Jordan is getting into the spirit. After a few laps of Suffolk getting used to her helmet she officially started her training for the PMC 2028.

Saturday was a big day for me on the bike. There is a 105 mile ride coming up in late July named the Climb to the Clouds. It runs from Concord to Mt Wachusett and back. I want to try it so I thought it would be a good idea to go on a 'recon' mission from my house. I figured the loop to be about 78 miles with a lot of climbing. I was able to recruit Jon a co-worker of Annie's to make this attempt. We were on the road at 6:20 and headed west. Well, actually we were headed south, one thing I have learned about bike routes are that they never head directly to your goal. We headed through Littleton to Harvard. We went up and over Oak Hill which on this day I knew would be one of the smaller climbs we tackled. There was a long run to 117 and then we headed out to unchartered territory. Riding along we stumbled upon Davis Framland.

I mention this because the day before Annie, Jordan, and my neighbors went out and saw all the animals. We stopped for a quick picture and a drink. Then off to Wachusett. We basically spent the next 15 miles climbing. Sometimes easy and sometimes steep but always climbing. Around 30 miles we hit the entrance to the ski area. The road starts off with a mile climb at 9% grade. That doesn't sound steep but I was hurting. Jon dropped me immediately and I dropped into my lowest gear and trudged along. After that mile there is a park building that we stopped at. We stopped for a few minutes and then headed for the summit. It was a brutal climb for me. It would be much easier if I wasn't carrying an extra 30 lbs but we made it.

Jon at the Summit.


We headed off the mountain. Unfortunately the going down did not last very long. We wound south and headed home. The last 20 miles were very tough. My handlebars came loose with about 30 miles to go and it was very a very unnerving ride. The ride ended up being 83.5 miles and we averaged 15.4 mph. Not a bad day for me. I finished feeling like I can make the 110 mile first day of the PMC.

Sunday I had planned to ride after a graduation party but the thunder showers came through and washed those plans away!

A nice evening

Last night I decided to get in a quick ride before dark. I got on the road at 7 hoping to get in a loop through Harvard with a couple of long hills. The first 5 miles were slow and I just felt sluggish. Once I got onto Oak Hill things started to come together. Oak Hill is an approximately 3 mile climb and it loosened me up well. I decided to take the back road down to Rte 117 and come back on 110. 110 is a long climb with varying grades. I felt great riding it. There were no cars out so it was peaceful and I could see to my left Mt Wachusett. On Saturday we are going to try a ride out there. I continued home and made it just before dark. It was a 28.5 mile ride and I averaged 16.6 mph. Not bad for a loop with so many hills. Now it is time to rest up for Saturday. The loop to Wachusett is almost 80 miles and includes at least 15 miles of hills. I am keeping my fingers crossed for good weather.

19???? Years at Mattapoisett

No pictures this week. Last weekend was a full one. It started on Friday night with the set up of Flerra Meadow for Fifer's Day. Fifer's Day is Boxborough's annual town fair. There are bands, kids games, a hot air balloon, and plenty of food and drink. Buddy and I got to the field around 6 and have to admit I did not do much work at all. Fifer's Day has become such a fine oiled machine that most everything was accomplished by the time I got there. I just helped out by eating a few slices of pizza and having a couple of "Country Ale's". Buddy enjoyed running around the fields and playing with his new friend Jack.

Saturday was a busy day. I got up and was on my bike by 6. I needed to be at the field by 8:30 to help with the road race so I only had time for a quick 35. It was a very flat course through Chelmsford, Carlisle, Concord and finished in Boxborough. I was able to average 17.6 mph. This is definately the quickest ride I have had. Nothing like the motivation of having someplace to be, to keep the pace up. Annie and Jordan met me at the field and we directed traffic for the road race. The race went well, it was close to a perfect day for it. At 11:00, Annie, Jordan, and I jumped into the Pilot and headed to Mattapoisett. My college roommate Jim has been having a summer party there for 19 years. It is very hard to believe it has been 19! I don't think I went to the first one but I haven't missed many. There are many stories but most are unfit to print. We went to the beach and brought Jordan to the water. She LOVES the water. It is pretty funny to see her laughing and kicking her feet. We stayed in Mattapoisett until 6 and headed back to Fifer's Day to help with clean up. We got back at 7:20, I hung out and Annie and Jordan went home and to bed. I found out that Alan Rohwer won the Golden Fife award for his support of the town. A perfect choice.

Sunday I decided to meet some people in Arlington for a group ride. I have only ridden in a group once so I think I need some work in that area. It was a 20 mile ride out to Arlington and we went for a 30 mile ride through Concord, Carlisle, B'ricca, etc. I split off after 30 and headed home. It ended up being 62 for the day. A pretty good effort for me. It was great to ride in the group. I learned alot about hand signals and how to ride with people around me. I look forward to riding with this group again. The rest of Sunday was spent food shopping, and getting Annie's bike ready for Jordan the passenger. We put a seat for Jordan on the back of Annie's bike. Jordan seems to like to ride but hates her helmet. She rode up and down the road and even did a loop around the block. She will be natural but, just like her mother, doesn't like to have her hair messed up. Hopefully we can have a family ride soon.

What was he saying???

