| COnnecticut VAlley Century is a sancations patch ride of 100, 75, 50,
or 25 miles along the Connecticut River through Mass., Vermont, and
New Hampshire over rolling terrain. Registration will cost $6.00 and
will cover map, patch, food stops, and sagwagons. Registratoin will
start at 7:00 am and continue until 8:30 am behind Hadley Village Barn
Shops, Rt 9, Hadley, Mass. 1/2 mile east of the Connecticut River at
the intersection of Rt 9 and Bay Road. (Enter from Bay Road please!)
Coordinators: Sally Peters and Bob Kowaleski 413-527-4877
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This past Sunday I did my first century!
It was the COVAC century that started in Hadley Ma, went up to VT, across
into NH, then back down into MA to the starting point.
I want to thank all of you in this NOTES file for providing me with the
technical information, and the motivation needed to spur me on to accomplish
this goal.
I had done 130 miles total the week prior with some rides in the 30-40
mile range. My longest ride to date was 43 miles in one morning, and I
felt that for an all day thing the 100 was attainable.
Cathy (my wife) has been riding all my training rides with me, and she
signed up for the half century, and did that with no problems.
We arrived @ 7:45am signed up and were off by around 8. It was chilly
so we donned our cold weather gear ( her sweater, and I had a wind breaker).
It was misty and too cold for just shorts, so I took it easy for the sake
of my knees.
I kept the speed down to an average speed of 17mph on the 42 tooth chain ring.
My hands were cold, and I was having a little trouble "warming up". At 20
miles I wanted to take off my wind breaker, which was more like a sail from
a sunfish. What a release, my Famous Tom Deloria DIGITAL jersey, now was
revealed, and I now slipped through the air like a SR71 :-).
I felt GREAT the small hills were a blast I would stand and crank to the tops.
I had trouble holding the speed down, but I was holding back knowing that I
would need the "Extra" for later.
I pulled in to the first sag, and filled up my water bottles, Ate a banana,
and a cranberry muffin .... yumm. Then off to Greenfield. I met up with
some "Racers" from Pro Bike in Springfield. I joined up with them, and the
pace of 23+ felt good, hey I am keeping up!
I knew that I would be dropped on the hills, but so what. I stayed with them
for a while. We went down a hill to a stop sign, and 3 of them "blew" the
sign and the rest of us stopped as a truck came rushing along. I had forgot
to down shift, sooo .. when I stood up to crank I over stressed my left knee.
What a bummer. I took it easy and did some light spinning hoping that it
would straighten out. My knee hurt for the rest of the trip.
There was a covered bridge at the bottom of a hill with 2 switch backs, "SLOW"
was painted on the road, but some people .... As I slowed I saw 3 riders
milling around on the other side. The bridge surface was stepped wood, and
I crossed @ 5mph saying to my self "no nails, no splinters please!"
I crossed with out any problems to find that one of the riders had crashed.
Thank God he did not pick up a splinter or a nail, and just slid. He took
a good bump, and ripped his shorts on his hip. His bike was OK. I don't
know if he did the rest of the trip, but he could ride.
At the 75 mile bailout sign I thought maybe I should wimp out on account of my
knee, but ,hey, its only 25 miles different and I was at almost 50! Onward to
VT!
The weather and the surroundings could have not been better. The uplift
I got crossing into VT gave me a boost, and I was doing 18-22 on the flats.
The next sag was in VT by the NH bridge. More bananas, a blueberry muffin,
and a fill up of "recharge" and H2O. There was some repair activity going on,
another bridge victim was having his rear derailer aligned as he had bent it
in the spill. A guy with a bianchi had snapped his seat post bolt, and thanks
to the Putney Bike shop being open, a replacement was found.
It's not, 65 miles is a bit over half, but 65 is "only 35 to GO!!" The count
down had begun. At 70 miles the small hills were a problem for my knee, and I
was spinning in 42-26 with most of the work being done with my right leg.
I was concerned that my right leg was not going to hold up for the rest of
the trip if there were going to be any real hills. Out of the saddle was good
for only 5 or so cycles, I worried.
I had dropped my speed to the 16-18 range on the flats, and there was a slight
head wind. I ate 2 bananas, and drank all my sports drink @75 miles. I felt
a bit better. The temp had risen and my knees were feeling somewhat better
as long as I went easy on them.
I made it to the 82 mile sag. and was quite tired. I filled up with H2O,
ate a banana was going to eat a muffin but I forgot. I was getting a little
spacy, and was "having a good time all by myself" :-)
There was a racer type kid (20-25) laying down with his friend razzing
him. He had only got 6 hrs sleep the night before , and "I had to keep one
foot on the floor to keep the room from spinning". I can just imagine how he
felt. I can't think of any thing worse than doing a century with a major
hangover! yuck!
By this time my butt was fairly sore with six hrs of "deep massage" :-),
and as my luck runs the road surface had started to get worse. I learned
what "fresh oil" meant from riding a motorcycle, but this put new meaning
to "fresh oil". The loose gravel was on the very edge, and was not a
problem, but the surface was ROUGH. My Paramount was converted into a
20 pound vibrator.
I saw this cloud of stuff swirling around this pickup by the side of the
road. I realized the truck was full of bee hives, and the stuff was BEES!!
I held my breath, took some more "lane", and went around with out any mishap.
While doing this maneuver this old "gentleman" felt obligated to honk at me
for using a few feet of HIS road. Like I was in the mood for this.., right!
At one point I swore out loud "Go# dam* ef'ing Mass roads" and something about
the "Duke". Someone who was washing his car overheard me. I felt bad.
I realized that I was getting burnt, and worked on my attitude. Only 5 miles
to go!!
The course was 98.88 miles, so I pulled a u turn and added the balance.
6 hours 45 minutes average speed 14.8 mph overall start to finish.
I do feel that my base was NOT enough, and that I should have done some 75 mile
rides first. If I had a 650 mile base I think my knees would have done better.
Also I was not riding while on vacation 8/10-8/25, and the two weeks off
probably was what did it.
Over all I had a great time. I went for a 15 mile ride Tuesday and felt strong,
so I don't think I injured anything.
Thanks for all the advise!
John_who_has_his_first_century patch!
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