First PBP qualifier done and dusted!
Mar. 31st, 2019 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bikingandbakingIt had been A Week and I was not really looking forward to getting up early to drive for a ride, but the weather was supposed to be fabulous and, having done it last year, I knew the route was great, so I set my alarm for brevet o'clock and headed down to Providence for the first NER 200k of the year.
The Bays & Bridges route is more forgiving than a lot of our routes; no big hills, no really steep ones, and both times I've done it there's been wind but mostly-constant wind, so at least you're not fighting it the whole way.
It starts out with a long stretch on a bike path, which generally means big packs because it's flat, speed is limited a bit by other users, and everyone is warming up and feeling sociable. When we hit the end, the folks in front of me with wider tires chose a fairly rough way back to the real road, which meant I had to stop pretty quickly because I couldn't bunnyhop that curb. I signaled it, but it did cause a little accordioning behind me (and thus irritation), though no actual contact between humans/bikes. In embarassment, I fussed with nothing until the pack had departed, at which point I started cruising on my own. I instantly felt slow -- I hadn't picked up on the difference in the wind, and I *was* on a false flat with terrible pavement, where I'd lost the pack the previous year after hanging on a tiny bit longer. But I didn't feel bad, just slow, and so I kept chugging along to the Bridge That Eats Tires (aka the Mount Hope, where I again walked the expansion joints because I do not want to be a cautionary tale).
It was also warming up quickly; way warmer than anything yet this year, and I saw 67 degrees on my GPS several times, although mostly it was around 62-64. Flowers were taking advantage of this to show up all over; I was not the only person who took this picture, though this was a bit later:
I think I first really noticed the wind on the same road another rider later commented on -- Middle Road, which is well after the turn north but is a bit more up on a ridgeline and thus more exposed. Last year I remember this being a low point, and I actually stopped for a snack just before turning onto it, just in case it was a fueling thing. This year I blasted along it like it was downhill, and then blasted down the downhill after it and zoomed back towards the shore, and realized I had that which should not be named, lest it turn on you: a tailwind. We'd be turning back south again for another long pull, and the wind stayed steady; we'd fight it down to the staffed rest stop/control, where I snagged what appeared to be the last non-Diet Coke, and I realized I was still riding at potentially sub-10-hour pace. I was a little behind where I'd been the last time I went sub-10, but not by much, and I'd finished that one in 9:42. I just had to push, keep fueled, and ideally have the wind stay constant, since it was time to turn north for good. (Well, the last section is due west, but there was no more southbound.)
The wind made good on its promises, and so did my legs. Several faster riders who'd stopped for longer passed me in succession; when the last of them (Phil) did, I pushed a little harder, and spent literally a couple hours slowly closing the gap between "see occasionally in the distance" to "see most of the time". (Then I pushed a tiny bit too hard to catch up and actually say hi just before a big (big for this route, at least) hill, and had to slow down and never saw him again.) Emily and I yoyo'ed back and forth, as well as another rider whos name I didn't catch; they were grousing a bit about tired legs and winter, and I kept my slowly growing glee at going sub-10 this early in the season under wraps, so as not to jinx it. When we got closer, I started doing the math, and realized I was actually on pace to PR, if the all-uphill and traffic-choked last couple of miles didn't throw a wrench in it. I think the final approach was changed (confirmed: yes) as a nightmare of a left turn didn't materialize, and the three of us pulled up to Ted's house together after fighting our way through some clogged streets and every red light in University Heights. (Plus some adorable dogs and babies and their adults who were effusive about bikes stopping for pedestrians uphill.)
9:37, boom. The road to PBP is off to a great start. Now I have to spend my birthday packing for the Florida brevet week. And square away a couple last details for the 200k/300k I'm organizing in June -- found reasonable-looking parking for people driving into the start, now just have to see if the hotel is going to be chill with us starting in their lot.
