

Not even 6 AM and people are getting checked in

Everyone was pretty groggy, but still in a good mood.  There was a spot for baggage to be taken to Ptown & picked up at the finish.  I ran into my friend Richard who does both Outriders and the charity ride I do in September which goes from Boston to Provincetown, The Harbor to the Bay.  Since Richard is quite a bit faster than me, I told him I'd see him when he caught up with me later.  I checked in, got a copy of the cue sheet, and had my rider number drawn on my leg.  And then, off I went.  No mass start for Outriders, just show and go.

I rode for a bit with the couple I ran into around Kenmore.  They were Spanish speakers and obviously very very fit.  We were talking at a red light when I realized I didn't have my sunglasses!  They noted that were weren't too far from the start and I could always ride back there.  I was sure I'd had them in my jersey earlier.  Fumbling with sunglasses before the sun is fully up is such a pain in the butt, but you really need them for such a long day.  Anyway, I was loathe to backtrack even a couple miles and just figured I'd get them back after the ride if someone turned them in.  Anyway, they were off.  I didn't try to keep up at all.  And sure enough I never saw them again that day.  Like I said, they were both obviously very strong.  My goal for the day was just to ration out my effort and make it to the finish.  If I averaged an embarrassingly slow 12 mph, that was going to have to be OK.

For a while I rode with a pack of maybe five other riders.  We made it through to Quincy (where I saw one of my favorite pho shops is still "temporarily closed").  This section includes one of my least favorite bits of the ride, a steel grated bridge.  Sure, the weather was sunny and dry.  I've gone over this horror show in the rain.  No matter what, I hate it.  25mm tires and steel grating make for a special feeling.  Anyway, I got over it OK.  Whew!  Somewhere along here the group dropped me. 

I was kind of surprised that Richard hadn't yet caught up to me.  Like I said, I know he's a lot faster than me -- even in years when I'm stronger.

After Quincy the route starts to get a bit less urban feeling and more suburban becoming rural.  Somewhere around here two things happened: Richard finally caught up with me.  The other thing was I started feeling a sharp pain in my left ... how can I say this? My left butt cheek with every pedal stroke.  I was flummoxed by this.  I ride the same model saddle on both my bikes and it's pain free.  I just couldn't figure it out.  Anyway, Richard and I chatted the miles away while we rolled toward the first pit stop in Halifax.

We got to the first pit and the mystery of the painful pedaling became evident.  It also resolved an earlier question -- how did I lose my sunglasses?  The answer to both is I had stowed my sunglasses in the cutout of my Terry Mens Liberator saddle!  I had been sitting on them for two hours!  And they were no worse for the wear and tear!

Why do I feel a sharp pain every pedal stroke? And how did I lose my sunglasses?
Oh.  That's how.

While I was in the pit I met Richard's wife who was crewing.  I also chatted a bit with Lew Lasher who helps organize the ride and map out the route.  Richard wanted to take a bit longer in the pit than I did, so we agreed that I'd take off early & he'd catch up.  He was also more accustomed to riding on his own and didn't always feel comfortable trying to ride together.

I'd been chatting so much with Richard that I kind of forgot to eat by clock.  On a very long ride like this you want to stay ahead on eating and drinking.  I had finished my coffee and drunk quite a bit of my water, but I hadn't eaten anything since my egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.  I had grabbed a little croissant in the pit, but that wasn't much.  While rolling out of the pit I ate a few dates and almonds out of my top tube snack box.  The Clif bars and Rx Nut butter packets in my jersey pocket went untouched.  Underneath all the dates and almonds I had a bunch of peanut M&Ms which were a treat for later in the day.  The next pit stop was another 30 miles along, in Sandwich on the Cape itself.

Richard caught up to me and we had a nice time rolling along a very pretty section of the ride.  Going through Plympton there are a number of small farms, some paddocks with horses, and woodsy bits.  There was a slight change to the route in Plympton.  It was odd suddenly riding on a strange road during an event which I've done since 1999. We hit the descent into Plymouth which I LOVE.  It's got a nice turn and it's a good long plunge.  ZOOM.  We then had to climb out of Plymouth, go through the ugly mall area, and then hit the rolling hills which lead to the Cape Cod Canal.

