Classic New England...

[benb]

Can't believe the last couple weeks.

We get a warm day... but with 35mph wind gusts so you're riding sideways with the bike tilted into the wind. This happened enough I got a saddle sore from it.

Get a few days with no wind. But it's 30 degrees.

Get a bunch of days where it's 35-45 degrees and raining.

Two days of snow. Yesterday it was in the 20s most of the day.

Roads covered with salt again mid April. (This is really killing me due to the salt damage to the bike.. and having to stay on the bad weather bike.)

I have been getting out there anyway (I've rode about 1100 miles in 2016 so far) but it sure tries your patience!

I need to ride 75-80 miles Saturday, looks like we're getting 51 degrees which will seem extremely nice after the last couple weeks. But then it's going to snow again Sunday!

[sandyrs]

Can't believe the last couple weeks.

We get a warm day... but with 35mph wind gusts so you're riding sideways with the bike tilted into the wind. This happened enough I got a saddle sore from it.

Get a few days with no wind. But it's 30 degrees.

Get a bunch of days where it's 35-45 degrees and raining.

Two days of snow. Yesterday it was in the 20s most of the day.

Roads covered with salt again mid April. (This is really killing me due to the salt damage to the bike.. and having to stay on the bad weather bike.)

I have been getting out there anyway (I've rode about 1100 miles in 2016 so far) but it sure tries your patience!

I need to ride 75-80 miles Saturday, looks like we're getting 51 degrees which will seem extremely nice after the last couple weeks. But then it's going to snow again Sunday!

You doing the 100k Saturday?

Also, where did you see snow Sunday? I see 59 and mostly sunny.

[teleguy57]

Sure you're not my neighbor in WI????

[sitzmark]

Frustrating on both ends ...

No skiing off-piste all year (at least not here in NE). Just got back to "decent" conditions for Easter w/e after being hammered the week(s) before and then a huge melt/rain down last week to produce barely skiable conditions Saturday and more of the same with lifts shut down by wind on Sunday.

Monday produces 6-9" of slop and salt in metro Boston south and not a flake of snow north. Thankfully still making snow at the mountain. Another w/e or two of skiing and then try to get out on the roads. Need to get serious about getting in shape for B2VT - only puttering around on trainer (Zwift mostly) for the off-season.

Sucky winter.

[numbskull]

Rode today on the Cape. It was gorgeous. Had to dress as if it was winter, but the sun was strong and the radiant warmth nice.

[benb]

You doing the 100k Saturday?

Also, where did you see snow Sunday? I see 59 and mostly sunny.

No just riding by myself.

I was just looking at Underground... high of 43 on sunday, dusting of snow in the morning possible. Hopefully they don't salt again.

[sandyrs]

No just riding by myself.

I was just looking at Underground... high of 43 on sunday, dusting of snow in the morning possible. Hopefully they don't salt again.

Ugh. -____-

[MattTuck]

No just riding by myself.

I was just looking at Underground... high of 43 on sunday, dusting of snow in the morning possible. Hopefully they don't salt again.

The universe is sending a signal. Makes crepes and watch Paris-Roubaix on sunday. :)

[guido]

You doing the 100k Saturday?

Also, where did you see snow Sunday? I see 59 and mostly sunny.

I'm doing the 100k on saturday. 34 degrees forecast at the start. Brrr...

Weather Underground has snow starting around 8:00pm Saturday night. It was 13 degrees in beautiful Stow this morning (15 yesterday)...

Interesting spring indeed...

[benb]

What is "The 100k"?

[guido]

What is "The 100k"?

New England Randonneurs 100k Brevet ride...

http://nerandonneurs.org/nersite/?p=11

[Matthew]

You are describing Michigan to a T so far this spring. Pretty frustrating, though winter was a joke compared to most. Sure would be nice for some steady weather though.

[sandyrs]

New England Randonneurs 100k Brevet ride...

http://nerandonneurs.org/nersite/?p=11

I'll be at the ride too. Tall guy with catlike helmet and a Gaulzetti cx bike (probably). Say hi!

[benb]

Yep, same thing here. There wasn't anything approaching a "real winter" here this winter. I never got to X/C ski, snowshoe, ice skate outside, etc.. and downhill skiing/snowboarding seemed like it would have been a big waste of money. (Though it mostly seems like that period these days at minimum $100/person or so when you factor everything in.)

[benb]

New England Randonneurs 100k Brevet ride...

http://nerandonneurs.org/nersite/?p=11

Might be too late for me to sign up but that does sound like fun and the control is in Sterling.. I won the Cat 5 Sterling RR way way back when it'd be fun to bike through the town again.

[guido]

I'll be at the ride too. Tall guy with catlike helmet and a Gaulzetti cx bike (probably). Say hi!

I'm a tall guy too with the yellow and white helmet on the blue soma with the ti fork...

[guido]

Might be too late for me to sign up but that does sound like fun and the control is in Sterling.. I won the Cat 5 Sterling RR way way back when it'd be fun to bike through the town again.

Drop-ins are fine, I think they ding you a bit more for the extra paper work but we'd love for you to join...

