So I met Jon Modig and Nathan Butler for a Sunday morning Douglas ride at the Wallis Street lot for 7:00 am on 7/10. We just wanted to get some miles in before it got too late as I had to get back to the house to make it to the beach later in the day so Cori could ride and swim with her sister. We started in through the gate and down the fire road to Glenn's Optional (2nd left). We headed up across 16 to the trail leading into the Laurel Trail. Did the intestines on the right. Hit the newer single track through the clear cut on the north side of White's Highway and then across into the Horse Trails. All going very well. We're all doing well at this point, but when we come out of the Horse Trails, Nathan flats. Jon and I do a couple of short laps around a loop while he changes it (quite adeptly I might add). We head down the trail that hits the SNET. We get down to the spot near the Coffeehouse where the beavers have worked the trail into a small lake. Nathan at that time said he thought that he was leaking air and decided to turn back, leaving Jon and I to go one alone. At this point we have 9+ miles on. We headed around the Coffeehouse and decided to hit the Tri-State. On the way there, we meet up with Nate (Hawkins?) and Paul Lussier. They are just coming off the Tri-State. They're not grimacing too much, so we continue onward and upward. Bony! But I cleared it. Entirely. Yee haw! Jon does nearly as well.
Headed back up the rest of the Coffeehouse and picked up the Midstate to TBD (also technically the Midstate). Still fail to clear the hill on TBD. Never made it. Not once. Stupid hill. I'd say it's all in my head, but it looks pretty real when it's in front of you. Went across and did the Midstate on the other side of 16. Beavers have done a number there as well. Needs a work around. Somewhere around here we encountered another group of mountain bikers, who Jonathan and I later comment had ridden with us at Mendon last year, but who we don't really know. Continued up the bony section of the Midstate to get the trail that goes down Double Hills to the rope swing. Then around to the waterfall and hit Pine needles backwards to Glenn's Optional backwards and out. All told, 27.502 miles at 9.2 MPH average. Jon's longest ride. Ever. My longest mountain bike ride this year. I quit marathon training after this ride. I want to ride like that on Sunday mornings. Not run 16 miles. Maybe I'll do a half marathon instead. We'll see.
Buzzards Bay Triathlon Bike Course. 7/10/11. Cori Paton and Melanie McSally
My sister and I are doing the Buzzards Bay Triathlon this September in Dartmouth, MA. We wanted to test out the swim course during high tide and preview the bike course. We parked at Demarest Lloyd Park in South Dartmouth and headed out of the park. It is a slight uphill to leave the park. I need to remember to leave my bike in the middle ring. Once you leave the park, this is a big ring ride. The entire ride. And let me tell you, this is a gorgeous ride! Picture country roads, rolling farm land, salt marshes, old stone walls, historic houses, etc. Gorgeous. Of course, this area is full of nostalgia for my family. Two of the houses that we lived in while I was growing up are along this course. So is the strawberry field where I got my first job. And the full serve gas station where I would buy $1 worth of gas everyday when I first got my license. Ahhh, memory lane. It was great to see it all again with my sister. On top of it all, this ride was a huge confidence builder. No big hills. Pavement in great condition. Some shady areas. I think we finished the ride with just over 15.5 miles with an average of 14.9 MPH. I didn't get any pictures during the ride, but if you click on the Buzzards Bay Tri link above, there is a video of the bike course. It is a gorgeous area, so if you are ever down near Horseneck Beach you should bring your road bike!!
Bigelow Hollow. 7/12/11. Rob, Cori and Harry Paton
Cori and I decided to incorporate a trip to Bigelow Hollow for some riding and swimming before heading to Yankee Spirits to load up on spirit for the bluegrass festival.
We loaded up our suits, our bikes, our empties and our kid and headed to the park. It was promising to be a hot day. We arrived around 10 am and after securing a parking space near the swimming area, got straight to the biking. Harry rode around on my 29er as I finished getting stuff together.
As we headed in, we saw these weird purple kite looking things. Turns out there basically giant spinning sheets of fly paper for determining whether those wood boring beetles are in the area.
We decided to keep it simple and just headed into the fire road to Breakneck Pond. Wasn't too bad, although there was one area of the road that was flooded. Bigelow is notoriously wet down near Breakneck.
Once we hit the pond, the trail became quite a bit more technical. Lots of water crossing. Plenty of rocks and plenty of hills. We took a moment on the way in to play around on a log on the side of the trail.
Once we hit the lean-to we took a family photo, had a quick rest and headed back from whence we came.
I've got to say, Harry was doing a great job cranking up some of the hills. He's really improved a lot this year. Don't let his mom see this, but he was making it up a lot of stuff that she was walking.
We finished up the ride, heading back through the puddle and I dropped Harry and Cori off at the beach.
We had 4.1 miles at that point at 6.8 mph average. I continued on and went over Rabbit Rock and back around Breakneck, putting on another 7.4 miles at 8.2 mph average.
Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival Road Ride. 7/14/11. Rob and Cori Paton
For the past twelve years, Rob and I have been going to this particular bluegrass festival. We used to be slugs the entire time we were there...you know, drinking, eating, sitting around listening to great music. But last year we started bringing our road bikes to leave the venue and explore those foothills of the Catskill Mountains in the morning hours before the music starts. This is no easy ride. Beautiful, yes. Easy, no. We started out at our campsite (which is in a hay field) in full spandex. It's a little sketchy on skinny tires and we got some looks from people! From the festival, we took a left and then a quick right onto a main road. It was about 85-90 degrees out, but this road was mercifully shady. But then I take back the mercifully, because it kept climbing up and up and up. Finally, we found the aptly named (for a bluegrass festival ride) Old Plank Road and took a right. We went by some farms, got some beautiful views of the mountains and were treated to some superfun rolling hills. Big ones. I think Rob maxed out at 38.7 MPH. I kept my max around 30 MPH. At some point we turned onto Red Mills Road where Rob encountered a mean dog in the road. Rob had to get all mean back and yell for the owner so that we could pass. Here is where we had our second Bluegrass Festival reference. The house that the owner came out of was all boarded up, had a no trespassing sign and the man had no teeth and a wrench in his hand. Pedal faster...I hear banjos. But he was nice and gathered his dog so that we could pass. All in all, we ended up with 18 miles on the nose and an average of 13.4 MPH.
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