Gentleperson's, you ride reports please! (early edition)

[Too Tall]

Sat. - Tune up for tommorrow's TT tandem championships. 1hr. of sub tempo riding and 2x5 min. threshold efforts and an hr. of easy sleazy.

Sunday - This is IT!!! Tandem is fitted with some slick new aerobars and tubulars...ahhh hoooo ahhh. We went out too hard in the first 5k but settled down to an blazing pace. The course is very rolling with long shallow climbs and false flats. It's the sort of course that can fool you into riding too hard a gear or too slow on the climbs. We had a picture perfect turn around...40 mph into the cone zone and grabbed a big handful of brakes letting off just intime to carve the turnaround hitting the apex and using the entire lane...otta the saddle and climb climb climb. We lost NO time on the return trip and that's a telling thing as I feel we could have done a better job on the climbs...but hey, Greg and I have only ridden together a few times.
We finished with a 56:38 and are the new D20 Tandem Champs. Life is good. My arse hurts. Soooo glad the season is over.

[M_A_Martin]

Congratulations Too Tall! Just imagine how fast you'll be once you two have been riding together a while.


Saturday morning I rode the annual University of Detroit night ride, a free tour around the city of Detroit for U of D students (and the public) starting at 10pm (Friday night) with a police escort.

We started two hours late. They were after all waiting for the Detroit cops to show up...

A large contingent from the MMBA showed up. Do not leave 50 some mountain bikers to their own devices for over two hours waiting for a ride to start. During the wait for the police, an impromptu parking lot crit started up...that was fun to spectate as one of the guys crashes more often than Tyler. One of the guys brought along his Kona chopper and people were test riding it in the parking lot. Other cool bikes (including my Kirk) had their tires kicked and merits discussed. Someone made a liquor run (nope, nothing gluten free...that's ok, it was a little early to be drinking) and Salsa mama broke out the chips and salsa (she makes awesome salsa and brings it to rides). The students on the ride were probably trying to figure out who we were. The organizers will probably dis-invite us.

So we socialized until midnight, then rolled out and cruised the streets of Detroit. We went through some beautiful neighborhoods. Not having a tour map I think we went through Palmer Park on the way out and Boston Edison on the way back. We stopped out at City Airport for a bathroom break and went past Comerica park and the theater district. The streets were mostly empty, and our Detroit cops did a good job of blocking the intersections for us until the last 6 miles...but that was between 3 and 4am so there wasn't much traffic to worry about. There was only one "incident" with the locals when a lady hanging out in front of a party house lobbed a empty fifth into the street, but I think she was throwing it at the cop car, not at the cyclists. We still had to ride around the broken glass. Everyone else we saw either asked us why we were pedaling, or cheered us on.

Just before the Coney break a rider went down hard. This was unfortunate, but 5 of us at the front of the pack didn't realize anyone went down...and neither did our escort. By the time we figured out what happened, we had made a few turns...Hmmmm...try to go back and be totally useless as gawkers and possibly get lost on the streets of Detroit (well...not me, downtown isn't that hard to figure out, and its deserted at that time) or follow our pace car. We realized that we weren't that important in this instant, none of us were paramedics or docs and the ride was well supported...so we followed the car, cruised into the coney, got our food and we were done before some people even got to the restaurant. The crashed rider rode her bike to the coney, but I think she took the sag truck back to the parking lot.

The sag vehicle (a flatbed stake truck) rolled into the parking lot as we were leaving. It was stacked to overflowing with bikes. Evidently, more people dropped out than we thought. We were having a good time but the speed did get up to 20mph...that's a bit much for kids on borrowed bikes who don't ride much.

Taking the Kirk with cross tires was a good choice. I would have been unhappy on the mtb after more than 30 miles on pavement. I've found that I can ride the Cross bike on single track (I do have to dismount for some obstacles) but riding the mountain bike on pavement just sucks.

So that's the ride report for Saturday morning...because really, the ride did happen in the morning, not Friday night...we came back in around 4:30 am with somewhere over 30 miles under our tires....

What a kick. I recommend this ride, they toured through some interesting parts of Detroit that you wouldn't know were there if you didn't frequent the city. The pavement is good, and the tour goes through some beautiful neighborhoods and past some hopping night spots. A similar ride is held as a fundraiser on October 16th.

Didn't ride the rest of Saturday or today...*sigh*

[scottcw]

Sat. - 15 miles in Prospect Park. It had been three weeks since I had been in the saddle, so I just wanted to limber up.

Sun. - 75 miles from the Central Park Boathouse, over the GWB, and all around NJ. I gotta say - riding over the Brooklyn Bridge on a bike is something every rider should experience.

[coylifut]

Got a great start and was 3rd through the first set of corners on the grass. The course popped out onto a pavement section and then took a hard off-camber right through a gate on a 6 foot wide-paved-cart path. I crashed, into the gate, by over cooking the corner and caused a major pile-up. :bike: There were some 60 guys behind me. Yes. I was that "guy." It was completely my fault. I'm pretty sure it's the first pile up I've ever caused. I found out later that one guy snapped his carbon fiber seat post. It was mayhem, about 10 or so guys squeezed by me right away and then another 10 or so went by me as I was trying to recover. Crashing takes so much energy, it took two laps to get back into a rhythm. It was a great course. I was able to get back about 10 of the positions, but it was tuff because we were soon lapping the slower masters riders and the course was mostly narrow. Especially the run ups. I had "ok" legs and I felt really good on the transitions and run ups. I made up a lot of time off the bike.

