2007 Ride Journal

2007 Journal:

November 4, 2007: Not a bad day for November. Temperature is in the mid to upper 50's so it's plenty warm for a ride. I dressed in cool weather gear wearing my long tights and a thermal shirt and was quite comfortable. I did wear my cap to keep the wind from freezing my head. No need for boots although gloves were definitely needed. I rode through Sodom Road and rather than turning towards Adamsville like normal, I turned towards Westport center and rode south from there to Cornell road. I reversed my normal ride on Cornell, finishing in Adamsville rather than starting there. Next I headed out toward Acoaxet and swung back along the Westport River back to Adamsville, finally heading towards Lake road and home. A good ride although I can tell I haven't been riding much. I saw three other people on bikes. On guy on a three wheeler pulling a baby, one woman freezing in a jacket on a touring bike and one other rider who came up behind me by the beach. He was from Westport and asked how long I'd be riding. When I said not much more, basically 10 miles to home, he decided to head back to Westport. I could have easily kept up and probably dropped him on a good day, but I didn't feel much like working hard so I rambled along and let him get out in from by about 50 yards where I used him as a pacer. Good day. Last year I rode on November 10th and 11th ... we'll see if it is warm enough to get out again. Started prepping the web site for 2008 with all the bad weather yesterday. I updtaed and added a page for 2008 bike races. Distance: 28.4 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 155, Ave Cadence: 64, Ave Speed: 17.3 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,478.1 miles

October 21, 2007: Pretty nice day out today .. warm, 70 degrees, but windy. I don't think it's as windy as yesterday was, but it is close. I left home about 11:30 after it warmed up and rode to Sakonnet Point through Little Compton. The winds were across most of the way, but definitely in my face as I headed closer to the point. The waves were breaking much like yesterday, although since it was a westerly wind, the were not as big. I returned along the river, coming by the fish shop and finally climbing Bulgarmarsh hill before heading home. I caught a woman riding wearing a Carmichael Training Systems kit so I couldn't resist hammering as I went by and climbing the hill by the bird sanctuary on after burners, I can't resist having fun with the folks who pay money for that stuff, but she was kind of cute, so maybe my strategy isn't all that great ????? I've seen here before and passed her again after I came around the north end of my loop and she was still heading toward the Tiverton waterfront. I was pretty whooped from working hard for about 5 miles so I hammered about 1/4 the way up Bulgarmarsh hill and absolutely and utterly cracked! wobbled up the hill at about 6 mph where I'm normally at 10-12 ,mph on that hill. After recovering I finished my ride home at a reasonable pace. A good day for riding . Keep wondering how many more we'll get. Distance: 31.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 163, Ave Cadence: 65, Ave Speed: 18.4 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,453.3 miles

October 14, 2007: Chilly and windy, but a nice day to ride otherwise. Decided to go for a ride after cutting the lawn. Yesterday would have been a nicer day to go, but I was busy doing other things. Dressed warmly. I work my UnderArm out thermal long sleeve jersey, and second layer and then a cycling jersey to help cut the wind. When I got out there, I was glad I had worm this many layers. While nothing like it was in the Italian Dolomites this summer, this was the coldest ride here since spring time. I think the outdoors riding season is starting to come to a close. Last year my last outdoor ride was 18 October. I think we'll be riding outside periodically beyond that ... but not too much beyond. Today I rode to Acoaxet via Long Highway. Nice ride on the way down, but when I hit the beach and turned into the wind to come home, it was miserable. According to weather channel, winds are 17, gusting to 24, and I was into that for 10 long miles. Felt good, but it was a slow ride. I also am still messing with my seat location .. raising it another 1/4 inch or more. I am not a max height and it almost feels like I've raised it too far. At least my knee has stopped hurting. Distance: 20.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 158, Ave Cadence: 65, Ave Speed: 17.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,421.7 miles

October 6, 2007: It's a beautiful day today, hard to believe it's October. Still foggy at the coast, but it feels more like last spring than fall. I rode from home this morning, down through Little Compton and headed down to Sakonnet Point. I thought the point would have been fogged in, but it was bright and sunny when I got there. There was a stiff wind blowing the fogy up the river, but for some reason, it was staying off shore. Looked like the island was fogged in, but who knows. After leaving Sakonnet Point, I rode back up Main ROad, cut along the river in Tiverton and then back along Bulgarmarsh to get home. A good ride and I felt much better today than the past couple of rides. We're lucky to be getting this nice weather this late in the year. Distance: 31.5 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 148, Ave Cadence: 68, Ave Speed: 18.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,401.1 miles

October 5, 2007: Very nice day today. i took the day off from work to take advantage of the long Columbus Day weekend. Got out just after 1:00 and had a nice ride overt o Sodom Road, back down to Adamsville, down to Acoaxet and then home. It was pretty warm here for this time of the year (77 degrees), but down at Acoaxet Beach, the fog and mist was around and it was substantially cooler. There also was a pretty string wind coming across the ocean, making it a tough ride while i was down there. Felt pretty good, although my numbers were slower than yesterday, I felt pretty good in general. Obviously not mid summer form though! lol. Distance: 22.4 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 156, Ave Cadence: 68, Ave Speed: 17.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,369.6 miles

October 4, 2007: Getting to be that time of year ... few and far bike rides. Today was beautiful and warm. When I got out of my meeting a bit early, I ran home and got on the bike. Just did a short ride to Acoaxet. Felt horrible when I started riding and could really notice the down time. After about 10 miles, I got some energy that lasted about 5-6 miles and then I struggled home. Hmm, a far cry from the good riding shape I was in in June! Oh well, nice weather and I rode a bit. Distance: 21.1 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 155, Ave Cadence: 68, Ave Speed: 17.9 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,347.2 miles

September 23, 2007: Wow, has it really been two weeks since I was out on my bike? I guess so, the weather hasn't been great and the cold spell a week ago put a damper on riding. It's pretty nice today though and has warmed up nicely.Rode an easy ride around Westport towards Horseneck Beach and then home. Should have ridden further, but I have things to do. I felt pretty good though. I guess the running I've started doing has kept me in a little bit of shape. . Distance: 21.8 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 148, Ave Cadence: 70, Ave Speed: 18.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,326.1 miles
September 9, 2007: Tiverton Century (Sort of!) Paul and I decided to ride as bandits in this years Tiverton Century. We had no intentions in riding the whole 100 miles, and ended up riding 67.4 by my measurement. All in all, it was a good day, although wheel suckers where the predominant rider that we saw. I think we both were surprised about how well we felt after finishing. I know I was tired, but could have easily finished the other 30+ miles to complete the ride. In the end, it was time to come home and watch the Patriots-Jets game. We jumped in the ride ion King Street which is 1 mile from my house, so we were ahead of most of the riders. Immediately, we passed a group of guys who were riding hard, but going nowhere . One decided to latch onto us and draft for an easy ride ... he lasted a short bit, but eventually we lost him. The real bad one we encountered in Little Compton. This guy thought he was Lance Armstrong, As we caught him, he was riding along at a slow speed. As we passed, the wheel sucker in him came out and he started hanging off Paul's rear wheel. We tried to loose him over a series of up hills and down hills, but he could ride fairly well and we couldn't shake him. We dropped back near the beach in Acoaxet to let him go on while we dropped off to about a 13 mph pace to BS and open a gap. Dammit, he slowed up too. After passing the beach we headed uphill a bit and we passed again and the leech hooked onto us again going faster. Finally, we reached the water stop in Adamsville, and he had to stop to check in or he[d not get his pretty tee shirt. Wow, luckily we were abe to ge away, but that wheel sucker lasted almost 10 miles. We needed the animal to beat him into submission like he did the French and Italians. Anyway, we ran into another sucker, just after the rest area as we headed into Westport. To his credit, when we slowed, he spun like a madman and passed us heading up a hill. I could have caught him a few miles later when he was struggling on Main Road in Westport, but that would have put him back on our wheels. We finally lost sight of him after we took a nature break at Horseneck Beach. All in all a good ride, longest in a long time. . Distance: 67.4 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 142, Ave Cadence: 63, Ave Speed: 16.8 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,304.3 miles