The Saltonstall Bike Route to the Cape

All day the weather had been outstanding.  It was warm, sunny, and we were benefiting from a nice tail wind.  I made it through the rollers without burning too many matches.  Richard had split off to make a pit stop, but once again caught up to me.  I even made it up one of the tougher climbs.  It's a sort of a sudden affair, devoid of shade and steep.  I've been working on losing some of those pandemic pounds with a bit of success and I really felt the payoff.

We got to the bridge over the canal.  As per the rules we dismounted and walked over. Oh well.  It had been a while since I finished my coffee so I fished out a Forto coffee shot and had one.

Dismounted and walking over the bridge.

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Making it over the bridge and onto the Cape is a damn good feeling.  It's a wonderful aspect of doing a point to point ride, like Outriders.  After a 60 mile loop you're back where you started.  On Outriders after 60 miles or so, you're on the Cape!  

Even nicer, in short order we were at the second pit stop of the day in Sandwich.  I grabbed a PB&J and sat down on a bench.  Most people were standing around eating and chatting, but I try to make a point of sitting down when I take a break.  I really want to get the stress off my legs.  It's in line with the dictum: don't stand when you can sit.  Don't sit when you can lie down, preferably with your legs elevated.  While refilling my bottles with water & Gatorade respectively (I'd drained the two bottles before getting to the pit and had a third while eating my sandwich), I think I annoyed a fellow rider with some dumb sarcasm about the poison ivy at the location of the next stop in Yarmouth. Oh well.

Pit Stop 2. The grass was kind of long this year.

I like to keep my stops on the short side.  I tend to cool down quickly and it takes me a while to loosen back up, so keeping the stops short helps prevent that.  As a result, once again I left the pit well before Richard.  Riding up away from Sandwich we hit the service road.  Again, it's a lot of rolling hills gradually ascending until you hit the highest point of the ride.  Generally, you want to sprint on the downhill to get as far up the next climb as you can.  And again, Richard caught me on this section and we continued to ride together.

The next key bit of the ride was the biggest departure from the traditional route. Instead of hooking south to ride on route 6A, we continued toward Hyannis.  The seven mile stretch of 6A is a nightmare.  20 years ago when I was stronger, would get down in the drops and time trial my way through it as fast as I could.  Narrow, twisty, with barely a shoulder, it's a terror.  The drivers take no quarter on this section.  Every time I ride on it I have a close call or two.  Suffice it to say, I hate 6A from Barnstable to Yarmouth.  This year we rode north into Hyannis and then back out in a big V.  We were going to pick up the bike path at the Yarmouth/Hyannis border.  Hyannis was unpleasant to ride through, but it was not anywhere near as dangerous as 6A.  I'll take it.

Sorry Barnstable, I'm riding through Hyannis this year.

We got to the bike path & I felt great.  We had something like 30 miles of easy rail trail to Wellfleet.

Richard and I at the very start of the rail trail

OK, the section of the trail in Yarmouth is not technically part of the Cape Cod Rail Trail.  It's got some whacky features which force you to dismount when you cross a road.  And I can't see how they are ADA compliant because anyone in a hand bike (or a tandem) would have a heck of time negotiating them.  Well, whatever, it's better than 6A, that's for sure.  We also got to another pit stop in Yarmouth (a different location than the traditional stop near Setucket Road, so no poison ivy).  I downed my second and last Forto coffee shot, thinking maybe I could stop for an espresso at PB Boulangerie in Wellfleet at the end of the rail trail.  

Again, I grabbed a spot to sit down and relax while eating and drinking (more water & another PB&J from the pit).  All day I had been playing leapfrog with a group of three, a woman, a guy on an ebike, and another guy who looked to be the strongest of the three.  It turned out that the guy on the ebike had a heart condition and the bike enabled him to be out on the ride without exceeding the heart rate guidelines set by his doctor.  

