Gravel Grinder 2012

food stop halfway chocolate bacon?

hippie electrolyte drink, I also add maple syrup

So I rode it this past Sunday. It was quite a ride. Here is a link to the ride map/stats...http://www.strava.com/rides/gravel-grinder-2012v1-6361860 . Matt and I met at the Plainfield Park&Ride and then drove out to Waterbury. It was a chilling sort of mid 30's cold at 8AM but would prove to be just the right temperature for the massive climbing involved.

We signed in, got our T-shirts and chatted with folks. It was nice to see Wil there, but sadly he was out of the ride due to a health issue. Jim was there 3 months after a completely busted femur knocked him out while he was ice skating on those long nordic skates, and I must admit, he passed me on Perry Hill. Stubborn I am, a fast climber I am not.

We headed out of Stowe and into a massive climb. The pack mostly stayed together through the first 6-8 miles. Then folks started pacing out. I made the error of keeping up with Matt for too long and got a cramp around mile 12 which I stretched out, thus making it to the "food" stop late.

The food is one good reason to do this ride. The list included...bacon, chocolate chipped bacon, twizzlers, pretzels, bananas and a brown liquid in several glass bottles which seemed potentially flammable but was consumed by some and I think there might have been some water too. After the stop we blasted downhill and I consumed a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie which contains 310 calories and I can eat it about 39 seconds without my stomach hurting as with gels.

Then it was onto Rt. 100 for a brief spin over to Gregg Hill Rd. The climbing, climbing, climbing. Then zoooooom back down into Waterbury. I was thrilled to learn I finished about 15 minutes behind Matt as he is fast and I am not.

On our return there was yummy catering by Frida's (an amazing Mexican place in Stowe). Also Long Trail beer. Yum. After an hour or two of hanging out we headed home.

March madness...

Yiorgos and Matt

dirt road on road bike in March!

Clifton on the Jamis Aurora Elite

Matt and Paula on the big bikes outside Danby

What a crazy year. Here are some pictures from a few of the March road rides. You can see from the lowest picture what lovely roads we enjoy here in Vermont! Matt and Paula are on their big bikes, the Big Dummy and Xtra Cycle. Clifton is on his Jamis Aurora Elite. I have been stealing time away from work now and then to ride before the busyness of summer hits.

Gravel Grinder...

Inspired by Wil I registered for the Vermont Gravel Grinder on April 22nd. I expect it will be a good chance to thoroughly humble myself early on in the season. Look for a ride report with tons of pictures as I plan to ride and shoot a lot. I find that for me stopping to take pictures makes a ride much more enjoyable. Otherwise it seems easy to settle in to a place that feels like work mode.

Afternoon road ride...

Pacer with new wheels, computer, light

The Bees Knees in Morrisville hot cider

Horses and tasty french pony

Farmhouse between Stowe and Morrisville

Roadside shot near Stowe

View across to Mt. Mansfield

Totals for the day

I had a nice out and back ride today from Waterbury to Morrisville and back. Pretty crazy to be doing a road ride in February. I was reflecting today on how just 3 years ago I started riding a road bike after about 15 years of Mtn. bike only due to elbow pain. Having the bars higher has made all the difference. 3 years ago I rode the Onion River Sports metric century ride on a warm day and it felt like a killer. Now my first road ride of the year was a 40 mile ride in 40 degree weather with a headwind on the way back and it was pleasant. What a change in fitness over 3 years. Here is the link to the MapMyRide version... http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/70451650/

Speaking of change, I finally switched out from the stock Conti Sport Ultra's 28mm that the Pacer comes with and put on some Conti 4 season 28 mm. WOW! There was a very noticeable difference in both rolling resistance and that sticky feeling the old tires had when I would climb standing (I like to saw back and forth a bit). Very nice. Also switched over to a wired computer after going over 100MPH last year when my bike was stopped at a gas station due to wireless interference.

snow ride out to Turtlehead Pond

Matt on his new Pugsley

Bailey Pond

old rail bed west

  

oxbows in the winooski river

What an amazingly glorious day. Yesterday I took the day off of work and went for a great snow ride on the old rail bed.We rode out the rail bed toward Groton State Park. The conditions were almost perfect. The snow was firm enough for the Yeti with the Nokian Extreme's and so Matt and I were able to ride about 20 miles (which felt like 45 miles) on a wonderful blue sky day. We stopped several times to drink tea and remove layers and such. Matt had a blast on his Pugsley which he just got a few weeks ago. If I was on fat tires we would have probably stayed out longer but as the temps started rising up close to 30 F I became fearful of having a long walk through the snow pushing the Yeti so we headed back for some pizza from Positive Pie. YUM.

yeti and trail, old logging road

canine, evergreens

overlook

 

single track

Today winter arrived. It was -12 F last night and the high today was +3F. I started out for a back road ride and realized I was going to be too cold. I turned around to return home and go for a walk instead. When I was halfway down the driveway I thought, hey if I hit the trails it will be really hard work and really slow, thus plenty warm. And I was right! It turned into a fun ride and my thighs were burning like I'd just done a hard climb.

Sunny winter day...

classic view of lye brook

tracking

track makers

I can never get enough dog pictures

Took the opportunity for a short ride today before meeting the school bus for pick up. It was a glorious sunny warm day. Winter biking this year has been easy with the warmth. Spent some time investigating tracks. We also found an interesting track. Imagine an area where the center is all trodden down. Radiating out from and returning to the center were about 5 loops that extended out for about 10 feet or so. The tracks looked to be some sort of small waterfowl or maybe a corvid. There was no track that lead "to" or "away" from it. The terminus of each loop was a little tussock of grass.