2022 Blazing Saddles Ride

Up at 4:10 AM.

OK, that was not my plan.  After taking three days off the bike to be fresh, making sure I was well-rested, I was up well ahead of my 5 AM alarm.  I tried to get back to sleep, but to no avail.  Up & at 'em at 4:45.  The coffee maker already had coffee & water in it -- prepped from the night before.  My bagel and plate were by the toaster.  Also laid out the night before.  Full water bottles were in the fridge, two for the bike, one for the drive to the start.  The bike was already on the roof of the car.  My duffel was packed with everything I needed for the day, from charged accessories to a post ride change of clothing.  All this organization and prep meant I didn't have much to do before I had to be in the car at 6 AM for the drive to Byfield for the start of the North Shore Cyclists' annual Blazing Saddles Century. 

And that was OK. The morning of the event is not the time for running around and trying to figure things out.  So, I had my breakfast while reading Neal Stephenson's "Termination Shock"

The forecast was for a hot dry day, so I didn't need arm/knee warmers or even a vest.  Kind of unusual for this time of year in New England.

I got to the start after an easy drive.  A good crowd of cyclists was already in evidence.  People were getting into their kit, talking, pumping up tires; the usual scene.  I registered, got my goodie bag and cue sheet.  The one thing I forgot was my cue sheet holder!  I folded up the cue sheet and put it in the plastic bag with my phone.  As it turned out I didn't need it at all throughout the day.  The arrowing on the route was superlative.

After getting everything situated on my bike I rolled out just ahead of the official 7 AM start time.  I was joined by nice guy named John on a Ritchie Logic steel bike he had built up himself as a pandemic project.  Strong rider.  We were setting a really nice pace.  I forgot how much easier it is to ride in the slipstream at speed. 16 mph just felt like noodling along when I wasn't in front.  Sadly, I knew I'd be going backwards on any climb at all, so I let him know it was OK for him to break off when I was going too slow.  Sure enough, we hit a bigger roller and he was off.  I didn't see him the rest of the day.

Going over the Merrimack River I just had to stop for a couple photos and missed a bunch of cyclists who were probably going too fast for me to join anyway.

For a while I joined up with a couple - at least I think they were together.  Mostly I drafted off them.  They had quite the involved conversation, so I didn't feel right riding with them too much more.  We got to the first pit stop at mile 26 and I kept it really quick there, so I left before them. 

Pretty much for the rest of the ride I rode on my own.  For a brief bit I was joined by another cyclist, Kurt (whose name I misheard as Kurn, as it Worf's brother on Star Trek).  To make the Kurn connection stronger, Kurt was the kind of guy who calls you "brothah".

Today is a good day to ride.

It had been cool at the start.  Around 70F/21C.  Very comfortable.  Almost cool enough for the cycling vest I had left in the car.  It had been warming up a bit and then suddenly, it was HOT.  Like someone had thrown the "summer" switch.  It stayed around 95F/35C per my bike computer for the rest of the day.  

After going up into New Hampshire for a bit the route came back down in Massachusetts.  The scenery was just gorgeous, if a bit parched in places from the ongoing drought.

One of my favorite bits is a road that curves past some pasture, you bang a left and you're on a straight section that cuts through tidal flats. It finishes with a little climb and returns to amazing olde New Englande scenery with a neat farm and stone walls.

Some bits of the route are a little more heavily trafficked, but that's unavoidable.  The majority of the century route is on quiet back roads.  It skips back and forth across a bunch of rivers, including the Ipswich and its tributaries. 

There's a wonderful spur out & back on a little peninsula with jaw dropping views of the coast.

After that first pit stop in New Hampshire it had seemed like we were hitting pit after pit.  I'd barely finish a water bottle when we'd roll into the next one.  "We" is kind of theoretical about all the riders.  I had been pretty much on my own.  Around here I polished off one bottle and was working on my second on the bike bottle.  Given the heat I decided to drink as I saw fit.  If I ran out, I'd take a peek at how far it was to the next pit or just stop somewhere to buy more fluids.  The heat was really impacting me.  I unzipped my jersey all the way, so it was just flapping around.  I ran into another rider on a time trial bike and asked him if he knew how far it was to the next pit.  It was just a few miles.  Whew!  I pounded the last of the water I had with me.

This pit stop was the last one on the route.  It's around 75 miles into the ride.  Always a tough point mentally as a rider.  I zipped up on the approach to the pit.  You can't pull in look looking like crap, you know.  As was true of all the pit stops on the ride, there were lots of volunteers energetically staffing the pit.  They made sure everyone took off their cycling gloves & hit the hand sanitizer.  Not effective against Covid (it's an airborne aerosol, not a big deal outside of crowds), but a good idea for other icky stuff that can spread via touch like norovirus.

Anyway, I filled my bottles with gatorade & water and sat down at a table, chatting with another cyclist.  The guy on the time trial bike/triathlon bike I think.  Kurt also showed up.  Then one of volunteers asked me if I wanted iced coffee.  She said my eyes light up when she asked me.  I almost told her I loved her.  Yes, I wanted iced coffee.  Badly.  It really hit the spot.  Kurt expressed similar sentiments ("You can just inject it into my veins.").  So, I got some caffeine, ate some food, and finished a bike bottle of gatorade.  After re-filling my bottle I got back on the bike to finish off the last bit of the ride.

There were more quiet roads.  And few that were kind of busy.  The starch was definitely out of my legs.  I watched my average speed decline.  Well, what can you do?  I saw a couple other riders take impromptu breaks by the side of the road.  My feet were really feeling it and I sort of wished that I had taken a break somewhere along mile 90 as well.

Finally, mile 100 rolled around with it, the finish.  There are so many century rides that are plus or minus five miles, it's great to ride on that comes in at 100 on the nose.

You can almost see the salt stains on my left side.

What a relief to finish!  I rode to my car, got my beach towel out, and changed into street clothing.  What a sweet feeling to get those cycling shoes and socks off my feet and peel off my cycling kit!  The NSC does a great post ride spread.  I had some veggie dogs, pickles, and watermelon. It was all so good.  A very long bike ride is the best appetizer.  I sat with Kurt who rolled in a bit after me.  I also met another cyclist, Cece.  I hadn't seen her out on the route because she was doing the 68 mile ride and started well after me.  It sounded like riding exclusively in the heat of the day had been quite tough.

While my pace for the day had been on the slow side I was very happy.  It was great to be back out on an organized group ride.  I was also thinking about the days in the late 90's when the NSC held this ride on Saturday AND Sunday.  For a single entry fee you could mix and match the short, medium, and long routes.  Some years I did back to back centuries -- and I'm kind of amazed I was ever that strong/able to recover from hard efforts so quickly!  Looking forward to my legs bouncing back from this ride in time for next weekend's solo ride to Provincetown!