So here’s the most recent mountain biking ride in Leominster State Forest. I gotta work on the formatting to get the map implemented into the page better, so this is more of a test run, but it’s pretty fun to play with, considering you can also change it to topo maps.
DT
Worst episode ever! Damn, I had my first WTF was I thinking commute yesterday. First off it was a long weekend of seeing friends. We finally made it into Boston to do dinner and drinks with some friends and played some Wii late into the night…seriously addictive and my shoulder still hurts from playing bowling/tennis/baseball until 1:30 AM. Then Sunday we were up early for a trip to IKEA, since some of the things furnished in the apt. were crap. When we moved in there was one frying pan and it was aluminum and super thin so it basically burned everything. Oh, and we couldn’t eat ice cream without breaking the silverware. $40 later and we’ll be able to make it 2 months, ha. Ended up needing to throw some of M&M’s furniture purchases into the Subaru and we dropped it off after dinner. Gave us a chance to go for a dusk ride at Leominster State Park, a quick 4.5 mile jaunt on some nice rocky singletrack. Ended up back home after midnight, setting me up for a late morning.
Up late, putting my stuff together and then off to work on the bike. Get into work and realize I left my work badge at home. Go get a temporary pass and down to the gym to shower off. Oh wait, I also left my towel at home and my gym locker key. Great… So shower up, air dry with a pop into the sauna and luckily the locker room has a general use hair dryer. So work work work and then cut out to head home. Get back on the bike and push towards my big downhill, 32 mph and pop! The zip ties that I’ve been using to hold my rack to the bike had enough and gave way bringing me to a screeching halt. Break out the zip ties and everything is good. Until another mile or two goes by and I can see the zip ties stretching out about to pop. Pull over add some more. Keep going, happens again, so pull the zip ties off and redo everything, situate the load to be more balanced, etc. This setup makes it until I get home, which is all I needed. Thankfully the clamps for the rack came in the mail (accidentally were sent to my old address) and I was able to remedy the situation for good.
Ah, but it was a beautiful day!
DT
So if you haven’t been keeping up, the Great Divide Race has been going on. What’s the GDR race? It’s a solo race to complete the Great Divide on a bicycle, that’s about 2500 miles! You can track all the competitors on the GDR blog. As of right now, Dave Nice is still in it, going for the first to finish on a fixie, tough mofo award!
Now, just as equally impressive, I’ve just been made aware that John Spurgeon has just been the first to complete RAAM on a singlespeed bike. Check out the news here. That’s not only having strong legs and an ass that won’t quite, that’s sheer determination! He just rode 3000 miles non-stop without the aid of gears.
Think about those two the next time you’re complaining on a ride…word.
DT
Yesterday was my first commute in real rain. Not just rain, but big droplets that pounded down and cleansed everything they hit. The rain washed away a good portion of pollen and cooled off the hot tarmac. On the 80 degree day the rain hitting the road quickly turned to a rising fog as it dissipated into the sky.
If I had stuck around at work for another 30 minutes I probably would have missed it all, but forget that, no reason a little rain should stop me from getting home. After all, it was 5:00 PM and there was an Australian wine tasting at 6:00 PM at what is now our new favorite shop, Gordon’s Wine. I had to get home and shower up so we could be on time. Let’s just say for a wine shop they carry a great selection of beer…including bombers of Rodenbach and 12 packs of Wachusett IPA (our new favorite local brew).
Happy I took Spearman’s advice and went with the full on waterproof panniers. They proved their worthiness in that one ride alone. In addition to that advice, I got me a fancy state of the art Old Man Mountain rear rack, the Red Rock. This thing is so damn light, even Kristin was said WTF! Unfortunately, the special clamps I needed didn’t arrive with the rack, but they should be here in the next day or so (hoping today). But a little ingenuity and a few almighty zip ties can go along way.
Hopefully there will be some mountain biking this weekend, as well as a visit into the city for dinner with friends. I know, all these posts are worthless without photos, ha.
