Team Fernandez Bike Blog 2010

Driving home today into NH after three days to the south it all finally felt real. Yes, I’ve been making plans for holidays Halloween and beyond and gorging on fresh winter squash, but accepting that the trees are changing means there’s no turning back. I’ve enjoyed some exceptional late season weather and I’m ready for winter now. Before it comes, I need to record some of fall’s best rides.

In mid September, I made my second appearence at the Maine lighthouse ride. This century was a landmark event for me last summmer and it meant a lot to return. It was another of the beautiful late season days and that put the experience and landscape in opposition to last year’s rainstorm! One couldn’t ask for a more picturesque course. One hundred miles, by the way, is a long ways to ride! I’ve become accustom to this sorts of events, but the fatigue of bringing in the last few miles reminded me that such an activity can’t be taken lightly. They improved the amenities for this ride, and I fully enjoyed the post-race chili and hot showers! I still haven’t paid enough attention to actively observe the 8 or so lighthouses that are alleged to be visible from the course. :p Debbie also came up to Portland and completed the 40 mile route, which she reported as not quite being enough riding. I understand the sentiment.

The lighthouse ride was followed the next day be a volunteer shift on the half-ironman length bike course of South Berwick, ME’s “Pumpkinman” triathlon. I figured it was about time to give something back to a race and I wanted a different perspective on the race day activities. This I got! I stood about 100 feet ahead of a sharp turn and verbally warned cyclists of its approach. Watching the leaders come through was fun, and provided a glimpse of something I never get to see. Later, it was equally fulfilling to watch the rest of the pack push through to finish. Many of the riders were very appreciative of the volunteers and I left with a greater sense of the triathlon community.

Next on the calendar was commuting to the common ground fair. Another repeat of an event from last year, I rode from a campground in Newport, ME to the fairground site in Unity, ME, enjoyed a day a the fair, and rode home. This is only a 50 mile round trip, but I was apprehensive after last year’s freezing temperatures and multiple flats prevented me from completing the return trip. Again, this season came through. A smooth ride, downright hot weather, and a great day at the fair changed my outlook for next year’s common ground commute to pure optimism.

Most recently, I spent Columbus Day weekend with the bike on Martha’s Vineyard. Going over there with a bike makes a lot of sense. It’s much cheaper than bringing a car on the ferry and everything on the island is 20 miles or less apart. In two days I saw every lighthouse and most townships. The coastal routes provide storybook quality views. A great cycling weekend, but staying much longer than that would induce significant repetition of activities. This island is setup perfectly for a strong bike culture. In a warmer climate, I think a place like this would be entirely bike centric. Unfortunately, I think excellent bike awareness has been mixed with questionable bike knowledge to create a mixed environment for cycling. In several places bike paths are built next to the road as if they were oversized sidewalks. This creates the same traffic conflicts as riding on the actual sidewalk and none of the benefits of a bike path, in my opinion. Unless you can reduce road and driveway crossings, I would feel much safer riding on the road where cars must acknowledge me. Spend the extra cash on a little more shoulder. In another example, a busy narrow road that was the site of a recent bicycle accident (involving a rider on the sidewalk) had resident signs posted instructing “walk your bike”. Again, it was clearly safer riding with traffic than walking with a bike on a busy road with no shoulder. Good intentions, just misplaced.

With the season approaching a close it is clear this year’s mileage won’t meet last year, but there has been a lot of other activity to explain that, and it’s not over till it’s over!

The idea of riding to a Greenfield dance was the first inspiration for the series of dance rides. Greenfield is far enough away from home that I rarely dance there because the drive is too long. That makes it a perfect destination to give a day ride an epic feeling. Plus, Greenfield has quite a reputation among dancers to the west of me, primarily because they have nowhere else to dance I believe.

The ride turned out to be challenging. It should take me 80 miles to get there from Londonderry, but instead I logged 95. I blame that mostly on my GPS. Previously, I had complete trust in it, but it seemed to be confused and wanted to route me on a bicycle prohibited highway. I didn’t come to this realization until I was standing at the on ramp at an exit I keep coincidentally finding myself at. By the time I was back on a feasable course, those 15 extra miles had been added to my day. The 20% lengthening of the ride left me a bit underfed and underwatered later in the ride when I was in rural areas of the hills of western MA with few stores or town to resupply at. My bike was loaded down with a weekend’s worth of amenities and clothing. At one point, unsure of the next supply opportunity and tired of cranking my loaded bike over 1000ft relief rolling terrain, I resorted to WALKING (!) a steep grade in the name of saving energy. The ride turned up around the town of Warwick. There, the one store in town, across from a tiny town festival, sold me some cans of iced tea out of a kitchen refridgerator and a homemade oatmeal cookie. I also met another distance cyclist in town who had a vintage ride with a front rack, friendly advice of dubious quality, and a Ben and Jerry’s bike jersey. Better yet, leaving Warwick was a five mile coast into the Conneticut river valley where I found a store with a sports drink and experienced rejuvination sufficient to climb back out the other side of the valley and into Greenfield. In town, a very refreshing dip at a local beach brought back my senses for the evening dance.

The next morning I awoke in a timely fashion and headed back towards the hills to meet up with my ride home. There was over 1000 feet of climbing at moderate but steady grades, plus a stop on the return trip with my friends for a quick loop around covered bridges in western NH. With 136 miles weekend total in challenging conditions, a final dip in a NH lake on the side of 101 and a bag of Hannaford bakery goods provided a very satisfying end to the weekend.

