August Triumvirate: August Racing (August 2022)

Second Triumvirate

On August 19, Urvi and I boarded the Amtrak for Hartford.  Outside of a fire Attleboro, there was little of interest in the trip.  However, it was the 2008^th anniversary of the death of Gaius Octavius, better known as Caesar Augustus.  

While he was still named Octavian, Julius Caesar named him his heir.  And on the death of Julius Caesar, Octavian joined with Marc Antony (friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears…) and Lepidus (some rich guy with just enough political pull that Octavian and Marc Anthony’s life was better with him than without him) in forming the Second Triumvirate.  These three informally ran Roman government and a war against Julius Caesar’s killers.  So, much like these three, my August was three races run.

The team at Bobby Doyle

Lepidus: Bobby Doyle Summer Classic

Date: August 14, 2022

Location: Narragansett, RI

Distance: 5 miles

Goal Time: 45:00

Actual Time: 40:11

There were some heavy hitters out there for this race.  Emily Sisson won on the women’s side while setting a course record.

I did neither.  But in the long road back, this road was good.

Figured going out at 9 min/mile would be the good plan.  But somehow, I couldn’t keep myself at that slow of a pace.  I ran a couple of sub 8s and then slowed on the last 3 miles, but still stuck around the 8 minute mark. 

Not fast fast but it was good to run relatively fast effort again.

Team

Marc Antony: Hartford Dragon Boat Festival

Date: August 20, 2022

Location: Hartford, CT

Distance: 500m

Urvi and I took the choo-choo out to Hartford.  It was a cool trip.  We took the Northeast Regional to New Haven and then switched to the CT Rail’s NewHaven-Hartford-Springfield Commuter Rail.  Then we stayed at the hotel right next to the Riverside Park where the festival was.

I come not to bury the team, but to praise it.  This was my first race with a boat where many of the paddlers were less experienced than me.  We started with our qualifier which was one of the first races in the morning and for about ¼ of the boat, it was their first race ever. 

Our first race was not fast.  The first time you actually have to race 500m, it’s hard.  I compare it to the 800m in track.  It isn’t a sprint; but, it isn’t a long-distance race either. You need to push at like 95% for 2+ minutes.  And, like anything it takes doing it once in a real world setting to ground yourself. 

The second race was later in the morning.  Like a football game where you relax after you were hit for the first time, the team really relaxed and performed for this one.  It was our fastest race of the day and while there was a little drop off in the middle, we didn’t positive split by near as much as in the first race.  This led us into our final race.

In the last race of the day, Moustache took over as our steerer.  This was to our advantage.  1) for the paddlers who were in their first festival, it was their third race and, 2) we were able to have a steerer who knew our calls and commands.  We shot out like a bat outta hell.  And while we couldn’t continue the same pace, we maintained both effort and consistency.  There were no power drops like a cliff.  And finishing 3^rd out of 4^th in the C final, we had our best – if not fastest – race of the day!

Team in NH - photo by Riley

Octavian: Autofair New Hampshire 10 Miler

Date: August 27, 2022

Location: Auburn, NH

Distance: 10 miles

Goal Time: 1:30:00

Actual Time: 1:31:25

It was Southern New Hampshire so you expect it to be hilly. The race t-shirt was a warning… “Why the Hill not?” 

I ran into similar issues as Bobby Doyle.  I tried to go out at 9:00 min/mile but the first mile was 8:30.  Well, the second mile did keep me at 9ish pace.  However, it should have been slower with the massive hill.  I regrouped and mile three was right where I wanted.

But then came miles 4-8.  What the hill is going on? Miles 4-8 slowed as the molehills turned to mountains.  Tired and exhausted (this was the longest I’d run since the Canada Army virtual half last September), I fought the urge to walk.  I told myself “this is training; train to fight through.” (Had it been a race, I’d have walked to maybe have a faster pace later.)  Coming off the hill at mile 8, we turned onto the main road around the lake.  I thought, the worst is over, we can start to race again.

I was wrong.

As I started my last 25% of race charge, the hill came hard.  It felt like my legs weren’t actually connected to my body.  I pushed but they wouldn’t respond and were spinning in their own time.  As the rambly windy hill curled its way right I decided I could a) give in and just coast; b) try to push harder and get back into control of the speed; or, c) allow my legs to not respond, regroup and pull the Galen Rupp plan of push the last end of the hill.  Once the winding had ended and I could see the crest of the hill, I chose c. 

As I crested the hill, we were right at mile 9.  I picked up the rhythm and cadence of my legs and bombed down.  The longest part is as you see the finish line in the parking lot but have to run all the way to the entrance of the lot and then do a 180 and run back.  I maintained and cruised in at 7:49 for the last mile.  The GAP graded speeds for the last two miles were my fastest two of the day.  Despite not being in shape, if felt good to know I still had the ability and knowhow to pace and maintain efforts.

