Training Log Archive: danfoster

Introduced two of my paddling friends (and our dogs) to the joys of off-trail AR navigation on a DIY Fells practice orienteering course, in preparation for their first ever AR. It definitely takes some of the excitement out of the training to arrive at the CP location and have no flag as a reward. I marked our best guesses for the CP locations on my watch, and matched up our GPS track with the O map back home. We bobbled the first and last controls, the last due to time constraints and well-behaved dogs that suddenly weren't (behaved, or even present). Jess was wearing her GPS tracking collar, and so we hunted her for a minute or two, instead of the CP. But other than that, the day went smoothly, and everyone is excited for the real thing.

Found my first tick for the season, crawling up my wrist on the drive home. Absent-mindedly opened the car door on I-93 North instead of rolling down the window. At least we were in fairly slow-moving traffic. Tick was nowhere to be seen by the time I was ready to flick it out. A bonus CP for the next driver, I guess.

About a dozen wood ducks passed through our pond this morning. Almost all of the snow and ice is gone, and hopefully today's 60 temps take the rest.

Day five - our final ride in this week's Spring Classic. I was ready 15 minutes early, so I decided to mount a second light on the chainstay, for twice the rear-blinking goodness. Had to drill out the plastic mount slightly to accommodate the bolt. 18 minutes later, had it all ready to go, and realized DH had been waiting for me out front for a while. Apologized profusely, made plans to meet up with the group as they pedaled the first mile back toward home, and quickly changed and raced off to catch up.

Ended up waiting around for another 15 minutes or so, but we eventually all met up, and off we went. We only spent about 50% of the ride on the course that had been plotted out, so my phone was chirping and beeping up a storm with off-course and car-back and rider-back alerts.

Had a nice view from Old Bay, and a quiet descent into Lancaster. The group of six got pretty spread out, especially toward the end when we cut off the last two climbs and headed straight for the cider barn at the Carlson Orchard. Spent a lazy hour relaxing in the sun (and the gusty winds) at the picnic tables over a pint of cider. Then a quick downhill shot back home.

Day four of our five-day spring classic. Today was a light spin, no hills day, to allow the four of us to recover a bit before tomorrow's capstone ride. Riding my Boxboro loop, modified for a Cisco start. One mile in, on the office park access road, the group passes the new pothole/sinkhole that has appeared over the winter in the middle of the road, just beyond a small rise. We've already passed and commented on this new hazard twice this week. Today, caught in conversation, nobody calls it out, and M, riding in the middle, goes down hard.

We get M and his bike to the curb, and assess the damage. Lots of superficial road rash, and a nasty avulsion on one hand. Someone has a first aid kit, and cleanup begins. M takes about a minute to catch his breath before he starts responding to us, but appears alert and generally OK. I realize the piece of asphalt I cleared off the road was actually a piece of dense helmet foam.

M can't remember the accident or what lead up to it. Understandable - I don't think any of us saw anything coming until it happened. I start asking the WFA level-of-consciousness questions, and get an irritated scowl back. Understandable - I'd be pretty pissed if I'd just crashed my bike and someone started asking if I knew where I was. M assures us he's OK to drive home. A few minutes later I ask what day it is, and get silence back. Somebody asks his address and he rattles it off instantly.

M is repeating the same three phrases every minute or so. Same exact phrasing, same intonation. It's like hearing a tape player on loop. This isn't just road rash. DB is back with M's car now, and we load him up and they are off to the ER for evaluation. That was 3 hours ago - no word back yet.

[Update: 5 broken ribs, transferred to another hospital for overnight eval.]

Be safe, everyone.

Got the rear rack mounted on the Fatboy last night, after literally taking off and reversing every detachable or adjustable part. It now sits almost 2" lower than the stock setting. Loaded it up with mini panniers stuffed with random things, and strapped a packraft on the rear deck. Took it for a shakedown ride around the yard this morning, and immediately rolled through Jess' morning deposit. Sprayed most of that off, and since it wasn't going in the house in this state, we leashed up and did an impromptu ride through part of Delaney. I was happy to find room enough in the panniers to shed my puffy coat once we got going. Was REALLY warmed up after we had to stop to cut yet another fallen tree across the trail. Got back, dumped the burning charcoal chimney into the smoker, and added a pan of beans and a 15 lb brisket. Wolfing down second breakfast now, and then it's off for yet another road ride, and then an afternoon of tending the BBQ and advanced rehydration and recovery. And maybe a bit of actual work...

Day 3 of our week of spring riding. First day in bike shorts. A bit chilly at the start, at the finish, and at various downhills throughout the ride. Otherwise another pleasant blue-sky day, this time exploring the roads around Harvard Shaker Village.

I really wish RideWithGPS had a high-contrast basemap. All the lesser-used roads, which are the ones we want, seem to fade into the background when navigating from the handlebars.

Day 2 of our 5-day Cisco marathon. Rode Vaughn Hill with the usual suspects. 50+ and bluebird skies. Could be the last day to wear tights for a while. Pushed hard on the climb up Prospect Hill, downed a snickers bite, and then ran out of water and had a scratchy throat for the remainder of the ride.

Got home just as UPS was delivering a rear rack for the fat bike and a camping hammock. Spent the next two hours lazing in the hammock in the afternoon sunshine, just inches above an ice-covered deck. As soon as the sun dipped below the trees, the difference between sunny and 50 and shady and 50 became very apparent. (in two years, I'll be super-shady and 50...)

DH proposed 5 days of spring riding, in celebration of the unseasonable weather (due to arrive any day now) and the 5 Spring Classics of Euro road racing. This is all Greek to me, but I support anything that gets us out and on the bikes.

Day 1: an abbreviated version of our ride from Cisco, including 50 ft of cobbles, the nearby dirt road, and enough residual road sand to make it a true mixed-terrain ride. Kinda. Learned the Garmin Varia doesn't discriminate and will trigger on any cyclist approaching from behind. Got faked out a couple times when one of our pack passed by, AND a car was approaching as well.

Ran into neighbors JM and son on the final mile, and had a long sun-soaked conversation. More vaccinations. More sun. Warmer temps. Longer days. Hope springs eternal.