Trainer Confessions

The Best Bicycle Ride Ever

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

Poor Allison (the 7 year old with the big smile in the picture above).  She's got my brown eyes.  She's developing a passion for cycling.  And now she's on a writing kick.  Before you know it, the poor girl will be boring random people on the internet with blog posts about her latest PowerTap readings.

Tonight she suggested that we sit down and do a writing contest.  The rule was that we all had to write about the same topic, and then the person with the most detail was the "winner".  I agreed to her challenge, but pointed out that we only had 20 minutes to write before bedtime (which I now realize I can use as justification for how pathetic my writing was).  I further stipulated that I got to choose the topic for her writing throw-down.  And not to be left out, Jo chimed in that pictures would also be considered in place of words (an especially good rule if you're in Kindergarten).

It should come as no surprise that the topic selected was "The Best Bicycle Ride Ever".  For the next twenty minutes I quickly jotted down images of how I imagined my best day on the bike might look like, while taking periodic breaks to respond to requests for spelling assistance (which further reduced my writing time, so again, cut my some slack for my uninspired ramblings).  Allison opted for a factual recounting of a ride from which the picture above was taken.  And Josephine, well...she opted for a very interesting collection of letters.  

Now as to who to declare the winner, well, I leave that to you to decide.

The Best Bicycle Ride Ever (by Dennis)

I start the day early in the morning, just before sunrise outside of a small French town nestled deep in the Alps.  Somehow I bump into some Expo teammates on the road and we have a blast duking it out up the Hors catégorie ascents and then screaming down the hairpin turns (it's my dream, so I'm now an expert at high-speed cornering).  We break for coffee and pastries after a full morning of riding, and strike up a conversation with a few Pro racers who were in town doing Recon for the TdF.  

My teammates were too fatigued from the morning's festivities and started to indulge in the local wines, but I wasn't ready to call it a day.  So I swapped out my road bike for the "train" and headed out on an afternoon family adventure ride.  The afternoon's French history cycling tour through medieval French towns brought to close my "Best Bike Ride Ever".

The Best Bike Ride (by Allsion, spelling corrected in the re-post here by Dennis)

A couple of weeks ago me and my cousin and me went to a bicycle ride.  My dad's bicycle is black.  My dad's bicycle is attached to the tag-a-long.  The tag-a-long is attached to the trailer.  We saw some ducks.  They were pretty.  The End.

Untitled (By Josephine, with no attempt by anyone to translate)

Feasting at the Smorgasbord of Fall Riding Opportunities

You know it’s my off-season when my post delve more into calorie consumption than calorie burning, and counting down the intervals, in fact counting in general is replaced with chit-chatting and joking with friends, and mid-race premes have now been supplanted with mid-ride hulu hoop breaks…

What follows below are three short recaps of rides that each deserved a stand-alone post of the own, but when you’re feasting at the smorgasbord of fall riding opportunities here in CT, there’s not a lot of blogging time left-over once I finally get off of the saddle.

Pie Ride

My plans for a weekend jam packed with sun-up to sun-down riding adventure almost started with a DNS for me as I took a few wrong turns and had to hammer it to meet the crew in Marlborrough for the Pie Ride.  Fortunately for me the rather large group took a few more minutes than planned to depart, and included a wide range of riders, so despite getting lost I arrived with minutes to spare, and the social pace at the start gave me ample time to recover. 

I chatted it up for the first few miles, especially with the ride organizer Karen (who’s efforts to mark the roads provided me worry-free navigation, even when I was at the front) and I made every effort to keep the pace tame when I was at the pointy end of the ~25 person pack.  Overall though I didn’t socialize enough on what was supposed to be a social ride, but I tried to be on my best behavior and leave behind any testosterone fueled hammering, even if a town line came into view.

I honestly thought I was still keeping things tame as we ascended a hill that climbed for maybe 6 or 7 minutes.  Frequent checks over my shoulder confirmed that I had a rider on my wheel, with glimpses of several more riders lined up to his rear.  But my “tame” pace going up a hill was probably an all-out effort for some, especially those who trained more for the PIE and less for the RIDE.

When we crested the hill our numbers had dwindled to just 7 and even pulling into the middle of the lane away from the other 6 so that I could safely sit up for a full look behind me wasn’t enough to catch a glimpse of those who had fallen behind.  So as penance for breaking up the group (unintentionally, I swear!), I resolved to sit at the front until reaching our final destination.  With winds in excess of 25 mph mostly howling against us on the way out, I had hoped to repay those that stayed with me by taking on the worst of the wind’s force.  Unfortunately though with my slight frame I’m sure those behind me still felt about 24.9 mph of the 25 mph head wind.

I’m guessing the effort to block at the front must have been somewhat appreciated though as nobody ever really made an attempt to bump me off the front and start me down the rotation.  One thing that I am sure of though is that the effort eased my conscience.  Not for breaking up the socializing, but instead, by off-setting a few more calories and lowering the guilt level I’d feel after the gluttony that followed.