War of Actium

Of course, like all strange political expedients the Second Triumvirate fell apart. Lepidus was exiled to the boonies of Latium.  Antony and Octavian had a falling out.  Antony fled to Egypt and the arms of Cleopatra VII (yes, THAT Cleopatra).  In the end, Cleopatra and Antony would commit suicide, Octavian would be named Pharaoh of Egypt and the Roman Republic would be extinguished into imperial rule under Octavian reborn as Augustus.

Well, I have no direct simile to claim how the end of August was somehow like a Roman civil war… but it was the next step in the return to fitness and sport.  The next stretch will be Sept – Nov where I will try to continue my war against lack of fitness with Lone Gull 10k, BAA Half and Gobble Gobble Gobble 4 miler.

From River to Shining River: RAGBRAI (7/24-7/31/22)

 

Mississippi River, Lansing, MI

Event: Register Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa
Location: Sergeant Bluff to Lansing, IA
Distance: 471 miles

On Sunday July 24^th, we rolled out of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa on the Missouri River.  The days prior had tickled triple digits but today the temperatures plummeted.  It was only 69°F as we headed into the corn fields.  And in what was virtually a neutralized start 16,000 cyclists made it down the road toward Ida Grove, the city of castles.

 

What is RAGBRAI?

RAGBRAI (The Register Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) is just that.  It’s a 7-day bike ride across Iowa.  It is West to East from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River (as that is the prevailing winds).  Each day is a set course from one town to another that has a campground for you to set up your tent etc in.  It was first held in 1973 by writers of the Des Moines Register rode with several hundred folks across Iowa and has grown every year.  Each year there is a different route across the state with different starting and ending towns. 

Highest point of the Ride - day 1

Day One 7/24: Feeling it out day

Route: Sergeant Bluff to Ida Grove
Distance: 56 miles
Time: 4:40:44 moving (7:11:20, elapsed)

The neutralized start down the straight road out of Sergeant Bluff was only broken up by people attempting to slide their way through the groups to go faster than the 11 mph or so we were moving.  The large pack made its way into the first town.  Vince and I stopped to get coffee and breakfast.  Little did we know this be an hour long stop. 

After the first stop, the road opened up a bit.  Vince and I were able to ride faster.  I found that I was not in shape to really keep up. He waited for me in several points.  We made it to the high point of not only Sunday’s ride but of the whole week.  The farmer there set up a stop that he hoped would benefit his church.  It was packed!  It seemed like the whole ride stopped there.

After another long rest, Vince and I pushed on.  That last few miles were flat along a 4-lane highway.  Vince dropped the hammer…. And dropped me.  I got into Ida Grove and regrouped with Vince while we looked for our campground

 

So, you sleep in a tent?

The short answer, yes. 

There is a communal group campground each day at each finishing town.  You can set up your own tent within these grounds.  However, there are also companies called “charters.”  Each of these charters handle their own little campground. I used Central Iowa Charters and I did their “luxury service.”  They not only provided me a tent and air-mattress but they set it up each evening and broke it down each morning for me.  (A random woman at another campground the last day told me: “Then you really aren’t doing RAGBRAI, are you?”  Apparently, I was cheating.)

The charters provided other services, but more on that below.

Bufford - The largest steer in the Midwest

Day Two 7/25: Farm Animal Day
Route: Ida Grove to Pocahontas
Distance: 72.5 miles
Time: 5:13:43 moving (7:13:14, elapsed)

 

After the first day, I determined that I needed to approach these rides differently.  If I went out every day like I rode day 1, I would not finish.

I decided to take the second day as an “adventure” ride rather than a metric century or club ride.  I took it at a moderate speed and decided to let it go as I found it.  What I found was… farm animals. 

Early on – maybe 20 miles in – I found #putyourrearonasteer. The Schaller 4-H club had Buford – purported to be the largest steer in the Midwest.  I stopped, climbed up on Buford and had my picture taken.  I don’t know if Buford really was the biggest steer in the Midwest, but he was certainly the biggest steer I’ve ever sat on.

Nemaha Donkey Show

Later I pulled into Nemaha and rolled into the Nemaha Donkey show.  I waited in line and for $5 I went in to find two donkeys behind a fence.  I got my picture taken with said donkeys.  Finally, between Fonda and Pocahontas, I was able stop and feed some pigs marshmallows. 

Taking it a lot easier on the bike was a good plan.  I didn’t have to push myself to keep up with folks.  I was also able to relax and find the fun things – steers, donkeys and pigs. 

 

Where do you eat?