[benb]

I'm going to see what I can do. I live in Bedford, so it's just about perfect as I can ride over from my house and then ride home at the end, especially if the alternative is I go out and ride a similar distance by myself.

[benb]

I did register this morning for the 60k. Looking forward to it!

[Ti Designs]

I'm at the point in my training where my program says recovery intervals in red Sharpie. That's two weeks that I take myself out of all other rides or training and do sets of super intense intervals every 36 hours or so. Most years it's even harder to stick to my intervals 'cause it gets sunny and warm, and friends invite me on rides. This year the weather is perfect. I haven't missed a set, I've not missed a single set, I would almost say I'm motivated to do more.

It takes a special kind of idiot to love New England...

[benb]

That's what I'm supposed to be doing too. I've been a slave to the lap button for the last 6 weeks.

[Ti Designs]

I'm going to see what I can do. I live in Bedford, so it's just about perfect as I can ride over from my house and then ride home at the end, especially if the alternative is I go out and ride a similar distance by myself.

How is it that so many people I know from the forum live this close and I don't actually know them?

[leftyfreak]

How is it that so many people I know from the forum live this close and I don't actually know them?

Maybe they're all avoiding you. :)

Seriously though, you're right that it's kind of crazy that benb and I live in the same town and we've never met or ridden together. I have to assume that for a lot of us, our schedules are tight as we try to juggle work, family, and training, combined with the fact that we have "programs" that we need to stick to on the bike. And as you know, my schedule tends to run contrary to what many other people have, which explains why my long ride day always happens early on Thursday mornings!

That being said, maybe one of these days we should try to set up a Bedford-centric Paceline ride for a Sunday morning (before you go to work). Once summer hits, I'll also have Saturday mornings free, at least on the weeks when I'm in town.

[sandyrs]

Ed- I was at the Hammer ride a couple times last summer sucking Bernhard's wheel since I'm about as tall as he is. So we at least in that sense know each other. I'll probably be at that ride intermittently this summer too.

Benb and I met this Saturday out on the road by chance.

Change is in the air.

[sandyrs]

Maybe they're all avoiding you. :)

Seriously though, you're right that it's kind of crazy that benb and I live in the same town and we've never met or ridden together. I have to assume that for a lot of us, our schedules are tight as we try to juggle work, family, and training, combined with the fact that we have "programs" that we need to stick to on the bike. And as you know, my schedule tends to run contrary to what many other people have, which explains why my long ride day always happens early on Thursday mornings!

That being said, maybe one of these days we should try to set up a Bedford-centric Paceline ride for a Sunday morning (before you go to work). Once summer hits, I'll also have Saturday mornings free, at least on the weeks when I'm in town.

My issue is frequent weekend travel, and an ever-increasing tendency to ride off-road.

[benb]

Maybe they're all avoiding you. :)

Seriously though, you're right that it's kind of crazy that benb and I live in the same town and we've never met or ridden together. I have to assume that for a lot of us, our schedules are tight as we try to juggle work, family, and training, combined with the fact that we have "programs" that we need to stick to on the bike. And as you know, my schedule tends to run contrary to what many other people have, which explains why my long ride day always happens early on Thursday mornings!

That being said, maybe one of these days we should try to set up a Bedford-centric Paceline ride for a Sunday morning (before you go to work). Once summer hits, I'll also have Saturday mornings free, at least on the weeks when I'm in town.

I'm game, I'm going to ride both days this weekend, I think 90 minutes one day and 2 hours the other.. I'm not sure yet when.. kid's soccer starts Saturday and we have relatives coming over Sunday.

Much of my riding is lunch time workouts from my office. It's probably fair to say my riding is trending a bit offroad too. Traditionally I've been 95%+ road for at least the last 10 years and I'm not really riding my MTB any more than usual but any day I ride my Space Horse I'm likely to slip into the woods randomly at some point if I'm going by a trail anyway.

I did not listen to my "program" to go do that 100k last weekend (for me it came out to more like 130k anyway) and I paid for it the beginning of the week but I'm doing B2VT (134 miles, 8K feet climbing) so I've been slipping in longer and longer rides every week or two on the weekend. For those I kind of don't follow the program.. sometimes I throw the intervals into the mix on those long rides but otherwise just keep and endurance pace.

[leftyfreak]

Ed- I was at the Hammer ride a couple times last summer sucking Bernhard's wheel since I'm about as tall as he is. So we at least in that sense know each other. I'll probably be at that ride intermittently this summer too.

Benb and I met this Saturday out on the road by chance.

Change is in the air.

Drafting Bernhard is always a good choice! I need to join up with the Hammer ride sometimes too, it's just tricky escaping the house both Wednesday and Thursday mornings--and Thursday is my long ride day with Ed.

My issue is frequent weekend travel, and an ever-increasing tendency to ride off-road.

How much weekday flexibility do you have? You'd be welcome to join me and Ed on a Thursday morning. We usually meet in Bedford at 6:30am and get back to Bedford any where between 10am and 11:30am depending on the week's route. We can adjust based on scheduling needs.

And once summer hits, I have even more freedom on the weekdays. To tempt you, we could even do a trail ride!