DT
Beer: Bam Bière Farmhouse Ale
Brewery: Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Score: 4.5/5
Notes: Found this in the Portland, ME Whole Foods over the weekend. It was available in 22 oz. bombers or 12 oz. 6 packs. I found a single 12 oz. bottle in the single section and grabbed it since I’ve never had a Jolly Pumpkin beer, but heard good things. The beer poured a pale straw with a nice yeasty cloudiness. You’d be able to tell this was bottle conditioned even if it wasn’t right on the label. Super high carbonation, enough that the head easily filled the chalice it was poured into, had to wait for it to settle a little before finishing off the bottle. The first sniff gave up some citrus notes with an ever so slight sour smell. The taste backed up the smell with a bretty sourness that was tart and refreshing. The hops added a bit of spice. This beer tastes what a true old world Saison/Farmhouse ale probably tasted like back in the day. It was dry and refreshing and tasted damn good with some homemade honey mustard basted chicken overlooking the Saco Bay.
The sun is shining now, clearing the moisture from the streets. I was lucky this morning. The air was thick with water droplets waiting to burst, but I made it into the office with no more than a little light mist on my face. Wednesday’s seem to be my good commute day. Monday takes a little to get going after the weekend and Tuesday my legs are usually just tired, but Wednesday, oh yes, Wednesday my commute comes alive. The legs have recovered and they want to stretch out a little faster than usual, by all means stretch! It’s the rare chance I get to dance with heavy traffic at 25-30 mph on my route, but when I do I cherish it and use it to push myself, more so than even riding with other riders. I’ve finally reached the point where I know my route well enough in and out. I know where I absolutely have to let up or where I can go balls out. The more comfortable you are with your route, the more you can go without interruption. You hit the point where you can head full speed into intersections and have a plan for all the unknown situations. Power slide to right turn because traffic is too heavy, dip and dodge to avoid the car trying to sneak out, maybe you’ll get lucky with the straight through.
Hmm, gotta pull out the GPS and see what kind of tracks we can make tomorrow. Then you can see the occasional 25 mph uphill, but not the box truck thats pulling me, or maybe it’ll be the 7 mph hill that is soul crushing and liberating, all in the same moment. Maybe, if I can get on the ball tonight, I’ll sync the camera up with the GPS…should make for some extra fun.
DT
It’s officially official…Fat Boy Headquarters has moved to the Boston area. But no worries, the interweb address will stay the same, only the scenery will change.
Thanks to the deep pockets of my company, Kristin and I are now checked into our one bedroom apartment in Waltham, MA. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of packing and purging. After it’s all said and done, I’m lighter one kayak, an upright piano, and about a thousand pounds of paper from college. It feels good, damn good. We fled on a Friday and braved the east coast traffic most of the day. Saturday was spent unpacking the two cars we managed to stuff to the brim with things we “needed” for the next two months.
Sunday saw a visit out to M&M’s place for a quick morning ride at Leominster State Forest. It’s about a 45 minute drive from home and about an hour during the rush. Man, does this park hold up well to the rain! We had storms Saturday night, but the singletrack was nice and dry, not to mention tight with baby head tech sections. Next time I’m out for a ride there I’ll snap some pics.
The next week I started working and commuting. I devised a nice route that comes out to just over 9 miles each way. It’s got a few flat spots, mostly rolling hills, and one nice sustained climb, which is of course a downhill on the way home! Initially my goal was to run it like Spearman, day in, day out, always use the bike. It’s been working for the most part, although I drove in this past Friday, but with good reason. I had a new computer showing up at the office, including docking station and LCD screen that was going to end up at home. Rather than make a special trip back in the car that night, I just drove in. This also had the nice side benefit of being able to leave from work a couple hours early and heading up the coast to Maine for the weekend. You can never get too early a jump on the weekend coastal traffic. Left at 4:00 PM and was sitting on the beach in Saco, ME by 6:00 PM. I’m guessing it will take less than 90 minutes when not having to deal with traffic. We spent Saturday helping to haul furniture into the newly built garage apartment Kristin’s parents just built.
So as of this morning I’ve racked up 100 miles bike commuting, definitely better than my previous 1 mile each way commute, ha. If I can keep it up, I’ll probably be logging about 100 miles per week, when you add in mountain biking it might be more. Hopefully all the commuting will have a nice side benefit if you know what I mean…
Anyway, we made it safe and sound. Buster is taking it all in strides and seems to be handling the change like a champ. Kristin is currently telecommuting, no thanks to her boss…the title ass clown jumps to mind. If you end up in this neck of the woods, shoot me a note. I’ve got a long way to go to learn the area, but I gain a little more knowledge each day. Oh, and don’t forget, Transformers opens over July 4th. Watch this video if you need some inspiration, ha.
DT
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