Food, beer and coffee are all interesting things on RAGBRAI.  Beer is easy to find.  Each town at the beginning and end of the day and many in between seems to have some sort of beer garden.  And, there are stops on the road run by the Iowa Beer Bus and the Iowa Beer Tent.  Beer, beer everywhere.

Coffee is much more difficult.  My charter made a big urn of Folgers every morning.  But, I usually missed it because I left later than many people.  (Some people are getting on the road by 5 or 6.  My average roll out was 6:45 or so I would say.)  The first town always had a food truck called “Coffee & Nosh.”  It was good, but the first day I stopped there, it took us an hour and 18 minutes.  I nixed that plan from there.  I started to buy a Starbucks bottle at the gas station every night and chugging it in the morning. And then I would find coffee either at a coffee shop in the starting town or in the towns further down the road.  I got great coffee and muffins from a Menonite family one day.  Another day kids had set up coffee instead of lemonade – brilliant.

Food.  Everyone talks about how great the food is on RAGBRAI.  What they don’t talk about is how long the lines are for food; how stressful it is to try to find food that hasn’t run out; how you pretty much are just eating carnival food for like a week.

Food trucks follow the ride.  I spoke of Coffee & Nosh above – their waffle bites with chocolate and peanut butter were amazing. Mr. Porkchop is undoubtedly the best pork chop I have ever had.  But I had to wait in line for 45 minutes to get it.  If you do RAGBRAI, you most stop at the pink Mr. Porkchop bus once, but I wouldn’t suggest it every day.  There was a Jamaican food truck that I got great wings and rice one day. And there was another truck that had pork loin sandwiches the size of my head.

Another option on the ride is charity.  The Knights of Columbus or the local fire department in towns are often selling basic backyard cookout food.  I had a chicken patty sandwich from a local fire department in an airconditioned VFW hall on a real chair and washed it down with a glass bottle of Coke – it was heaven.  Often, at the daily finishing town, a church or two will sell meals.  In West Union I had a grilled chicken breast, green beans and a baked potato from a church; and, I ate it on the courthouse lawn watching an AC/DC tribute band.

Finally, there are gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants.  I had a great brisket sandwich in Emmetsburg at a local BBQ place.  In the end I tried to frequent the local place or charity rather than the food truck that followed the ride.

Pie. A big part of the ride is pie.  There is pie at every rest town and ever start and finish town. I made the goal of eating a slice of pie every day.  I had apple, cherry, peach, rhubarb and then cherry twice more.  If one counts the quiche, I ate the last day as savory egg pie, I had a slice every day.

Gravel Farm Roads of Iowa

Day Three 7/26: Gravel Day
Route: Pocahontas to Emmetsburg
Distance: 60 miles
Time: 4:30:48 moving (5:43:46, elapsed)

Tuesday brought the gravel.  There was a planned main route on roads and all; but there was also an alternate 48 mile “gravel” route. Many people appeared incredulous that I could or would want to do the gravel route.  Somehow, I knew it wouldn’t be too hard and would be the dirt farm roads.

Leaving Pocahontas, I couldn’t find the gravel route.  I spent the first 20 miles of the regular road route.  After the second town, I found signs for “Gravel.”  I thought maybe that’s when it started; but later conversations showed two things a) It wasn’t where it started and b) I wasn’t the only one who was confused.

But as soon as I hit the gravel, I knew I made the right choice.  While the paved routes had taken us through farmland – these were the real farm roads.  Undulating dirty, dusty, rocky roads carried us through quiet farms and would weave in and out and across the paved route. 

There is something about gravel.  These roads were very quiet.  It was the only time I was riding virtually alone. (It was the only time I took a wrong turn – or rather, missed a right turn).  I still kept the 13 mph pace because I love dirt roads.

Grotto of Redemption

The halfway town was West Bend and it had the most fascinating stops on the route… the Grotto of the Redemption.  This is a shrine built by hand by the local priest.  It used local limestone and semi-precious gems from all over the world.  It had caves of bible stories and a series of stations of the cross.  It has that same fantastical feel of the Watts Towers.

Finishing up, Emmetsburg was the only town that had some sort of finish line.  There was a banner with “Biking the Burg” and a person dressed as a leprechaun met me.  I had a great brisket sandwich at the local BBQ place whose smokers had drawn me in.

What happens if I have a flat or mechanical or if I cannot continue?

There are SAG (support and gear) vehicles that travel the route.  Plus this year the Air Force Cycling Team was riding.  They were everywhere stopping to help people with mechanical issues (and more importantly, military trained in first aid, which I saw come in handy at least once). 

The SAG vehicles can do general repairs or get you and your bike to the next town where you can get a repair.  Also, if you need to call it a day, these vehicles can get you to the finishing town.  There was a woman in our charter who was doing her 41^st RAGBRAI(!).  She had hip replacement the earlier in the year.  So, her goal was just to ride as far as she could and then get the SAG vehicle to get her to the next town.