I'm game, I'm going to ride both days this weekend, I think 90 minutes one day and 2 hours the other.. I'm not sure yet when.. kid's soccer starts Saturday and we have relatives coming over Sunday.

Much of my riding is lunch time workouts from my office. It's probably fair to say my riding is trending a bit offroad too. Traditionally I've been 95%+ road for at least the last 10 years and I'm not really riding my MTB any more than usual but any day I ride my Space Horse I'm likely to slip into the woods randomly at some point if I'm going by a trail anyway.

I did not listen to my "program" to go do that 100k last weekend (for me it came out to more like 130k anyway) and I paid for it the beginning of the week but I'm doing B2VT (134 miles, 8K feet climbing) so I've been slipping in longer and longer rides every week or two on the weekend. For those I kind of don't follow the program.. sometimes I throw the intervals into the mix on those long rides but otherwise just keep and endurance pace.

B2VT is definitely a good goal, especially since its starting point is so close to home! I've been tempted, but I've never signed up for it, in part because scheduling can sometimes be tricky and in part because I have fun choosing less-traveled roads for my routes. Ed and I are planning to ride out to Wachusett this Thursday, if you want to take a day off work. ;) That would be decent prep for B2VT.

Let me send you a PM about trying to set up a ride together...

[sandyrs]

I'm at work by 9 M-F so Thursday morning sounds dreamy but I can't make it. Thank you though!

[bicycletricycle]

Ya, it's been crap in Providence, seems to be crappy every weekend, temps all over the pace, crazy wind recently, better riding weather 6 weeks ago.

Strange

[leftyfreak]

Ti Designs and I rode from Bedford to the summit of Wachusett and back (well, Ti started and finished in Arlington) on Thursday. It was 36º when we left my house, and 76º when we returned--how do you dress for that?! Not surprisingly, we were underdressed at the beginning and overdressed by the end, with jersey pockets and their seams stretched to the limit. But it was a gorgeous spring day, so no complaints here!

[Climb01742]

Ti Designs and I rode from Bedford to the summit of Wachusett and back (well, Ti started and finished in Arlington) on Thursday. It was 36º when we left my house, and 76º when we returned--how do you dress for that?! Not surprisingly, we were underdressed at the beginning and overdressed by the end, with jersey pockets and their seams stretched to the limit. But it was a gorgeous spring day, so no complaints here!

Just curious...what sort of pace did you guys ride at? That's a pretty impressive ride at this time of year. Major props.

Two advantages for me of solo rides are slotting rides into work schedules and doing the ride your body dictates on a given day. Riding with others always offers a 'better' workout but some days that's just not what the body is game for. Ah, trade-offs.:rolleyes::)

[leftyfreak]

Just curious...what sort of pace did you guys ride at? That's a pretty impressive ride at this time of year. Major props.

Two advantages for me of solo rides are slotting rides into work schedules and doing the ride your body dictates on a given day. Riding with others always offers a 'better' workout but some days that's just not what the body is game for. Ah, trade-offs.:rolleyes::)

Thanks, Climb! I've only previously done versions of this ride in August, when I'm in mid-season shape, so this was a new, positive development. There was actually still some snow on the north slopes of the summit road, and we even had to walk over some. The Bedford return trip ended up being almost exactly 90 miles with just a shade under 6k feet of ascent. We averaged somewhere in the vicinity of 15.5 or 16 mph for the ride. We refueled at the Wachusett Visitor Center on the way up and back down, ate lunch and Sandee's in Lancaster, and then I forced Ed to stop at Concord Tea Cakes because I needed a chocolate chip cookie pick-me-up.

It's early enough in the season that I have almost no jump--accelerations and the steep stuff were tough--but I was quite pleased that a ride this big in April didn't totally wipe me out. I've been practicing what Ti preaches, and even with quite a number of weeks over the winter with only one or two rides, I feel like I'm on track for a good year!

Yeah, I know what you mean about solo rides being easier to slot in to the schedule, but there's a flip side too. This morning I had been intending to go out for a couple of hours and several minor obstacles kept delaying my departure and then my two year old woke up. If I had been meeting someone for a ride, I would have just gotten out the door for my "appointment." Trade-offs is right...

[Climb01742]

Thanks, Climb! I've only previously done versions of this ride in August, when I'm in mid-season shape, so this was a new, positive development. There was actually still some snow on the north slopes of the summit road, and we even had to walk over some. The Bedford return trip ended up being almost exactly 90 miles with just a shade under 6k feet of ascent. We averaged somewhere in the vicinity of 15.5 or 16 mph for the ride. We refueled at the Wachusett Visitor Center on the way up and back down, ate lunch and Sandee's in Lancaster, and then I forced Ed to stop at Concord Tea Cakes because I needed a chocolate chip cookie pick-me-up.

Wow. Well done. You earned more than a cookie!:beer:

[Ti Designs]

Change is in the air.

You mean like quarters and dimes flying around? That's why I wear a helmet...

Seriously, I know two dozen forum members in the area, I ride with one of them. I ride anywhere, any time, in any weather (it's New England...)