Behold, the pie man!  45 apples were peeled, sliced, and slathered in butter, sugar, and spices to make this behemoth.

A single slice is as tall as my helmet

Real Artways Ride

With 4 hours of riding under my belt (which surely moved up a notch after Man-vs.-Food sized lunch-time slice) and some afternoon volunteering at the local Apple Festival keeping me up on my feet for hours, my body was telling me that Saturday evening should have been spent curled up on the couch.  But after basically ignoring the social-side of cycling for the entire 9 months of my 2011 training & racing season, I now feel compelled (almost obligated) to say “yes” anytime someone asks me to join them on a fun-ride.  Expo-mate Dave J thought that the family and I would have fun at something called the Real Artways Ride and mentioned that we’d see a bunch of friendly faces there, so recovery would just have to wait a day (actually, two days, but I’m getting ahead of myself).

I must say that Dave J did a stellar job in expectations setting.  We did in fact see some friendly faces, amidst the nearly 150 who gathered for the night time ride in downtown Hartford.  Even the faces we didn’t know though were pretty darn friendly looking (though with Halloween coming up, a few of the faces were “fiend”ly looking as well); in fact, as our large and wild looking pack snaked its way through Hartford, we seemed to make the faces of all that we passed by turn “friendly” as well. 

We passed through several neighborhoods where I’m guessing that recreational cyclists are a rarity, and we frequently blocked intersections and slowed traffic, and we constantly made way too much noise for the after dark hours.  However, rather than hearing f-bombs tossed our way for delaying people’s travels or interrupting their quiet Saturday evening, we saw smile after smile in ever car that passed us by; people set down their beers and exited the local bars to cheer us on; and little kids came pouring out of apartment complexes to give us a holler. 

If you ask me, cruising with Mrs. D and the girls in a rowdy and brightly lit cycling caravan on a Saturday evening alone would have left us with fond memories.  But given that this was an “arts” oriented ride, the evening’s ride was broken up by three different 15-20 minute entertainment stops.  The first was a improv show, and the last was a stop at triangle of dormitories at Trinity College where rudimentary musical instruments were passed through the crowds.  The highlight stop, at least in the opinion of my girls, was the middle of the trifecta.  Only in the off-season will you read about rides where hula-hoops are distributed for a mid-ride fun break!

Uber-Epic Rail Trail Ride

After nearly 9 months of hermit-like isolation while training for this past racing season, you now know I’m feverishly approaching this off-season trying to cram in as much fun and adventure as possible.  It’s as if I’ve been fasting for a week, and now I’ve been set loose at an all-you-can eat pasta deal at The Olive Garden.  My legs were telling me on Sunday that they had had enough to “eat” over these last few weeks, but the memories of the months of “fasting” erased my better judgment and when I said “yes” to the invite to partake in the “Uber-Epic Rail Trail Ride” on Sunday afternoon.

I’m not so sure that the ride quite lived up to the “Uber-Epic” moniker, as for me that’s a title that forever will be associated with last year’s Detour De CT, where over the course of 9 ½ hours of riding, Connecticut’s rail trail system offered up dilapidated bridges, mountain biking on a cross bike, swimming with said cross bike in the CT river, and many more trials and tribulations.  But while the ride fell short of achieving “Uber-Epic” status, it did go down as quite the autumn adventure. 

Too many smiling faces for this to be called an Uber-Epic ride

Starting off with a crew of 23 at just about quarter to two on a crisp fall afternoon, the goal for the day was to explore as much of the Airline Rail Trail as possible.  Given that it was mostly an out-and-back ride, you could (and people did) reverse course at any point once you’ve had your fill of the crushed stone pathway.  But if your appetite for miles and adventure exceeded your appetite for the kick-ass post-ride food and beverage selection (a big THANK-YOU is in order to the Thread City Cycle team for inviting me and organizing such a delicious post-ride spread!), there was nothing to stop you from riding well into the night, as there were plenty of bike lights to keep you on the trails.

Almost time to don the lights

I suppose that Saturday’s apple pie had my belly still feeling full a day later as it was clear that my appetite for miles and adventure won out and kept me and a hardy (or crazy?) group out well past dark.  By the time I opened my first frosty beverage and began to chow down on the jambalaya at just after 8:30 PM, we had logged nearly 5 hours and 45 minutes of riding 85 miles of rail trails.  Our time in the saddle only rarely encountered anything remotely resembling a hill, but for the most part our pace was set just a few notches north of a social ride, with yours truly out at the front setting the pace for extended stretches of time.  For the second consecutive day the calorie-burning engine was set to “high” for hours at a time, thereby affording me guilt-free indulgences amongst some new friendly faces.

Hmmmm…riding with friendly faces, setting the calorie burning engine to 10, and indulging in food forbidden to me during the season…sounds an awful lot like my plan for next weekend too!  Check back again for what will likely be my next post after next Saturday’s Donut Derby.

Announcing Awesome Autumn Adventures (AAAA)

 I initially entitled this post "Fall, Family, Friends, and Fun" as it got more to the point of this post, but FFFF didn't seem to be as upbeat of an ancroynm as AAAA.