The bike path was generally relaxing, though you do have to watch out for kids and inexperienced adult cyclists.  Of the latter we ran into one super aggressive guy on a class three ebike and another rude/aggressive guy on a nice road bike with cages & straps on the pedals.  I had some good laughs at their expense.

All day all the riders and crew (all volunteer) I talked to were in an excellent mood.  Outriders was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. I know I really appreciated being back out on one of the best organized bike events that I do.

100 miles for the day so far! 29 more to go!

I also told Richard about how the owner of Arnold's Clams in Eastham was an enthusiastic attendee of the January 6th riot/coup attempt (ha ha, funny Civil War 2 tshirt, buddy).  More like Benedict Arnold's, am I right?

Rolling past the spot in Brewster where I spent my first pandemic winter was ... interesting.  From November of 2020 to February of 2021 I rented a place there, so we were crossing into territory that had been a daily ride for me for months.  Ah, for the days when I'd wake up extra early, ride 13 miles or so to PB Boulangerie and have a coffee & croissant for breakfast before work,

File photo from winter 2021!

Anyway, we got to the end of the bike path in Wellfleet.  And a weird thing happened.  While I was eating some Fig Newtons and a packet of RX Nut Butter, I felt sick to my stomach.  I could barely choke down what I was eating.  I downed some water, but I felt terrible.  Ironically, I just explained the concept of the "no whining zone" to another rider, so I didn't really tell anyone.  The best I could do was to tell Richard that I was going to be riding the next bit a lot slower and that he should go on without me.  I sat for a while longer waiting for things to settle down.  Maybe that's why I didn't check out the situation at PB (or "The peeb" as we caffeine addicts say).  Finally, I felt well enough to press on with the last 20 miles of the ride.

The last 20 miles of the ride have some amazingly gorgeous scenery that's some of my favorite miles anywhere.  Ocean View Road in Wellfleet, Long Pond Road, Pamet Marsh, even the insultingly steep climbs by Tower Road and Corn Hill.  Well, normally, that's all the case, but as I discovered this past winter when I did some Presidents' Day weekend cycling in the area, there's construction on Tower Road and bits of the route are closed.  We re-routed around them by going on route 6 a bit -- where my family caught up with me in the car!  They pulled over and we got to chat for a bit.  No, I did not Rosie Ruiz it.  Though yes, in some little sick corner of my mind I thought about it.

My stomach had settled down quite a bit so I dug into my snack box for some almonds and those treat peanut M&Ms.  What did I find?  A couple more dates too!  It was all a very nice treat.

The tail wind had turned into a head wind, but no matter; I had rationed out my effort well and I had plenty in the tank to fight it as I rode along Beach Point.  What a great feeling.  I started the day unsure if I'd really be able to do the whole thing and here I was putting in a better time than expected, with plenty of strength to spare.

I pulled into the new finish line, the Surfside, and I was done.  My family was there to greet me.  129 miles (including the ride from home to the start).  An excellent day all around.

See you back out there for Outriders 2023 on 17 June!

56 Miles in Dutchess County

 "I want to encourage you to bring your bike to NY. When you see those rolling hills and back roads you will be sad not to have it."  So said my wife in an IM a week before our trip to upstate New York for her college reunion.  She included a link to the Dutchess County tourism bike page: https://dutchesstourism.com/listings/biking 

I took a quick peek at that page, the forecast, and agreed; the bike was coming with us.

The bucolic roads of Dutchess County

We were staying at a lovely inn in Pine Plains and I wanted to check out the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.  Now, when you're in one place, and the place you're riding to is named "valley" you generally have to go over some hills (maybe mountains) to get down into the valley.  And, as it turns out, this was very true in this case.

Google Maps gave me a couple options.  Surely, the route that goes closer to the start of the path and isn't on a numbered route would be better. Note that it's shorter too!  As I popped out of the Inn's driveway Google Maps prompted to me to take a right, not a left. Oh, silly Google Maps, directing me down that longer/slower numbered route.  I took the left instead and I was off.

Uh, am I going the right way (as it turned out, no, I had to double back
 and take that right turn)?

