Boston Brevet Series 400 km
One of the sacrifices randonneurs have to make involves sleep.
This usually happens during the ride, but I've had to give up
a little more sleep than usual lately. I returned from a fantastic
trip to British Columbia, where I did a 600 km on the back of
my tandem with Terry Zmrhal, a mere 30 hours before the start
of the Boston 400 km at midnight Friday night.
After totaling my Vitus, crashing into a dog three weeks before
on the 300 km, I had only been stoking tandem. This was partly
because I was still having occasional headaches and dizziness,
and was worried about riding alone, partly because my lovely wonderful
randonneuring bike was now 3 inches too short and unrideable,
and partly because I really like tandeming. But I knew I needed
to get back to riding a single.
I had ordered a Merlin frame, but it wasn't in yet, so I decided
to use my touring bike. I scrambled to unpack a little, mount
my aero-bars, lights, and the ever present air-horn on the Bruce
Gordon, do laundry, get sleep, and put in an appearance at work
for a few hours.
The Bruce Gordon spends most of its life on my stationary trainer,
but had a chance outside in April when I took my first trip to
Seattle. Since that trip, I had unpacked it and placed it on the
trainer, and basically ignored it in favor of riding outside.
The bike has quite a few miles on from a few indoor centuries
this winter, but other than all that rain in Washington last spring,
it hasn't needed much maintenance. I should have paid a little
more attention to it when I was reassembling it though, but more
on that later.
I managed to get a few hours of rest before the ride,
not really sleep, but enough to feel comfortable. I tried doing
morning things like taking a shower and having coffee to trick
my body that was still on west coast time into believing it was
normal to start a bike ride at midnight. Just in case that didn't
work, I took a caffeine pill!
I then drove down to Bedford for the start of the ride. Most
people who know me, weren't terribly surprised to see me. I'm
not the type of person to let a dog keep me down for long. After
a few questions about the old bike, the new bike, the dog, the
road rash and the bruises, I proceeded with my normal pre-ride
rituals.
The ride started at the Civil Air Terminal at Hanscom Field.
Apparently Charlie Lamb was a little hesitant to move the start
here, but the presence of bathrooms, showers, hassle free parking
and no neighbors complaining about the stereo, he gave in. It
also gave me a place to demonstrate the air-horn/dog deterrent
that Jamie King had so graciously given me after my accident without
disturbing anyone other than the other 22 participants on the
ride. It is kind of loud!
We rolled out through the suburbs of Bedford, Lincoln, Sudbury
and Wayland. A few rabbits jumped off the front, but a large group
in the middle stayed together sharing the light cast on the road
by all of our various headlights. I chatted with various riders,
some old friends, some I met for the first time. I met Mark and
Jodi. Mark, it turns out is a friend of Terry's from Seattle.
We had both heard lots about the other from Terry and it was nice
to finally meet. I dropped back to talk with Kathy and Gary, although
talking to Kathy was painful at times, since she was wearing a
helmet mounting headlight, and looked at me when she talked!
The first checkpoint was at the Sterling Ice Cream Store. After
a brief stop to refill bottles, we headed back out into the darkness.
We had passed Route 495, and now really were in the boondocks.
Streetlights were fewer and farther between, and soon no artificial
light other than our own headlights helped us along the way. The
skies were cloudless and the half moon offered a little illumination,
but couldn't help too much on the upcoming roads. There is a fairly
long climb from Sterling to Princeton and I lost the faster group
on this section. I figured it was a combination of the weight
and different geometry of the touring bike with its shorter cranks,
my lack of single riding, and my general poor climbing ability.
I knew there were more behind and stopped to wait a while at the
top of the hill in Princeton, but gave up after 10 minutes, and
resigned myself to riding the next section alone. It was a tough
one to do solo, since the pavement is filled with ruts and frost
heaves, and my lights were not quite as bright as I knew I would
need. In fact, the roads were so bumpy that one of the connections
was jarred loose and I was down to only 3 watts for a particularly
scary section. While stopped to fix the connection, my friend,
Rick, rolled by and offered to share the illumination from his
Nightsuns. Shortly afterwards, the temperature dropped and I decided
to add my leg and arm warmers. Rick was just too strong for me
and the hills and bumps through Hubbardston were enough to bring
me to a crawl.