September 8, 2007: Rode to Acoaxet this morning around noon. Felt pretty good, although the wind made it not a real fun ride. Lots to do, so I couldn't really ride as long as I wanted to. . Distance: 20.9 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 152, Ave Cadence: 67, Ave Speed: 17.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,236.9 miles
September 3, 2007: Windy .. too windy to ride much. Distance: 11.2 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 133, Ave Cadence: 63, Ave Speed: 16.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,216.0 miles
September 2, 2007: Chilly morning so I waiting until lunch time to get a ride in. Took it east riding to Acoaxet. Nice day down by the beach, although it was pretty breezy and a bit chilly. It was nice to ride in the cooler weather. Only really worked hard once on the ride and that was on the Old Harbor Road hill coming up from Adamsville. Other than that, it was cruise control and enjoying the ride. Distance: 18.1 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 139, Ave Cadence: 68, Ave Speed: 18.0 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,204.8 miles
September 1, 2007: Wow, September is here and Monday is the unofficial end to summer .... where did it all go. Had a good ride today, felt almost like a fall day, except it was warmer than you get in the fall. This is a nice time of the year .. warm days and cool nights. The ride to Sakonnet was good today. The wind at your back, and hence in your face the whole way home. I took a different route than usual today, heading through some roads in Little Compton that I usually do not take. Traffic wasn't took bad, and therefore the ride was easy but enjoyable. Distance: 32.4 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 145, Ave Cadence: 66, Ave Speed: 17.3 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,186.7 miles
August 30, 2007: Off work this afternoon for a long holiday weekend. Nice to get a short break. It was a great day, a but windy, but perfect for getting out and riding a bit. I decided to head to Sakonnet Point where I haven't been in several weeks. I didn't burn up the road, but had some good spots and other spots where I was feeling like I never had ridden a bike. Anyway, into the wind there and into the wind on the way back .. lol .. always seems to be the case. Good ride. Distance: 28.0 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 145, Ave Cadence: 69, Ave Speed: 17.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,154.3 miles
August 29, 2007:Had an easy ride today. Not very motivated, long day at work, but it was nice and a ride was called for. In the end, was nice to be on the bike, but I have too many work things on my mind and am too tired to really concentrate ... so I ride easily and short and enjoy myself! Distance: 17.8 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 149, Ave Cadence: 70, Ave Speed: 18.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,126.3 miles
August 26, 2007:Took an easy ride this morning ... it could be real easy to slip into riding like this all the time. I probably need to kick it back up a little bit over the next few days if I am able to get out to ride. Today I went and rode a loop in Westport that almost got to Horseneck Beach, but stopped at Hotel Hill. I intentionally tried to limit my heart rate to between 130 and 150 so I really rode easily in some cases. It was getting arm and humid again ... in a few months we'll be wishing for weather like this. Now, I wish it would cool down again. Distance: 27.4 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 129, Ave Cadence: 68, Ave Speed: 16.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,108.5 miles
August 25, 2007: Boy has it been a long week at work. Very little exercise but on the other hand, very little rest either. I was able to get one very short run in this week, so I really needed to get on the bike since I am feeling fat and sluggish from the food last weekend and all week in meetings. It was a very back week fro junk food! This morning it was cool, windy and very humid, so I set off early before the heat came up. I'm pretty much done working hard on the bike this year at this point, so I had a really leisurely ride around town, never really getting too energetic. I felt alright for not having ridden for what feels like years! Distance: 24.4 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 138, Ave Cadence: 70, Ave Speed: 17.1 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,081.1 miles
August 17, 2007: As a prep ride for Mt Washington, Tom and I rode a loop that left the Condo in Bartlett, rode into town on Rt 302 , across Bear Notch, back down the Kangamangus Highway, and though Conway to Cathedral Ledge and then back to Bartlett. The climb over Bear Notch wasn't very difficult, (about 5 miles) but it was perfect considering we had a race the next day. The cool temperatures were nice, except we had to ride into a headwind for what felt like forever on the Kangamangus Highway. Luckily ut was mostly down hill. Note: Mt Washington was cancelled this year due to ice and high winds. I also bailed on the Century ride for the second year in a row due to cold weather this time. Distance: 41.1 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 146, Ave Cadence: 68, Ave Speed: 15.9 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,056.7 miles
August 16, 2007: Rode a very very easy and short ride in New Hampshire with Tom and Lino. We got a real late start and intended to head to Cathedral Ledge. We had to turn back due to darkness and a downpour. I was caught soaking wet! Distance: 7.2miles, Ave Heart Rate: 126, Ave Cadence: 51, Ave Speed: 11.0 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,015.6 miles
August 12, 2007: Had to force myself to get out and ride this morning. Still not overly motivated, but it was a decent ride. Rode down to Acoaxet, by the beach and returned home through Sodom Road in Westport. I'm feeling stronger than I did earlier in the year, but my stamina isn't there since I haven't been riding very much. I suspect I'll do alright on Washington, but I expect to suffer a bit and it will be important to keep focused as I get tired. Distance: 22.4 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 159, Ave Cadence: 71, Ave Speed: 19.8 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 2,008.4 miles
August 11, 2007: Got out around lunch time .. was cool, but not bad weather. I still don't feel much like riding, but need to do a bit. Looked at last year and I didn't ride much before Washington either. I think it's just too late in the year to train hard. Did a short ride today, too much else to do to spend all day on the bike. Felt alright. Distance: 15.3 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 157, Ave Cadence: 70, Ave Speed: 19.3 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,986.0 miles
August 9, 2007: Wow, it's been since Saturday since I was last on my bike. Feels like a lifetime and I didn't really ride to hard/far today either. I need to start getting some more miles logged. Next Saturday is Mt Washington and I feel unprepared. Now I know I can get to the top with no issues, but I'd like to no be crawling when I get there! Today was an easy ride, although I went hard on a couple of hills and was feeling alright for short periods of time. If I can get my miles in, I'll be OK. . Distance: 13.3 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 146, Ave Cadence: 68, Ave Speed: 18.9 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,970.7 miles
August 4 , 2007: Another Nice day our today .. cooler and a little less humid. I guess the humidity is supposed to break today. We'll see. I got out early and did a nice easy ride to Sakonnet Point and then back along the river to Bulgarmarsh and home. The center of Little Compton was a disaster as there was some sort of town fair or something going on .. cars and idiots everywhere. Good thing I wasn't heading back through there. It was nice at Sakonnet Point .. the new yacht club building is gigantic. So much for the small town atmosphere. Distance: 31.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 154, Ave Cadence: 71, Ave Speed: 18.8 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,957.4 miles
August 3 , 2007: Nice day our today .. very humid and warm. While these are not good days for being in the house, they are great for biking in my opinion. I rode to Acoaxet today and it's funny how when its hot and humid, the wind seems to not be as much an issue as during the spring when it's still chilly. There was a reasonable breeze, but that only helps to keep you cool. A good easy riding day. Distance: 23.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 150, Ave Cadence: 68, Ave Speed: 17.9 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,925.8 miles
July 29, 2007: Warm and Thunder Showers are around the corner. Decided to go riding late in the day. Just decided to slog around, not really riding hard. That lasted until the last 4 miles where I rode pretty hard to get in some hills. All in all, the Italy trip has done some good for my riding. No real effort and I had pretty good riding speed and average heart rate. Distance: 24.0 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 149, Ave Cadence: 73, Ave Speed: 19.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,902.2 miles
July 27, 2007: Rode for first time since being back. Felt good, but legs were a little stiff. Rode the regular Westport Loop. Distance: 21.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 163, Ave Cadence: 75, Ave Speed: 19.6 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,878.2 miles
July 9-22, 2007: The Italy Trip ... See Journals for details. Distance: 421.7 miles, Ave Heart Rate: N/A, Ave Cadence: N/A, Ave Speed: N/A mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,856.6 miles