Sunday Aug 22 was the summer’s most glamourous event, a half ironman at Lake Winnipesaukee. While I’m used to having the beater ride in the crowd, the effect was quite pronounced here as 2700 participants lined up tri specific race bikes in transition. I don’t remember a single other bike present with flat handlebars and a cargo rack. It was enough to pull an incredulous chuckle from one spectator eyeing my wheels right before the bike in. This equipment disadvantage didn’t stop me from turning in a mid-pack 1599th place bike split at 17.4mph. It did, however, stoke the background curiosity of what an upgrade might do for my numbers. I read just a little slower when I got to the tri bike reviews in my copy of Bicycling this morning.

The 56 mile out-and-back course really is excellent. There’s a little something for everyone, although I think too much excitement surrounds it’s reputation as hilly. Yes, it’s true that immediately upon turning out of the bike chute you are confronted with a rise with an unignorable grade, but how better to get warmed up from the water? Most of the course, from about mile 15 out to the turnaround is a congomeration of rolling terrain that keeps you interested but doesn’t create any intimidation. The only climb of note is only a few miles out from the start/finish. This hill, which must be the course’s frequently mentioned 9% grade, is guaranteed to get you sweaty and is about the same experience from both directions, but shouldn’t be anything low gear can’t dispense with for anyone with aspirations to finish this event. I did see a couple riders dismount before the top. The atmosphere on this climb is kept light with the most dense supports of any section of the bike course. Encouragement from the locals “you can see the top from here” and “you made it” might just make this the part of the course I recommend looking forward to instead of dreading! One challenge for me on climbs in an event this long is to remember to keep pace. It’s tempting to crank up hills, especially on the return trip, but I still need those legs to be strong a couple hours after I put the bike away.

My run was slow and uneventful. I was happy to keep nearly identical pace on the first and second passes of the two loop run course. The swim was beautiful

Remembering back to when I registered for this event in the winter as a summer training motivator, I realize that this end of August event foreshadows the end of summer. There is at most only another month of reliable riding weather. Although I don’t intend to discard my run conditioning, it’s time to put the icing on the season’s mileage. With no bike tour and all this multisport activity, I’m well short of 2009s numbers.

The Chicago Lakefront Trail provides access to all of the action on the Chicago waterfront. With only a few hours to see the town, getting around by bike was an excellent choice. Chicago appears to be another of the many US cities rushing to embrace cycling. There are bike lanes around much of the downtown areas and it was easy to find attractions. Maps are posted along the trail and there was more than one station in the busy area with bike welcoming people offering bike information and complementary bike maps. I’m confident this is also encouraged by the local tourism industry as there are numerous opportunities to rent all sorts of pedaled vehicles, including 4+ seater four wheeled family machines!

I am particularly jealous of one feature of the trail where a designated swimming lane is marked out for many pool lengths along the trail. This provides a one stop opportunity for swimming, biking, and running. I was also impressed that many of the beaches and other waterfront features in many cities along the lakeshore are free and open to the public with minimal limitations on use. There are many well maintained facilities, such as public restrooms and shower houses. Most suprising of all, many of these locations are not at all crowded.

Today is a travel day. I will be home for a week before my bike catches back up with me. Time for a break?

The Hart-Montague is the 22 mile paved result of Michigan’s first rails to trails initiative. The trail is typical of all rail trails in my experience. There is almost no perceptible grade for it’s entirety and the terrain is mostly wooded excepting several sections of agriculture and village centers. Eateries with access to trailside land distract riders with signs advertising charming establishment names and all manner of people fuel. Among these, one farm store and deli about halfway along the trail distinguishes itself with a well kept property, hayride style farm tours, and a sustaining clientele of which bikers are only a minority. There are much appreciated restroom facilities at multiple points along the trail.

After a morning swim in the lake and a trail walk at the camp, we made our way to the Montague trailhead, within sight of the world’s largest weathervane. It was an overcast morning with intermittent rainshowers. These conditions kept the trail mostly quiet and I rolled through multiple mile sections without encountering a road crossing or another human. Of the towns along the trail, I most enjoyed discovering New Era, home of signs announcing “Welcome to New Era” and the site of the former “Plan B Bar & Grill” Must be Michigan’s most progressive town… The northern end of the trail itself is unremarkable. A path continues a mile further to downtown Hart, but having no business there I turned around and made my way back.

July has been so busy there hasn’t been a free minute to post, but there is always time to ride. The most notable ride since the last post was the bike course of the Mass State Sprint triathlon where my bike split was 24th overall out of a field of about 270. I attribute this to the course’s elevation profile. With more than 50% of the course’s length laid out over uphill grades, speeds were limited, reducing the penalty I normally experience for lacking race bike aerodynamics. Cranking my scratched up commuter rig up hills past time trial bikes is satisfying even if I know they will blow by me as soon as I’m spun out it top gear on the descent.

I’m finishing out July with a trip to Michigan with my bike. Yesterday provided a relaxing first ride from a Y camp in Montigue to dinner at a pizzeria in Fremont. The scene here is a different kind of rural that is typical of midwestern farmland. Straight roads travel over gently rolling terrain with vast views of corn and hay fields at every rise. It appears hay is done here, as every field is low and speckled with identical perfectly rolled bales. Corn, on the other hand, is still approaching peak, showing high fields of countless parallel stalks. Interspersed Amish community completes this textbook display of Americana. I particularly enjoyed spinning back to camp on a full stomach of “Spanky’s Famous Breadstix” as I am wont to be absorbed into a summer night’s ride on a quiet road. Next up: investigate local trail development.