Missed Opportunity

As a matter of fact, I do own the road. Or at least the right of way over the traffic coming behind me. Aaargghhhhh.

Given the weather forecast, I decided to carpool in with Cori today and ride the Klein home. I'm not a huge fan of walking out of the office in spandex, but to get my car off the road for the day and get some miles on, albeit road miles, I'm willing to subject myself to a little ridicule.

The part of the ride home I hate most is Route 16, and with good reason. It's only about a mile or so, but it's high traffic and no shoulder to speak of. On top of that, it's pretty commercial, which means lots of turning cars.


I was at the turn off for Killdeer Island Road with traffic steadily passing me on the left. Just as I started to pass by the intersection a red pick up truck pulled up alongside of me to make the right hand turn onto Killdeer Island. I heard the passenger say something to the driver, presumably about my being there, then heard the driver start yelling at me, although I couldn't make out what he was saying. I guess he thought I was (a) supposed to know he was behind me, (b) know that he wanted to turn right and (c) assume he had the right of way because he was in a truck and I was on a bike.

I don't know why he didn't see me. I was wearing a ridiculously bright green, white and yellow cycling jersey (thanks Chris Beriau). Of course I didn't factor in that wearing spandex and a cycling jersey makes my 6'2" 195 pound frame seem quite a bit less formidable. Apparently not even a little formidable to that jerk.

Anyhow, with him screaming at me, I started yelling back. I believe I commanded him to get over here right now. Maybe not using such nice words. I was trying to convey the concept that I had the right of way, but it came out as I had a right to ride on the road as well, which isn't quite the same. He was hollering that I did have the right to ride on the road, but still had to watch out for traffic. Instead of trying to calm the situation and explain my point rationally, I let myself get wrapped up in an escalating shouting match. At 41 years old, I shouldn't find myself in a situation where someone is saying to me, "You want to do something about it, get over here and I'll kick your ass." At that point I finally smartened up and just rode off.

I had 40 more minutes of riding to reflect on what had transpired. At first I was mad at myself for backing down, but soon came to see that as ridiculous. I then thought of what I actually wanted him to know about sharing the road and wishing I had conveyed that better in my verbal altercation. In the end, I figured out that I had really just wished I had a conversation with the guy and explained everyone's responsibilities when operating on the road.

All I did was make that guy hate cyclists more than he already does. I had the opportunity to make a difference and I blew it. Next time he sees someone on a bike, ten to one he squeezes in on them.

If you know anyone who thinks cyclists don't belong on the roads or that they should yield to all traffic, please tell them that cyclists have every right to be on the road and all the responsibilities of following traffic rules.

For more information on the Mass Rules of the Road governing bicyclists and motorists, click here and scroll to the last three pages of the chapter.


The specific rule covering the situation in which I found myself today was:

"Do Not Make an Abrupt Turn After Passing: When passing a bicycle near an
intersection or driveway where you want to turn right, you cannot turn unless you are at
a safe distance from the bicyclist and you can make the turn at a reasonable and
proper speed. (Chap. 90, Sec 14)"

I'd also encourage all of my cycling friends to review the rules and abide by them. If we don't follow the rules, motorists are not going too feel compelled to follow them either.

Can't we all just get along?

Total miles: 17.9
Average Speed: 19.0 mph

Big Ring

So yesterday, when the the rest of the country was experiencing tornadoes, flooding, hail and thunderstorms, we in Connecticut were experiencing a sunny 80 degree day.  I didn't have much time to spare, but I figured I'd better get out on my bike.  I had to dig out my tank tops for biking...they hadn't see the light of day since last summer!

So, with only a half hour to spare, I set out for a ride.  I decided that since it was going to be such a short ride, I'd better work on developing some power or speed.  That means I had to shift into the dreaded big ring and work on my cadence.  So for those who have no idea what I'm talking about here's a little lesson.  There are three gear rings in the front attached to the crank (pedal) of my bike.  The big ring is the hard gear used for powering down hills or on flats.  The middle ring is where I am most comfortable when riding gentle rolling hills and regular country roads.  The small ring is also known as the granny gear and is used to get up steep or long hills. 