July 7, 2007: Ah the infamous 7-7-7 ..... lol .. did a good short ride this AM, no data collection, no positive idea how far I went although its some where between 12 and 15 miles. Everything is packed, ready to go. See you in Italy! Distance: N/A miles, Ave Heart Rate: N/A, Ave Cadence: N/A, Ave Speed: N/A mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,413.4 miles
July 4, 2007: Happy 4th of July! Today I worked on my climbing bike and replaced brake pads, reset the brake settings, moved the GPS mount from the Madone to this bike and took it all for a test ride. I also have been having some knee pain, so I decided that since I really wasn't planning on a hard ride, I should try and adjust the seat to see if things got better. I headed out and immediately noticed that the wind was very strong today (16 with gusting). As a result, it was an interesting ride. i was blown sideways a could of times and it reminded me of riding on Mt Ventoux and mt Washington, except it was quite a bit warmer! I headed out on Crandall and took a left onto Narrow where I raised my seat about 1/8 of an inch and continues riding. Surprisingly, I noticed an immediate improvement. I continued on to sodom and after about 1 miles, I stopped and raised the seat another 1/8 inch. It still felt more comfortable so I road on to Adamsville where I turned toward Acoaxet. I decided to try one more time and I raised the seat on additional 1/8 of an inch increment and while I could still periodically feel a tightness, it was very very aperiodic and I felt pretty good. I didn't want to try another since I was getting close to full extension. I do have more room and will try a further raise if it bothers me in Italy. To complete the ride, I headed to the beach at Acoaxet, where it was gloomy and windy. It felt like rain which is definitely coming. After that, I returned home via Ole Stone Church and Lake to King and finally back to Crandall and home. All in all, OK, although I'd like t tweak on the front deraileur some. Tomorrow, I'll pack the bike and be done with it. . Distance: 21.5 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 137, Ave Cadence: 73, Ave Speed: 17.6 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,434.9 miles
July 3, 2007: Did another short ride today. Continuing to taper off my riding so as not to head into this trip with tired legs. Today was quite nice out. Still that wind that seems to never want to leave. Of course, when I get back from vacation, it'll probably be 100 degrees and no wind. Just when you want and need it, it will go away! Today headed out to Adamsville via Sodom Rd. From there, I headed up Stone Church Rd, taking a side trip get go up the hill on Fieldstone Ln. I continues until East Rd where I turned towards the river. When I reached Main Rd, I turned left and headed to Pond Bridge and then Neck which I followed until it turned into Seapowet. It was really nice down here .. hadn't come this way in a while due to winds, but I'm glad I did. It was a beautiful day on the Sakonnet River and I enjoyed it as I rode by. When I reached Main Rd, I continued until turning on Nanaquaket Rd which I followed around the pond and back to Main where I headed towards Bulgarmarsh. As I was waiting to make a left turn to go up the hill, I saw some kid trying to ride a mountain bike up the road. He had to stop about 100 feet up because it was too steep. I think he though I was crazy as I flew by him. Maybe that will inspire him to ride some more. Anyway, finished up heading down Crandall and home. Good ride. Tomorrow I'll get the climbing bike ready and take it for a test ride before packing on Thursday. Distance: 22.7 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 146, Ave Cadence: 66, Ave Speed: 18.4 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,413.4 miles
July 2, 2007: Warmer this afternoon, but the wind is stronger today than yesterday. Rode to Sakonnet Point and Axoaxet before coming home. Really felt great heading to Sakonnet Point .. wind at the back .. well over 20 mph with no effort. Almost felt like I was floating for a while. Then the ride back was a killer. Still didn't ride hard at all .. I'm into just riding slow easy miles now getting really for the bog adventure. No hard riding, no repeats, now bog hills at max speed. Al that is done and it is what it will be for fitness. Now its just keep the legs form getting rusty and try to get to the Ghisallo with fresh legs next Monday ..... I am definitely READY. . Distance: 34.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 142, Ave Cadence: 66, Ave Speed: 17.8 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,390.7 miles
July 1, 2007: Didn't feel much like riding today, but I went late afternoon despite cooler temps and a bit of the ever present wind. Rode alright but was bored and decided to keep it real real short. . Distance: 13.9 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 143, Ave Cadence: 67, Ave Speed: 18.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,356.1 miles
June 30, 2007: Well, one week away from the big trip and all seems well. Probably famous last words. Paul and I took off early this AM and did a loop to Lakeville. Started slowly and headed toward UMASS Dartmouh (Crnadall, Narrow, Charlotte Way, Drift, Old Westport). Then we headed towards Hixville (Cross, Hixville Road) before heading out to Lakeville through Freetown (Old Fall River, Collins Corner, Flag Swap, Quanapaug Braley Rd, Chase Rd, Mason, Middleboro and North Ave). From here, we too a left onto Braley Hill Rd which wasn't where I really wanted to go. i had intended on heading down to Marion Rd to come across Long Point, but oh well, this worked. After passing Assawompset Pond, we took a left onto Highland Rd and started the ride back home. We headed back to Hixville (Country, Chase, Braley, Quanapaug, Flag Swap, Collins Corner to Old Fall River Rd). This time we headed down Hixville Rd, but turned onto Reed Rd which we followed all the way back into Westport. Here we stopped at a small store so Paul could get some more water and then we came back to home (Drift, Charlotte Way, Sodom, Narrow and Crandall). All in all a good ride, easy tempo. Paul says he's READY, and so am I. I think Paul is in better shape than he's letting on ... we'll see for sure next week. The Animal ... who knows ... we know he's been rowing a lot .. not sure about how many rides he's been getting in. Truth be told, it doesn't matter as he'll be READY also and he'll be riding repeats waiting for Paul and I! Cadence was down as I was pushing big gears all ride to get ready for the little hills that await! Distance: 60.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 139, Ave Cadence: 62, Ave Speed: 17.1 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,342.2 miles
June 29, 2007:Cooler out today, and a bit less wind which was nice. Still not like riding in summer time yet. Well, still had a good ride, albeit short. Got home from work and ran out to get my ride in, should have delayed a bit as it was cloudy when I left and now it's nice and sunny. Headed out at a good rate to Sakonnet Point, nothing dramatic to report, just a good hard ride. Returned via Adamsville, decided against heading to the beach as Acoaxet due to chillily wind. Distance: 29.3 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 161, Ave Cadence: 65, Ave Speed: 19.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,281.6 miles
June 27, 2007: Not much to say today ..warm, humid day. Feeling a bit tired all week. Lots happening trying to get ready for the trip and work. My laptop died, so I needed to get a new one. Anyway, getting back to where I was. Finally made it our for another ride today, even though the heat kind of had me running on empty. Decided to do a nice easy ride and you can tell from the short distance and low average heart rate that I just didn't put in an effort today, but I did log some miles. Went to Acoaxet ad back ... no biggie. Tomorrow is another day. Distance: 21.5 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 136, Ave Cadence: 63, Ave Speed: 17.8 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,252.3 miles
June 24, 2007: Nice day today, cool in the AM, and the winds were light at the start. They did pick up again as the ride progressed. I had a real good ride and I decided that I was going to ride hard for 15-20 miles and then ride another 20-40 in tired mode. I did just that as I headed south and Crandall towards Adamsville From there, I headed towards Horseneck Beach, although I turned back north at the bottom of Hotel Hill and ride until Hix Bridge. Here I ran across three goofballs trying to ride in a pace line. WHen they could manage, they would ride at 23 mph, but they seemed to like riding in the middle of the road and seemed to be riding for King of the Mountain points at every little bump because the last place jackass always seemed to want to fan out into the middle of the road to try and pass the others .. then he'd fall back into this bad pace line formation. I was following because I really wasn't in the mood to race them. I followed these guys for about 2 miles until they were holding up traffic so badly I was concerned about getting hit. So on the road in Dartmouth back towards Horseneck Beach it attacked after a truck went by in a very dangerous spot. As I passed them I gave them looks that must have said WTF?? because they immediately tried to catch me. Now at three against one, there is no way I should have been able to stay away, but I did for over 5 miles. I buried myself to make sure they were not going to catch me. Every time I'd glance back around a corner, I could see them flailing away, but not closing. Finally, after I took a side loop that everyone takes, I looked back, about ready to bail and they were gone! Oh well, objective achieved .. 22 miles and I was cooked. I decided to ride through South Dartmouth, over by New Bedford and then come around by UMASS on Chase Lane. After this, I headed back down to Horseneck Beach and up Drift Road , Charlotte White and Sodom, which I took to the end. After struggling back to Adamsville, I decided to take a longer way home climbing one of my big hills, then heading out to Long Highway before turing home up Lake, King and back to Crandall. A good ride, I was tired, but soon after stopping felt energized again. A good sign, I am getting closer to being ready for Italy. Distance: 70.3 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 158, Ave Cadence: 64, Ave Speed: 18.8 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,230.8 miles