At the River City Ice Cream store in Music Man Square, Mason City

Day Four 7/27: Century Day
Route: Emmetsburg to Mason City
Distance: 105 miles
Time: 6:18:56 moving (7:34:19, elapsed)

For the first time in 37 years, RAGBRAI had a “forced century.”  Most other years they would a 80 miler with an optional 20 or so mile loop at the end for the choice of century.  This year however it was 105 miles for everyone.

I made sure to get rolling early.  I latched onto a group that was churning out 17-18 mph.  This amorphous group gained and dropped riders through to the first town. Figuring there was a long hard day ahead of me, I clung onto to the back trying to keep myself as easy as possible. 

After the first town, I ventured out on my own.  By the town of Wesley at about half way, I was hungry for real food.  Fortunately, the fire department was raising money by serving burgers and chicken sandwiches in the VFW post.  I sat in the AC and cooled down to gird myself with poultry for the next 57 miles.

In Barney Fife's car, Britt, IA

In Britt, I got into Barney Fife’s car.

Leaving Britt, I only had only 35 miles left.  So far so good. We had had a tail wind most of the way.  I decided to see if I could crush it the rest of the way to Mason City.  (spoiler alert – I could not.)  I put in about 22 miles before the road turned North into the headwinds again.  I limped into Mason City and stopped for a beer at a new craft brew pub that is opening there. It still ended up being the easiest century I’ve ever ridden.

Mason City was the setting for the Music Man.  They have a whole mall thing dedicated to the movie.  I went there and checked it out.

Trombone Car used in the Red Bull Soap Box Race

What do you do about showers and such?

There are basically three options for showers:

1) My charter service provided camp showers.  You brought your own solar shower bag that you heated up in the sun.  And when it was your turn, you brought it into a camp shower and hung it through a complicated pully system.  This definitely got you clean but was not ideal.  I did it three of the days.

2) There was a shower truck that followed the ride and each night for $8 with your own towel (or $10 with theirs) you got a shower.  I didn’t do this.

3) The towns would provide one.   Usually the football/soccer/softball team would be the sponsor and for $10 you would shower in the high school locker room.  This was the best option.  You got a shower, I shaved and brushed my teeth in a real sink.  It was great and supported the local team.  In West Union, the municipal pool had a deal for $15, I got a shower and use of the pool.  That was a great way to finish a hard ridden metric century – shower and pool complete with water slide.

Drinking beer in the Corn

Day Five 7/28: Reco and Pivo Day
Route: Mason City to Charles City
Distance: 50 miles
Time: 3:44:50 moving (7:22:06, elapsed)
Pivo Index: 4

One of the parts of RAGBRAI is the party aspect.  To some degree I had partaken with a beer or two after the ride.  But through out the ride, there a beer gardens and good food places.  But it’s tough to balance riding a bike and heavy food.

Well, the day after the Century I decided to partake of the rolling party and stop for fair food and good beer.

At 9:30 am, I stopped at a beer garden next to a cornfield and had a Swift Hazy Pale Ale from SingleSpeedBrewing – 4 mugs.

At 10:15, I was next to a soybean field and with a Brazilian Steak Sandwich I had a Peanut Butter Porter fromLake Time Brewery – 4.25 mugs.

Noontime there was now a pork chop involved and a Victory Dance from SingleSpeed Brewing; pork chop was amazing, Victory Dance was mediocre (Also had an A&W root beer float at the Malt shop here which was better than the beer) – 3.5 mugs

1:30 rolled around and I rolled into another beer garden for Get Off My Lawn IPA from Crawford Brew Works – 4 mugs

In between the Peanut Butter Porter and the Victory Dance, I stopped at the Floyd County Fossil and Prairie Park.  The local brickworks had used this area to get clay for the bricks.  And they had quarried out a big pit.  This pit was filled with Devonian Period (430-360 million years ago) fossils from the sea that used to cover Iowa.  Additionally they had returned an area about the size of four football fields to original prairie.

Prairie Grass at Floyd County Fossil and Prairie Park -
before the corn revolution, the Great Plains were this for as far as the eye can see
Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac is a great read on the subject

But, how do my bags get to the next town?

With the luxury camping option I bought, every morning I would pack my bags and leave them outside my tent. The charter service that broke down my tent would then load my bags onto their truck. They took them to the next town and then put them into my tent.

If I had taken a charter and gotten normal camping option, I would have had to take my bags to their truck every morning by 8am. And then when I got to the next town taken the bags to my own tent.

If you do not get a charter, RAGBRAI provides a centrally located truck and pickup/dropoff point in each town.  You take your bags there and give them to the movers who take it to the next town. 

