Flattest Century in the East

[natheless]

I'm planning on doing TFCE as well this year - I almost did it last year, but ended up at a wedding 200 miles away the evening before, which kinda got in the way!

I've biked around where they have it, and it's really lovely territory - hopefully nothing will get in the way this year!

[Surlygirl]

Well girls, we had a great trip. We even beat the rain home today. The first day was the longest. We did 50 miles with 3700 feet of climbing. Not a lot of miles but a lot of climbing (for me anyway). It was so wonderful to ride and smell the daffodils and magnolias which are all blooming now and it was actually warm in the low 70's. We stayed in the Park Place B&B in Belchertown. Very nice sort of Victorian. Very New England. Friday we left Belchertown and headed to the Quabbin. It is gorgeous. We rode up Quabbin Mountain to the Observation tower. Not to bad of a climb, but the stairs in the tower let me know I was abusing my knees. From there we rode on and took a detour on a dirt road. Since 911 they don't let you in a lot of the Quabbin which is kind of to bad. Since the trail didn't say we couldn't walk, we walked the bikes through to paved road, which saved many miles of going around. I kept telling DH the Marshalls would be waiting with guns for us at the end and we'd spend the next few days in jail but all was well.
Then we stopped at the Hardwick winery and vinyard and had our own private wine tasting. I highly recommend the Massachusetts cranberry wine. From here the girl told us we could take a shortcut. The bridge was out but we could probably cross on bikes. This meant deviating from our GPS route. Big mistake! Most of the road was dirt with some pavement, and uphill, and my little skinny tires did not like that. I did some hiking for a lot of that. And we couldn't stop for long or the darn black flies just swarmed around us. Lesson learned, stick to the route we planned. We finally found a general store and had lunch around 2:00. We decided we were pretty beat after that and decided to head for Barre. Poor Finn was lugging the trailer which weighed 45 pounds with everything in it. He is my hero. The BOB trailer works great by the way. I can say that since I wasn't pulling the thing.
We finally made it to Barre and stayed at the Jenkins B&B. Also very nice and the gentlemen who run it also have a restaurant in the house which was fantastic. They even cooked us a full breakfast this morning. It was chilly, only in the 40's and no sun. We took some main roads home today. A bunch on 122 and then 56 and more back roads. More traffic than we like but better pavement. We were also trying to beat the rain. My good son even had the hot tub all fired up for us so when we got here it was all ready. Boy was that nice!! So not a long adventure but it was nice to spend some time with my honey. 110 miles and 8400 feet of climbing. I'll try to post some pictures later.

[Crankin]

It sounds like a great time! Of course, I would not want to be the one pulling a 45 pound trailer. Or, trying to ride my road bike on a dirt road.

When are we riding ladies?

Robyn

[DebW]

I could be interested in a group ride sometime, though I'm not really in the habit of riding with a group. Unfortunately, I don't have a free weekend until May 27 or June 24. I'm going backpacking for 2+ weeks in May in Georgia and Tenn. Woohoo!

[ChainsOflove]

Hi everyone

I have done the short ride on both the TFCE and the Granite state. The TFCE is fabulous, it goes along coastline sometimes. It is not TOTALLY flat, but is about 1500 total elevation gain for the 100 miles I think.

The crowd is big, but the thing is very well organized. There were police officers at every major intersection.

I rode 35 miles of it. One prob is theres nothing between 25 and 50, so I did a route someone suggested.

I am signed up for this year, I haven't committed to 100 miles, but I'd commit to 50. I'm willing to organize the trip down to this race if you guys want.

One problem is I think you really have to go the night before because the century leaves really early.
Only other things is that the food was skimpy and not very good--PBJ (yuck!) and oranges. This year I would bring more food. T-shirt gorgeous, you also get a fridge magnet.

As for the Seacoast, I only did a shorty right of this one. Its pretty but I arrived late and didn't really get the feel of it. Granite state bike club are VERY nice people. T-shirt was lousy.

[SpinSis]

Thanks for the tidbits on the TFCE, Chainsoflove. I was talking to a cycling colleague yesterday and she also pointed out that it's actually not entirely flat...but did say it is beautiful and very well organized. I have sent in applications for BF and myself for 100 miles (aim high, right?). Lodging and lunch suggestions are appreciated...esp since I have PB allergy...PBJ would not be cool. Will pack my own and begin looking into lodging. But first...I need to know if we've been accepted! Anyone else heard back yet?

As far as a NE TE ride, I am not available the first weekend in May, and the first two in June..but otherwise open. Group ride = good for this newbie.

-s

[wavedancer]

I got my registration packet and number for TFCE this past weekend. It would be great if we could get a TE group together to ride it, or at least meet up together. I am a little nervous about the large group riding, but I figure the racer-types will be way down the road pretty soon after the start. It would be nice to have a few friends around, though!

I am available most Saturdays in May and after June 11 for a Cape ride.

Hope we can get together!

Linda