by Peter Crowley » Sat May 25, 2013 6:21 pm
There were 7 of us fools who set out in the cold rain. It was both cold (45) and raining steadily when I left. It never got any warmer, and it rained a bit harder or a bit less, but it never stopped. Jonathan, Jonathan, Chris, Rich, Tim, Clayton, and I headed south towards Mt Tom. Jonathan OK flatted twice before Mt Tom. We lost Clayton after the second flat -it was OK riding, but got cold fast standing around. At 141, I headed back through Easthampton while the remaining 5 continued towards Southampton. 44 miles -and nice in spite of the weather.
by Jonathan O’Keeffe » Sat May 25, 2013 7:45 pm
Peter, you left just in time to miss flat #3 (and yes, all three of them were mine). After flat #2 I made another quick inspection of the tire, and pulled out a small piece of glass, but #3 called for a lengthier inspection, which finally revealed a tiny piece of wire poking through the tire. With that taken care of, a botched re-installation of the rear wheel resulted in a chain jammed up in the rear derailleur. A bunch of tugging and twisting produced no results, and I was getting ready to make the call of shame, when Jonathan B whipped out a rusty 20-year-old multi-tool and proceeded to disassemble the entire rear derailleur cage. Moments later, the cage, pulleys, bearings, and screws were lying strewn on the muddy ground, and a couple of minutes later the whole thing was expertly reassembled in perfect working order. Did I mention that it was 40° and pouring rain? It was easily the most virtuosic piece of roadside maintenance I’ve seen in a very long time. Chapeau. Mr, Brody.
We stopped by Tim’s house to pick up spare tubes and CO2, my having exhausted most of our supplies, and continued onward. I don’t remember much after that, but we climbed a bunch of hills and shivered a lot. At the top of King’s Highway we abandoned our plan to continue climbing to Chesterfield, and instead retreated back to Northampton, where we arrived around 12:45PM with 38.5 miles at 16.2 mph, 2,700′ of climbing. It never stopped raining all day.
Don’t forget that next Saturday is the second in our series of Super Saturday Morning Rides, leaving at 7:30AM instead of 9:00AM. Plan on a bunch of new roads and some pretty serious climbing. Also, keep an eye on the calendar if you’re planning on riding during the rest of this holiday weekend — people will probably be posting rides for Sunday and Monday if the weather improves.
by Tim_Cary » Sat May 25, 2013 10:21 pm
Probably the longest amount of time I have ridden in bad weather, but the layers of clothing I had did their job (though, at my house I did sneak in a dry pair of gloves). The blowing rain (and sometimes seeming large) raindrops in the face was a bit damming.
There really was not a heck of a lot to remember after the pit stop at my house other than I suggested we climb the Southampton Rd wall (as it is known for it’s quick 11% climb), just to add a bit more pain to the day.http://app.strava.com/segments/1837427
Also worth mentioning is the climb up Mt. Tom is so much better now with fresh pavement all the way through (Reservation Rd & Christoper Clark Rd).
I enjoyed the ride, despite everything not being ideal the entire day. The only thing I regret is not bringing along a bar of soap!
by Chris deHahn » Sun May 26, 2013 12:45 pm
It was great to ride with all of you yesterday during trying conditions. Cold and rain can be miserable but in good company it’s not so bad. Nothing tops Quabbin two years ago for riding in bad weather (38 degrees, rain, sleet, snow, hail, freezing rain) but this reminded me of it. I bet Peter saw some of it during his cross country trip.
I’m not sure about next Saturday but I should see you guys in two weeks for sure.
