Anyone riding the Westfield (MA) 600k this weekend?

jbay · #1 06-23-2005, 12:55 PM

Ride organiser extraordinaire (and Serotta dealer), Don Podolski, is running the Westfield 600k from his shop, New Horizons Sports, this coming weekend. Is anyone else out there riding?

As well as the beautiful route, this ride:

http://newhorizonsbikes.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=67

is also notable (on this forum in particular) for the fact that one of the checkpoints (and sleeping accomodations) are at the Serotta factory!

Sounds like some hot weather for it though...

-- John

dauwhe · #2 06-23-2005, 03:25 PM

Yes, I've registered for this. I'm terrified of the weather, though. Forecast now calls for a high of 99 in Westfield on Saturday, and the weather service has warned people to avoid physcial exertion and prolonged exposure to the heat!

This is my first season of brevets, so I've never ridden the course. I sure hope it's cooler up in the Catskills.

I'm also a bit concerned about traffic going through Schenectedy (how DO you spell that?). I'm a slow rider, so I'll be going through there at night...

Anyway, good luck to all of us!

Dave Cramer
Brattleboro, Vermont

OnceFast · #3 06-23-2005, 09:18 PM

At night, I'd be more worried about the crime than the traffic. Hope you're riding with a buddy.

Ti Designs · #4 06-23-2005, 11:12 PM

I figured out a long time ago that more than 6 hours straight in the saddle ain't much fun, and we never got the 200K under 6 hours. Maybe if I brought a bike with gears...

I do miss the days of doing centuries and brevets with John, but I have to warn anybody thinking of joining him - he's kinda fast. It's not like racer fast, he just has no fear of effort, no matter what lies ahead. On my first brevet I wanted to gain a little distance from the group on the first big climb because I was on my fixed gear. John and I stormed up the hill out of the saddle the whole way, leaving the others far behind. Dave, the organizer, drove alongside us in his minivan, rolled down his windows and said "You guys just don't get it". That was Dave's way of saying "pace yourselves", but John clearly doesn't need that advice. On another brevet we were all kinda tired after many miles into a stiff headwind. John pulled at a pretty good clip - for the last 20 miles!!!

Maybe with old age I'll forget what too much time in the saddle felt like...

jbay · #5 06-24-2005, 11:12 AM

The Altzheimers must be making a pre-emptive strike. I had forgotten some of the finer details of that brevet!

I do, however, remember TiDesigns spinning at a seriously impressive rate on his fixed gear on that event. There is one downhill on that route on which Herself and I can reliably break 100km/hr on the tandem. That takes more than a little souplesse to ride on fixed!

I think things might be a little slower this weekend, however...

-- John

jbay · #6 06-28-2005, 04:30 PM

On behalf of all the riders, I would just like to say thanks to the kind folks at Serotta for the use of their facilities during this event. If you could have just done something about the weather though...

The route was as lovely as promised, but I expect that most rider's abiding memories will be of the heat. My better half and I rode tandem (in the delightful company of Dave C. for a goodly portion of the event) and survived to tell the tale by riding slowly and stopping for cold drinks at just about every opportunity.

It's probably no coincidence that my favourite portions of the ride occurred when the weather was at its coolest. Riding into the gloamin somewhere around E. Berne, New York, overlooking fireworks going off in the direction of Schenectady, was fantastic. A descent where we hit 98 km/hr helped the mood too! What followed though, was just magical, with innumerable fireflies putting on an incredible light display for hours on end.

Similarly, in "the cold, hard light before dawn," riding towards Cambridge, New York (I think), the bucolic scenery, partially shrouded in mist, almost made it all worthwhile (just kidding).

In summary, it's a great event but definitely tough, even before you add in the challenge of riding through a heat wave.

-- John

dauwhe · #7 06-28-2005, 05:02 PM

I certainly enjoyed the company of John and Pamela on the tandem, and did manage to ride with them for the first 130 miles or so. I do feel obligated to mention that I did drop out after 157 miles; the heat (and everything) was just too much for me that day. Those who persevered have my admiration and respect--what a challenging ride!