My last post (Cat Up or Not) might have given some readers the impression that I rigidly live and breath intervals, work-outs, WKO+, and schedules.  However, my planning prowess can also be used for activities that might appeal to you non-sadists out there.  By the time my off-season was just a scan six days old, I already had something fun and interesting planned out right through November.

But this isn't a post for me to "wow" you with my organizational skills.  Instead, I'm hoping that in sharing my look ahead here at the Trainer Confessions, I might be able to drum up a little extra participation at some events that are sure to be a blast and will allow you to chaulk up some lasting memories.  But I'm also sharing this for a selfish reason -- I'm hoping to get a bunch of friendly faces to populate the field to increase my off-season fun factor.

Family

I already kicked off the off-season fun this past weekend with what I hope was the first of many "Spooky rides" (that's what my two little ones called it).  Mrs D and I both had our headlights on by the end of our hour long family rail trail ride on Sunday evening, but within a few weeks our rides will get a little scarier as we'll likely be barrelling down the Airline trail absent of any light aside what we're projecting from our handlebars.

Pulling over to turn the lights on

 
Good causes

Sticking with the family theme, Mrs D, the Train & the girls, and I will all line up for the 35 mile option at the Oct 1st Pedal for Paws (they also have a 25 mile and a 50 mile option).  Last year the girls got their first taste of pack riding (we even challenged Dave J for a town line sprint!) and they got such a thrill when the Expo contingent overtook us while loudly cheering for the girls.  And Mrs D got her first, second, and third tastes of what could have been the best-ever post ride dessert table, so there's something in store for all of the Desmarais family when we line up to help raise money for homeless cats.

 
But before the Desmarais clan heads to Old Saybrook, I will be headed down to New Haven this Saturday for a rally called Moving Planet.  Right now I plan to ride the 36 miles down to the 4 PM event alone (and likely be headed back again alone, but in the dark) so if you're interested in showing your support, please let me know.  Here's a short snippet on what the hole thing is about: "Moving Planet is a worldwide rally to demand solutions to the climate crisis. Come on bike, on skates, on a board, or just on foot."

Speaking of showing support, at the tail end of October I'll be lending a hand at the Expo Wheelmen's first ever Silk City Cyclo-Cross race at Manchester Community College.  I've never raced Cross before so even though I'll just be there in a support capacity, I'm excited to take part in what I've been told is a rockin' good time.  But in addition to the fun factor, helping at the event will allow me to in turn support the casuses of the event.  A portion of each entry will be donated to the MCC Foundation scholarship fund, and in cooperation with Manchester Community College there will be a food drive to benefit MACC Charities.  

 
Racing for Fun

For those of you who know my competive side, you'll surely realize that my appetite for racing won't be satied simply by helping and cheering at the Silk City race.  I've got two races penciled in for the fall, but in order to adhere to my FFFF guiding principle for the off-season, each race definitely needs to have a big Fun and Friends component.

I have no plans to break my promise to avoid intervals in preparation for my first race on Oct 22nd, but I might have to stop at Dunkin Donuts to get in some race day prep for the first ever Donut Derby.  I honestly cannot recall the last time I've eaten a donut (we're talking in terms of years here), so I'll clearly be at a disadvantage at this event as each donut consumed knocks off 90 seconds from your overall race time. 

On the other hand, Cycling Concept's Dirty Dozen race on Nov 5th plays right into my wheelhouse.  There's no way I can pass up on a hilly challenge that tackles 13 ascents up roads I regularly train on.  But the biggest reason I get excited about this race (I competed each of the last two years) is that the format of the race offers me a great way to chit chat and socialize with friends.  While everyone hauls butt up the hills as soon as the whistle blows (btw, the hills all can be climbed in 2 or3 minutes at most, many in far less time), the entire field regroups at the top.  So it amounts to a friendly group ride that gets painfully interupted by 13 min-races.

Glutton for Punishment

And the word pain is a nice segue to the final part of my off-season plan.  Though I admit that these two entries hardly adhere to the FFFF guidelines if done solo, I am hoping to recruit a few sadists to join me in my adventures.

Anyone interested in helping to break up the monotony of my first ever attempt at a double centry?  I don't have Columbus day off from work, so I've decided to ride home to CT from Cape Cod and let Mrs D and the girls extend their stay to a full three days.  I've completed a 192 mile ride last fall, but I had the luxury of three far more experieneced riders pulling me for probably the last 50 miles.  200 miles alone on Oct 9th might cause me to go crazy.

And speaking of crazy, I was inspired by the "Hill Junkie" to begin planning my own slightly shorter (with perhaps "only" 9,000 feet of climbing!) version of his Berkshire Boondoogle.  I'm aiming to do it on the weekend of Oct 15th so that the spectacular fall colors of Massachusett's Berkshire Mountains will help to ease my pain as I tackle hills (or should I say mountains) like Greylock and East Hawley.  Drop me a line if you might want to join me on this adventure.