When I went out with Rob on Easter, we rode some hills late in the ride.  I would be in my middle ring thinking about dropping to granny gear but would look at Rob's gears and see he was pedaling effortlessly in his big ring.  Hmmph.  I need to work on that.  So on this ride, I decided it was the big ring only.  I set out over the dam and looked down to see speeds around 17-19MPH.  Feeling good.  Went down the hill, took a left, continued powering through in the big ring.  And then made the left turn to double back over the dam and turned straight into a headwind.  My speeds going over the dam in this direction were 12-14MPH and I was working hard.  I contemplated dropping down to my middle ring but figured I needed to power through it.  I was almost home.  And I did it.  Until I got to the last hill approaching my driveway.  I had to drop down right at the end.  But it was an improvement. 

Mission accomplished.  Increased average speed in the big ring.  Maybe next time it'll feel easier.

---
Stats:
7.71 miles (don't judge - I only had 30 minutes!!)
15.2 MPH average
26.7 max speed (not bad for a flat ride).
---

Anyone have any tips on building up power and speed on the road?  Please share!!
In the meantime, I'll just keep pedaling!
~Cori

What a Difference a Day Makes!

So Saturday was Rob's first race of the season.  You can read his race report below.  But it is no exaggeration to say that it was a miserable event for spectators!  If you are anywhere in New England, you know that it was cold, rainy and raw.  Not ideal for standing around for hours.  I am wearing four layers underneath that rain coat.   Harry opted out of racing, but did ride his bike through a whole bunch of puddles.  Which meant that he was a wet muddy mess.  His backside was soaking wet.  What we won't do to cheer on our racer!

But what a difference a day makes!  We woke up on Sunday morning and it was sunny.  And warm.  Glorious!!  After hosting Easter dinner, Rob and I decided to go for a road ride.  So while Harry went and played at the neighbor's house, we started out towards the dam.  As we got close to the dam, we started to feel rain drops.  Rob exclaimed something about Mother Nature hating him.  But we pedaled on and it cleared up.  We rode by some beautiful historic homes, many with people outside doing Easter egg hunts, playing whiffle ball, playing cornhole, etc.  We rode by a huge horse farm, saw a ginormous snapping turtle and were pleasantly surprised to see some vicious dogs all caged up.  We stopped on a bridge to enjoy a waterfall and stopped at the scenic overlook at the Windham County Land Trust to enjoy the view.  We thoroughly enjoyed soaking in the sun and basking in that 70 degree day!!

  -----
Stats:
21.39 miles
12.6 mph average
31.6 max speed (woo hoo!)
----
Follow up on Rob's race report:
Official results are up and he finished 14th out of 25.

Enjoy the ride!!
~Cori

Race Report: Massasoit Lung Opener

I'll preface this post by saying a mudder I am not. I had ridden this race last year and taken sixth in my division in fast, dry conditions.

It was with great trepidation that I finally pre-regged about an hour before online registration closed on Thursday afternoon. Brandon O'Neal convinced me to do it by casually mentioning something about fair-weather riders. And then Brandon conveniently pulled his back riding two days before the mud-fest. Coincidence?

Of course, there was still hope the weather would improve in the two days before the race, but alas, when I awoke Saturday morning, it was to the steady pitter-patter of rain drops outside. And the rain never stopped.

I loaded my bike up on the car and then Harry's, hoping he would do the kids race. Five of us (my mom and her husband, Cori, Harry and me) squeezed into Cori's Volvo and drove the hour plus in a steady rain. We arrived at Massasoit State Park with a half hour to spare, or so we thought. I walked up to the registration table and found out that they were starting the Cat 2 race a half hour late. I saw Pete Dunn while I was registering. He had decided to race single speed. Probably not a half bad idea given the mud it looked like we were in for out there.

The rain let up a little while I unloaded the bikes. By the time we arrived to the start area, it was coming down harder again. We ran into Karen Potter near the start line. At least I think it was Karen. There was just enough dirt to plant a garden where her face should have been, but a huge white smile was shining through. She grabbed first in the pro race. She gave a few good tips. The thing that really helped me was her recommendation to stay to the outside of the main track whenever possible.