But my back and neck felt good, and I stayed in good spirits.
One nice thing about night riding is that I can't see my computer
to see how slow I am going, and as long as there isn't a stream
of taillights ahead, I can't see the hills. So the final hill
into Barre snuck up on me, in a pleasant way. In Barre, I found
Rick again, who was having trouble with a slow leak. He decided
to stop every few miles, and pump his tire back up, in order to
really check out the problem in better light at the checkpoint,
another 17 or so miles down the road. We jogged back and forth,
as he out climbed me, and I didn't have to stop until we reached
the Bullard Farm checkpoint. This is quite an improvement over
Barre. The facility was referred to as a barn, but it was more
like a very nice garage, with a kitchen, and bathrooms. I brought
the bike inside to remove the lights, and get food from the bag
I had sent to this checkpoint. I guess I must have really been
riding slow, since Dave and Jamie asked if my bike was OK. Jamie
picked up the front wheel and tried to spin it, and it didn't
move. The cable going to the front brake appeared to be jammed
in the housing. Apparently, when I last flew with the bike, I
had kinked the cable, when I took the handlebars off, and just
hadn't noticed. I don't get much of a chance to use the front
brake on the trainer, and I hadn't used the bike since I'd last
unpacked it. Jamie and Dave worked on unkinking the cable while
I pulled the lights, got out the next page of cues, and got my
food together. I've definitely blown my reputation as a good mechanic
now!
There were still a few riders at the checkpoint, when I arrived,
but they had all left by the time I was ready, so I pulled out
on my own. There were others still behind me, but I had hopes
of maybe catching some riders now without my handicap! The next
section went along beside Lake Matawa where a fisherman almost
cast his pole into my spokes, and then up Mt. Grace. I seemed
to be riding faster. I was getting warm, but didn't want to remove
my arm and leg warmers until I was off the mountain. The descent
was cool, but fabulous. A few minutes later, just as I was looking
for a left turn onto an unmarked road next to a small cemetery,
I saw a few riders coming toward me. Apparently they had missed
the turn. But then, so had I. There was no cemetery, and the road
I was about to take was unpaved. We sent out a scout to check
some of the nearby roads, and I took this opportunity to remove
my warm clothing. None of the nearby roads had the proper landmarks,
but a car pulled up to a stop near where we were standing. I looked
down my cue sheet, and saw that the next town was Turner Falls,
and asked how to get there. The next road up would take us there,
so we headed off. It turned out the cemetery was a mile or so
back, the mileage on the cue sheet was wrong. Dave apologized
repeatedly for the mistake, but everyone eventually found their
way back on route, and we were all so appreciative of all the
effort he makes to put on the ride, that no one complained too
much.
And I was happy because I now had a group to ride with. I recognized
Dale and John from the 300 km, and Karen from rides over the past
two years, and there was my tandem partner from last year, Steve
and his brother, our magnificent crew on BMB, David. We stayed
together for a while, until the group split in two, with Steve,
David and me together. David was so inspired by BMB last year
that he decided to try the rides out this year, and is doing very
well.
The final 13 miles to the turnaround point in Ashfield was a
gradual 4-5% climb. It was on this climb in 1990 that Steve and
I first met. We spread out as the climb wore on, and both David
and Steve stopped to remove tights. It was starting to get hot,
and I was really starting to regret not getting my head shaved
the day before. I began dreaming of a hose to soak my head at
the checkpoint. I finally spotted the Neighbor's Store on the
left and Gerry greeted us cheerfully as we rolled in. I found
the hose I'd been dreaming of, and peeled more clothing off. We
filled up bottles, and food, and I drank some Sustical, a liquid
nutritional supplement. I had so much trouble on the 600 km the
week before that I decided to try liquid during the heat of the
day, and solid food when it was cooler. We took a fairly long
break at the turnaround, but rolled out soon after Karen, Dale
and John rolled in. The next 13 miles were incredible. I wasn't
sure if I would be able to keep up with the boys, since they outweigh
me by 60 and 100 pounds, but I held my own. I lost all the town
line sprints though.