The roads were beautiful and quiet.  I was only passed by a handful of cars.  Shout out to the upstate NY drivers.  Almost as rule they give you at least half a lane to safely pass.  Throughout the day a closer pass was almost always done by a car with non-NY plates.  I also saw a number of other (maybe more serious looking) road cyclists.  From time to time I had to stop to consult my phone and make sure I was on the correct route.  When I got to McGhee Hill Road a local cyclist saw me make the turn up it & said "that's a serious climb".

Yeah, truth in advertising.  McGhee Hill Road was a long very steep climb.  I've been dropping my extra pandemic pounds this year, but I'm not back to my BeforeTimes weight just yet.  And damn, I felt it.  The pitch of the climb increased until finally I'd had it.  I dismounted and started walking.  I haven't had to walk up a climb in I don't know how many years.  More than 20.  Sheesh.  Yeah, I haven't done my winter leg training in the gym since the pandemic started too.  Well, what can you do?

I was sweating buckets just walking up the hill.

Finally, I got to a spot where I thought it went from outrageously steep to normal steep and got back up on the bike.  It was a good call because, holy crap, the hill just kept on going up.  I passed a guy doing yard work and said "that's a heck of a hill you live on" and he assured me the worst was behind me.  Whew!

I got to the top of the climb and started the very long descent.  Like I mentioned, I was thoroughly sweat soaked.  It was a long descent.  Despite it being 87F (30C) and sunny, I started getting chilled as the sweat rapidly evaporated.  If I'd had my cycling vest with me, I would have put it on and zipped it up.  It was all worth it.  The scenery had just been spectacular so far.  Another cyclist zipped past me on the decent.  Not knowing what was ahead on the somewhat twisty roads, I had to feather my brakes a bit.

Am I going the right way?

Finally, I got to the rail trail.  It had only been about 11 miles, but wow, I felt those hills in my legs.  I had just about finished one bottle of water and started thinking about stopping for more water and maybe some coffee.  I rode south on the bike path to the end in Wassaic, but didn't see any stores adjacent to the path.  Other cyclists didn't know of anything close by.  So, I doubled back and rode north.

All along much of the bike path caterpillars were dropping from the trees on their silk.  It was pretty damn gross.  In a more interesting animal encounter I was almost hit by two deer crossing the bike path.  One went in front of me, the other made a quick turn and went behind me.  

I talked to another cyclist who said my best bet for a coffee would be in Millerton, a few miles up the path.  Sure enough I got there and it was a town of some size.  I rode up the hill and found "Irving Farm Coffee".  The kitchen was closed, so I couldn't get the egg sandwich, but I had good scone and an excellent cold brew coffee.  They also had a water dispenser, so I was able to fill my water bottles.  While I sat outside eating my scone & coffee I had a nice conversation with another cyclist I had leapfrogged a couple times.  Her daughter was getting married in Boston in June.  Then it turned out the guy on the bench next to me had lived just a few blocks from my home until recently.

Coffee break in Millerton

Fully caffeinated I continued north on the path.  The path up until this point had been very nice.  There was a cool section where the original railroad had carved a path through some very rocky terrain, so you were biking through some high narrow rocks.  North of Millerton though it became incredible.  It went through some wetlands and the valley opened up so you could see the mountains on either side.  It was spectacular.  It made me want to bike forever.

Doesn't convey how neat this section was.

There were purple phlox in bloom all over the place

Unfortunately, it was getting kind of late in the day and I still had to ride back to Pine Plains.  I stopped to check what the route would be, but my phone didn't have any signal.  A group of four local cyclists stopped to help me, but in the end I just decided to ride back to where I initially joined the path and ride back from there.  I knew my phone had connectivity most of the time from there, plus I had some rough written notes about that route -- even if it meant going back up that leg breaking climb.

As it turned out, Google routed my via route 199, which was a heck of a lot easier than McGhee Hill Road (I did have an atypical unpleasant interaction with a group of motorcyclists).  So, I was able to get back to the inn, not negatively impact my family's dinner plans, and not be totally wasted from the day.  It was a fantastic ride and I'm just sorry I didn't have more time to explore the roads around there.

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