The race went off at 2 pm. It was raining steadily and about 45 degrees. There were maybe 20 - 25 people in the 40 - 49 age group of Cat 2. The race starts up the paved park road and bank left into the woods maybe 1/8 of a mile up the road. About half way up the road I saw riders braking hard. As I passed by the outside, I saw two guys splayed across the pavement. Looked like they were okay and gathering themselves to remount and go. It was kind of funny hearing everyone cursing at the guys laying on the ground. Apparently we were supposed to be mad at them for not knowing how to ride in a pack.

The course is described as a 7.1 mile loop, although this year and last I was measuring it at closer to 7.75. The Cat 2 does two laps.

As we hit the woods I became immediately aware of just how muddy the course was. It was super greasy. My tires were spinning and sliding everywhere. In retrospect, I wish I'd run a little lower air pressure. I was close to the rear of the pack heading into the woods but gained a handful of spots in the first section. There were enough of us running tight enough, however, that we kept getting bunched up at all of the steep ups.



We finally started to thin out and caught a rhythm. It was still crucial to stay focused though, as I was sliding through much of the course. By the end of the first lap, I had taken a few more positions, but was having a hard time looking back at their numbers to see if they were in my age group.

Some of the steep downs were really difficult to negotiate. If you hit the brakes at all you'd just start sliding down at the mercy of the mud and the pitch. It almost seemed like your best bet was to hit the downs without braking and hope not to crash.

As hard as the downs were, there were a couple of super gnarly steep sections that had been nigh impossible in the best of conditions last year. Yesterday there was not a chance. I kept having a lot of trouble clipping back in any time I was pushing my bike up these. My cleats were just clogged with mud and pine needles.

I went into the second lap and picked a couple of people off pretty quick. I met up with Pete Dunn again. He'd gone off with the single speeds in the heat before me. We rode together for a stretch before I pulled away. The single speed looked pretty tough going up a couple of the hills.

Once I pulled away, I was alone for quite a while. I just tried to focus and keep the legs moving. I was definitely losing steam and my confidence wasn't great with the conditions. I managed to grab a couple of younger guys from a couple of heats before me before I started getting picked off by a couple of guys during the last half lap. I hung on as best as I could, getting passed by one last guy hike-a-biking up the last hill. I could see he was in my age group, but had to let him have it.

Once we crossed the finish line, I talked to the guy who just passed me. He seemed to think that we were around 18 and 19 out of 23. That was a pretty big disappointment, but like I said in the beginning, I'm not a mudder. Still awaiting the official results to post.

On top of having a less than terrific finish, this was the first mountain bike race I'd invited my mother to. I'm pretty sure it'll probably be her last. Standing around for glimpses of your son in rainy, raw conditions can not leave a good taste in your mouth.

Harry skipped the kids race, probably smartly so. It was just miserable out there. Funny thing is Friday was beautiful and today was absolutely gorgeous out. But, I guess you get what you get and you don't get upset.


Next race is the Glocester Grind on 5/15. Let's hope for drier conditions there!!!

Duels on Bikes

Today I went over to my friend's house and we had a Yu-Gi-Oh card duel on our bikes.  We were trying to make a reproduction of Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's.  Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's is basically a Yu-Gi-Oh duel on motorcycles.  So we decided to try dueling on bikes to see what it feels like. 

I carried a deck of cards in my pocket while riding my bike around in circles.  My friend was also riding his bike around in circles.  Then we each drew seven cards.  Then I had to play a card by calling out the card name and then he played a card the same way.  We did that until the game was over.


It was really hard to keep control of our bikes while we tried to play.  I felt like I was pretty much riding no-handed.  At one point in the game my friend actually crashed into me.  We were both fine though.

The good news is that I won the game.  Yippee.

Have you ever made up a game to play on your bicycle?

~ Harry

Everyone knows it's windy

So I arrived home from three days of skiing at Sugarloaf today and thought I should probably do something to work off all those beers and burgers. I kind of hoped to see if my mountain bike was ready, but the shop wasn't answering. Must be closed on Sundays. Anyhow, mountain biking being out of the question, I decided I'd probably just take a run.

As I unloaded my ski gear out of my car, I saw a handful of roadies riding by the house and they seemed to be having a great time. As with most things, that was about all the arm-twisting I needed. I decided I'd do a road ride (only my second of the season) and then do a run. It was, after all, a LOT of burgers and beer.