The sun really began to bear down as we neared Amherst, and I
began to think about the climb to Pelham. I was considering taking
a quick break, but didn't want to lose my riding companions. But
then David began to complain about his knee, so we stopped to
get ice, and have cokes. I've learned a little secret about how
to get unfriendly clerks to let me use the restrooms. Apparently
I can make all the color go out of my face, and a little comment
about heat sickness gets me right in! I soaked my head in the
sink for a while. I was drinking plenty, but the combination of
heat and lack of sleep was taking its toll. In the meantime David
was icing his knee and talking about the sag. We started back
up again, but David couldn't seem to make his legs move. I knew
the upcoming climb would either force him out or make all the
pain disappear, and I knew I wouldn't be able to stay with either
of them, so I headed on toward Pelham Road. I stopped at the top
to buy a gallon of water to refill my camelbak, and you probably
guessed it, soak my head. I am definitely getting my hair cut
this week. The route from there to the checkpoint was mostly downhill,
with a little section of dirt, but also very shaded and scenic.
I was feeling fantastic when I pulled back into Bullard Farms.
I asked if Steve and David had called in, and Jamie said no, and
then within a few minutes they pulled in. David looked and sounded
much better.
When I pulled my lights off in the morning, I thought I left
them in a pile that I thought would be there when I returned,
but apparently I left them in another pile. It was obvious to
me that I would not be in before dark, so I was a little panicked.
Fortunately Jamie had a Cateye Halogen handy that he lent me.
We rested for a few minutes, refilled water, food, etc., and headed
out. I was feeling good, but David really seemed to have his second
wind, and had an advantage on me climbing. What he loses in weight,
he makes up for in power! I told them not to wait, since the next
thirty miles involved lots of ups and downs. I lost sight of them
on a downhill a few miles from Barre. I was still having trouble
with the heat when I got to town, and took a few minutes to grab
a coke, a caffeine pill, and check out the bathroom at the local
pizza joint, the only friendly bathroom in town.
The next 14 miles has the worst roads in the state, although
in daylight they didn't seem quite as bad. I made my way through
this stretch rather quickly. There is a store on the right just
before the top of the hill in Princeton where I had planned to
stop and refill the powder in my shorts. I was sweating so much
that I was really starting to have trouble with saddle sores.
I was really surprised to see Steve and David there. The look
on David's face told me they weren't waiting for me! I asked him
if he remembered what I looked like last year when he was crewing
for us on BMB, when the heat finally broke me. He had that same
look. After a soft drink and some ice, we headed out again. A
rider on high octane went flying past just before we left, so
the chase was on. Boston is visible on a clear day from the top
of the hill, and this was one of those clear days. This should
also indicate that the terrain for the next few miles was mostly
down. I LOVE this part. We went flying past the Sterling Ice Cream
Bar, where I would have stopped if it didn't mean more nighttime
riding. We eventually caught the solo rider, and jockeyed back
and forth for the rest of the way in. I'm not sure if he ever
caught on to the town line sprints we were doing though!
I won the sprint to I-495, and the next one to Hudson, and Stow,
and Sudbury. Actually I got all the ones after 495. I think Steve
felt sorry for me, or maybe the caffeine was working. But we were
close enough and I felt so good that I practically sprinted for
the final 1.5 hours. We stopped in Sudbury to turn on our taillights,
and not too much later, Charlie came driving by, with my other
headlights. I knew we would only be in the dark for 1/2 hour,
so I just grabbed my Sanyo, and thanked him for coming all the
way out. We talked up a storm for the last few miles, and when
we finally saw the signs for Hanscom Field we started hooting
and hollering and I let off a blast on the air horn. We made it
in right at 9pm, 21 hours after we started, with 252 miles
I was so excited. I hugged and congratulated Steve and David.
This is my longest ride on a single bike in almost a year, and
I felt great!! I don't plan to use the touring bike for any more
brevets, since the new frame is finally in, and should be ready
for OLDINE in two weeks. My transcontinental ride is getting closer
every day. The accident, travel and work have put a crimp in my
training, but the way I felt on this ride, once the brakes were
off really boosted my confidence in my ability to make it across
the country happily! It's less than 5 weeks away now!
BTW, The nine hours of sleep that followed were also quite pleasant!
|
|
