Monday morning and I'm pretty stoked to be alive, so I thought I'd share my experiences with you guys.

I completed my first truly long distance ride this weekend. A friend of mine and I rode 185 miles from Boston to Gorham, NH. The longest distance I had ever ridden in a day before was 80 miles, and that was with a group of other non-cyclists. It took us 12 hours then. I have a big tour coming up in a month, and I wanted to make sure I was ready for it by doing this ride. Our destination was a lodge maintained by the Northeastern University outdoors club.

We left Boston roughly 4 hours after we wanted to. We got out the front door at 8:40pm. At 8:41pm, it started raining. Hard. It didn't let up until 90 miles later. I had a lot of new gear I wanted to put through its paces (jacket, dynamo lighting, brooks saddle, and more) so while riding in the rain at night wasn't my ideal plan, it wasn't going to stop me. We got to Rochester, NH and stopped at a gas station and grabbed a bit to eat, and then took a 45-minute nap on the curb out front. It was 4:30am at this point. I had been up early the day before for work, and my riding mate (being a busy college student) had gotten 4 hours of sleep over the previous 2 nights. I didn't feel bad about napping. When we sat down it was raining, and when we woke up it had stopped.

We grabbed a coffee from inside and got back on the road. We rode about 60 miles from there to Conway, NH. Stopped there for another bite to eat and bottle refill. Ended up taking another nap out in front of the diner for another half hour. Went inside and got a breakfast sandwich. Continued on for the home stretch of the ride.

This is where it got tough. Anyone who knows the North Conway/Mt Washington/Rt 16 area knows there's a pretty substantial climb to get up to Pinkham Notch. There was about 15 miles which were entirely uphill, climbing 1500 feet. Keep in mind, this is after riding 150 miles. I've only been riding a bike for 4 months. Needless to say, I was impressed with myself for being able to do it. When we got to the top, there was a quick high-five before continuing on. When I tried to clip in, my knee started hurting quite badly, and didn't stop for the rest of the weekend. Feels almost better today. There was no rain for the entirety of the ride on Saturday (after the gas-station nap) until the last 5 miles. We dropped the hammer and spent as little time as possible. When getting to the lodge, there is a 1/2-mile trail to get from the road to the front door. We decided to ride it. I've done it on a mountain bike a couple times, and it's a decent uphill ride. We somehow managed to do it on a Trek 2300 (me) and Surly LHT (friend). When that ride was over i pretty much went to sleep for the rest of the weekend. I was happy.

I wasn't looking to break any speed records, just to complete. This was a major challenge for me, and I was quite happy. The friend I was with is the captain of the Northeastern University cycling team. He lives on his bike. He's in peak shape. He qualified for the PBP this season. I expected to be slowing him down the entire time. With the exception of the last portion of the Pinkham Notch climb, we were neck and neck, and both riding at our ideal pace.

Final stats - 185 miles, roughly 20 hours total. Average speed in the saddle: 14.1 mph. Not sure what total elevation climbed was, but I've attached an elevation profile from the GPS I brought. Top speed: 45 mph for me, 48 mph for my friend. The first 8-hours in rain (from torrential to light). Not too much wind for most of the ride. No mechanical problems until a flat tire at mile 179.

Definite good time. Next goal: 700-mile trek around Ireland Nov 17-Dec 2, loaded for hostel touring. This was my last training ride. I'm definitely prepared.

congrats on the long ride, and on starting at night as well. I got home to Belmont, MA from my commute about an hour before you started out, and agree that Friday was a pretty wet and slightly miserable night (at least the rain hasn't gotten wintry cold yet)

I'm not a fan of all-night cycling, much less ones done with rain, but it's certainly handy to have a companion; and it sounds like you guys had a decent sleep strategy. Who's your PBP-qualified friend?

Enjoy Ireland! One of my old roommates did a nine day inn-to-inn cycling tour of Ireland with his dad a few years ago, and he still talks fondly of it today. Also, it rained six out of the nine days that he was there, so consider yourself suitably prepared ;)

YOU SIR, ARE A HERO.:beer: that was a pretty epic ride! and ya say you've only been ridin' for four months?

oh yeah. what route did ya take? again dude, that's a hell of a ride after 4 months of bikin'. . .

Thanks guys!

Yeah, 4 months in the saddle. Got to Boston in June and started riding in July. Hadn't ridden a bicycle since I got my driver's license.

We escaped Boston via Rt 28, then got on Rt 125 and took it to Haverhill, where we got on Rt 108. Followed 108 through Rochester, NH and then jumped back on Rt 125 and then Rt 153. We stayed on that into North Conway, where we took Rt 16 into Gorham, and then 9 miles down Rt 2 to the lodge. I definitely recommend the route for going that direction. We didn't have to deal with any traffic once we left Boston (though much of it was the wee hours of the morning). It was pretty direct. It involved hills, but nothing too crazy until you get to the notch. Gorgeous views (during the day) especially this time of year. The other guy said he took Rt 16 for most of it when he did the trip last year and this route was a hundred times better.

SW- If Ireland goes even half as well as I'm hoping, I should be talking about it for many years to come!

thanks for the route man! what were the most trafficky parts in your opinion?

again, an amzing ride duder!:beer:

How were conditions on Rts 28 and 125 going north? Shoulders? Traffic? Did you feel they were reasonably well marked with route signs? I may do a similar ride in early November.

As far as traffic goes, we didn't really encounter any once we got out of Boston. But keep in mind, we left at night, and by the time (Saturday) morning came, we were in the middle of NH. If you were doing the same ride during the day, I would expect to encounter a little traffic around the cities we passed, but not much else. Most of the route follows along Rt 16, so that's where all the cars went. When we did our stretch of riding ON Rt 16, there was a fair amount of traffic, however the shoulders were quite wide and well-maintained.

All of the roads were in good condition. So good, in fact, that we were able to maintain a fair speed (15+ mph) even when it was the middle of the night, unlit, and pouring rain. My lighting system consists of a Shimano dynohub and a $20 lumotec headlight, both from Peter White. Since my riding mate was running on battery power, he often switched off his light and used mine to light his path. So the roads were good.

Side note: new gear reviews-
Brooks B17 - Wonderful saddle. Accidentally let it get a bit wet during the first stretch of our trip, then used a nylon stuff sack ($6 at EMS) to cover it. It worked perfectly. It wasn't fully broken in before the ride, but is now. Totally comfortable. I think the rain sped up the break-in process. I'm glad it didn't get wet after being broken in.

Shimano DH-3N17 with Lumotec light - Fantastic. It's only been three weeks, but I don't know how I got along without it. I use one bike for all the riding I do right now (aside from mountain biking). It's great for riding distances in the dark, or for getting me around Boston without getting killed. I feel a million times safer. It does add resistance when the light is on, but to be completely honest, I didn't notice it unless I was looking for it. When off, its just your standard Ultegra-grade hub.