The Bays & Bridges route is more forgiving than a lot of our routes; no big hills, no really steep ones, and both times I've done it there's been wind but mostly-constant wind, so at least you're not fighting it the whole way.
It starts out with a long stretch on a bike path, which generally means big packs because it's flat, speed is limited a bit by other users, and everyone is warming up and feeling sociable. When we hit the end, the folks in front of me with wider tires chose a fairly rough way back to the real road, which meant I had to stop pretty quickly because I couldn't bunnyhop that curb. I signaled it, but it did cause a little accordioning behind me (and thus irritation), though no actual contact between humans/bikes. In embarassment, I fussed with nothing until the pack had departed, at which point I started cruising on my own. I instantly felt slow -- I hadn't picked up on the difference in the wind, and I *was* on a false flat with terrible pavement, where I'd lost the pack the previous year after hanging on a tiny bit longer. But I didn't feel bad, just slow, and so I kept chugging along to the Bridge That Eats Tires (aka the Mount Hope, where I again walked the expansion joints because I do not want to be a cautionary tale).
It was also warming up quickly; way warmer than anything yet this year, and I saw 67 degrees on my GPS several times, although mostly it was around 62-64. Flowers were taking advantage of this to show up all over; I was not the only person who took this picture, though this was a bit later:
I think I first really noticed the wind on the same road another rider later commented on -- Middle Road, which is well after the turn north but is a bit more up on a ridgeline and thus more exposed. Last year I remember this being a low point, and I actually stopped for a snack just before turning onto it, just in case it was a fueling thing. This year I blasted along it like it was downhill, and then blasted down the downhill after it and zoomed back towards the shore, and realized I had that which should not be named, lest it turn on you: a tailwind. We'd be turning back south again for another long pull, and the wind stayed steady; we'd fight it down to the staffed rest stop/control, where I snagged what appeared to be the last non-Diet Coke, and I realized I was still riding at potentially sub-10-hour pace. I was a little behind where I'd been the last time I went sub-10, but not by much, and I'd finished that one in 9:42. I just had to push, keep fueled, and ideally have the wind stay constant, since it was time to turn north for good. (Well, the last section is due west, but there was no more southbound.)
The wind made good on its promises, and so did my legs. Several faster riders who'd stopped for longer passed me in succession; when the last of them (Phil) did, I pushed a little harder, and spent literally a couple hours slowly closing the gap between "see occasionally in the distance" to "see most of the time". (Then I pushed a tiny bit too hard to catch up and actually say hi just before a big (big for this route, at least) hill, and had to slow down and never saw him again.) Emily and I yoyo'ed back and forth, as well as another rider whos name I didn't catch; they were grousing a bit about tired legs and winter, and I kept my slowly growing glee at going sub-10 this early in the season under wraps, so as not to jinx it. When we got closer, I started doing the math, and realized I was actually on pace to PR, if the all-uphill and traffic-choked last couple of miles didn't throw a wrench in it. I think the final approach was changed (confirmed: yes) as a nightmare of a left turn didn't materialize, and the three of us pulled up to Ted's house together after fighting our way through some clogged streets and every red light in University Heights. (Plus some adorable dogs and babies and their adults who were effusive about bikes stopping for pedestrians uphill.)
9:37, boom. The road to PBP is off to a great start. Now I have to spend my birthday packing for the Florida brevet week. And square away a couple last details for the 200k/300k I'm organizing in June -- found reasonable-looking parking for people driving into the start, now just have to see if the hotel is going to be chill with us starting in their lot.
no subject
Date: 2019-03-31 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-31 11:53 pm (UTC)And we tried the new Ethiopian restaurant on Mass Ave, which was pretty good and inexpensive -- it's down by Greek Corner.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-01 01:50 am (UTC)A and i tried that place a week or two ago, and liked it pretty well. If you want a celebratory birthday thing involving food and perhaps cocktails at a place, ping me when you're back from FL and let's set something up.