What a killer weekend for riding. For the 3rd week of January, I couldn’t have asked for much better temps.
On Friday, temps were supposed to be up near the 40s. That is something I NEEDED to take advantage of. So, I took a bit of time off from work and went out on a nice 2 hour lunch time spin. I have to say, I am pretty lucky that I can take 2 hours off during the middle of the day to ride. Then again, I work in the bike industry, in New England and its winter. There is virtually no chance of that happening during the summer time when we are busy. Either way, a nice 2ish hour spin to get the legs prepped up for the weekends effort.
On Saturday, when I checked out the weather, I couldn’t believe what I saw. A high near 50? Hot damn. There was no way I was going to miss out on this. So, a quick breakfast and a nice walk with the dog and it was time to get down to business. Dressed up with the least amount of clothing that I have put on in the last couple of months, I went out for what was looking to be a 4 hour day. About 2 hours into it, the worst came true. In my rush to get the morning things done, I didn’t eat enough and I was going into the red quickly. I took in as much Hammer product as I could (Perpetuem and gel), but there wasn’t much I could do from that point on. Ohh well, I had to cut my 4 hour ride down to 3, but not a huge deal. Sometimes those things happen. I just need to slow things down in the morning and take in the calories I need to. Rookie move. Either way, it was a good ride and was nice to be out in 50 degree weather.
Route from Google Earth
Sunday couldn’t have been more different than Saturday. The high was supposed to be in the low 40s and chances of snow all day. It looks like I did the right thing to get out on the road bike on Saturday and get out on the Pugsley Sunday night. After last weeks little issue (my crank arm fell off due to me not checking bolt tightness), I did some needed maintenance to the bike and finally got out around 4:30. Man, that bike is fun to ride, but it sure is a TON of work. Some things I always have a hard time remembering when on the bike. 1)It isn’t quite as “flickable” as my carbon hardtail. When coming around a corner, I can’t get the back end to move around things. 2)That bike is a pig. At around 35ish pounds, it takes a lot to move it. With the Pugs, its all about the workout, not the speed.
With that being said, I did the smart thing (wait for the sarcasm). I took it to one of the tougher climbs in the area and did some climbing with it. The climb I chose was up Cathedral Ledge, which for the first section has an average grade of 17.5%. That is a hell of a climb on a 35 pound bike. With the climb out of the way, I was able to get a few more miles in before I had to turn around to get back home. Even with the climb and tiring legs from the past weeks effort, I had a smile on my face 95% of the time. It is just to hard not so smile while riding that big goofy bike.
Route from Google Earth
Elevation Profile
Sure, doesn’t look like a huge elevation gain or anything like that, but 17.5% for .5 miles using a 35 lbs bike in lose snow is quite a tricky climb.
Today is Monday, and that means one thing. Cleaning up the bikes from this past weekends efforts out side. With a 50 degree day under its belt, even with fenders, the bike is pretty trashed, which will give the legs a bit of a breather as they have been worked pretty nicely this week as well..
