August 31st rides

[alpinerabbit]

Yep, I'm 8 hours ahead of you guys, so I get to go first!

I did 190 K today in something under 7 hours (have to add ~a half hour break to that).

this was three rounds of our local lake (an almost flat course). Took the first round easy (130 HR or thereabouts) second round a bit faster. third round, was joined by DBF, who pulled a bit (but made me pull a surprising amount of the time). I was still hittting 30 at the end, especially because I pulled him towards a lakeshore park where we had a beer, bratwurst, and I plunged straight into the water in my cyclin britches.

Felt good almost all the way but now I need a nap

[sundial]

I did a little ride today, 17 miles or so, and while on my journey saw a mother raccoon with 3 babies in tow.

[andtckrtoo]

I did my long ride today. 41 miles, with 3000 feet altitude gain. Similar to the ride I did last week, but I did it in reverse and did not take the short cut (which added 4 miles). The first 15 miles was easy. Nice rolling hills, nothing too steep, and with a nice wide bike lane!



Then came the climb. I turned left onto Page Mill, and stopped to get some water. Got to hang with this horse for a short bit:



The climb was 7 miles, but the difference between Page Mill and Hwy 9 is that Page Mill offers some breaks. But the breaks come with a price. While Hwy 9 is a fairly steady climb (to the point of being tedious), Page Mill has some very steep sections that forced me into my granny gear.  I even had to stop once to catch my breath. But I pedaled on, and eventually came to the top, and onto Skyline Blvd.



Skyline is also a series of rollers, but these are much more serious rollers! And the view is really incredible. I did take a quick restroom break at one of the local Open Space Preserves.



Then it was off past vineyards (sorry, I had I great down hill here and did not want to stop for photos), and miles of hiking and mountain biking trails. Skyline runs across the top of the Santa Cruz mountains, and it’s usually cooler up there. The only real problem is the motorcyclists. They like the road because is curvy and windy and fun to ride (kind of like the reason I ride it), but it’s so quiet and peaceful up there that it’s almost an affront to have a really loud bike go by. I don’t mind the quieter ones, but why do people have to have the reallyh loud ones? It cannot be good for their ears!!! But, fortunately, they were not too numerous (too early for their crowd), so I enjoyed the ride. The breeze was very nice. I did take a quick break overlooking my favorite mountain bike trail!



Then it was off to the pay off – 11 easy miles, 7 of which are straight down hill. I passed a clipboard lying in the middle of the road (?) and a dead skunk (not so interesting). Then through the really cute town of Saratoga, and then home.

[ridenread]

Another perfect day in New England, although I could have done with a little less head wind. I did a beautiful 33.5 miles (another new record for me) along a new route, wonderful rolling hills with only a few short climbs. Past the harbor, along the ocean and through gorgeous farm lands. I felt like "one" with my bike, I think this was the best ride I have ever done. I just let my legs go and felt like the bike and I were one machine. The highlight of my ride was passing two people on a climb!! I've never passed anyone on a climb before!!

[Crankin]

Ditto for the beautiful New England day. We drove to West Gloucester with friends, about an hour away, parked the car and rode about 12 miles to Singing Beach in Manchester by the Sea. I have never been to this beach or done any rides in this part of the state. Beautiful farmlands, water views, homes. Going there, not too much traffic. I am always leery of riding in beach towns; too many people not paying attention. Many more cyclists than I expected. We changed into our bathing suits and ate lunch on the beach, which was crowded, but not packed. Very nice; clean and a well behaved crowd. The water was 63 degrees, though, definitely not for me. It really is gorgeous out today. We spent about 2 and half hours on the beach, then rode our way back, along the coast, lots of rollers. In fact, it was a bit hillier than I expected. Not really climbs, but not flat. There were a lot more cars on the way back and I had to yell at one one person who tired to squeeze by me as someone else was backing up and turning around in front of me. After we got back to the car, we drove a mile to an ice cream place, bought some cones and sat along the harbor, where the famous fisherman's statue is. We saw a wedding party taking pictures, which was cool and also discussed our bike tour with our friends and they told us about their bike trip to Nova Scotia. We are trying to figure out a possible trip to Sweden and Norway next summer.
22 miles 15.6 average
10 miles to hit 2,000 for the year

[Jiffer]

My August 31 ride resulted in a ride in an ambulance with my friend who crashed. Just posted "My friend crashed" if you want to read about it.

