I've been ramping up my weekend long rides for the past month or so getting ready for the 2026 Outriders event (one day from Boston to Provincetown). Every weekend the long ride gets a bit longer, 50, 60, 70 and so on. It's been good, certainly better than last year when I didn't have time to really get ready for Outriders. The only bummer is none of my usual riding buddies have been able to join in.
The weather overall has been good. We actually got to have a spring here in Massachusetts! A few of my rides included riding in the rain. Which is good training, since it could rain during the event. The bad part is one or two of those rainy rides were on my Emonda racing bike which does not have fenders or disc brakes. Both the bike and me got covered in road grit. And I relearned how superior my Diverge's hydraulic disc brakes are in the rain.
A few vignettes from recent rides:
- Seeing a group of three on a family bike ride drop the mom. A couple times (I stopped for a snack break & they passed me). She was pretty wobbly on a warm day in a headwind. FFS, people, let the slowest person set the pace. Or at least slow down if you're consistently dropping them. You're not training for a race, it's supposed to a fun ride.
- Sad that Fern's Convenience Store in Carlise is closed -- and that the memorial bench for my good friend Bobby Mac is gone.
- Meeting a guy on the road who was tapering for a 1200 km randonee in Scandanavia. In the "there's always someone going further than you department".
- Innumerable numbers of drivers passing me safely & carefully or otherwise cutting me slack on the road. They vastly outnumber the jerks and really, they have no idea how much I appreciate the courtesy.
- Washing my bike, degreasing & lubing the chain made a huge difference in ride quality.
My Emonda had been noisy and not shifting crisply. It turned out that washing it with warm water & dish detergent plus "biodegreaser" on the drive train did the trick. The next ride the bike was running silently and the shifting was a crisp as you'd like. And the bike just looks great clean.
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| Solo riding means you win every town line sprint by default |
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| Water Row in Sudbury |
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| Knit poppies for Memorial Day in Carlisle |
- I thought the knit poppies on display in Carlisle for Memorial Day was moving. A little more humble than flags. Certainly better than the church in Wellesley that the sign that US servicemembers died for "God and country".
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| Walden Pond Visitors' Center. Bottle filling station & clean bathrooms not shown. |
- I've had some interesting conversations while sitting taking a break at the Walden Pond visitors' Center. One guy interrogated me about how to best use an insulated water bottle - I'm not sure actually. I recommended filling it 1/3 and freezing the water overnight. If it's a really hot day and you're sure you can get more water, you can also pour water over your head & back to cool off. Another time a woman from the midwest asked about where to get the best lobster roll (as a vegetarian, I don't have much personal experience in the game). My answer that it was tough to mess up a lobster roll except by putting too much mayo in it was not well-taken. She also didn't like my advice that raw oysters are a better way to get super local flavor (hey, I wasn't always vegetarian).
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| Map of the monarch butterfly's multigenerational routes in North America. See the book "Bicycling With The Butterflies" or this magazine article |
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| Wet ground from rain, but I've got my gravel bike with fenders |
Diverge gravel bike v. Emonda racing bike is a big question for long rides, like Outriders. I'm glad to have spent enough time on each bike this year that the answer will be delivered by the weather forecast for the event.
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| Water Row with a momma turtle crossing sign |
One more long training ride before Outriders and then it's the big game. Hoping for good weather and a fun ride this year. Thanks for reading & keep the rubber side down.
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