Saturday, July 23, 2011

Knees

While this weekend I was supposed to be traveling to MA to race in Tour of Hilltowns, I am instead taking the weekend to let my knee recover.  After switching pedals, my right knee developed an odd pop after riding hard for a few miles.  Based on the timing and recent changes in gear, I would attribute this to cleat positioning that I didn't catch earlier.  I think I have figured it out to a ridable place, but I will be getting a fit to streamline my positioning and make my power transfer more efficient and effective.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Just pictures

Some pictures from todays ride... tired... so that's all you get.  Pictures.  They're worth 1,000 words anyways, and with the number of miles added on, it's worth a billion rotations more.

Ritesville Dam from Horn of the Moon Rd

Jackson Hill as seen by my pedal
Elm Street as seen by my shoe.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

5,958 vertical feet, 108 miles, 86 degrees, and 3 times up...

The Smugglers Triple, totaling 5,958 vertical feet over
105 miles of Vermont roads.
The plan for this weekend was to do as many miles as possible.  So far, that is exactly what I have done.  I took to the road today with the plan to at the very least ride the notch road (rt 108) twice, but the goal of riding multiple mountain roads.  With the sun beating down, I took route 15 all the way to Jeffersonville where I began the steady grind up the Smugglers Notch side of the mountain with plans to meet Andrew at the top.  I passed and met many other riders on the road who had ventured down to lovely Vermont from Canada, mostly Quebec where I was informed the riding was significantly flatter than the roads of Vermont.
The peak of the climb.
For those of you that have never been on the Notch Road, it is a beautiful trip.  The Smugglers Notch side is a steady grind up into the trees of Mt. Mainsfield.  Once in the trees, the road begins to switchback around the giant rock formations encasing both sides of the road.  The Stowe side of the Notch road is very similar, but a more gradual climb, with two walls of pavement towards the end.  The road also switchbacks around giant rock formations where hiking trails have been forged.  
The Smugglers side of the climb is small
compared to the mountains which
surround it.
I was strong enough to climb the notch three times, the last of which ended at a much slower pace than the previous two.  After the final climb up the Smugglers Notch side, we descended towards Stowe, but bypassed the village by going through Moscow and coming through Waterbury Center.  Once in Waterbury, we went separate ways.  I ventured back towards Burlington by way of Route 2 through Bolton and Richmond where I decided to take a quick spin up the first part of the Bolton access road.  After remembering I had already ridden the Notch road three times, I turned around and continued to Burlington where energy stayed high, and I stayed awake.

Overall, a good day for the legs, tan and fun.  I'm looking forward to tomorrows ride.  Hopefully the weather will hold out for all 70+ miles.

Arc hard, ride fast, go plaid!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Didn't race, Rode instead

This evening I was supposed to be heading to Exeter, NH for the 29th Annual Exeter Hospital Criterium, but because of late work release, and not enough time to get to the race and still be able to warm up, register, swap out wheels or even get dressed, I instead stayed in Montpelier and enjoyed a nice hilly ride just outside of the Montpelier town lines.
Lots of awesome climbs no further than 10 miles outside of Montpelier.
Starting in Montpelier, we ventured out past the golden dome of the state capitol building and headed up Terrace Street and continued out further towards Middlesex and some lovely dirt climbs.  We eventually ventured off of the Terrace Street/East Hill Street climb to Molly Supple Hill, which is an average of 10% grade and feels like forever.  After climbing briefly, a long descent lead us to route 12 where we headed towards Calais Rd and continued our climbing tour through Calais and East Montpelier.  We concluded our ride with the glory of a Maple Creemee from Morse Farm, a great place to end a ride, as well as an awesome place for mountain biking in the fall.
Even though I didn't get to make it to the race, I thought it was important to make use of the time that I had to ride and progress further in strength and skill.  There are no races this coming weekend, so I'm planning to do some long hours and heavy miles to prep for the coming race weekends.

Arc hard, ride fast, go plaid!