I was thankful to be on a charter and to have the luxury service.  Almost everything was a hassle of lines and some argy-bargy of those people who are more important than everyone else.  I’m sure going to the centrally located bag service would be more of that.  It was a relief to not have that.

Corn Gates of Hawkeye, IA

Day Six 7/29: Metric Century
Route: Charles City to West Union
Distance: 63 Miles
Time: 4:05:03 moving (4:38:33, elapsed)

Day Six brought a Metric Century. With my mini down day the day before, I decided to just blast this one.  My elapsed time record on a Metric Century is 4:05:13; so I decided to go try to beat that.  While I came no where near doing this, I did enjoy just riding hard. 

I made a more scientific plan on stops, just hitting short lines for food and drink rather than food I wanted.  After, Vince and I hit the public pool in West Union.  The cool down was a good way end a hard day.

How did you get your bike to Iowa?

RAGBRAI has a connection with BikeFlights.  I was able to send by bike via them; have the bike assembled by a bike shop on behalf of RAGBRAI/Pork Ventures; pick it up at the start.  This worked out perfectly I had no problems getting my bike to Iowa.

Regrettably, the opposite happened the other way.  It was a hassle to drop it off with Pork Ventures.  At one point I’m dragging a bike box, a bike and carrying my paperwork in my teeth.  But, they took it apart and mailed it back to me in Boston. But, two weeks later when my bike arrived – only one pedal was there and the thing that connects the seat post to the frame… gone.  Blerg. 

Tire Dip in the Mississippi River, Lansing IA

Day Seven 7/30: Dip Day
Route: West Union to Lansing
Distance: 66.5 miles
Time: 4:31:10 moving (5:43:38, elapsed)

I must admit, by Day 7 I was done with this ride.  I just wanted to get through the last bit; get to the end; see Urvi; and leave.

But that’s not what was in store.  Instead it was a challenging and absolutely beautiful day ahead.  This part of Iowa is hilly like Southern New Hampshire with long slow hills that suddenly top off at 8% right at the end.  There were so many trees and so much water – ponds and pools throughout. 

I am so happy that I removed my grumpiness for a few hours and let myself enjoy one last day in the saddle.

Then we got into Lansing on the Mississippi and my grumpiness returned.  It was a hassle to get to the river and do the tire dip; it was a hassle to drop off my bike; it was a hassle to get my bags and it was a hassle to drive out of town. 

But it was also wonderful.  Here, 471 miles later I had ridden across Iowa, my 16th State with an athletic event in it.  I had done one of those bucket list items.  It was awesome that I got to spend the end with Urvi.

We drove back to Milwaukee after and had a great 18 hours in the Cream City before flying home.

What were the best parts of RAGBRAI?

I loved the actual riding.  This mass event had something for everyone.  Each day brought new countryside to explore and new fun quirky things to do by the side of the road.  I loved getting into the little towns and seeing the cub scouts selling water and the women selling pie for the local charities.

The mileage was probably perfect.  I never felt that I was complete toast (a few days of 100 miles in a row might be different).  Every day was enough of a challenge that it was great to finish.

What were the worst parts of RAGBRAI?

I had two things that I hated:

1)      Everything off the bike is a giant hassle!  Standing in line for an hour for coffee, trying to find something to eat at the overnight towns, standing in line for a port-o-potty at 6:00am, the supposed shuttle system. In one town I spent two and a half hours trying to take the shuttle bus to the grocery store and back. 

2)      A small noticeable minority of the riders.  Flat out some of the rudest and most selfish human beings on the planet ride this ride.  Long before we even started, I was on my charter bus out of Des Moines and a group of riders got on and demanded that we all move seats so that they could sit together.  I was shoved out of the way in almost every single line I stood in during the rides.  At our campsite, I saw a woman just take someone else’s solar shower because hers wasn’t warm yet.  These are just a few examples, but two or three times a day, there would be some rude person in their 50s or 60s who was more important than me and thus felt they should get special places in line.  I found that many of these people had done this ride again and again.  Perhaps they felt those of us who would only do it once were interlopers.  Most of their conversations involved discussions of charter services and overnight towns from different years. Perhaps there can be two RAGBRAIs, one for people who want to do the ride with everyone and one who want to do it with their small groups.

Would you do it again?

No.  I’m definitely glad I did it.  And if I had never done it and know what I know now – I would still do it.  But, there are too many things to do and too many places to see and too few days ahead for me to just want to take another 7 days of vacation to ride across Iowa again.  

Tellurian Brewery, Charles City, IA

Castles in the Air, Dragons on the Earth: June Racing (June 2022)

 

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.”

~Henry David Thoreau.

