himespau 

looked at the weather and wussed out.

jimmuller 

No ride today, no commute. It was raining or threatening to. Wouldn't you know, this being National Bike To Work Week it is supposed to rain all week.

cmolway

After a week without riding (i.e. out of town for family commitments) I was dressed out in my kit, thumbing my nose at the weather this morning at 6am, eager to get back on the bike. As I got ready to roll out I went to pull on my shoes only to realize that I left them at work last week (took rain bike into town and T 'd it out to the airport after work).

Grumbling I had to dress out into "work clothes" and fight traffic into Boston instead. Looks like I'll be rolling the trainer this afternoon instead.

Jim from Boston

Just a few minutes ago, I replied to this post on the C&A Forum, "motivational issues":
This Saturday I got out for my first long training ride of the season, about 6:30 to 10AM: Kenmore Square > Beacon St > Rte 16 > Rte 27 (in Sherborn) > Rte 115 > (lost in Norfolk) > Winter St > Summer St (South Walpole) > Washington St to Norwood (45 miles). It was a little chilly but felt good.

I worked for a few hours in Norwood, then 14 miles straight home, and out dancing that night. What a great Saturday.

GrotonPaul

I did the CRW spring century Sunday, great ride. Started about 7:15 and it was pretty dry with only a few rain drops right up until the last rest stop at 75 miles. As soon as we left the last stop the torrential down pours started and didn't let up until the last 2 miles. Like I said, it was a great ride even with the rain.

bikinggrrrl

It seems that if any of us are going to enjoy riding this May, we better get used to the rain. Glad you had a good ride.

I got passed by a butterfly while suffering on a hill. Seriously ... who gets passed by a butterfly?

GrotonPaul

Ha, that's pretty funny, don't feel bad, with the way the wind has been blowing this spring the butterfly was probably trying to go the other way!

JandersUF

Well, the upside of moonlighting some extra hours at my old job is that it forces me to bike commute (only about 3 miles)... it was actually nice @ 0630 this AM, with soem fog but no heavy rain.

not sure when'll I'll feel like getting the good biek out for a long ride... might be stir-crazy enough on Friday to do it as long as there isn't a real Monsoon.

godshammgod

One of my friends and I have committed to a century Saturday no matter what, so we better follow through on that. It's part of my plan to ride at least 3 (maybe 4) centuries before B2B.

godshammgod

Here's the aformentioned Century on tap for this weekend:

https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/15139378

Found this route on map my ride. Looks like a cool jaunt through MA, RI, CT.

If you're in the area and see two tired guys on red CAAD 9's say hello!

jimmuller 

Yes! Got home late this afternoon in front of the large t-storm to the south of us, took the UO8 out for 45 minutes. It was therapeutic!

jimmuller 

Got out again this morning! Out two days in a row, must be a new record for this spring!

Spent an hour doodling over to Lexington and back. Lot of water in the air but none coming down.

mtalinm

Snuck out this morning for an,almost half century. Oh how I love living in the suburbs...just point your bike away from the city and you've got hours of beautiful riding...

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/87009131

JandersUF

After two days on the trainer inside, I got out for a quick 32mi this AM. Saw tons of people out in the general Lincoln/Weston area. Seeing how nice the day was, I wish i could have gotten out for more!

godshammgod, good luck with the century and let me know how it goes. I might steal that route... from my place it would be almost 120, but I think I can modify to be more like 110 and still get to connecticut.

godshammgod

It's a GREAT ride, quiet roads, good scenery. Tough too. Per my friend's Garmin we ended up with about 6,000 + feet of climbing over the 110 miles. Nothing longer than a mile, just a lot of steep rollers. We actually tagged along with a pretty large group of the Crack 'O Dawn riders for a bit before my friend cramped up and we dropped back for a while.

I'm going to aim to do this again hopefully before B2B. It's pretty comparable in terms of the climbing, just different types of climbs.

I'll post up the Garmin file when my friend passes it along.

JandersUF

great, thanks for the rec... i might try it out in the next couple of weeks.

Sadly, due to travel/work/etc I think I only have 1 or 2 chances to do truly epic/long rides before B2B. I should have plenty of chances for 30-45mi rides though, so I am hoping to keep the fitness/speed up.

What pace are you planning on doing for b2b?

jimmuller 

Setting a record for this spring I got out again today, three days in a row. Just 50 minutes Waltham over to Cambridge, into Newton, back home. Have to play a show this afternoon so time was short.

Weather was nice, cloudy, about 50 degrees. Traffic was light. A nice morning jaunt.

godshammgod

Yeah, my main concern is the endurance aspect. Yesterday's ride was by far my longest, so I have some work to do. I'm aiming to work in some hill repeats quite regularly so I'll at least I'll add some intensity work in.