That's all I've got for now, though I think it might be hard to cram anymore FFFF into my off-season.  That said, if there's something tempting that I've missed, don't hestitate to make your own Autumn Awesome Adventure Announcement.

Mystic Family Adventure

How does he do it?

As I gathered up whatever strength remained in me today to put up a quick blog post, I wondered how the Metal Cowboy pulled off his multiple cross country/continent family bicycle adventures.  In one of his epic crossings from coast to coast, I believe he averaged six or seven hours a day in the saddle, with his tandem co-pilot #1, tag-along co-pilot #2, infant toting trailer, and luggage for 5 all being pulled behind him, through terrain that went up and over passes through the Rockies and later into the Appalachians.  Once the day ended, he and his clan did it again, and again, and again, for weeks stretching through the summer.

Me, on the other hand, well... I can barely keep my fingers typing right now after only logging 74 miles (just under 7 & 1/2 hours) over two days, while pulling only co-pilot #1 in a tag-along, co-pilot #2 in the trailer, and more luggage than needed for just two days (I have Mrs D to thank for that).  And I wasn't climbing through the mountains as did the Metal Cowboy.  Despite having tackled some of the North East's craziest hills over the last month, the rollers between Colechester and Mystic had my engine taxed to the max.  In fact, I even had to do an emergency/panicked un-clipping to put a foot down and avoid a "train" collapse as the modest incline on the approach to the New London pedestrian crossing got the best of me.

The train gets rolling again after about 20 feet of embarrassed walking.

 
Other contrasts between me and the Metal Cowboy came to mind earlier as well.  He and his crew are guided by a few maps and travel books, but mostly by a seemingly innate ability to know at all times how to get from A to B.  Me...well despite asking numerous times for directions, consulting with google maps, and waving my iPhone's gps in circles like a wizard casting a spell on the person who marked the roads, it took me nearly 45 frustrating minutes to find the narrow pedestrian path to get out of New London.

And while I might have moaned and groaned when I had to break down the train and then reassemble it the next day for our stay at the Comfort Inn, the Metal Cowboy not only had to do that, but also setup camp in a tent each night, and then tend to the numerous bike maintenance issues that arise when you're on the road for so long.

We get to recover in relative luxury as compared to those like the Metal Cowboy who rough it in camp grounds

 
Why does he do it?

While I can't imagine how the Metal Cowboy successfully ferried his clan (with his wife riding her own steed on one of his adventures) without either him collapsing or his family disowning him, the Desmarais Mystic adventure gave me numerous hints as to why he rolls across the country. 

I'm not sure if I'll ever get excited enough about a good report card to go out and slap a bumper sticker proudly proclaiming my daughter's good grades.  However, I'd immediately open my wallet if I saw a sticker that said "My daughter loves hills."  You can only imagine the joy this hill climber felt as my youngest daughter composed her song "I love hills" after barrelling down one of the weekend's numerous descents.  While she didn't seem to enjoy the climbing part as much, there's no containing her joy going down a good hill, and the look on her face was contagious!

 
Perhaps the Metal Cowboy is reminded why he does it when people approach him (as they did to me this weekend) to point out how dangerous it is to bring your kids on the road (unfortunately the roads we took had us on some busy stretches filled with speeding cars).  While I won't dispute that there's some danger when sharing the road with two ton pick-ups, I always am quick to point out to those offering their caution that my kids would face far more harm had they been on the couch, watching TV, as I'm sure many kids their age were doing when we were out and about.

While I'm hopeful that I'll be able to continue racing for many years to come, adventures like this weekend continue to remind me that family rides wouldn't be a bad plan B if I sought to fill my summer weekends with something other than racing.  Our weekend lacked cycle friendly roads, our ultimate destination didn't have any super kid friendly rides and entertainment (and unfortunately what Mystic does have to offer was closed by the time we ventured into town yesterday evening), and all four of us are walking zombies right now.  However, when I look back on all of the smiling faces from the time together this weekend, it kinda makes me wonder if some future summer might be race-free and instead filled with my own Metal Cowboy adventures...

Lunch break

 

The swim leg of our adventure

 

More smiles than miles
 

Celebration

Family Adventure Ride

Some of you probably may have already inferred from the mounting evidence in this blog that things were not going well for me at work.  When my ride time is dictated almost entirely by the radar map with little consideration to my Outlook calendar, you may have guessed that I'm either a wealthy aristocrat retired to a life of leisure, or that I'm nearing the end of my time at my current job and in need of a new source of income.

When I learned late last week that I likely have cleared the final hurdle in my job search (still don't have the papers in hand yet, so I won't further jinx myself by revealing more), Mrs D asked me how I wanted to celebrate the big news.  Make a big purchase?  Go out to some fancy restuarant?  Buy a bottle of expensive champagne?  

While her suggestions had some appeal, I quickly formulated my own special celebration -- a family bike adventure/overnight escape.  I had hoped to make the get away once I had signed papers in hand with a start date for the new job, but with the weather being iffy for the week (only improving on the tail end of the week, but that's when I'll need to be resting up for my next race) I planned our premature celebration trip to depart on Sunday. 