John is right--it's a wonderful route, and I look forward to riding it on cool, crisp days someday. Route 214 over the Devil's Tombstone (am I remembering the name correctly?) was spectacular.

And I'll add my appreciation to Serotta for the use of their facilities. Our gracious ride organizer and Serotta dealer Don Podolski drove some of us dropouts to the Serotta house, and I had some delicious veggie lasagna before catching a ride back to the start with one of the other kind volunteers. The kindness, support, and camaraderie of the randonneuring community is one of the greatest pleasures of the sport.

weisan · #8 06-28-2005, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbay

There is one downhill on that route on which Herself and I can reliably break 100km/hr on the tandem. That takes more than a little souplesse to ride on fixed!
-- John

100km/h....that's 60+ miles/hr...(oh yeah, please revert back to US metrics) ...on a fixed-gear!

Ti-Master, are you crazy??!!

John-pal, thanks for writing such a memorable report. I am motivated to do a ride like these maybe once in my lifetime.

fiamme red · #9 06-28-2005, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weisan

John-pal, thanks for writing such a memorable report. I am motivated to do a ride like these maybe once in my lifetime.

I also enjoy reading Pamela's ride reports of BMB, brevets, etc. that she has posted to rec.bicycles.rides over the years.

Ti Designs · #10 06-28-2005, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weisan

100km/h....that's 60+ miles/hr...(oh yeah, please revert back to US metrics) ...on a fixed-gear!

Ti-Master, are you crazy??!!

Yeh, but I didn't go that fast. I redline just over 200 RPMs, so I held my speed down to about 40. The real trick was in catching the fast group after the downhill. The first year I missed a turn and wound up climbing back up a dirt hill. The second time I was bent on catching them, which I did, but it cost me. Just as I got up to them we got to another major downhill section. I still remember Charlie seeing me chase back on, looking back and saying "sorry dude...".

weisan · #11 06-28-2005, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ti Designs

Yeh, but I didn't go that fast. I redline just over 200 RPMs,

Our KitchenAid mixer just broke down, can we hook up the beater to your cranks and let you do the work for us?

fiamme-pal, thanks for the headsup. I will go over and read some more....

Ti Designs · #12 06-28-2005, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weisan

Our KitchenAid mixer just broke down, can we hook up the beater to your cranks and let you do the work for us?

Sure, I'll ride for food. Whatcha making???

weisan · #13 06-28-2005, 05:59 PM

Ohhh...nothing super special, just my wife's fav: chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

She would prepare a big pot of dough, dump it in the fridge and use them to make dessert every Sunday when we had someone over for lunch...be careful, you might be over-worked just as our old KitchenAid did.

Fixed · #14 06-28-2005, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ti Designs

Yeh, but I didn't go that fast. I redline just over 200 RPMs, so I held my speed down to about 40. The real trick was in catching the fast group after the downhill. The first year I missed a turn and wound up climbing back up a dirt hill. The second time I was bent on catching them, which I did, but it cost me. Just as I got up to them we got to another major downhill section. I still remember Charlie seeing me chase back on, looking back and saying "sorry dude...".

I have never tried this because I live in flats but friends have. Pull your feet off the pedels and rest them on the fork crown if you use pedals like crank bros. shouldn't be tough to clip back in. I think it to be a little risky I admire you riding 600k on a fixed, that is more than my weekly total

Tom · #15 06-29-2005, 05:48 AM

Oh, shucks, you guys were in my back yard (fireworks were Cappiello's Festa Italiana in the park right by my house). I wish I'd known so I could have rode out cheered and passed out cold drinks. Dumb dumb question: for a brevet you have to gear up a little so they let you ride, no? You can't just show up with forty dollars for convenient stores and a couple extra tubes or am I wrong? Every year I look for 'adventure rides' and something like this would be a hell of a reach for me but it kind of sounds fun.