My two friends and I are rolling out with the 18mph group. I'm hoping we can at least latch on with a pretty big group through the first part of the ride.

On a semi-related note, today's ride was a nice little 14 mile recovery spin. I rode over to catch some of the Wells Ave ''A'' Race. Those guys are fast. Met a nice guy on the way over who said he was getting back into riding after a couple years of off. Something told me he used to be a pretty good racer back in the day...

Jim from Boston

I live in Kenmore Square in downtown Boston and reverse commute out to Norwood over routes in the opposite direction from those of mtalinm, but don’t cry for me Argentina. I can go out the door and point my bike in any direction (but not too far eastward) and explore all the delightful sectors of metropolitan Boston. In fact, I wrote a little compendium of road cycling in Boston, describing all the sectors:

Besides that, my reverse commute opposite the usual flow of traffic through residential and light commercial areas it is often as much fun as any weekend ride into the suburbs. Why do you think they call it sub-urban living? (just kidding)

This weekend was the third long ride of my 10 week Century training schedule. I rode down Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester through Quincy, where I often get lost, and found a great route down Route 37 to Brockton; then on Oak and Pearl streets in Brockton to North Easton. From mtalinm’s map our rides converged in North Easton on Lincoln to Allen, and onto Rockland and Maple, but then diverged at East Street. That was a great segment. Did you note the architecturally charming Veteran’s post (I can’t remember which organization) at Rockland and Allen, with the military tank outside? Though I have seen it coming down Rockland, I almost missed it coming on Allen.

I then went through Foxboro, Sharon (on Moose Hill Street) and then on to Walpole and Norwood, where I went to work for a few hours, and took the train back to Boston. My mileage quota was 48 and I did 48.07, but did have to add one extra mile to make my goal (“This far, and no further”), mostly limited by time constraints.

mtalinm, have you ever ridden Moose Hill Street? I’ve described it on this thread as “enchanted.”

mtalinm

great to hear you enjoy it, Jim, but I gotta say that urban riding makes me tired. (And I say this as someone who commutes into Boston every day.) Traffic, stoplights, broken glass, ambulance sirens (oooh they are loud if you're not inside a car), the list goes on. yesterday I basically rode for 3 hours without stopping. it was quite a nice change of pace.

didn't really notice the scenery as I was mostly optimizing for speed (not that I'm very fast), but cool to hear that we covered some of the same territory. I only did 45m as I was in a hurry to get back home before my wife realized I had even gone biking - still I don't think she knows - but I tacked on another 5 later in the day for an even half century. It was easier than I thought - didn't feel a thing this morning actually. which century are you planning for? I'm thinking of one this Saturday or the week after. Also signed up for the flat-as-a-board Seacoast Century in Maine.

Moose Hill, I have definitely ridden Moose Hill. won't do it again anytime soon - way too curvy with minimal visibility.

where's the rest of the compendium btw? would love to read it.

danyos

Wish I had rode today, instead went to a Carnival in Woburn.

But yesterday, went Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Lexington, Bedford, Concord, Lincoln, Weston, Waltham, Newton, Brookline and back to Boston. 50 miles total, and committing to ride Saturdays with the guys I rode with going forward.

I'm riding a 2000 Trek 5200 USPS Edition, 18spd full Ultegra. Fell once while waiting for the rest to catch-up in Arlington... adjusting to clip pedals, and somehow after riding 1 minute down Mass Ave and around the prudential center (where I live) I returned home with 15% or so of the tire pressure left in my front tire (18 psi).

cmolway

Had the little one all weekend so I was relegated to rollers during naptime. Went for a ride this morning in the rain in a feeble attempt to make up for the lack of miles last week. PLanning on a century this Saturday so I need to get decent miles in this week which means more rain-riding planned for after work.

godshammgod

For any of the B2Bers (or anyone else who wants to join) reading this thread...I'm planning on riding part of the route with a small group this Saturday morning. I'm thinking we'll start in Arlington/Lexington area and then head up through Willard Brook State Forest (one of the two real ''climbs'' on the day) before cruising back. It looks like a round trip of about 80 miles. Pace will be in the 18mph range. It's not a hammer ride.

Still working out the specifics, but PM if you think you might want to join.

jimmuller 

Is that 18mph average or 18mph typical? And you say it isn't a hammer ride, huh? You should change your login name to goshImgood.

I'd love to try it but I doubt I'll have the time and I'm fairly sure I'm not ready for that yet.

godshammgod

Haha, 18mph average. But you'd be mistaken thinking I'm speedy. I really just get a great draft off one of my friends who's got a diesel engine.