Turin the Black Sword

• Event: Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival
• Location: Charles River, Cambridge, MA
• Date: June 11-12, 2022
• Distance: 2 x 200m, 3 x 500m

Out of the peripheral vision I saw us closing on the boat to the left.  Dave was yelling from the back (many of the words that were not acceptable for a family friendly blog like this); we were pushing and panting.  As we hit the last buoys, there was the successive air horn blows… Whoong! Whoong! Sadly, the second horn was obviously for us; we just missed winning our Semis.

From the Pits of Angband

In early March 2020, we had probably 25 paddlers lining the edge of the kiddie pool; Dave was standing in the pool.  He asked: “Do you think it’s safe with Corona going around to stand in the pool?”  I theorized the chlorine would probably kill the virus and we would be fine with indoor pool practices going forward.  I was right about the first part; I was wrong about going forward.

The next 26 months, I will not go into detail – we all have our own story of that.

In the Simrarillion, Tolkien tells the tale of the father of dragons.  Glaurung was raised to be the fighter of elves.  He spent a century in the pits of Angband growing to be the great fighter.  In the past 26 months, the Living Root Dragon Boat team had gone from around a 70 or so active paddlers to like 30.  May 1, 2022 was the first time we paddled in a boat in almost two years.  This became our time in the Pits of Angband to grow again.

 

The Fellowship of the Ring

• Races 1&2: 200m qualifiers
• Location: MIT Boathouse
• Times: 61.8” and 60.9”

 Saturday was the 200m qualifiers.  These are short sprints where you put it all out there for a minute (or preferably less).  With a midday start time, it was a nice way to ease into the regatta. Without the early morning wake up, I was able to conveniently make my way down to the river with plenty of time to stretch and pet Quinn’s dog.

We lined up for the first time trial at the same time as Mustache.  We got off the line slowly.  But then pushed a bit more speed.  Unfortunately, for the 200m there is little room for making up time.

The second 200 was fantastic.  We fired off the line like a cannon and were able to maintain if not increase the speed into the finish.  We qualified into the Pool 1 for the main sets on Sunday.

 The Two Towers

• Races 3-5: 500m
• Location: Weeks Footbridge
• Time: 2:22.4, 2:18.7, 2:24.9

I sat calmly at the start.  We had paddled out with a few warm ups and I was in my element.  The Charles has been my athletic home for as long as I remember.  I’ve roller bladed it, cycled it, ran it and kayaked it.  Today, I was in another big event upon the calm waters.  Just adding to my collective memory of the river.

The first race was to place us into our divisions for the Semis and finals.  We had made the top half, now to make the top tier.

The horn went off and we pushed.  It’s one of those feeling you can’t quite understand until you are out in competition.  The ability to push beyond a) your training paces and, b) what you thought you could do.  My arms and back felt like they could do nor more… and yet we pushed on another hundred meters before Dave pushed us again into the final stretch.  As we barely finished in second, I (and probably others) knew they could do it again – and maybe win this time.

The Semis were probably our finest hour.  Not only was it the fastest race, but our boat that could with only 17 paddlers hung on in the A Division to finish just 0.7 seconds behind.

I felt exhaustion coming on.  And maybe many others did as well.  By our finals, the festival felt like it was over – food trucks were packing up and tents were being dismantled.  We went out, we pushed but I don’t know how much we had left.  We pulled off our third straight second for Sunday.  The first race was on condition, the second on training, the third was on heart. 

Our next few months is time to rebuild our foundations for our 2023 return.

 

The Return of the King

• Event: Boston Athletic Association 10K
• Location: Boston, MA
• Date: June 26, 2022
• Distance:  10km
• Time: 58:37

Originally, I thought I was undertrained for this event.  But looking back, I had run 32 miles in the two months leading up to it.  That’s not undertrained, that’s completely untrained.  It’s the most castle in the sky nonsense I’ve ever built.

I tried to keep myself contained.  I hoped to run 9:00/miles for the first three and then drop the hammer for the last few.  I achieved the first part of my goal.  It was the second half that was a failure.  But the second half wasn’t really the failure; the failure was the 4 miles a week I ran to train for a 6 mile race.

Alas, it is time to build back the foundations.  Every step is one step closer to being fit and competitive again. Unfortunately, some days those steps are backward.  Today was the backwards day to remind me to step forward.

 

 

A Month of Saturdays (with a Monday): Diving in Headfirst - April 2022

 

Meanwhile in Squatchachusetts

“I see the clouds 'cross the weathered faces and I watch the harvest burn,”

~Don Henley “A Month of Sundays”

 

It’s been a long time since I wrote a blog. The last time I did, I called it the End of the Beginning.  I was at the end of the beginning of a great comeback from injury and burnout.  But on March 11, 2020 something happened.

