Training Log Archive: PG

Short ride south of town. Overcast, low 60s, N 5-10. There had been some rain in Hadley, so the roads were wet for several miles. Worked harder coming back into the wind.

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Finished up the lawn mowing, which for most of the area means it is finished for the year. Time for show and tell. :-)

Lawn 1 -- Back of the house. Perhaps closest to a normal lawn, except it really isn't, as grass is just one of the many different things growing there. Mowing schedule is maybe four or five times a year. 20 minutes.



Lawn 2 -- Actually the best lawn, almost entirely moss, just an occasional bit of something else manages to appear. Same schedule as lawn 1. 2 minutes.



Lawn 3 -- Front of the house. Various things grow here. Some grass, also prickers of some sort, juniper of some sort, a bit of poison ivy, other weedy things. And also some things that turn out to be wildflowers, so if I spot them they don't get cut. So far about half a dozen kinds of flowers. Mowing schedule once a year, maybe twice. 30 minutes.



Lawn 4 -- Across the driveway. A little grass. Also grape vines, a few prickers, a little bittersweet, some oak and maple seedlings, some small areas of moss. Mowing schedule is once a year (but I think I forgot last year), just to keep it open, otherwise it would be a jungle in a few years. 45 minutes.



And then the overall look. Not so bad. :-)

C • Sparse lawn 1

With Walter, up in the hills. Easy pace, perfect day. Except my Garmin acted up, stopped working right at the end. Not sure what happened, but after a bit of fiddling, it seemed it recorded everything but the last mile, and I managed to retrieve that. :-)

Legs (quads) were really sore at the start, hurt on all the ups even if we were taking it easy, but things loosened up after an hour or so and the rest was much better.

With Phil from Northampton, out route 9 to Williamsburg and then up the long hill to Chesterfield. Back a different way, one more climb and then a downhill where Phil said it was OK to let it go, no bad corners, no bad pavement. Hit 45 there which is pretty quick for me.

Sure didn't hit 45 on the way up. More like 4.5 it seemed, though it wasn't that bad. I think I was feeling yesterday's ride (and climbs), and as I got farther up the legs just seemed a little less eager to keep pushing. But it is quite possible, had I been fresh, that Phil would have still disappeared up the road because he is just better.

But a fine outing, excellent company and some roads that were new to me. And survived to ride another day.

To the top of Massaemont Mountain and back. Did this starting in Greenfield last December, whereas today just started from home, so it was a good bit longer though not much more in the way of hills.

All at a moderate effort except for three ups (Mountain Road in Greenfield, Old Shelburne Road, and the rough dirt road up to the tower from Davenport's), on each of those I pretty much buried myself.

Feeling a bit depleted, I stopped in Greenfield on the way home for an energy bar, and that seemed to make the last ten miles go a bit easier.

Low 70s, S 0-5 early, 5-10 later.

Meandering ride with Walter, finding places he hadn't been. Very fine.

Still tired legs from my ride down to Charlie's on Saturday, put a good bit of effort into it. And didn't drink enough afterwards to get my fluids back up. On started rectifying that yesterday. So I didn't feel like a foray in the hills.

Instead, did a loop on the Mt. Warner trail, plus getting there and back. Got out a little after 8 am to beat the heat. An hour earlier would have been even better, but even at 8 was better than middle of the day. Low 70s, S 5, supposed to be 95 this afternoon.

Fun going around on the trail. It's mostly single track, but I think its easier than the ones at Earl's Trails. Got around with no falls, not even any close calls, 15:51 for the loop (clockwise), 17:13 parking lot to parking lot. Rest was mostly flat roads, no hurry. Just right.

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Also a success yesterday with maintenance. The bike had been making a lot of noise for a long time. I wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't in the chain or gears, and didn't happen when I just spun the wheels, had to be some load being applied on the system, and when I was riding, applying load, I couldn't tell what was causing it.

Took Charlie about 10 seconds to determine I had a spoke problem.

Found two loose ones, tightened them up, and then found two more that were a little less tight than they should be, tightened them up too, so they all were making about the same tone when I plucked them.

And the bike is now quiet as can be. :-)

Very mellow ride with Gail, Charlie, and Rhonda from Pleasant Valley up Sandy Brook Road. Nice to get out on the early side before it gets hot.