Downeast Brew-Vay: Portland Express 200km (6/17/17)

Kennebunk Bicycle Company

TOP TRIP
Ride: Portland Express 200k

Location: Woburn, MA -> Portland, ME

Distance: 128 miles
Time: 10:36 (PR!!)
Pivo Index: 6

I awoke at 0 Dark 30 at the Woburn Holiday Inn Express.  I could already hear the hustle and bustle in the halls as riders prepped for the day ahead.  After Pop-Tarts and two k-cups of Green Mountain Coffee, I stumbled my way out the door and into the hotel parking lot.

The 42 people registered for the ride got our cue sheets and brevet cards. Right before 4:00 am, we got our safety briefing. 7 of us were doing the 200 km from Boston to Portland; the other 35 were riding Boston to Portland to Boston (400 km).  

We rolled out of the parking lot and toward the Pine Tree State a little after 4.  It's always darkest before the dawn (is it?), so I stayed back as the laterne rouge through out the first 2 hours, just getting my bearings.  

Not a Monet,
The morning light with condensation on my lens 

Clipped-In in the Clipper City

Last year I had attempted this ride.  But the night before I had bent my rear rim in the rain in Winchester riding to the hotel. I ended up abandoning my ride at the Newburyport train station - only 30 miles in.

Oddly, that wasn't the first time I had done something like this.  In 2013, Corey and I were riding the CRW Spring Century and I hit a Grand Canyon sized pothole at about 25mph - popping both tires and bending the front rim.  Corey and I bailed from the ride at the Newburyport train station.

This year, when we hit the Newburyport train station, it was a double milestone.

First, I made it a quarter of the way through the ride without a major problem; and,

Second, it was now my longest ride "clipped in."  For many years I have cycled with flat pedals. This year with a half ironman on the horizon, I finally followed the years of advice from almost every cyclist I've ever talked to and got clip-in pedals and shoes for my road bike.  I followed that up weeks later with one side clip in, one side flat for my touring/commuter.  The Portland 200km would be my first attempt at a long ride with clip in pedals.

Now as I made the left onto the Clipper City trail, I left both the possibility of a Commuter Rail ride and the without clips ride behind.

Newburyport

Clipper City Trail, Newburyport

 Coasting New Hampshire

The first contrôle was the Dunkin Donuts in Salisbury - the last town in Massachusetts.  I wheeled into there at 6:35.  With some coffee and a sausage sandwich, I was ready to ride.

New Hampshire has 19 miles of coastline and we rode pretty much all of it.  It was still cool and the only people out were surfers and those walking their dogs.  From Seabrook to Portsmouth we got some great ocean views on flat easy roads.  It was a great way to enjoy that period where the legs were finally waking to the level the head had been for a few hours.

As we went into Portmouth, I briefly thought about hitting up the Portsmouth Brewery - then I remembered it was 8:00 am.

Arr... the Sea looked angry, New Hampshire

Entering Portsmouth

Bridge to Maine

The Maine Drag

Across the bridge into Kittery (apparently the "Maine's Oldest Town"), it's mile 57.  We rode west of the coast and into a flat bit of woods.  The sun began to peak out from the clouds and the road started to dry out a bit.  I caught myself cranking out some speed.  (Slow down, buddy; there's a whole lotta hockey left).

The second contrôle was mile 69 and the Nubble Light in York, ME.  I cruised out of there and around the north side of Cape Neddick - where we stayed for last year's Tour de Cure.  The temperature had climbed to a point where it was uncomfortably cool.  I didn't want to take off my long sleeve but I wanted to take off my long sleeve.  I would roll up the sleeves only to immediately be freezing.

Into the Woods

Nubble Light, York, ME

After slow going through brunch traffic in Ogunquit, the route headed back inland.  As we rolled our way into Wells and Kennebunk, I started getting deja vous.  I realized: these are the roads we battled the Zephyr last year!  I was back on the Tour de Cure route.  The winds were much calmer, however. In Wells at Mile 88, I stopped at a gas station to refuel water and gatorade before heading out to Kennebunk.

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I stopped at the third contrôle at mile 97 - Kennebunk Bicycle Company - for merely a couple of minutes.  I knew I wanted to push onto Biddeford where I planned to stop at Banded Horn Brewery.