All smiles for the departure

 

By planning the get-away at the last minute, it forced me to deviate from my training plan for only the 2nd time over the last five+ months as it was too late to consult with The Coach to modify my schedule.  However, don't confuse a family ride for a rest day.  Our 26.6 mile mostly flat ride from Orleans to Hynannis pointed us directly into a 35+ mph constant head wind on Sunday.  The cars that passed by us may have believed that I was pulling two little girls, but they were wrong. 

At times when the girls went silent and all I could hear was the wind buffeting my head, I grew certain that what trailed behind me was a 2 ton sail boat with its masts fully extended in an effort to capture every last air molecule to fight my forward progress.  Mrs D had nothing in tow and reported out to me later on that her only challenge was in keeping the bike upright in the cross winds.  But believe me, my legs and lungs on the first leg of the "family ride" probably would have had an easier time had I stuck to The Coach's planned work-out for the day.

The hard efforts required of me due to the wind actually were much appreciated.  When we arrived at the Days Inn hotel after pedaling for over 2 and 1/2 hours, I not only felt no guilt for skipping a session on my training schedule, but I felt fully justified in devouring my allotment of 3 cup cakes.

Al getting ready to dig-in and refuel

 

We had picked the Days Inn as our overnight destination because they had numerous kids activities planned, all of which were included in the $109 per room rate.  Little did the proprietors realize that the purported kids activities were actually ideally suited for famished family cyclists!  Our first pick-me-up was the cup-cake decorating session to help with our glycogen levels.

Then next up was a trip to the warm indoor pool to loosen up the muscles and help with Lactate removal from the tired muscles.

   

Then back to the hotel room for the two free one-topping Papa John's Pizzas so that we could carbo load in preparation of our return leg on Monday.

 

I'm the Lucky One!

About the only bad thing that I could say about our stay at the Days Inn was that it was located in the midst of strip mall hell.  Had it been located out near the beach, then it truly would have been the perfect celebration, but then again it probably would have cost us WAY more than we had planned.  And given that our stay was just for one night, and with all that the hotel had to offer us, we hardly noticed the surrounding area's lack of appeal.

Our return trip on Monday was again another 26+ mile trek, but now with the only slightly diminished winds at our back, we made far faster time with likely far fewer Watts powering our adventure (unfortunately I can't claim that this leg replaced a work-out).  Armed with the warmth generated by so many fun memories packed into just 24 hours, and winds that were so strong and beneficial that my oldest at one point exclaimed "Thank-you Mr. Wind", we were all smiles on the way back to Orleans.

 

You can't see me in the shot above snapped while I was riding (which btw is evidence that my focus on bike handling skills has had some success!), but I too had a smile on my face.  The adventure was initiated with the impending good news of my job situation, but that wasn't what fueled my smile.  At one point in the ride as the wind super-charged a modest descent into a 35 mph thrill for the girls, my oldest was beaming and blurted out "I'm so lucky!".  A bit later in the ride Mrs D thoughtfully shared that "If it wasn't for you, D, I wouldn't be out enjoying a ride like this."  But what all three of my girls didn't realize was that I am the lucky one, and if it wasn't for Mrs D, I probably would have "celebrated" my new job alone by counting calories and accumulating more kiloJoules while churning out more of the planned work-out sessions. 

Rides like this might make it hard in the future to keep up with my racing schedule.  These celebration rides might also tempt me to only stay at the new job for a short period of time so that I have reason to celebrate again with another family adventure!

 

Pedal For Paws

Firsts and Almost Firsts

The posts here are becoming a bit more sparse now.  Its a great time of the year for riding, but given that I'm well into the off-season, the rides in general lack much to write about except perhaps for a pithy comment posting to Facebook.  Well, to be more precise, while I could ramble on about the joys of autumn cycling and churn out the ride stats here on this blog, the rides in general lack much that you would want to read about.

The final blog-worthy ride I had planned for the year was Saturday's Pedal for Paws charity ride.  While the event was the last one I had circled on my calendar, it paridoxically ended up being a day of many firsts and near firsts.   For example:

• This year was the first for the Pedal for Paws, but there's no doubt the ride will have many more years ahead based upon Saturday's success.  While they can't always count on having such beautifully crisp fall weather to draw the crowds, I'm sure many people who came on Saturday will surely show up again to ride the well marked scenic roads to burn just enough calories to indulge in one of the more memorable post-ride dessert tables.
• Before Saturday, Mrs D & the girls had never appeared in BikeReg's confirmed rider list.  It was their first time ever doing a mass start ride (in fact, I think it might have been the first time they rode with anyone besides me!), though to their dissapointment, there was no mass start.  Unlike a race where everyone sets off at once, the riders trickled onto the course at their leisure, so as soon as the train was set to go, we ventured off.