Life’s rich demand creates supply in the hand
Of the powers, the only vote that matters
Silence means security silence means approval
On Zenith, on the TV, tiger run around the tree
Follow the leader, run and turn into butter

OK, I have no idea what this means but it was sung on Friday night at an REM concert at "Great Woods". Our weekend started by going to see REM with the boys on Friday night. First of all you can hardly understand what Michael Stipe is singing half the time. Secondly, the other half of the time his lyrics make very little sense to me. It was a great show and a great night out. The only downside is that I got home at 12:30 and had planned on meeting up for a 7am ride. Up at 5:30 with Buddy and time to get ready for the ride. A quick check to my e-mail and I realized that my ride plans had fallen through. I decided to go it alone and was on the road at 6:40. I followed an route painted on the road. It was in the shape of a clothes hanger. I went through Littleton, Boxborough, Stow, Sudbury, Wayland, Lincoln, Concord, Acton and probably a few more. The picture above is from a farm that I road by. I think it is in Sudbury. The ride ended up being 61 miles and I was able to average 16.7 mph. I felt great the whole way. I got back to this greeting. Apparently, Jordan was working hard while I was gone.



The rest of Saturday was spent quietly.
Sunday was my Father's Day with Jordan. I was going to celebrate by going for an early ride but I awoke to a nasty day. Luckily the weather broke and I was able to get on the road at 1:00. I promised Annie that I would be home by 3:00 so I only had time for 32 miles. I decided to go through Harvard and work the hills. I had another great ride, I wish it could have been longer. I averaged 16.1 mph on this loop. It is amazing how the hills effect your average pace. Sunday night was a nice Father's Day dinner at my parents house and a quick Minuteman Meeting to get ready for Fifer's Day. If you are around Boxborough Saturday the 21st, stop by Flerra Field in the afternoon for a great time of food (prepared by the Minutemen) games for the kids, and music. I promise you will not be disappointed. Happy Father's Day to everyone.

Tough Day

I learned some lessons this weekend. The first is that the heat is not my friend! Saturday I decided to ride to Kimball's in Jaffrey NH for lunch with Annie and Jordan. The day started off well with Annie getting in a 9 mile run in the early morning. She looked great. At 10:00 I was off to Kimball's with an ETA of 12:30. I was going on a route to try to avoid 119 as much as possible and guessed it was around 40 miles but I should have mapped it first to know where the important landmarks were. I headed out over Oak Hill in Littleton. So far in my training this has been the hardest hill I have been on. Oak Hill is a 2.25 mile climb that rises 310 feet. Pretty good climb but nothing like what I had in front of me. I felt great on that climb and headed over to Ayer. I wound through Ayer, Shirley, and Townsend on relatively flat roads and was averaging 16.5 mph. I felt pretty good. Then I turned off on 119 and headed to Jaffrey. As soon as I turned I started to feel the combination of heat and the effort I was putting out. At 25 miles the hills started. I climbed 1000 feet over the next 10 miles with only a slight break at 7 miles. The heat was really getting to me and I wasn't sure how far it was to Kimball's. I actually stopped at one point and tried to call Annie to come pick me up. Fortunately and unfortunately, I had no cell reception so I had to soldier on. I phrase it that way because at the time I really needed a ride but once it was over I was glad to have made it the whole way. I rolled (slowly) into Kimball's about 20 minutes late. I was only able to eat have a hot dot (had to share it Jordan) but I did have an excellent Kimball's Mint Chocolate Chip Frappe. They do make the best Frappes. Annie enjoyed the first Fried Clams of the season. The rest of the day was spent driving home and doing a little shopping.

Lesson number 2 was learned on Sunday, and that was the old Boy Scout motto of be prepared. Annie grabbed another run early, this time with Buddy and I headed out for a ride around 7:30. I really wanted to get in two hours and had to hurry as we were going to a graduation party. My legs felt surprisingly good after Saturday and I was cruising over towards Carlisle when I hit a huge pothole. I knew right away that something was not right so I pulled over and sure enough I had a flat back tire. I took off the tire, got out my spare tube and realized that the spare (that was 10 years old!!) was flat as well. I was not prepared!! Luckily I had my phone and Annie came out to pick me up. While waiting for Annie I checked out my bike and realized that I had a front flat as well. I ended up going to the bike store, getting a patch kit and three new tubes. Hopefully I will be all set for the next flat. I guess it was a good thing this happened now and not sometime when I couldn't call someone.
We went to the graduation party and had a great time. Jordan took her first dip in the pool and she loved it. Next weekend I will be going for back to back 50 milers.

Buddy's Bash

Buddy getting ready for his big party.


Saturday was our fourth annual Buddy's Bash. The weather was iffy during the day but we got lucky and had no rain during the party. Annie did an amazing job organizing and setting everything up. This year we had a raffle to raise money for the PMC. We were able to raise $385 on the raffle. Thank you to everyone who donated a raffle prize or prizes. Special thanks to Kara for being our poster girl. It was a great party, Buddy seems to have more and more friends each year.

On Sunday I had my first ride with Team Lick Cancer. We met in Acton at 7:00. It was a little early for me after celebrating at Buddy's Bash. We headed out to Harvard and rode up Oak Hill. It was a great initiation to the group. I felt surprisingly well. We ended up riding for 44 miles and averaged 16.5 mph. We could have gone faster but it seemed that we were climbing most of the time. The climbing is still the place I feel best. It was different riding in a group. A lot more fun but you have to pay attention. I definitely have not spent anywhere near as much time on a bike as these guys. We rode through Littleton, Harvard, Bolton, Berlin, Lancaster and back. It is amazing how many towns you can cover on a ride. It was a great group to ride with. I am looking forward to the next group ride.

The rest of the day was spent with Jordan and Annie doing a little clean up from the party. We also attended a cookout for the Long Lake Neighborhood Association. Free hot dogs (which Jordan enjoyed immensely). It was a nice end to a great weekend.