Thus, after two years of working for HHS through a global pandemic and putting off training, I find myself at the Beginning of the Beginning again.  So, I set my goal in 2022 to be the year of strength and base phase.  The whole year will be one long base training.  Then, I’ll target something in 2023 to build on the base.

After half-assing training for two years.  In January I started to fluctuate between three-quarter assing it and not assing at all. Alas, all of this assing came to a head and it was time to dive in… headfirst.

My five main goals for 2022 are:

1) Boston Dragon Boat Festival in June;

2) New England Randonneurs’ Boston-Portland-Boston 400km in June;

3) RAGBRAI in July;

4) Toughman Duathlon in September;

5) BAA Distance Medley that culminates with the Half Marathon in November.

 

Mary's Little Lamb, Sterling, MA

April 9: To the Lamb and Back

“And I've seen the dog days and dusty days; Late spring snow and early fall sleet” 

Ride: NER’s Sterling 100K

Distance: 100 km (62.5 miles)

Elevation Gain: 3,195 feet (974m)

Time: 4:30:26

Sights: Fruitlands, The Little Lamb of Sterling, Harvard Common, the Easter Bunny

Step one to goals 2 and 3 is putting in miles on the bike (and can’t hurt goals 4 and 5 either).  The 100k is a good little wake up call.  You can put in some good miles while testing equipment in real brevet/touring situations; you can have the “safety” of not straying too far from bail out points near train stations; and, you can share the experience with others who might be equally prepared (or unprepared) to ride a hill 60 mile ride in early April.   The only other time I have ridden this ride was 2014; the timing of it is weird since it will always be close to the Marathon, so years I run that I will probably never do this.

I caught the early train out of Somerville and got into Lincoln right at 8.  After some wise words from Tsun, we were off to the Lamb in Sterling.  Legs felt good.  My worries about general fitness were allayed in the first segment from Lincoln to Sterling. The 29 miles to the lamb statue were considerably better than I thought they would be and I had a good feeling for the ride.

The next segment was Sterling to Harvard.  I decided to push it here.  Initially, my plan had been to take the whole ride reasonably easy – stay in Z1 and 2 – and then pedal easy home from Lincoln at the end.  But, between how good I felt and the chances of thunderstorms (more on that later), I decided to try to make the 12:56 train back to Somerville.  I pushed it hard, it was about the same speed but effort-wise it was more the Z2/Z3 range.  Upon reaching Harvard there was a cool kids festival on the Common.  I heard several children excited to meet the special guest – that mythical Lepus himself – the EASTER BUNNY.

For the last section, I defer to my notes. My Strava notes tell me: “Realized I had some fitness, so I smashed the next 20 miles and then like Soviet Russia, the last 20 miles smashed me.” Leaving chiasmus and Yakov Smirnoff aside, it was good to know that I hadn’t miraculously become fit enough to just race a 100km. 

Despite the despotism of Soviet Russia, I still pulled into Lincoln in a time of 4:30 with theoretically 10 minutes to check-in and hop on the choo-choo.

The train I was waiting for had problems up the line in Concord.  Then the clouds opened up and in the words of one of the teenagers I was waiting for the train with: “It’s fucking hailing, what the fuck have you gotten me into?” He apologized to me for swearing.

 

 

Bib and Schwag

April 16: Marathon Weekend Kick off

“But I always get the shoes on our feet”

Race: BAA 5K

Distance: 5 km (3.1 miles)

Goal: 24:48

Actual: 23:57

The last time the BAA 5k ran was April 13, 2019.  It’s been a long time; but you could feel some near relief as we gathered on the Common.  Dr. Fauci had not said that we were past the pandemic stage yet; but those of us in the corals felt that we were doing something normal again.

Overweight and undertrained is no way to start a fast 5k.  But, alas, two days before Marathon Monday there I was.  It’s the first event in the BAA Distance Medley, so I guess it’s as good as any to con In the corral, I met up with Matt Noyes.  We discussed the lack of training for this race and how we were around 100 miles for the year – far cry from either of our heydays when we would have been putting in 200 a month.  But, time to dive in… headfirst. 

There was nothing significant about this race. Like all 5Ks, I started too fast and then tapered off.  Unfortunately, “too fast” was just slower than it used to be.  But here I was running a 5k on a Saturday morning!

 

 

Hi-fivin' Lamer at 30K

April 18: BAA’s Boston Marathon

“Watched 'em parade past the Union Jack”

Ride: BAA Marathon

Distance: 26.2 Miles

For the second year in a row, I was chosen to ride a lead bike for the Elite women in the Boston Marathon.  This year however it was back on Patriots’ Day – which commemorates the Shot Heard Round the World. 