June 23, 2007: Yuck, another windy day ... was cold this morning, so I decided to mow the lawn before riding. After finishing that, I ate some lunch and set off towards Sakonnet Point by my normal route. it was a good ride because the wind was across and from my back. I was able to make some good time and set one of my fastest 5 mile increments at 22.5 average mph. Because the wind was partially at my back, that means I was going to be riding into the wind all the way home. I decided to mitigate that a bit by heading across town toward Acoaxet where it was a nice day at the beach. I noticed there were lots of cars acting stupidly out, so I tried to stay away from populated roads. Since I wanted to make at least 30 miles today, I swung home via Westport and Sodom Road where ran across some biking event that was full of fatties riding slow and hogging the whole road. Drives me nuts when they do that because all that does is get the cars pissed off at the rest of us who are out here every day. Anyway, there were dozens of them and I was irritated so I rode past them all at 23 mph into the wind. I was dying, but wasn't going to slow down and get stuck in that mess! I guess I've become a bike snob and just don't want to deal with the fat masses. I felt pretty good today despite the wind. Had it not been windy, I would have easily done a much longer ride. Went back to look at 2005 and while the total miles ridden is similar, I seem to be doing longer rides this year. I'll end up with 20-30% more miles than that month of June when I last went to France. Distance: 36.4 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 158, Ave Cadence: 67, Ave Speed: 18.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,160.5 miles
June 21, 2007: Long week this week, but it was nice to get out and do a longer ride mid week. I went to Paul's today where we rode to Ten Speed Spokes for their longest day of the year ride. Traffic was pretty bad today so Paul took us out towards Second Beach before looping back towards First beach on Memorial Ave and into downtown Newport to get to the shop. Paul and I were concerned about weather and finishing before dark which we almost didn't do last year. In order to increase our odds, we went out an a break away right off the bat. The ride heads out from Newport Spokes, down America's Cup to Thames and thorough Newport to Wellington Ave where you head out towards Breton Point. It was nice to get out of Newport, so we kept riding thorough Halondon to Harrison, to Ridge and finally out to Ocean Ave. It was a great day out there, winds blowing, kites flying and all storms seeming to be pushing out towards the west. As we headed around Ocean Ave, we were almost hit by a Fire Engine and Ladder Truck that can racing around from the other direction. But we were still out on a break, so it was a good day. As we headed up Bellevue past the mansions, we were trying figure out when we'd be caught be the group. We took a right on Sheppard Ave and rode through Salve Regina University. There was almost a disaster in the breakaway when a coed in tight blue sweats walked into the road, but due to our professionalism, we were able to hold it together and commented that we'd have been goners if the Animal was riding with us! With that distraction passed we continued done Annondale Rd past Paul's buddies house who was sitting on his porch, unable to ride due to a sciatic nerve problem. When we reached Memorial Drive we drove on towards First beach, past the Atlantic Beach Club and out towards Second Beach on Tuckerman's Ave. By this time we had built quite a lead on the peloton and wondered how in the world we were holding out for so long. As we headed past Second Beach on Sachuset Point Rd and were trying to turn left onto Hanging Rocks Rd, another carload of beach goers offered a distraction and we had to fight hard to maintain focus and drive. As we headed on Indian Ave, it was clear we'd be away for a while so we watered up and ate some gels as we admired the views of Tiverton across the river. After a left on Old Mill and a right on Wappinger Lane, we had to dodge a moving van and we started calculating when our break would be caught by the pack. My projection was in Island Park, but that was a ways off yet. A left on Sandy Point brought us to our first challenge of the day, the sprints points on East Main road ... basically, survive the print in East Main through traffic and you can continue on your ride! Luckily we survived and headed across on Union to Middle road were we too a brief rest stop for fuel and water. Since we were still away, we decided to motor on and soon we were back on East Main powering on towards the northern tip of the Island and Island Park. To get there we headed down Church Ln onto Water street, then atlantic and finally Aquidnick Ave before popping out into Island Park on Park Ave, Point Rd and finally Hummock Ave were we collected our bonus points swinging under Rt 24 and heading back for home along the West side of the Island. Amazed that we were still away after 50K. we powered on along Anthony Road and onto Boyd's Lane where I sprinted away from Paul to claim the Mountain Points before plunging downhill towards the Mt Hope Bridge where we looped under the on-ramp and headed back on Bristol Ferry Rd. At this point I couldn't believe we'd been away for some long so I kept looking for the peloton over my shoulder as surely they had to be bearing down on us now. Soon we took a right onto West Main where Paul yelled for me to go and grab the last of the King of the Mountain points again, so I sprint4dup the hill and collected them all and then decided that i was going to go at it alone for a while. At this point, I went all out with the goal of getting to the Mellville Housing area and the start of Burma Road before being overtaken. I was desperate for more TV time for the sponsors, so even though I was suffering, I raced on. Paul tried to stay attached, but fell back until I decided that I couldn't survive along and waited for my team mate to catch up on Burma Road. Amazed that we were still alone, we rocked down the big hill to the hairpin on the bay and then turned for home, racing past NUWC with me collecting the final King of the Mountain points outside the front gate. It was here that I turned and saw the leaders from the peloton finally closing in on us after 65K. Disheartened, we raced trough navy housing and tried to hold our spots on the podium which looked promising until a pickup truck vectored Paul into a harmless storm drain. Harmless until he flatted outside Mama Leonie's pizza joint just within sight of the 3 K to go banner. As we fixed the flat, more riders passed and after the stem broke of Paul's replacement tube, I gave him mine. As he was fixing the second spare tube, the main group (including some guy named Matuszak) passed and our goose wa cooked! All in all a good day, we got home just before dark and had a good ride around the island. ... Oh and how did we get on a break for so long you ask????? Well I cant lie ... we started 30 minutes ahead of everyone because we didn't feel like handing around until they got done screwing around like they do every year! Anyway, it was a blast and I suspect we'll do it again next year. Distance: 50.7 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 140, Ave Cadence: 63, Ave Speed: 16.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,124.1 miles
June 16, 2007: Woke up to some pretty dense fog this AM, but the temperature wasn't too bad. I had to meet Paul down by the river at 0800, so I decided to leave home about 0730 to ensure I wasn't late. just as I was leaving, the sun came out and the fog started to burn off. I felt a bit tight from yesterdays ride, but the longer I went, then looser I started to feel. I got downtown a bit early, so I decided to detour up Howland Rd and do some hill repeats. I found out that the normal hill that i do these on (Middle Ave) is about 15% on the bottom and it levels out to about 9-10% near the gazebo. I decided to ride a loop to kill a few more minutes and noticed that Nicholson Place seemed to be pretty steep. After riding, I observed that it is pretty much 18% the whole way. Both these hills are short, only about 1/10 of a mile. After meeting Paul, we headed off south towards Sakonnet Point. At about the half way point, the fog was starting to get thick and the sun went away. As a result, we aborted heading to the point and decided to head inland on Meetinghouse Lane. After getting to the center of Little Compton, we headed south again and ended up at Acoaxet, we the clouds were still around with a little fog. We headed into Adamsville from here, then into Westport before heading back into Tiverton on Narrow Ave. We finished with a side trip down King and up Brayton where Paul headed back into town to get to his car and I headed home on Bulgarmarsh to Crandall. Distance: 41.2 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 132, Ave Cadence: 61, Ave Speed: 16.4 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1,073.4 miles
