Last night was the weekly ride with the team from Hollyloft. The number of people that show up is usually very impressive. 50-60 people by my survey. Last night barely reached 30 because of threatening skies.
There are several classes of bikers ranging from racers in "A" to pacers in "D." I ride with the "Killer B's." Moderate to fast pace, moderate hills, 35-40 miles. Because of the small crowd, A's and B's joined up. We passed through Jamestown on various bumpy side streets. This section of the ride is tough to get through. Traffic, traffic patterns, stop signs, manhole covers and bumpy roads.
When we reached the open road on the south east side of the lake we flew in a tight paceline on some pretty smooth and lonely roads. I road next to a guy who works at Johnson Estates vineyard in Westfield. I mused that a cyclist can become a connoisseur of road types as one becomes a wine aficionado. Some roads are smooth and fast. Others are bumpy and slow, and there is a continuum of everything in between. The particular road we were on I rated as Champaign. At that moment of high praise, we turned onto another road that classified as Manaschevitz. On a particular stretch that really degraded I thought of "two buck Chuck," it is the quickest path to get where you want to go, but you won't like the way you get there.
A chance meeting of a heard of Holstein let us pause to stretch after the first 12 miles.
Shortly afterward the group split into A's and B's at a fork in the road. One group would go the long way and the other a shorter more direct route. I chose the long, hilly way of the racers, perhaps foolishly. They were fast on the up-hills and quick to pick up speed at the top, a skill I need to work on. I dropped from the pack, but two guys broke off and allowed me to catch them. Drafting inches from one back tire, (and thanks to a well timed stop light) I was able to catch up to the group by the time we reached Jamestown.
The best thing about biking with Hollyloft is the free beer at the end of the ride. It is the only time I intend to drink beer during the summer...when it is well deserved. When I arrived back at the store, we had ridden 35 miles in a little over 2 hours for an average speed of 16.9 mph. While that does not sound fast, one should appreciate slow speeds at the start, approaching/leaving stop signs and long slow climbs slow the average down significantly. I hit a top speed of 45 mph on a good downhill.
There are several classes of bikers ranging from racers in "A" to pacers in "D." I ride with the "Killer B's." Moderate to fast pace, moderate hills, 35-40 miles. Because of the small crowd, A's and B's joined up. We passed through Jamestown on various bumpy side streets. This section of the ride is tough to get through. Traffic, traffic patterns, stop signs, manhole covers and bumpy roads.
When we reached the open road on the south east side of the lake we flew in a tight paceline on some pretty smooth and lonely roads. I road next to a guy who works at Johnson Estates vineyard in Westfield. I mused that a cyclist can become a connoisseur of road types as one becomes a wine aficionado. Some roads are smooth and fast. Others are bumpy and slow, and there is a continuum of everything in between. The particular road we were on I rated as Champaign. At that moment of high praise, we turned onto another road that classified as Manaschevitz. On a particular stretch that really degraded I thought of "two buck Chuck," it is the quickest path to get where you want to go, but you won't like the way you get there.
A chance meeting of a heard of Holstein let us pause to stretch after the first 12 miles.
Shortly afterward the group split into A's and B's at a fork in the road. One group would go the long way and the other a shorter more direct route. I chose the long, hilly way of the racers, perhaps foolishly. They were fast on the up-hills and quick to pick up speed at the top, a skill I need to work on. I dropped from the pack, but two guys broke off and allowed me to catch them. Drafting inches from one back tire, (and thanks to a well timed stop light) I was able to catch up to the group by the time we reached Jamestown.
The best thing about biking with Hollyloft is the free beer at the end of the ride. It is the only time I intend to drink beer during the summer...when it is well deserved. When I arrived back at the store, we had ridden 35 miles in a little over 2 hours for an average speed of 16.9 mph. While that does not sound fast, one should appreciate slow speeds at the start, approaching/leaving stop signs and long slow climbs slow the average down significantly. I hit a top speed of 45 mph on a good downhill.
posted by Kenny Macdonald at 10:07 AM
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