In the process, however, I teamed up with Luke.  He had to get something repaired at KBC and was now getting back on the road for the 400 km.  He and I had a good conversation discussing brevets through the next 10 miles.  I left him once we were in downtown Biddeford; as, I headed to Banded Horn for a mid ride flight:

Smokey and the Banded - Nice light IPA with a hint of smokiness;
Norweald Stout - big flavored chocolatey stout - highlight of the flight;
Veridian IPA - A good well-balanced IPA; and,
Greenwarden - Piney APA with spruce tips.

On my way out, one of the girls from Portland Pie Co awarded me a cookie for my Cookie Monster bike jersey.

Flight at Banded Horn

I might have spent 75 cents on Double Dragon...
Banded Horn

Ride Bike; Eat Cookie

From Biddeford I only had 20 miles left.  I realized I could probably PR the ride with some effort if I averaged 16 or 17 mph the rest of the way.  I figured even on tired legs, I could do that for 20 miles.

Right at Mile 117, however, I had to slow down.  The next 4 miles were the jewel of the ride. First was a mile down Rte, 9 and then 3 on the Eastern Trail within the Scarborough Marsh.  Between the salt water and the sea strand, the beauty of the marsh and the vibrant (not quite deep forest) greens were sights and smells that made the first 116 miles almost meaningless.

Scarborough Marsh

Scarborough Marsh

Once out of the Marsh, there was only 6 or so miles left to go.  At first, I was going to try to speed through the last section of suburban South Portland.  But, I realized I had done my maths wrong earlier and had plenty of time to get into Portland for a PR.  Additionally, 400 km riders were now coming toward me on their way back to Boston.  I gave them acknowledgement and, hopefully, encouragement.

Concern started to seep in after a few miles as I wasn't seeing Portland.  Then there was a left turn and WHAM! I'm on the Casco Bay Bridge.

After crossing the bridge and a quick climb out of the Fore River, I rode up to Ohno Cafe to complete the ride.  Boston to Portland!

Portland from the Casco Bay Bridge

Brevet Card

After signing and turning in my brevet card, I called Grant and headed over to Salvage BBQ for some brisket and a (maybe two) Mason's Liquid Rapture - a dangerously good and easy drinking Double IPA.

Mason's DIPA

Grant and I headed over to Thompson's Point.  To where they have moved the International Cryptozoology Museum and Bissell Brothers Brewing.

At Bissell Brothers I had the flagship The Substance, Lux Rye IPA and Nothing Gold (an incredibly delicious New England Double IPA)

Grant, messing with Sasquatch

Bissell Brothers

Kept forgetting to take pictures of full beers at Bissell

After Bissell, I headed over to the Amtrak to catch the Downeaster back to Boston.  (And 4 more miles of cycling from the North End to Central Square).

Moxie for the train.

Full Circle:
Downeaster in North Station

An Odyssey into Zephyros Megalyeri: Tour de Cure Kennebunks (6/12/16)

Emma, Victor and I dance to show tunes at the start while Dan from St Louis looks on
photo by Urvi

Event: Tour de Cure Kennebunks
Location: Wells, ME
Distance: 100 miles
Time: 6:59:05

We turned into the third rest stop at Hollis Elementary School and I bee-lined the bike for a patch of grass in the middle of the parking lot.  Zephyros Megalyteri (“Greatest Zephyros,” the mighty West Wind) had battered and beaten and blasted us for the past 19 miles or so.  I flopped to the ground and laid in the grass for a few minutes before refilling my water bottles, refueling with Cape Cod chips and resuming onward back toward Wells.

****

Three Hours earlier, and not long after Eosphoros rose, no winds had been problems.  I had had an emergency tire replacement at the start area and missed the start of the Century by 10 minutes.  This was probably fine, since I was told by Jason and Victor that everyone else started out too fast.   Soon, I was riding with one guy – Dan from St Louis – who had also gotten a late start.   

The first 40 miles of the ride winds its way along the coast from Wells up to Scarborough.  And while the sun was probably rising up over the coast, we saw little of rosy-fingered dawn. Instead, it was fog as thick as pea soup. 10 miles into the ride the fog had gotten so dense that I could not see more than five feet in front of me.  I was worried I would have to stop.  It was then I realized that while it was really foggy, my glasses were accentuating the fog.  So, I removed them and it was much better.