June 16, 2007:Rode a ride that was created by the Narragansett Bay Wheelman called Killingly Killer. They describe the ride as having "vicious hills, thrilling descents, magnificent rural countryside and excellent roads. Well, for this part of the country, I agree. The climbs on Cook Hill and Breakneck Hill Road were good climbs and descents. The climb on North Road was downright respectable topping out at 17-18% for a short stretch with extended periods of 10-11% sections. This hill lasted about 1 to 1.5 miles??? I really wasn't paying too much attention. There really was some nice scenery on this ride and the roads were pretty good although there were some rough spots. I saw some deer, almost was killed by a squirrel (made the mistake of cutting between him and the closer side of the road!). The traffic was very light with the exception of one or two times. Also, from the ridge on Baily Hill Road, you get a nice view looking towards RI to the east and central CT to the west. Anyway, here is the link for the Wheelman's Killingly Killer ride. All together, as bad as I felt riding yesterday, I felt that good today. I pretty much hammered up almost all the climbs at a respectable 10 mph and averaged 17.1 for the entire 31 miles including the 2100+ feet of climbing. I'd ride this route again in a heartbeat and it is a great training ride for Italy which is coming up quickly!!. Distance: 31.9 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 159, Ave Cadence: 63, Ave Speed: 17.1 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1032.2 miles
June 15, 2007:Not much to say today .. weather finally returned to late spring like from the cold early spring weather this past week has brought. I didn't get out of work early enough so I go a late start on my ride. The combination of being sluggish from not riding all week and the long draining work week showed itself big time in my ride. I actually dragged myself around the ride today, no energy, feeling blah, and not able to put out very much effort. As a result, I had a very sow pace, but at least i got out for a ride. I ride south to Acoaxet, then looped through Little Compton. The wind was down quite a bit, but still present. Tomorrow is another day! I cracked 1000 miles for the year today! Hurray. Distance: 30.5 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 157, Ave Cadence: 65, Ave Speed: 17.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 1000.3 miles
June 10, 2007: Well it's still a bit windy out, but in general, it turned out to be a beautiful day. I got out to cut the lawn early as soon as the sun came out and when I was done, it had warmed up enough for a comfortable ride. I didn't know how far I was going to go today, but because I didn't feel real motivated due to the weather, I only brought 1 bottle and enough food for about a 1 1/2 hour ride. In other words .. not really anything at all. When I got going I felt pretty good and decided on a nice easy ride towards Horseneck beach with a decision mid way on where to go. I ended up doing my first Tour de South Dartmouth for this year and really only stopped because I didn't have enough food or water to go further. I headed out towards the breach, but decided against actually going there due to expect big winds (Crandall, Narrow, Sodam, Adamsville, Cornell, Main, Hotel Hill). At Hotel Hill, I decided to head back north and cut across Hix Bridge and then to South Dartmouth (Drift, Hix Bridge, Horseneck, Rock o Dundee, Potomska, and Little River). It was really nice in South Dartmouth today, but I opted out of some additional riding to the beaches to try to cut out the wind. Up to now, a majority of the ride had been into the wind. Things got easier as I headed back north a bit into Dartmouth and back to Westport (Smith Neck, Gulf, Bakerville,Russels Mills, Chase Lucy Little, Old Westport, Old Country). Here is where I decided to just come home verses continue on as I was running low on food and water. So I did (Drift, Charlotte Way, Sodom, Narrow, Crandall and home). Funny, I had a craving for Potato Salad all the while I was in South Dartmouth ... so now I'm making Potato Salad to eat with dinner tonight. All in all, a good medium-long ride and I had no real issues other than a sire neck and back. The good news is those didn't start acting up until almost 40 miles.. Distance: 46.2 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 153, Ave Cadence: 66, Ave Speed: 18.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 969.8 miles
June 8, 2007: Got home, windy still, started ride, fog, cold, tired of riding in this crap! Oh well, go again tomorrow. The only good news is I seem to have lost all the weight I gained drinking pints in the UK. Distance: 18.9 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 143, Ave Cadence: 64, Ave Speed: 16.8 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 923.6 miles
June 6, 2007:Well, turned out to be a nice day today with the exception of the wind. It's getting very old riding into the wind every day. It wouldn't be so bad if you could predict the direction, but it always seems to come from all directions around here! I headed to Horseneck Beach via a modified route (Crandall to Adamsville, Adamsville Road, Cornell, Maim, RT 88. to John Reed Road.) I next followed along the beach in Westport on East Beach Road and turned on Horseneck Road to head north. Here it felt like I turned headlong into a gale, which isn't a good feeling 15 miles form home.... all up wind. Anyway, I had no choice but to continue and detoured along Division to White Oak Run and Fisher eventually coming out on Old Westport Rd near UMASS Dartmouth. I turned towards town and continued until I took a left onto Drift where the wind eased a bit. When I reached Charlotte White, it was blowing so hard it was hard to make an effort to move forward, but I persevered and reached Sodom, then Narrow and back to Crandall fro the ride home. Surprisingly I had a very string ride with a decent average speed considering the conditions. Distance: 30.7 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 160, Ave Cadence: 72, Ave Speed: 19.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 904.7 miles
June 5, 2007: Not the best of weather today, although it could have been much much worse. Finished up my meetings on time today so I came right home and got on the bike sine it looked like it was going to storm. It was pretty windy and cool, although in hindsight, it wasn't realty that bad out. It did get tedious riding intro the wind since it was swirling and there was no true direction. There is nothing worse than riding past a flag that is hanging lip yet feeling like you are riding into a Noreaster. Just for the record, the winds are 14 gusting to 21 right now. Anyway, I headed out with the intention of doing an easy ride which I did. Went towards Sakonnet Point on Lake and Long Highway except rather than turing towards the point on my normal route, I went down Long Highway and headed towards Acoaxet on Mullin Hill and then back towards Adamsville on Old Harbor Road. Once I got into Adamsville, I decided to test my legs on the hill on Cold brook Rd. I was impressed as I climbed out of the saddle though the switchback in the big chain ring. Not bad since it is about 11 percent here. I rode hard to the top and felt pretty good. I then cut back over Old Stone Church to Stone Church road into Adamsville and back up Crandall all the way home. Good short ride. Distance: 19.3 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 151, Ave Cadence: 70, Ave Speed: 18.8 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 874.0 miles
June 3, 2007: It was supposed to be raining this morning, so I quickly ran out to ride early when I saw the showers were hanging up across a line from Providence to Plymouth. I couldn't ride with Paul since I needed to be around for a grocery delivery this AM. All in all, I had a pretty good ride and rode it like a time trial ... although I did slack off a bit at two different spots. Once to eat and once when I was cooling down in the last 2 miles of the ride. I headed towards Horseneck Beach via the normal route (Crandall, Narrow, Sodom, Adamsville, Cornell, Main) and was making real good time when I hit Hotel Hill. I averaged about 21 mph for this first section. Next I crossed RT 88 and headed back up Drift and Charlotte White where I slowed a bit to eat an energy bar. It was a pretty dry and since I was breathing pretty heavy, I was having trouble eating and breathing all at the same time. The traveling to England and back has my sinuses all messed up from the smoking in the pubs and the different things in bloom. Anyway, after reaching Sodom I headed back over part of the route to get into Adamsville, where I went through the village and headed up Old Stone Church road towards home. I wanted to ride further, but I needed to get home in case the groceries were early. I headed back up Lake to King and then Crandall to Woodland Circle and home. I slowed a bit on the second part of the ride, but still finished with a strong ride. As I was poking along King, a guy came screaming past me on his bike, Since I usually don't like being passed like that, I sprinted a bit and caught him at the base of the little climb heading to Crandall. It's short, only about a 1/4 mile, but I enjoyed riding up to him on the climb, slowing down and apologizing to not liking being passed and then rode on as he was struggling to try and not let me rode away. He looked like a good rider all dressing in a team kit, so I always enjoy making those guys work to keep with me. He held even as we hit Crandall and I wished him a good ride as I was heading home now. Distance: 28.7 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 162, Ave Cadence: 71, Ave Speed: 19.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 854.7 miles