Down to the basement and found that my front tire was flat. No more spares on the shelf, but two in my saddle pack. Took the first out and realized the stem was too short for my Rolfs. The other one worked though. So, yes, I did go on a solo road ride with no spare. Fortunately, nothing bad came of that.

Made it out and did a 17.13 mile loop from my house. I quickly came to realize that those roadies that seemed to be smiling when they went by my house must really have been grimacing from the gale force wind gusts that were simply relentless. The good news were that there were quite a few tail winds. Unfortunately, there were at least as many head winds. Maybe worse than the head winds are the ones blowing from the side that threaten to blow your bike out from under you. In the end, I don't know how much my overall pace was affected , but it was a frustrating ride.

Finished with an 18.3 average and then went out and knocked out a 8.53 mile hilly run at an easy 8:35 pace.

Next up, Tuesday time trials, the Wednesday night ride and then the Massasoit Lung Opener on Saturday. Can't wait for the race. It's going to be a blast!

Hill-a-rific!

Last night, my pal Wendy and I headed out for a ride.  It was perfect weather.  Sunny, 60 degrees and very little wind.  We each rode from our home and met at a point on the course to continue on together.  It was a hilly course.  We rode Elliot Hill, Buckley Hill,  Thompson Hill and the dam hill.

Now don't go thinking I'm cursing any hill.  The dam hill refers to the West Thompson Dam.  I ride over it often.  And it is gorgeous.  Let me show you.

West Thompson Dam

 The West Thompson Dam is owned by the US Army Corp of Engineers and is used for flood control.  They displaced the village of West Thompson for the flood zone and when the water is low, you can still see the old roads, stone walls and house foundations.  It's a pretty cool area to explore.  So this road goes over the top of the dam.  I drive over it everyday to get to work and ride over it often. 

The view from the other end of the dam

The Youngest Biker

Hi, I'm Harry.

I am the youngest of the three Patons.  I am 10.  I like playing outside.  We have a dirt driveway and I love to ride my bike around it with my friend Nick.  I'm into Yugioh and Legos.  I also like to play around on the computer.

Last year my birthday party had a bike theme.  I got a new bike for my birthday.  All my friends brought their bikes and we went for a ride on some singletrack.  We had a cake with a bike on it that was made out of candy.  We gave everyone skull things to cap the tires.  I think everyone liked them.  It was very fun.  Now I'm really into biking.

My birthday is coming up soon.  Does anyone have any ideas for themes this year?

~Harry

Biker Chick

I admit it.  It was my idea.  Mostly because I am addicted to reading blogs.  You name it, and I followed it...blogs on triathlons, running, food, finances and even fashion.  And then I wanted one of my own.  But I knew I wouldn't have enough material on my own. So I proposed the idea to Rob and Harry.  Lo and behold, they went for it.  So here we are.
  

                                                                     I am Cori.

 

 Wife to Rob.

                                                            
                                                                   Mom to Harry.
 

                                                                

When it comes to biking, I consider myself a newbie roadie.  I have a mountain bike, but truth be told, I don't love it.  I think I'm just too much of a wimp to go downhill on technical single track.  And I'm not strong enough to power up those steep inclines.  So I end up riding my brakes all the way down and whining about how I got myself in this predicament while walking my bike uphill.  But then I got a road bike and discovered that I love to go fast on beautiful country roads.  There is just nothing like tucking down while pedaling and looking down to see that you are going faster than the speed limit.  It's not something I can accomplish often, but when I do, MAN, is it exhilarating.

I still ride my mountain bike when we go out as a family.  We like to do some local rail trails, the Cape Cod Canal path and the Providence bike path.  I'll show some pictures and write some reviews as we hit them again this season.  After a winter being cooped up on the trainer, I'm very excited to finally be hitting the roads again.  Can't wait to share it all with you.

-----
I went out solo on Monday and logged 8.92 miles at a 13.7 pace.
Next ride is scheduled for Friday.  Can't wait.


Keep pedaling!