Dan, who was riding the Tour de Cure in his Seventh State, and I rode into the first water stop.  We met Victor and Jason.  Jason had already done the Biddeford Pool loop, but decided to do it with us again.  The fog had begun to burn off and we got glorious views of the sea and shore.

Biddeford Pool

Dan had dropped off while Jason, Victor and I continued our journey.  At mile 28, Gaia-ochos (“earth-shaking”) Poseidon struck us with our first mechanical issue.  I looked back and Victor was stopped about 400 meters behind us.  Jason and I looped back around and tried to assist.  Victor’s rear derailleur had stopped derailing.  He couldn’t shift at all.  Jason tried to help.  He did get it to move one gear.  I was absolutely no help in this situation.  Eventually the bike was “good enough”; and Victor was going to go back to the 100k route and follow it and if it was too bad he’d drop.

Jason pushed on to the second water stop at the Clam Bake in Scarborough as I would follow and tag along on his work.  After walking about ½ mile through the depths of the Clam Bake for the bathroom, Jason and I were ready to head off. 

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Homer warns of Zephyros in the Illiad: "As two winds rise to shake the sea where the fish swarm, Boreas and Zephyros, north wind and west, that blow from Thraceward, suddenly descending, and the darkened water is gathered to crests, and far across the salt water scatters the seaweed."  Unlike the Illiad, however, we were heading away from the sea when we met the mighty blows of Zephyros.

What had been nothing at 7 and a breeze at 8, by 10 am was a steady 15 mph wind blowing right at us as we headed west.  Although, gusts were only 20 mph, at this time.  For the next 20 miles, I largely just got in front and Jason tucked in behind as I drove into Zephyros Megalyteri.  This furious headwind coupled with climbs found only in rugged Ithaki, was the toughest part of the ride.  From mile 40 until mile 55, we went from 30 feet of altitude to 375 feet.

Jason on the road

My exhaustion at the third water stop was understandable and my few minutes in the grass was excusable.  In fact, including the stops we had done miles 40-60 faster than the flat windless coast roads from 20-40. 

Wind graphs from weatherundergound.com

The nearly forgotten Oppian, attaches the epithet “rapid” to this West wind in his Cynegetica: "The swift tigers, the offspring of rapid Zephyros .”

After we left Hollis, there was a brief respite from the headwinds.  But it was brief.  And despite his cycling acumen, Jason is no into the wind cyclist.  So, each time we would hit another headwind from rapid Zephyros, our speed would go from 17 to 11 or 12 mph.  When this happened, I would jump to the front and try to drag us back to the 15-16 range. 

The problem of course is calculating your ideal speed with so much wind and so much distance to go.  Fortunately Dr. Brad Anton has determined how to calculate the proper speeds and power based on given conditions:

Dr. Anton's model from "Optimal Time-Trial Bicycle Racing with Headwinds and Tailwinds"

Where:

P+= Power output into a headwind

C_D= Drag coefficient

A = frontal area

p = Air density

v = constant speed

w = speed of rapid Zephyros

Unfortunately, I both understand little of this math, don’t have a power meter for output AND I didn't have an anemometer handy to get anywhere close to an exact measurement of wind.  So instead, to paraphrase last week's race: JKP - Just Keep Pedallin'.  

York and Beachhouse we rented
photos and collage by Urvi

At mile 75, Gaia-ochon Poseidon struck again.  This time he hit Jason's tire.  Jason slipped through a turn to find he had lost pressure on his rear tire.  We were about 4 miles from the next water stop, so Jason decided to just pump up his tire and see how far he could ride.  We had to stop again at mile 77. But this time it was a quick stop.  I handed him the pump, he got the pressure back up to 60 or so and we made it the last two miles to the 80 mile stop.

Our plan had been to change the tube there, etc.  Fortunately, there was actually a volunteer bike mechanic at the stop who just replaced Jason's tube for us.  (Take that Earth-shaker!)

Jason at Mile 60

In Theogony, Hesiod says that when Dawn and Dusk mated, they had two children – the strong-hearted winds.  The first was Boreas, the North Wind and the second was Zephyros, the West Wind. Parts of the last laps saw the two teaming up on us.

The final section took us on an extra 18 mile loop.  At mile 82, the 50k ride turned for home while the 100k and 100 mile routes still continued.  From 82 until 87, I basically said nothing.  I just put my head down into Zephyros with Jason following.