[Tom]

- Last week wasn't too bad for September. Hill ride Sunday, river loops the rest of the week. Didn't ride Saturday or Sunday. Totalled about 180, which is OK. Nothing of note except I had to drag a poplar tree off the road down by Vischer Ferry because the beavers were working overnight. All the burly men in their Ram-tough Dodge trucks were gingerly driving around it instead of getting out and moving it themselves but I guess they didn't want to get their office clothes wet on the grass.

This weekend was fun, I went up to the farm to help with the insulation project. My brother was doing the high work (there's nothing that will get me on staging) and I was doing the low work while my dad was getting corner boards, eaves etc. up. (Take the side off the house and put it back on in October so it can get painted? That's nothing - my Dad added dormers one November. I mean, this is only central Vermont, it's not like winter starts early or anything.)

I caught up on my nephew's misadventures in the Green Mt. Stage Race - he would build up a big lead and then have a mechanical, crash or flat every day. I guess he got a KOM jersey out of it but he was disappointed at not placing higher, a couple days he screwed up on the rules and lost points. He also found that neutral support is not as helpful if you're not a pro. I suppose that when you're 18, you have to have bitter learning experiences.

On Sunday we took a couple breaks to go see my brother's wife run a 50k trail race in my hometown. It's in conjunction with a 50 mile trail race and 50 mile MTB race. She'd never run a marathon before, but her plan was to qualify for the 50 miler so she could qualify for the 100 miler they run in July. She took fourth in her age group. Step One accomplished.

I thought it might be cool to try the MTB race but after watching these people come down what amounted to a brook bed - all mossy round rocks covered with wet leaves - at about 30 miles an hour I decided I might need to work on my skills some before I give it a go.

[spiderman]

friday: lunch lakeshore drive loop of 17 miles
saturday: okoboji oktoberfest campus classic...60 miles total
...locked horns with a 'tourist' gawking at the lake
swerving right into me and 'ottrott the goat'...
sunday: all of my girls wanted to recreate one on one...
but i did a time trial before church around the lake first...
(11.5 miles in 30.00 minutes...
a minute and 40 seconds slower than my best time)
total ride distance 16 miles in the morning...
then in the afternoon...
my oldest (15) and i had a nice 10 mile ride, rolling hills
my youngest (9) and i hiked the railroad tracks for 3 miles
my wife and i had a 5 mile paddle in our tandem kayak
my middle girl (13) and i enjoyed a 2 mile run.
then i took my eldest out to 'learn how to drive'...

[Smiley]

I took the Flyhest out sailing with the first mate and had him tiller the whole time other than to eat his sandwich . We had a great time and apres sail we went for a cold brew at a local bar and made friends with a bunch of rolex wearing biker guys and one babe . It was a great day and Fly is getting to be a very good sailor and has made friends with the biker crowd and soon plans to restore his Honda to ride with them .

[davids]

Wednesday: 30 minutes on the trainer. The highlight was 30 minutes of Sleater-Kinney!

Friday: A beautiful September morning, and I was able to ride for 1:30 before work. Out to Dedham and back, feeling strong and fast. Aside from nearly getting cut off by a landscaping truck (first time I locked my brakes in years!), it was a great ride. Averaged 17.3 over 22 miles.

Sunday: Another gorgeous New England day! A shorter-than-usual Sunday morning ride. I chose my regular loop through the Blue Hills. I had the wind at my back going out, but still had a fast, fun ride. 17.3 mph (again!) over 21 miles. I used my brand-new Cateye CD300, and it appeared to be working nearly flawlessly - Cadence disappeared for a few seconds at one point, but that's all. And somehow, I failed to tighten the mounting screw for the head unit, so it spent the ride jittering and ultimately loosening. But that was an easy fix once I got home to the screwdriver.

I went out to Wompatuck State Park with my family in the afternoon. My wife was excited to break in her new bike (a lovely Specialized Sirrus - A lot of bike for $450), and was considering a race next weekend with a friend. It's partially off-road, and she wanted to check out the course. I guided her to the easiest off-road section, and after 3 or 4 minutes, she was very unhappy. Her idea of off-roading is the sidewalk. My daughter and I, on fat tires, rolled happily along... So much for the race! We spent the next couple of hours ridiing Wompatuck's paved trails. Everyone was happier, although I found myself looking at the trailheads into the woods with longing. Ah well, mountain bike season will be here soon enough!

[Dr. Doofus]

When one plans for an April-May peak, September turns into Holiday month...just lazy-ish rides here, with the rubbishing to start again in November.

Sat: 1:30 in 53x17, 45 minutes of running
Sun -- 2:00 in 53x17/53x18, 45 minutes on the EFX looking at very attractive college girls doing something with barbells....oh, yes, and upon returning home from the YMCA, your Doofus dispatched two rats Lord of the Rings-style, wielding garden shears like the sword of kings, in the living room. The rats (head and neck blows, no blood involved) were summarily deposited in a box (which your Doctor has in the back of his truck now), which will presented to the exterminator in return for a refund check at approximately 4:30 today. Henceforth, your Doctor shall be known as the "verminator."


Your Humble Servant,


Dr. D. Doofus, Esq.

[pbbob]

sat 45 miles over roads that I haven't done since spring. noticed that a large portion of the smooth asphalt had a chip and seal coat applied and there were a number of new mcmansions going up in what had been corn fields. yuk.
25 locally. nice weather nice relaxed rides.