• The event offered varying distances for riders to choose from, and a little before 9 AM the Desmarais clan set off for the girls' first-ever ride beyond 30 miles.  Unfortunately within a quarter mile after starting out we encountered the only confusing signage of the day and we ended up cutting out 7 miles from the course.  We realized our mistake only when we unexpectedly arrived at the day's rest step after only 14 miles (rather than the 21 miles outined in the cue sheet).  We chatted with a few others who made the same routing error, and we learned that we regrettably skipped perhaps the most scenic miles of the day.  Mrs D also was bummed that we skipped the flatest portion of the ride as well.  So, instead of logging an impressive personal record of 35 miles, the girls ended the day with *just* 28.1 miles, in about two hours and eighteen minutes.

Rest Stop Phot-Op with Steve Y

• It was also the first time pace lining for the girls.  We were clearly on the slower end of the riders out on the longer course, but each time riders passed us by the competive juices in me got going to put in an extra effort.  On a few occaisons it was just enough for the train to latch on to the wheel ahead of me, giving me a brief respite as I drafted in a short stint at the back of a paceline.  Settling for drafting wasn't lofty enough of a goal though when I saw a chance for the girls to score their first ever town line sprint.  As you can see below, we made a good effort to pull off to the side as we slowly ramped up the pace of the train.  However, we were no match for Dave J as he sprinted off the front to score the town line.  Clearly the guy must not like kids to dash their hopes like that.  ;->

At the back of the pacline, snapped by Steve Y

 
Going for the Town Line, snapped again by Steve Y

More than Numbers

Even had we somehow magically powered our way to nudge Dave J out for the townline win, it, and all of the other "firsts" (and any other number from the day quite frankly), would have eventually just been a minor detail in what ended up being one of the best rides of the year for me.  Often I view my family rides as a convenient way to get a work-out in while still counting it as family time.  Saturday AM ended up being just the opposite for me, where the fact that I got a very good workout in really was just the icing on the cake. 

The girls energy levels and spirits only seemed to rise along with the miles and the days temperature.  The singing and joking was non-stop, only interupted by the frequent cheers for the girls as riders passed us by (which I'm sure fueled their spirits even more). And the look on Jo's face as we crossed the finish line as she boasted to all that could hear her that "we won!" is one I'll never forget.

They might be stil too young to have clear memories of Saturday's ride when they get older, but I'm sure Mrs D and I will be quick to retell the stories if they ask us.  But better yet, I'm hoping we'll be back for many more Pedal for Paws to keep the good times rolling.

Silver Lining

Dark Clouds

"Well, at least you'll have something to write about on the TC blog", said Mrs D in an attempt to diffuse the pressure slowly growing inside of me.  Despite the urge to curse like a sailor, the Mrs didn't need to worry about my fuse going off as the little ones were watching daddy, and every so often golfers would pass slowly by in the background.  Had I been off and alone though...who knows what epitaphs would have been let loose. 

Although my temper had gotten to a simmering point earlier in the ride (I *thought* I had planned a flat route, but my still fatigued legs threatened to revolt as roller after roller took their toll earlier in the ride), the family ride had been pretty enjoyable overall for the first 25 miles.  But, three miles from our final destination, things turned south for me.

Normally I can fix a flat in just over five minutes, maybe taking as long as ten when I'm out on the road.  Add in an extra five minutes given that the flat required a dismantling of the train and in the worst case I'd estimate we should have been back on the road in fifteen minutes tops.  But, nearly 50 minutes later, after one dead CO2 cartridge, two CO2 cartridge misfires (and to think that yesterday was the first time in nearly two years I decided to bring a hand pump just in case!), a DOA back-up tube that required the whole tire-changing process to be repeated (fortunately I had two back-up tubes) and scuff marks and deeply ingrained dirt on my hands from struggling with an extremely tight tire bead, we were back on the road to Niantic, just as the clouds approached to spell the end of the beautiful summer sun that was supposed to be with us for our trip to the beach.

My mood didn't pick up much, and perhaps even sank even lower, once we arrived at the Niantic Motel.  I suppose I can't complain too much -- when you pay $80 for a night, your expectations shouldn't be too high.  I guess for dirt cheap rates, you should expect to smell odd odors, have a fridge that doesn't work, find bathrooms without toilet paper, learn that the motel is located on a bike-unfriendly strip mall filled road that is another three miles to the "real" attractions, hear rowdy 20 somethings making their presence known to all at 12 AM, and a very unpleasant green tinge to the swimming pool.

The swimming pool probably got a bit greener this morning as what had once been forecasted as a fair summer day (I had gone to bed last night after checking the weather and being comforted to see the rain was set to roll in after 5 PM on Sunday, well after we were supposed to be home) revealed itself as I woke up this morning to be a drought ending deluge.

I suspected that if I had tried to get Mrs D and the girls to pretend we were riding Noah's arc back home, it may have been our last bike adventure.  So, I grabbed a quick coffee and set off on my own, braving rain that pelted me so hard that it left red welts on my arms, and rode the twenty eight miles back to the car & then return to the motel so that the girls could all drive home dry and warm.

