Marc
New member
I've been on vacation this week and really busy with the house, which is why I haven't written anything about the ride last Sunday (discovered the sills need replacing... uck, that's a whole 'nother story).
So anywho... I don't have any pictures, unfortunately for two main reasons... I kept my cell phone buried in my saddle bag for emergency GPS use really, in case I got lost so I didn't want to take it out and waste the batteries snapping pics. Plus no one else was on the ride, and I rode with people the whole day and I think I would've felt a little wierd.
All in all it was an excellent ride. 193 miles and around 13,000 ft of elevation gain. My final time overall was 14.5 hrs and my average speed was 15.8 mph, much faster than I thought it would be!. I actually would've probably broken 16, but I bonked a little towards the end, and the last 40 miles were mostly downhill.
The ride started out in the dark with everyone riding together which was good because some of the first turns were confusing and one guy had the route in his Garmin 705. We rode together, about ten of us, all the way to the first controle, at about 30 miles, and continued on until the first major climb, Searsburg pass. I noticed every time we hit an up hill the pace slowed to what felt like a break for me. I confirmed my suspicion that was the strongest climber there on Searsburg pass when, trying to ride conservatively, I lost everyone on the last pitch where it gets pretty steep. Well, all but one guy, who hung with me but dropped back a tenth of a mile or so right near the top. He was a strong, strong guy. I was lighter, so I could climb just a little faster because he could put out HUGE power. His legs were like tree trunks.
We slowed our pace at the top and let the guy with the GPS catch up. He was another big guy... tall, probably 6'4", kinda lanky, but huge legs again. I didn't do any pulling on the flats for these guys, but they didn't mind. They knew how much faster they were on the flats.
So we hit the second, then the third controle, then we got to Petersburg pass 120 or so miles in. I was definitely feeling it as we climbed the west side, but again, I left everyone behind. The one guy caught me again on a flatter section where I had to wait because a truck was broken down, but I made it up over the pass first again. We descended together, the two of us, and waited at the bottom for more people. As we were draining off some liquid in the woods, he saw GPS guy and another go flying by. We rushed to our bikes and he led the chase. What a chase it was too, mostly flat road and he was cranking! My speedo never dropped below 23 mph. He threw in a couple all out sprints up to around 32 mph and it was all I could do just to hold his wheel.
We caught them and rode through North Adams together. Then we started going up, up and up a road called Curch street which turned into East St, and then Route 112, or 116. I can't remember. All I remember is it went back up to 2,000 ft which none of us were really expecting. That's where I started to bonk. I was out of water, about out of food. By the time we hit the fourth controle, the naseous feeling was keeping me from eating the amount of food I should have. I only choked down about 500 calories and there were still another 40 miles to go.
Three of us set out together from the last controle to make it back to Westfield before dark. The first part of the last leg was unfortunately quite hilly again. We descended a bit but went through a couple towns where the hills came at about 100 - 200 ft of climbing at a time, but steep, steep gradients, probably 12-15% was pretty normal. That really hurt the legs. By the time we got to some sustained downhills, I couldn't keep up with the bigger guys any longer. I let them ride off... there were only a couple turns left on the cue sheet anyway, I could find my way back no problem.
I arrived back in Westfield around 7:45, got my brevet card signed one last time and went over to my car. I was kicking myself for not eating smarter en route. I took a nap in the back of the Subie, since I had been up since 3:45 am. I fetl better after the nap, but it got cold. I loaded up my gear and drove home, stopped at McShite's for one of the most delicious fast food meals I've ever eaten in my life.
I'd definitely do another brevet. I started having problems with one of my knees again, and I definitely need to find a better saddle for long distance, but if I can get those issues straightened around, I am definitely going to do more brevets and distance riding next year. The next Paris-Brest-Paris is 2011... so... who knows...
So anywho... I don't have any pictures, unfortunately for two main reasons... I kept my cell phone buried in my saddle bag for emergency GPS use really, in case I got lost so I didn't want to take it out and waste the batteries snapping pics. Plus no one else was on the ride, and I rode with people the whole day and I think I would've felt a little wierd.
All in all it was an excellent ride. 193 miles and around 13,000 ft of elevation gain. My final time overall was 14.5 hrs and my average speed was 15.8 mph, much faster than I thought it would be!. I actually would've probably broken 16, but I bonked a little towards the end, and the last 40 miles were mostly downhill.
The ride started out in the dark with everyone riding together which was good because some of the first turns were confusing and one guy had the route in his Garmin 705. We rode together, about ten of us, all the way to the first controle, at about 30 miles, and continued on until the first major climb, Searsburg pass. I noticed every time we hit an up hill the pace slowed to what felt like a break for me. I confirmed my suspicion that was the strongest climber there on Searsburg pass when, trying to ride conservatively, I lost everyone on the last pitch where it gets pretty steep. Well, all but one guy, who hung with me but dropped back a tenth of a mile or so right near the top. He was a strong, strong guy. I was lighter, so I could climb just a little faster because he could put out HUGE power. His legs were like tree trunks.
We slowed our pace at the top and let the guy with the GPS catch up. He was another big guy... tall, probably 6'4", kinda lanky, but huge legs again. I didn't do any pulling on the flats for these guys, but they didn't mind. They knew how much faster they were on the flats.
So we hit the second, then the third controle, then we got to Petersburg pass 120 or so miles in. I was definitely feeling it as we climbed the west side, but again, I left everyone behind. The one guy caught me again on a flatter section where I had to wait because a truck was broken down, but I made it up over the pass first again. We descended together, the two of us, and waited at the bottom for more people. As we were draining off some liquid in the woods, he saw GPS guy and another go flying by. We rushed to our bikes and he led the chase. What a chase it was too, mostly flat road and he was cranking! My speedo never dropped below 23 mph. He threw in a couple all out sprints up to around 32 mph and it was all I could do just to hold his wheel.
We caught them and rode through North Adams together. Then we started going up, up and up a road called Curch street which turned into East St, and then Route 112, or 116. I can't remember. All I remember is it went back up to 2,000 ft which none of us were really expecting. That's where I started to bonk. I was out of water, about out of food. By the time we hit the fourth controle, the naseous feeling was keeping me from eating the amount of food I should have. I only choked down about 500 calories and there were still another 40 miles to go.
Three of us set out together from the last controle to make it back to Westfield before dark. The first part of the last leg was unfortunately quite hilly again. We descended a bit but went through a couple towns where the hills came at about 100 - 200 ft of climbing at a time, but steep, steep gradients, probably 12-15% was pretty normal. That really hurt the legs. By the time we got to some sustained downhills, I couldn't keep up with the bigger guys any longer. I let them ride off... there were only a couple turns left on the cue sheet anyway, I could find my way back no problem.
I arrived back in Westfield around 7:45, got my brevet card signed one last time and went over to my car. I was kicking myself for not eating smarter en route. I took a nap in the back of the Subie, since I had been up since 3:45 am. I fetl better after the nap, but it got cold. I loaded up my gear and drove home, stopped at McShite's for one of the most delicious fast food meals I've ever eaten in my life.
I'd definitely do another brevet. I started having problems with one of my knees again, and I definitely need to find a better saddle for long distance, but if I can get those issues straightened around, I am definitely going to do more brevets and distance riding next year. The next Paris-Brest-Paris is 2011... so... who knows...
