Training Log Archive: PG

Passed 10,000 miles on the dark blue bike today, about 3 weeks short of having it for 2 years. :-)

Although this year is going to come up woefully short of the last two unless I pick it up a lot.

My life on Attackpoint, so far.

C • RGR 7

Real nice ride over to and in the lower Whately and Conway hills. Attractions included:

-- Went by two guys parked on Conway Road as I was climbing up to West Whately. They had on waders, so I assumed they were going fishing. Got closer and I saw there was a laptop open. Got about 100 yards past them and decided I really should go back and see what they were up to.

Turns out I had met them before! One morning in Montague Center about a month ago, a small wildlife management area, I was there with my binoculars, they were there collecting data on stream temperatures and flow rates.We'd chatted a bunch then. I had occurred to me that they were doing similar stuff to what Alex was doing several years back.

So I asked if they were on the faculty at UMass. Nope. How about their boss. Yup, sort of, he was an adjunct prof, Ben Letcher, Department of Environmental Conversation. Don't expect she worked for him, but maybe she knew him? At least what they were doing seemed much like what she was doing.

-- Onward. Up Poplar Hill Road for the first time ever. Nice little climb, paved, then turned to dirt and then that ended at a gate, lots of signs, land owned by Smith College, various research activities done there. Kept going, the road now a woods road. Shortly came upon a bunch of student types, seemed to be doing some research project in the woods. As I rode slowly by I asked one young woman what they were studying. Molecular Biology. Didn't see a need to chat her up, out of my league.

-- Onward. Poplar Hill "Road" was now quite scruffy, but still rideable, though I had to stop a couple of times to dislodge branches from my wheels. Totally enjoyable, of course, because I'd never been there before.

-- Onward. Eventually out onto Roaring Brook Road, dirt, a few hills, and then turned on Whately Glen Road for the descent back to the valley. Delightful, enough mud holes and other obstacles to make it interesting, but they could all be avoided, which I did.

And then back home across the flats. No hurry. And mighty fine.

C • Ben Letcher 1

Upper 60s, N 5-10, sunny. Wanted to do some sort of shortish climb at a hard effort and settled on Eaglebrook. Headed out to it, steady effort for a few miles into the breeze, then hard effort (about 6:30) up the climb, then taking it easy heading home.

Breathing and heart rate seemed to recover just fine. Legs feel tired.

Wasn't raining when I got up, and not supposed to until mid-morning, so I had some breakfast and then headed out. It was dry when I got out of the garage, but the first drops were already falling by the time the Garmin had found enough satellites. Oh well, just do it.

Mid's 60s, modest breeze from the south. Up to Leverett, no ambition on any of the ups. My mood perked up when the route stopped going up and the rest of the way was fine, though wet. Raining steadily by the time I was done.

Not so many riders out today (yesterday there had been lots).

Feeling tired, but wanted to get out because rain is forecast for tomorrow. And didn't feel like going up any hills.

Down the west side of the river, over the rail trail bridge in Northampton, and back on this side. Steady breeze out of the south. Low 60's when I started so I put on a long-sleeve shirt. Was regretting that choice for about the last 20 miles.

Time to visit another fire tower. Decided on the one at the top of Moore Hill in Goshen, since I hadn't ever been there (even though I'd been real close), and the 40 miles needed to get there and back seemed a reasonable distance.

Upper 60s, bit of sun, some clouds, got rained on several times but never hard. Wind from the SW to W, about 10 mph, but in the hills things really vary. It did mean a headwind for much of the way out, and then a tailwind for the last bunch of miles, always a pleasure.

Only the last little bit of the climb, less than half a mile, was not paved, and it was pretty straightforward. Not that I was complaining at that point, as I'd been going uphill for what seemed like a long time. I did stop for a few minutes at the tower -- take a selfie, send it to Gail to let her know what part of the world I was in, have a bit to eat, and swat some black flies. The BFs don't bother you if you're moving, so before long I took the message and headed home. Forgot to climb the tower.

Legs were getting tired the last hour. The best indication is when you look at some little uphill, have a good idea of what gear you should be in given the slope, and then look down and find you are in a gear or two lower. And struggling a bit. Fortunately there weren't many ups in the last hour, and I made it home without any significant distress.

And having really enjoyed myself. :-)

C • Selfie 3

Perfect day. I was thinking about possibilities for where to go, not really sure, when Mt. Grace popped into my mind, and in an instant I knew where I was going.

Last (and only) trip there had been last December. A fair bit of snow and ice. Made it up but only by walking quite a bit. Time from the gate to the tower was 26:33, right about one mile, a little over 600' climb. Lots of walking.

So Phil showed up a week later, by then most of the snow and ice had disappeared, and he did it in 16:45. He was clearly younger, fitter, and smarter, the latter referring to his feeling no need to drag a bike all the way to the top. I was clearly old, slow, and stupid.

Six months later I am at it again. Even older, still stupid. Also still slow, but not so horribly slow. 18:51 this time.

Made it all the way up without getting off, but it wasn't easy. The average grade is about 12%. That's OK. But the grade varies a lot and there are a lot of shorter sections in the 15-20% range, I'd guess. That's mostly OK. If it were paved.

It's not really dirt either. Dirt would be better, it compacts nicely, gives you a firm surface with good traction. There's usually a bit of loose sand and gravel too, but it's mostly avoidable.

This had a bunch more of the sand/gravel stuff. Often it was packed enough that it was no problem. Other times, well, when they coincided with the steep pitches.... Came close to losing it several times, but didn't.

Not sure I need to do this again. No way I am going to threaten 16:45.

But I should point out that the time that matters in these summiting efforts is not the ascent but the round trip. And in that regard, Mr. Phil has some catching up to do. :-)

C • Thank you ... 1