Silver Lining

"At least you don't have to pull the 170 lbs back" was Mrs D's final farewell before I headed out into the rain this morning.  It was her attempt to get me to focus on the silver lining on what was a dark and cloudy day.  But her remark served as a reminder for just one of several silver linings in our short adventure.  Despite the many cranky moments I experienced, time will likely soften the rough edges on my memories from the weekend, and at the same time it will polish off the high points leaving me with fond recollections of the weekend escape.  I also received strict instructions from my youngest Jo (which she delivered to me after I had listed out my complaints about our lodging) -- "Don't worry about that stuff.  You just need to enjoy it." (Emphasis was hers).

For example, there were lots of silly moments while out on the ride, like when Jo was riding the tag-along with her hands off the handlebars and her arms outstretched as if she were an airplane.  Mrs D made her displeasure well known.  Usually on such matters we presented a united front to the girls, but I couldn't help but admire some of the little one's dare devil maneuvers.  I think I may have said something like "Daddy needs to learn to balance like that because that's what guys do as they cross the finish line when winning a race."  To which Mrs D sarcastically responded, "Oh, so that's why you haven't won a race!"

There were a bunch of other little but special moments while on the ride, out exploring Niantic, and then while winding things down back at the motel.  All of them collectively will in time help me look back fondly on this weekend.  But, if for some reason the low points still seem clear as day when we look back, I guess I can still find yet another silver lining.  I'm sure the next family cycling adventure will seem all the more enjoyable when contrasted to the memories of dark clouds from Niantic!

A Berry Good Fourth

Winging it

I have been (and will continue to be) pretty focused in my work-outs lately as I wind up the preparation for my big three weekends of racing starting July 24th.  So, it was initially pretty frustrating for me early yesterday morning when my PowerTap screen flickered and then faded away as I started yesterday's work-out.  I thought at the time the battery had died (upon further investigation post ride it ended up being a loose battery cap & the battery was actually still OK) and I didn't want to turn around and go rummaging through the house and wake the girls while looking for a replacement. 

I had had a pretty strenuous interval work-out on tap, one that expected me to maintain specific wattage for varying (but pre-defined) periods of time.  Call me a geek, but I'd feel cheated if I had attempted that work-out and not ended it with concrete evidence that I nailed each interval.  Rather than take my chances (but in reality probably do a darn good job just going by feel rather than by numbers), I decided to post-pone the effort to today's sweltering heat.  So, instead of putting myself through a whole load of pain on Sunday AM, I decided after a mile or so of riding that I'd go with a new plan.  I was going to do a 75 minute loop (with 40 minutes or so of greater than tempo paced riding), and then I'd get the rest of my work-out riding the train.

Don't be fooled by the look on Al's face -- she was the most excited Desmarais to hit the road.

Rose's Berry Farm

After pumping up all 5 wheel's on the train, and then two more for Mrs. D, we departed for the short trek to Rose's Berry Farm for breakfast and for blueberry picking.  We had to get there by 8:30 AM, mostly because I was so hungry, but also because by 9 AM the wait for seating can get quite long.  Not surprisingly nearly everything on the menu throughout the summer revolves around at least one of the in-season berries, and within 30 minutes of being seated I had had my full of the most deliciously fresh blueberries in all the forms it had been delivered to us -- pancakes, parfait, muffin, and french toast.

No, that is not a blueberry sausage in the foreground.

Scott's Orchard

After settling the very reasonable bill, I parted ways from the girls for what I thought was only going to be a brief period of time.  I was going to get a head start on the blueberry picking out in the fields, and the girls were going to join me after playing for a short stint in Rose's small play ground area.  The girls ended up having too much fun to be convinced to go out into the fields, so I ended up picking alone for nearly an hour.  But man, what a haul I pulled in with my solo effort.  The berries were so ripe and so plentiful that you could literally put your hand into the bush, roll the berries in your palm just slightly, and then be rewarded with a full handful to deposit into the bucket.  In just under an hour I loaded up my container with 8 pounds (which amounted to just $18 bucks).

Plenty of berries to be enjoyed at home, but first, that meant the train was now 8 pounds heavier.  Furthermore, we were not simply reversing course and making the short trek home.  Mrs D needed some potting soil and another flower to finish off her gardening efforts, so the Desmarais clan & blueberries plotted a new course off through the hills and the building heat to Scott's Orchard. 

When we arrived Mrs. D quickly found the plant she wanted.  I don't remember what she got, aside from the fact that when I picked it up I noticed it weighed very little, so I liked her selection.  But then she started deliberating which bag of potting soil to get.  Unfortunately the only factor that she considered at the time was the size of the planters we had at home.  Not once did she even think of the fact that her husband had to lug back whatever we purchased, and wouldn't you guess it -- she bought the biggest bag, 2 Cubic Feet of dirt.  I was first concerned that we wouldn't even have room for the bag in the trailer, but Jo, our youngest, came up with the idea to pretend the bag was her pillow. 