Miles 88 and 89 however were what we'd been waiting for all day.  We headed ESE back toward the ocean and Wells.  This meant Boreas and Zephyros were pushing.  But, as we know from experience (and as Jobst Brandt shows in "A Practical Analysis of Ærodynamic Drag"), tailwind - not even "strong-hearted winds" - help as much as they hurt as headwinds.

Laura, Lisa, Emma, Ryan, Amy, Amie, Robbie, Jason, me, Victor and Urvi at the end

But it was short lived.  I was now heading generally North and Boreas was kicking my ass.  Jason began yo-yoing off the back.  He would pedal hard into the wind to catch me and then drop back again.  This is where we caught Urvi and Lisa who were on the 100k route.  When we got to mile 94, Jason called it.  "I'm toast; I'm on mile 99 for my day."  We gave our regards and I moved on.  The next two miles might have been the toughest of the whole day.

Boreas and Zephyros were blowing one last hurricanic blow.  In fact, Mile 96 was the slowest of the day outside of those Buxton hayfields at the halfway point (where we saw neither big oaks nor pieces of black volcanic glass).  I pushed and struggled through it to the "4 miles to go" sign.

Carrie-Anne at the Reservation after the finish
photo by Urvi

Soon it was a right turn with just over 3 miles and I was on my way into Wells.  the last three miles were a blur.  I was just riding as hard as I could for two reasons: 1) I could beat 7 hours and 2) more importantly, I just wanted to stop riding.

I came into Wells Reserve and passed a few people.  I crossed the start line for one last little Ronde type hill as Cyclotrons who had finished cheered me to the top and got my medal - 55 seconds under 7 hours.

Finished - medal and all!

As I drank my celebratory beer - fittingly it was none other than a Rising Tide Zephyr IPA - Victor told me how he gutted it out on only three gears with the hills and the wind to ride the whole 100k. Amie, Ryan and Carrie-Anne finished the 100k together.  Emma had ridden the 100 miler in just over 6 hours, while Robbie had done it in under 5.  Yes Robbie rode it in 4:52!

We cheered in Jason as he finished right behind me and then Lisa and Urvi as they finished despite Zephyros Megalyeri accentuating various injuries.

Alehouse mussels from Portsmouth Brewery - yeah, baby! I had their Diggler DIPA as the accompaniment 

Mainiacs: Two weekends in Maine (8/7-8/9 and 8/15-8/16/15)

At Frost Mtn Yurts

Weekend #1 - Fryeburg and Brownfield

Friday: Yurting For Certain II

At the Burnt Mtn/StoneMtn junction

Hike: Burnt Meadow and Stone Mountains
Distance: 4.8 miles

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We check into our yurt.  While not the same yurt from 2009, it was at the same location in Brownfield, ME.



We had time to make it out to a hike down the road.  It promised two peaks and great views. It also promised strenuous start.  And it was.  We were going steeply up almost immediately. We gained 1000 feet in a little over a mile.

Matt, Eva and Urvi on the hike

South Peak

Urvi Scrambles up the last bit of North Peak

Stone Mtn Summit

Urvi at the Yurt

Saturday: Yaking, Cabining, and Ebenezering

Paddling Trip: Sacooooo Rivahhh!!!
Distance: 7.8 miles

So we were ready for a nice paddle down the lovely Saco River.  We got Daytona Beach at Spring Break.  OMG!!!

Saccoooooo Rivahhh!!!
Drunk teens and twenty-somethings

Matt on the Saco

Urvi on the Saco

Saco

Mt Tom Cabin

Matt pumps water from the well

Ebenezer's: Lovell, ME

For dinner we went to what is known as one of if not the best beer bar in the country/world.  Located on the fairway of a small golf course in Lovell, ME, it has some of the best draft selections in the world.

Bar

Matt, me, Eva and Urvi

Sunday: Moating and Gaming

Urvi and Eva as we're about half way into Thurn and Taxis

Moat Mountain

One From the Vault
That time we went Yurting in the Winter

Weekend #2 - Otter Forest
The next weekend Urvi and I went up to my parents' cabin in Harmony - Otter Forest.

Hike: Pleasant Pond Mountain
Distance: 2.5 miles

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