~Cori

My Riding Self, by Rob

Hey.  Pedal Pusher-in-Chief here.  A brief history.  I've been riding ever since I bought my first GT Timberline back when I was making bagels in Long Island in the early '90s (that's a story for another time).   I did a little trail riding with that, but used it as transportation and did some long road rides on it.  Most memorably I remember riding 90 miles round trip from half way out the Island to the Hamptons and back.  Whew!

I bought my next bike, another GT Timberline, in '95.  I started riding off-road more seriously then and in '97 me and a buddy from work , Matt Botelho, met up in the woods with the Commerce group.  It's there that we learned that you could drink beer after mountain biking and I fell in love all over again.

I got a job with Commerce Insurance in '98 and a year or two afterward took over the emailing for the Wednesday night rides when my predecessor, the estimable Chris DiMartino, left the company.  I've been doing that for over a decade now.  The ride emails go out to probably 50 riders now and somewhere between eight and 20 riders show up.  I think there is a correlation coefficient of about 0.95 between attendance and favorable weather conditions. 

Since then I've been through a Schwinn Moab 1 and a Klein Mantra Comp.  I remember buying that Mantra and telling my very understanding wife that if I spent that much on a bike, I'd never need to buy another bike again.  Boy, did she hold me to that!  I rode that bike TEN seasons.  No exaggeration.  I watched some other guys buy two and three bikes in that time and I spent probably twice what it originally cost in rebuilding and repairing it.

This past year I finally bought a new Gary Fisher Hi-Fi Plus.  It's a super sweet full suspension 29er and has improved my riding exponentially.  I thank Kenny Ambach and the Trek Stop for making that happen.

I also began racing a little more seriously last year.  I think I did maybe 9 or 10 biking races.  I raced sport and placed fairly well in my age group (that's the *getting old* guy group) pretty consistently.  I also started time trialing.  The time trial season just started last Tuesday.  Tonight was the second of three weeks at the first venue.

I borrowed Mike Tonry's Fatback tonight.  It's this crazy bike made in Alaska that is a full rigid, geared bike with GINORMOUS tires.  I was told I was running the tires a little firm with 10 p.s.i.  Managed to shave about 2:15 off last week's time though.  Awesome!

I do have a road bike, a Klein Quantum Race, as well that I bought used a few seasons back to help me through the mud season.  I ride it here and there, but would prefer to be off-road.  Once the weather gets a little nicer, I'll probably start catching rides into work with Cori and riding home.  Just to get on some miles. 

I'm now gearing up for my first race of the season.  The Massasoit Lung Opener is 4/23/11.  I raced it last year and remember it being FASSSSST.  Super looking forward to it.

The other thing that I'm really excited for this year is an official kids mountain bike ride.  I've connected with the Thompson Rec and we have an eight week program planned over the summer for 9 - 12 year old kids.  Hopefully we get some sign ups.  We did some of this informally last year and it was loads of fun.  It did wonders for Harry.  Must be more fun to ride bikes with your chums than your old man, no matter how cool he is.

Anyhow, that's me.  Looking forward to sharing more in the near future.  Thanks!

Who are the Pedal Pushing Patons?

Good question.

We are just a regular family trying to squeeze a little fitness into our hectic lives.  We run, hike, swim, ski, disc golf, snowshoe, etc.  But mostly, we bike.  We ride road bikes and mountain bikes.  We ride recreationally in groups and solo.  We dabble in a little racing.  But mostly, we ride for fun.

We live in the Quiet Corner of Connecticut.  It provides us with the most beautiful scenery on our rides.  We are able to ride by farmland, golf courses, historic houses and classic New England rolling hillside.  We also have access to an incredible amount of mountain biking trails in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.  There are carriage roads, fire roads, rail trails, single track and double track.  We explore it all.

There are three members of our family:  Rob, Cori and Harry.  Rob is an avid mountain biker and will describe the various groups that he belongs to when he introduces himself.  Cori rides on the road with a group of girls who train for triathlons and rides solo to get in additional miles.  Harry is in 5th grade and is making the transition from riding carriage roads and rail trails to actual single track.  So we invite you to come back over the next few days when we will each introduce ourselves.  And then follow along as we explore new roads, cut new trails, train for races, etc.

So leave us a comment to let us know you are reading.

Keep pedaling!

~The Patons