June 2, 2007: Finally got back on the bike today after being in England all this past week. Was hard to get going after eating all the meat pies, desert and ummm, yeah quite a few pints. Anyway, it was warm today and because I needed to pick up my mail. I didn't get a ride in until lunch time. Just decided to go easy since it had been over a week since I've been on the nike. I ended up heading to Sakonnet Point via the normal route and headed back via Swamp, Maple, William Scission, Long Highway, Lake, King Crandall and back home to Woodland. Nothing too eventful except it was a beautiful day A few jerky kids out that almost got run over by a car and then almost hit me while riding their skateboards. Anyway, good first ride after a week off and now I need to get cracking for Italy! Distance: 28.0 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 158, Ave Cadence: 72, Ave Speed: 18.8 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 826.0 miles
May 25, 2007: Well the weather is definitely finally warming up, I guess it was going to happen eventually. Temperature is 85 here at 4:21, but it was as high as the upper 80s to near 90 earlier. After yesterday's hard ride, I decided I needed more time riding in the heat, so I decided to head out this afternoon for an easy ride. On a good note, my legs were tired from yesterday, but not completely dead as I thought they might be. still, after yesterday's ride, a recovery day was warranted. I set out to Sakonnet Point, but really kept the tempo down as you can tell from my ave heart rate and speed. I headed by the normal route (Crandall, King, Cornell, Deer Run, Brayton, King, Lake, Long Highway, Tompkins Ave, Burchard, Peckham, Willow, Meeting House, West Main, and Sakonnet Point) I started to feel pretty good after about 6 miles, but kept with the plan on a nice slow long ride. After leaving Sakonnet Point, I headed to the beach ( Sakonnet Point, West Main, Swamp, Long Pasture, Shaw and South Shore) Was nice and cool towards the water so I decided to head to Acoaxet before heading home (South Shore, John Sission, Long Highway, Pottersville, Mullin Hill, Howland and Atlantic). It was a really nice day to be at the beach, but I had a bit of an annoying saddle sore, so I decided to head home (Acoaxet, River Road, Westport Harbor Road, Adamsville Road, Crandall, Bucks Way and back onto Woodland Circle). A good recovery ride considering yesterdays long day. . Distance: 34.9 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 129, Ave Cadence: 71, Ave Speed: 16.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 798.0 miles
May 24, 2007: Rode Vermont Ascutney-Okemo Loop. 6500 feet climbing. . Distance: 61.22 miles, Ave Heart Rate: XXX, Ave Cadence: 63, Ave Speed: 12.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 763.1 miles
May 22, 2007: This was a Plagues and Locusts day on the South Coast. I worked like crazy to get home from work on time today to get a ride in and I was fouled at every corner. I first ran into traffic on West Main Road in Portsmouth, so I cut across the Island which usually gets around any trouble, Turns out there was an accident on East Main Road that had everything on the north end of the Island gummed up. After sitting on Middle Road for quite a while, we were vectored back over to West Main were after an hour, I finally made it onto Rt 24 and entered Tiverton. As I was heading up Blgarmarsh Road towards the house, I was passed by half of Tiverton's Fire Department. Turns out the little shop that sells Stihl Chainsaws across from the Dunkin Donuts was smoking and there seemed to be a fire burning. I got through without much difficulty and arrived home. I immediately jumped on my bike and headed towards Sakonnet Point. It was a beautiful day with just a little wind and while I was late riding, I had a pretty good day. It takes me about and hour and half to an hour 45 to make the round trip to Sakonnet Point. As I was returning home, I saw a smoke cloud billowing towards the sky. ALtering my route home to go back past the Chainsaw store, I was surprised what I saw. The place was in flames almost 2 hours after I went past the first time ... all the oil in the wood must have been burning. It was like a three ring circus ... Police, Fire Department, half the town standing around, News Helicopters flying around .... Living in a small town can be a lot of fun. Anyway, in hindsight ... I probably shouldn't have ridden with all the PLagues and Locusts invading the Southcoast!!!! Distance: 32.0 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 164, Ave Cadence: 71, Ave Speed: 19.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 701.9 miles
May 20, 2007: Rode Westport Loop. Distance: 25.2 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 160, Ave Cadence: 74, Ave Speed: 18.9 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 669.9 miles
May 14, 2007: Pretty nice day today, although it's a little bit windy. Why is it I always feel like I'm riding into the wind around here. It was so nice on Saturday riding in warm, not windy weather. Anyway, today I got home form work and rushed out onto the bike. Decided to ride a short ride, but to ride hard Time Trial style. I picked what I call my Westport Route to ride. This route heads from home, heads toward Horseneck Beach and then back (Crandall, Narrow, Sodom, Adamsville, Cornell, Main, Drift, Charlotte Way, Sodom, Narrow, Crandall and home). While I felt like I was riding into the wind all day, I rode fairly strong averaging 20 mph for the ride. My 5 mile increments were: 20.57, 20.57, 21.43, 18.75, and the last 1.6 miles were 18.46. Overall, a very good ride for me. Distance: 21.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 162, Ave Cadence: 73, Ave Speed: 20.0 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 644.7 miles
May 12, 2007: Hampden Mass Ride.4721 feet climbing. Distance: 44.1 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 163, Ave Cadence: 63, Ave Speed: 14.5 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 623.1 miles
May 9, 2007: Tried to leave work early today as it was pretty nice out, but I didn't get out as early as I'd like. Anyway, I did get home a bit early and set out for a ride. Intended to ride longer today, but the weather started turning. I left home and decided I'd head towards Acoaxet (Crandall, King, Cornell, Deer Run, Brayton, King, Lake, Stone Church). When I reached Main Street in Adamsville, I decided to get an extra climb in so I rode up the hill on Cold Brook and cut back across Old Stone Church back to Stone Church). When I got back to Main I continued along towards Acoaxet (Old Harbor, Howland, Altantic). As I neared Atlantic Ave, I could see the fog was creeping in and it was socked pretty good along Atlantic Ave. That meant the temperature dropped pretty good too. I decided to continue along my ride toward Sakonnet Point (River, Cross, Old Harbor, Mullin Hill, Long Highway, John Sisson, Brownell, Swamp). When I reached Main Road, it was clear the fog was coming in quick, so I shortened my ride and started heading back home (Main, Meeting House, Willow Peckham, Burchard, Tompkins, Log Highway, Lake, King, Crandall and Woodland Circle). It cleared up the further north I rode, but at that point I was heading in so the ride was over. I was following a Schwan's Ice Cream truck on King Road when he went over a bump and a box of ice cream cones fell off his back bumper ... seriously, I wasn't riding hard enough to be delusional! I should have stopped and carried the ice cream home, but I was having too much fun climbing one of my favorite hills and decided to not go back. Oh, I took a side trip across Blueberry Lane to ride that hill on the way home. Distance: 32.8 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 163, Ave Cadence: 72, Ave Speed: 18.3 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 579.0 miles
May 7, 2007: Didn't get home from work as early as I'd hoped today, so it was a little cooler than I had hoped. i still went for a short ride, doing the normal loop I call the Westport Loop. Basically I head out from home, and do a loop towards Horseneck Beach and back (Crandall, Narrow, Sodom, Adamsville, Cornell, Main, Drift, Charlotte White, Sodom, Narrow, Crandall, and Woodland Circle), Nothing special and I'd hoped to ride a bit more, but with the hour getting late, the sun started to get lower in the sky and the wind was getting colder with each minute of the ride. Supposed to be warmer tomorrow. Distance: 21.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 163, Ave Cadence: 72, Ave Speed: 19.3 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 546.2 miles
May 5, 2007: Finally the weather cooperated and I rode for the first time with Paul today. I left home a little early and rode just shy of 15 miles before meeting him at the normal soft on the waterfront in Tiverton. It was a nice morning and I even saw a Baltimore Oriole over on Seapowet Road. I headed south and rode my along the Sakonnet River (Crandall, King, Cornell, Deer Run, Brayton, King, Lake, East, south on Main, Pond Bridge, Neck, Seapowet, Main, Nanaquoket, and Main) and found Paul waiting along the side of the road at our 0930 meeting time. I decided we'd ride over in Dartmouth a bit, so we headed that way, getting away form the Sakonnet River where it was still a bit cool ( Main, Bulgarmarash, Brayton, Crandall, Narrow, Sodom, Adamsville, main and across Hix Bridge). I felt pretty good and although we were riding pretty easy to log some miles, I worked hard on the hills. I'm happy with how I'm feeling fit when I'm going up hill The Georgia trip really helped there. We stopped briefly as Paul dropped his chain by the dump in Westport, but we were off again heading into Dartmouth (Hix Bridge, Division, (small diversion on Fisherville Ln) and Horseneck). Soon we were at Hoeseneck Beach where it was getting windy and a bit cooler. I was still feeling pretty good, but my knees were starting to ache an bit. After passing the beach, we started heading home (John Reed Road, Rt 88, Drift, Charlotte White, Sodom, Adamsville, Stone Church, East, Lake, and Brayton.) At this point, I headed left towards home and Paul headed right back towards his car. (Bulgarmarsh, Crandall, Bucks and Woodland Circle). All in all it was a good ride and my longest of the year, ticking in at right around 60 miles depending it you believe my GPS or cycle computer. This ride is the equivalent to what we'll be riding in Italy and France in a few months.One big exception ... no mountains here! lol. Distance: 59.6 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 148, Ave Cadence: 68, Ave Speed: 16.7 mph, Cumulative Year Miles: 524.6 miles