Our job is to move straggling men’s elite and wheelchairs out of the way to give the vehicle package (6 motorbikes and 4 trucks) room.

With another 0 dark thirty wake up, I made my way to Copley.  We load up wheelchairs, handcycles and duos.  Then we put our bikes on the truck; and hopped on the bus out to Hopkinton.

26.2 miles on the bike is not a tough assignment.  But keeping the roads clear is effort; and keeping up with the vehicles over the Newton Hills is a challenge.  They average 11 miles an hour over the course and are probably running faster in Newton.  12 miles an hour over Heartbreak is hahd.

Purgatory Chasm

April 23: Racing the Train

“And I sit here in the shadow of suburbia and look out across these empty fields”

Ride: NER’s Purgatory 200K

Distance: 200 km (124.5 miles)

Elevation Gain: 7585 feet (2311m)

Time: 11:21:15

Sights: Wachusett State Park, Ringing Bell in Oakham, Spencer State Forest, Purgatory Chasm, Upton State Forest

I was sitting on a bench at Purgatory Chasm eating a cookies and cream cereal bar of some sort.  My legs were aching; I was thinking if I was mistaking by partaking in this brevet.  It was 3:00 pm, the train would leave West Concord at 6:45.  Could I make the last 40 miles in 3.5 hours?

Tsun was convincingly optimistic that I could.

So, I clambered onto my bike and started my way toward West Concord. 

***

10 hours earlier, I was leaving my house to ride from Somerville to West Concord.  This would be the second time I did thePurgatory 200K.  This would also be my first brevet in nearly 5 years – and the first since my seizure (which was literally two days after the Portland 200K in 2017).

Trepidation was thick in the cool air.  It was 47°F when I left Somerville.  While the sun began to climb, I too was climbing out of town and into the burbs.  By the time I got into Concord the sun was up, but it was now 41°F for the start.

The first part of the ride is a long climb up to an info contrôle at Wachusett’s base Visitor Center.  Fortunately for the ride a plurality of the climbing is this first 32-mile stretch.  (Rather, fortunately for the riders).  Tsun met us there. It was a cool point since early in the ride, faster people were just leaving and those at back end like me were able to see everyone.  It’s also a cool point because after all that climbing, I got to stop even just for 10 minutes.

The next section was to the contrôle in Oakham.  Honestly, I never heard of Oakham.  However, they have a cute town centre with the requisite white steepled Congregationalist church, a public library and the town greene has a gazebo and bell.  The volunteers were kind enough to ring the bell upon my arrival.  At this point it warmed up enough – probably 55°F – that I was required to un-pant.  So, there was humor as I fought with my running pants to drag them over my bike shoes and expose my shorts.

 

Purgatory 200K Route

In the new comfort of my shorts I headed out.  In about 10 miles I got turned around in central Spencer.  I missed like three turns and my navigation had me doing U-ies. I stopped to get my bearings and noticed I was in the parking lot of a pizza sub place… I stopped in for a steak bomb.

Heading through the forest land into Purgatory Chasm Reservation, I began to wonder if I could put in the effort required to get into West Concord by the required 6:30.  At the Chasm I pondered my options.  Tsun was pretty certain I could; and I figured I should at least go for it.

The issue is I don’t understand what effort feels like on a bike.  I know what effort is running.  I can tell when I can push and how much I’m pushing.  But on a bike, I always find that I either feel great and grind myself down or terrible and maybe go too slow.

So, the last 40 miles I found myself fluctuating between feeling good and feeling lousy.  I determined when I felt good I would push it; when I felt lousy, I would go into survival mode.  The last couple miles I trailed in with the Colombian guys I’d been playing leapfrog with.  We pulled into the pizza place parking lot.  I had had a slice of Pepperoni and got over to the station to catch 6:45 back into town.

Choo Choo! 

 

Ayer Station

April 30: Monster Climbs

“I sit here and listen to the clock strike, and I wonder if I'll see my companion again”

Ride: CRW’s All the Hills Metric Century

Distance: 100 km (62.9 miles)

Elevation Gain: 3800 feet (1158m)

Time: 4:48:45

Sights: Views of Pack Monadnock, Uncle Sam’s birth site, Willow Brook State Forest, Townsend State Forest

Another Saturday; another train and ride day.  This ride left out of Ayer.  Previously, I had registered for the imperial century.  But, when they added the metric one, my legs told me to do it instead.

Met the group in Ayer.  The Century team rolled out first; then the metric group.  I follow the metric group until the first hill.  And then they just dropped me like a rock.  But, I just kept my pace.  Beautiful ride took me through Southern New Hampshire and North-Central Mass.  There were two monster climbs on the route. 

In the end it wasn’t much slower than my 100K from earlier – despite 15% more climbing.