Only got 13 of a 55 mile training ride in. Was going to do 55 today and 45 tomorrow to prepare for Amtrak century next week. Now we'll do at least 65 tomorrow instead.

[Kalidurga]

The only real problem is the motorcyclists. They like the road because is curvy and windy and fun to ride (kind of like the reason I ride it), but it’s so quiet and peaceful up there that it’s almost an affront to have a really loud bike go by. I don’t mind the quieter ones, but why do people have to have the really loud ones?

My father's a motorcyclist and according to him loud pipes are used for the same reason bicyclists wear screaming neon yellow: To let auto drivers know they're there! I can certainly understand why you feel the way you do, though, the area where you ride looks so serene and peaceful. And that mtb trail looks awesome.

[Fredwina]

I rode out to fontana before going to church. But My a/c went out overnight(it's fixed now, and this caused my sinuses to act up)

[makbike]

A nice short and relaxing recovery ride today. I wanted to work some of the soreness/stiffness out of my legs after yesterday's tough century. It as a nice ride all 14 miles of it.

[redrhodie]

I had a nice 25 mile ride. Funny thing was having to stop to let a flock of turkeys cross the road. Boy, they sure take their time!

[sundial]

Lol!

[spindizzy]

Recovery ride for me today as well. short , sweet and totally lovely. Flat farmland. Warm south wind. 25k.

[mudmucker]

I did a solo 46 miles through the Quabbin reservoir area to the Farmer's Market in Hardwick, MA. It was a gorgeous ride.

I've been wanting to bike to a Farmer's Market for some time now. Except there are none too near me held on the weekend, and I wanted to get my red steel bike overhauled so I could put the panniers on it instead of using the carbon fiber bike. So, the steel bike has been done. I actually wanted to go to the Barre Farmer's Market on Saturday but too much Friday night libation prevented me from doing that. That would be a 36-mile roundtrip. I found that the town of Hardwick had a Market on Sunday's until 2pm. Perfect. This would be a 46-mile roundtrip. I behaved myself Saturday night and off I went in the morning. I basically took routes 32 and 32A which primarily took me through Petersham to get me to Hardwick.

Now, there really isn't a reason to go to Hardwick actually. Well I can think of 2 reasons; the Farmer's Market, and the Hardwick Vineyard and Winery. Hardwick is in the middle of nowhere, like usual where I am, in the center of the state in the vicinity of the "Quabbin wilderness". Oh, and I usually visit the winery once or twice a year for tastings and to purchase some of their very good fruit wines. Right in my back yard.

I recommend biking the Quabbin area to anyone who visits MA and who likes to bike. There is a lot of terrain to be had, for those that like that kind of thing. There are many long sustained climbs. I don't have a computer with this bike but bikely.com calcs out approximately 4000 ft of climbing (actually 3976) in the 46 miles that I rode, for however accurate USGS might be.

So it was one gosh darn beautiful New England day and here are some pictures. I'll post a few, then link to the rest.

Approaching Petersham. White steeples of course.


Quiet Quabbin road on the way to the Hardwick Farmer's Market. Most of the route was in deep shade. Route 32 and in particular, 32A road surface was in superb excellent condition. Not a hairline crack could be seen. The best I've ridden on in a while.



Hardwick Center



Destination reached. The Farmer's Market on the common. The bike was already about 28 lbs with rack, panniers, lunch, jacket, etc. My carbon fiber bike is 19 lbs. I probably only put in about 15 lbs of produce. I might not make a habit of doing 46 miles for, chuckle, lettuce. My garden does well and I got other things I don't grow, as well as some grass fed pork.



Glimpse of the Quabbin. There are much better lookout views and potential views of the eagles on the other side, off of 202.



This has got to be the longest woodpile I've ever seen. It's about 300 to 500 feet.



The one and only, Petersham Curling Club



Link to rest of the ride and more photos http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...ost=good-times