April 30, 2007: Did A good ride after work. It was very windy, hard riding. Didn't feel like writing about it so I didn't! Distance: 30.42 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 141, Ave Cadence: 71, Ave Speed: 17.6 mph
April 29, 2007: Well, looks like today might turn out to be weather wise than yesterday, which it was until the clouds came in towards the end of my ride. Glad I decided to head out once the roads dried rather that waiting until Liege Bastogne Liege was finished. I also fixed my garage door before heading out. One of the tension pulleys has bearings that were completely shot. I found a nut in the driveway Friday AM, and I wondered where it came from and when it would bit me back. We'll that was it. Anyway, I exchange a pulley with the second garage door and all seems to be OK. I'll just get a replacement for that door ASAP. So since the weather was looking up today, I decided to make my first run to Sakonnet Point, which I did in a very fast time of 40:11 fro the 14.5 miles. When I ride this route, I always treat the first part of the ride as a time trial. I headed to Sakonnet Point via ( Crandall, King, Cornell, Deer, Brayton, King, Lake, Long Hwy, Tomkins Lane, Burchard Ave, Peckham, and Willow) Little Compton Center and then to the Point (via Meeting House, Main and Sakonnet Point Road). It was a good ride and there were lots of riders out. I turned around and made my way back up Sakonnet Point and Main road to Tiverton where I took a side loop along the river that included a trip to Fogland Beach (Pond Bridge, Fogland, Neck, Seapowet, Main, Nanaquoket, back to Main, Bulgarmarsh, Crandall, Bucks way to Woodland Circle and home). I couldn't actually visit Fogland Beach as the entrance was flooded over still from the storms. All in all, a good ride and i decided to not push too hard this early in the year. Distance: 34.2 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 158, Ave Cadence: 69, Ave Speed: 18.9 mph
April 28, 2007: Man am I getting tired of these cold weather rides. Was supposed to go riding with Paul today, but we both decided to cancel this AM when it looked like the fog was going to hang around and the temperatures were pretty chili. Well about 10:30, the sun burned through, so I decided to get out and ride for a bit. Well you have to love this New England weather .. sunny and warming up at my house, but as I headed towards the beach, it was cloudy, cool, misty and fogged in at the very coastline. The day started poorly also as when I was closing my garage door, I heard a loud bang. Hmm, that cant be good, and it wasn't. The pulley on the spring for the garage door tension spring snapped, so now that is something else I need to get fixed. Another fine day! Well I headed out deciding to do a series of loops, the first being the loop towards Horseneck Beach ( Crandall, Narrow, Sodom, Adamsville, Cornell, Main, Drift, Charlotte White and back to Sodom). Rather than head home after reaching Sodom, I continues back towards Adamsville and did one of the loops to Acoaxet (Sodom, Adamsville, Old Harbor, Howland, Atlantic, RIver, Cross, Old Harbor, Mullin Hill, and John Dyer which I took back into Adamsville). I was pretty cold by this point because as cod as it was towards Horseneck Beach, it even colder down at the Beach in Acoaxet. The Noreaster we had last week did a lot of damage to the dunes down there and obviously the water had come across the road as there was sand everywhere. There were also obvious erosion spots in the dunes where the ocean had cut through. Even though I was cold and betting tired, I decided to do one more loop since it was getting nicer as I headed away from the shore. I heading up Cold Brook and decided to do a loop near the Sakonnett River in Tiverton (East, Neck, Seapowet, Main, Nanaquoket, back to Main, Bulgarmarsh, Crandall, Bucks way to Woodland Circle and home). Wouldn't you know it as I started up Seapowet Road, the sun came out bright and shiny. Now that I was cold and tired, the weather was great in this part of town. Oh well, it was a good ride. A little slower than I though it might have been due to cold and achy muscles! Distance: 45.2 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 165, Ave Cadence: 66, Ave Speed: 18.6 mph
April 26, 2007: Had a rough day at work doing mundane things so I rushed home to get a short ride in. Was a little colder than I had hoped, but I need to keep the momentum from Georgia going. Headed out south towards Adamsville and took a left onto King Street and then another right in the neighborhood on Cornell Road, Deer Run, Brayton Road and back to King onto Lake Road where I was riding into the wind and feeling cold. My knees hate the cold so I was feeling pretty sluggish today. By the time I reached East Road I knew it was going to be a short day so I decided to head down Stone Church Road towards Adansville. When I reached the bottom of the hill, I hung a right and climbed the curves up Cold Brook Road and onto Old Stone Church Road where I headed back towards East Road and Lake/King Streets to get back home. Short ride, weather was too chili and while I was riding pretty well when I get home, I was too stiff and afraid I might injury myself sue to the cold. Distance: 13.1 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 152, Ave Cadence: 71, Ave Speed: 18.9 mph
April 24, 2007: After taking a couple of days off after the Georgia trip, it was a beautiful day today so I decided to get out and ride. Turns out I decided to take a longer ride than I normally do after work. I left home and headed out towards Adamsville and took the normal side trip along Narrow Ave to Sodom Road and finally almost into Adamsville on Adamsville Road. I decided to head towards Horseneck Beach so I took a left onto Cornell Road and Main Road until I headed down Hotel Hill and Rt 88. It was considerably colder as I passed the state beach and headed along the water on John Read Road. As I reached the end of the beach, I headed up Horseneck Road and noticed I was heading into a pretty stiff wind which is normal for this area, Since I had decided to take a long ride, I headed over to Division road and followed that all the way until I crossed Gidley Road and finally reached Fischer road and Old County Road. I was getting a bit tired as I hadn't eaten much today but I decided to stick with the plan so when I reached Pine Hill Road, I headed back towards the beach. I don't know why it always seems that you are riding into the wind around here, but while I had thought I'd be riding somewhat down wind on the ride to the beach, the entire trip down Horseneck Road seemed to be into the wind again. This time, it was even colder at the beach, so I rode hard to get back towards the state park and the safety of the mainland. When I reached the light on Rt 88, I took a right onto Drift ROad and started to really suffer a bit as the long ride and cold had my back aching. It;s still early in the year for this type of ride. I persevered and finally reached Charlotte White Way which signaled I was close to home. As I climbed the short hill, I noticed I was feeling pretty wiped and also that the light was green, so by the time I reached it, it would surely be red again. It was, so I slowed and started to unclip, when I committed my yearly embarrassing act of falling over on my bike at a red light. It always seems that it happened at this light too since there are always people there. I cut my knee and have a few scrapes, but really no problems. When the light turned green and I stopped swearing, I remounted the bike and rode on with some new energy up Charlotte White Way, onto Sodom Road, Narrow Road and finally back home. Long Rode, but I felt good once I got here and I seem to have cured the aches and pains from the past few days. Distance: 47.2 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 163, Ave Cadence: Unknown (no sensor yet), Ave Speed: 18.9 mph
March 31, 2007: Well, been a good year for getting out early even if it has been a little chili. Was about 48 degrees today but while I'm tired of wearing the cold weather gear, it's nice to be off the trainer. Today I'm hampered with a pretty solid head cold, so I didn't work too hard and came home as soon as it started to get too cold. Left home and headed towards Adamsville, but rather than continue as usual, I took a left onto King and then did a loop on Cornell, Deer Run and Brayton before returning back to King. I do this loop through the neighborhood to add an extra mile but it also gets me off some rough road on King Road. While riding down Lake Road, I came up an a group of kids who I think thought they were riding real fast. I think I surprised them as I flew past doing about 22 mph. I continued across eAst Road and rods on Long Highway until I reached Cold Brook Road. Here after some traffic passed, I took a left onto Cold Brook Road and headed into Adamsville. Cold Brook ROad is in terrible shape with rough and broken asphalt, so it's not a great ride. When I reached John Dyer Road, I decided to take a left and head toward Acoaxet Beach. The little hill at the start of John Dyer Road peaks our between 15% and 16%, so while short, it's a nice climb. I road down John Dyer until the end where i took a left on Mullin Hill Road which runs into Old harbor Road. From here I took a left onto Howland Road until it ended at Atlantic Road where I reached the ocean. At least it must have, because my altimeter read 0 feet! It was pretty cold at the each today and as such, it was very quite with just a few old timers sitting at the beach club watching the world go by. After riding past the beaches, i took a left onto River Road and a left onto Cross Road and headed back towards Old harbor Road which I took all the way back into Adamsville. I got a good running start on the big downhill and peaked at 33 mph as I ht the flats at the bottom. I took a right on Main Street and heading into Westport on Adamsville Road until I reached Sodom ROad where I took a left. This is a nice area to ride as its all corn fields and cow pastures. I made some good time up here as its a slight downhill ride, so I pushed pretty good running between 27 and 28 mph for a good stretch. When I reached Narrow Road, I turned left and headed back into Tiverton where I took a right on Crandall and headed for home and the finishing loop around Woodland Circle. Distance: 25.0 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 151, Ave Cadence: Unknown (no sensor yet), Ave Speed: 17.6 mph
March 27, 2007: Lucked out and was able to bolt from my meeting in Tewksbury MA early today. When I got home, I found the weather around here not as nice as it was up there. I should have brought my bike up like I had though ... anyway, I was lucky enough to get a ride in today. Rode a variation of my normal loop heading south then over to Narrow Road, down Sodom Road and back down into Adamsville where after climbing the hill on Old Harbor Road, I doubled back towards Horseneck Beach and then back along Drift Road, along Charlotte White Way and then back home after the clouds went from cold and gray to intimidating and dark. I had some good speed today and was surprised at the number of riders out seeing it was still pretty chili. Distance: 24.2 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 159, Ave Cadence: Unknown (no sensor yet), Ave Speed: 19.2 mph
March 25, 2007: Procrastinated all day about whether to go out and ride due to temperature, finally divided about 17:00 to go do it even though it was only 47 degrees. Of course, as soon as I went, the sun disappeared, just my luck. Decided to a short ride, just happy to be out an about. Headed south on Crandall Road into Adamsville. I normally try to Tome Trial this section of road since it's predominantly a negative slope. Decided after I was a mile or so in to give it a go. Took a left in Adamsville and headed up the switchback on Cold Brook Road, this time continuing along the road after cresting the hill and running until taking a left onto Long Highway. I followed Long Highway back into Tiverton and took a left onto East Road heading towards the river on Neck Road after passing thorough Tiverton Four Corners. Since it was chili, I decided to head for home so I turned left onto Seapowet Ave running past the inlet, the bird sanctuary and up to Main Road where I took a left turn. Since Main Road can be pretty busy, I generally bear left at Nanaquacket Road which I did today. I like this stretch since it has a slight uphill slope (4%) and it's a good workout when you are tired. After looping around back to Main Road, I took a right and headed towards a fun hill on Bulgarmarsh Road. The hill from Main road up Bulgarmarsh is pretty long for this area and is steep too hitting 9%-11% just before evening off by Susan Lane to about 4%. It then kicks up to about 8% for a short while before reaching the top where you get a nice decent past Fish Road, Sandford and Sons Junk Yard (yes that is what it is called!) and then heading back up to the light at Bulgarmarsh and Brayton Road. Today I continued on until reaching the light at Bulgarmarsh and Crandall Road where I turned right heading back toward home and my customary loop around Woodland Circle to finish the ride. Not the best ride, but at least I logged some miles and found out that my new Gortex rain jacket works great in shielding wind in this weather also. Distance: 19.9 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 156, Ave Cadence: Unknown (no sensor yet), Ave Speed: 17.1 mph
March 24, 2007: Finally was able to get out on the bike once again, although it was a little chili at 49 degrees. Still too cold to ride in anything but cold weather gear .. looking forward to the Tour de Georgia in a few weeks. Should be warm weather riding for a change. Today I decided to test out a couple of new pieces of gear that I bought. First, my Garmin Vista Cx GPS has a well documented problem with the batteries coming loose on bumpy rides. Foolish design, they should have known better! Anyway, the RAM mount that I use on my motorcycle works well, so I decided to try it in my bicycle. As it turns out, it passed with flying colors as I had no battery incidents in almost a 2 hour ride. Second, I bought a new Polar CS600 computer. It cost quite a bit, but it has some neat new features like calculating the instantaneous slope of hills. Quite cool if you are into those things like I am. Still learning to use the dozens of functions and displays, but the initial feedback is good! On today's ride, I didn't really have a plan, just tried to ride a bit. Left the house and headed south on Crandall Road. Had to stop and put my hat on because while it didn't feel real cold standing still, the wind chill on my ears was very bad. Anyway, hat on, I continued and took a left onto Narrow Ave and a right onto Sodom Road in Westport after that. Felt pretty good even if I wasn't really working too hard. After reaching the end of Sodom Road, I headed back towards Adamsville on Adamsville Road and decided to check out my climbing legs on Old Harbor Road. Now, you really can't check out your legs anywhere around here, but at least you can find a few steep hills to push up! As it turns out, my new computer is pretty cool. Looks like the hill on Old Harbor Road is around a 7%-8% average grade and it lasts a little over 1/4 mile. After reaching the top, I headed back down and headed off towards Westport again, this time turing right onto Cornell Road and right again onto Main Road heading towards Horseneck Beach. When I reached Hotel Hill, I took a left, crossed Rt 88 and headed up Drift Road where I stopped to take a drink and eat a few Cliff Bar Blocks. Normally I like to air things out here a bit, but seeing I haven't ridden much lately, I just rode some tempo until I reached Charlotte White Way, where I started heading back towards Tiverton. When I reached the end of Charlotte White Way, I was back to Sodom road so I headed back towards where I started except I didn't head home, but instead, repeated my route back into Adamsville where I wanted to ride two more hills before returning home. I headed though the town area and took a left onto the little switchback on Cold Brook Road. This is one of my favorite little climbs in this area as it's steep and cool heading around the switchback. Today I found out it gets to be between 12% and 14% around that switchback, so I think that is why I enjoy it so much. The remainder of the climb is between 8% and 9% gradient. All in all, a good hill for repeats which I didn't bother with today. After reaching the top, I turned around and took a short side trip to climb the very short but steep (14%-16%) hill on John Dyer Road and then returned back towards Adamsville, taking a left onto Stone Church Road for one final hill. This one is a little longer, but it only gets to about 8% or 9%. When I reached East Road, I took a left and then a quick right onto Lake Road for my trip home. Lake Road is another Time Trial spot for me, but not today. I was getting cold and tired, so I just rode tempo along Lake and King roads until I ended up back at Crandall where I started. A short trip on Crandall until I road one final sprint around the Woodland Circle neighborhood and I called it quits for the day. All in all, not fast, but some good miles logged. Distance: 32.4 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 156, Ave Cadence: Unknown (no sensor yet), Ave Speed: 17.1 mph
March 3, 2007: First ride of the year. Finally a decent day, with temperatures about 50 degrees. Decided to get out just before lunch, so I got dressed up in appropriate clothes and pumped up the tires and was off. Since I hadn't planned on riding, I didn't really have a plan. As a result, I headed south on Crandall Road from home, took a normal turn down King Street and headed towards Little Compton. I was surprised how warm it felt and actually how well I was riding. I guess another winter on the trainer has proven it's value. I took the first 10 miles at a pretty easy pace, just enjoying being outside for the first time since November. After passing some folks riding including some of the normal folks, I got to the center of Little Compton and decided to head for Man Road. It was a bit windier here being closer to the river and as a result, was a bit colder. Since I was feeling good, I ramped up the speed as I headed north on Main Road back towards Tiverton. Once I reached Pond Bridge Road, I turned left and headed for Neck Road and Seapowet Ave, ending up by Nannaquaket Pond where I doubled back toward Bulgarmarsh Road and one of my favorite hills. I really felt good over the stretch from Little Compton to here averaging between 22-27 mph. I made a hard run up the hill on Bulgarmarsh and settled into a good tempo from near the top until the blinking light at Bulgarmarsh and Brayton Road. I was pretty tired and getting cold by this point, so I turned right onto Brayton, and easily road to the end, taking a left onto King and a final left onto Crandall Road taking me back home where it was time to clean the crud off the bile. The roads were in decent shape, but there were lots of stones, sand and dirt from this weeks heavy rain. Pot holes are also very prevalent on the back roads this year. All in all, a good first day out and it was great to be off the trainer! Distance: 25.3 miles, Ave Heart Rate: 158, Ave Cadence: 64, Ave Speed: 18.8 mph