Once Jo snuggled up with her body pillow, we made our way back to the final two hills between Scott's and home.  The first one wasn't too bad, as I could feel a bit of extra power coming from behind me as Al did some pedaling.  By the time we got to the final hill all I had was dead weight behind me, and lots of it.  As I climbed that hill I felt the lactic acid coursing out to every extremity in my body, and my field of vision narrowed to just the light post at the top of the road. 

That focus led to perhaps the only moment of the ride I wanted to forget afterward.  While the hill was big enough to also challenge Mrs. D, I now had at least 180 lbs to pull, so her effort was modest at best compared to mine.  She was therefore free to think about the gardening work and decided at that point it was a good time to run some ideas by me.  As I was pulling with every ounce of my body towards the final 1000 feet of the hill, she said something like "Do you think we could sprinkle..."  Like an already lit firecracker, I immediately retorted "Are you serious -- you want me to talk about sprinkling right now?!?!". 

Needless to say, there was silence for the rest of the hill, and then the short ride back home.  When we finally arrived and began unloading the train, we all agreed that future rides would be more "berry good" if we don't talk to daddy on the hills, especially when he's carrying 8 lbs of berries and 2 cu ft of dirt!

Family Bicycle Provincetown Adventure

Pushing the Limits

Before this weekend, I recken Mrs D and the girls only had about 40 or 50 miles accumulated in their legs for all of their 2010 riding.  So, when they proposed as my Dad's day gift to do a family 56 mile family trek to Ptown (28 miles each way), I was a little concerned as to how things would turn out.  Would Mrs D's legs have enough to do two straight days of riding?  Would the little one's butt's tolerate two to two and a half hours on the tag along and the trailer?  I even wondered how I'd fare -- I've been logging lots of serious VO2 Max intervals this week, so even though the hills on the cape are in general quite tame, I was wondering if I'd have a hard time pulling the train (especially seeing it now weighed in excess of 160 lbs with our extra gear for an overnight stay).

Getting ready to depart on day #1

Well, I'm happy to report that all of my concerns were unfounded.  Turns out that I got two solid 2+ hr near-threshold work-outs (while the Mrs and the kiddos got some healthy but more modest exercise) while enjoying the great out doors and some laughs & lots of smiles with the girls.  In fact, towards the end of the 2nd day of riding, Mrs D lamented that hadn't packed more clean clothes as she seriously contemplated extending the trek to yet another ocean-side destination for an additional day of riding.  I'm not quite sure if the collective Desmarais legs could have pushed it for another day, but it seems as though there's a great future ahead of us for family biking adventures!

Only a little adventure

Those of you who saw the word "adventure" in the title of this post probably are expecting some story or two where we went off exploring in uncharted territory will be disappointed as for the most part our ride was pretty much on the beaten path, following routes taken by many before us. The bumps in the road were literally and figuratively few and far between, but there were a couple of note. 

The first occurred just five minutes in.  I had never used panniers before and it turns out that I hadn't properly secured them.  As luck would have it, they bounced off right as we passed Orleans Cycle.  My fumbling with the straps and bungee cords was mercifully ended after just a few minutes as one of the shop's employees volunteered to step in and show me how it is done.  We soon set off back down the Cape Cod Rail trail and I made a mental note to visit that shop in the future to make a purchase and return the favor.

About a third of our time on the bikes was spent on busy Rt 6.  While we were admonished by a retired school teacher as we eased out of a parking lot and onto the fast and car filled road, for the most part we felt pretty safe.  It wasn't the most enjoyable leg on our journey as the cars were too loud making communication between cyclists only possible through the loudest of shouts.  However, with fairly wide shoulders and clean and well paved roads there was never an instance where we felt like we were taking our chances & exposing the girls to some vehicular dangers.  Despite the ample space we experienced between us and the cars, we did have one "scare" where a not-so-kind older lady in a Prius scared all of us by hoking her horn and yelling at us as she passed.  I think she said something indicating that she wanted us to use the bike trail, which we gladly would have taken to avoid this lady if in fact the bike trail extended all the way to Ptown.  Mrs D then shouted up to me "doesn't she know we drive a Prius, too?" (which I think is a reference to a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where all Prius drivers were revealed to be part of some secret club), and with that we quickly dismissed the cantankerous driver's comments. 

The shoulders on Rt 6 wouldn't have been wide enough for me to feel safe had it not been for the fact that my oldest daughter was pedaling on the tag along.  Throughout the ride we rotated every 10 miles or so who rested in the trailer and who got to pedal on the tag-along (well, at least they had the option to pedal, but they often exercised the option to be dead weight and just rest).  I made sure the rotation had my youngest daughter on the tag along while we were in the much safer confines off of Rt 6.  Had we done it otherwise, I think the term "adventure" truly would have applied to this post as I think we have a budding Evil Kineval on our hands.  On several occasions my upper body strength was put to the test to counter the wobbling I felt emanating from behind me.  I wasn't able to turn my head to catch what was going on (I needed every ounce of focus to avoid crashing the train), but I could hear Mrs D saying things like "you can't ride with no hands", or "you have to look ahead at daddy and not at your sister", or my favorite, "you can't ride with both legs on one pedal" (don't know how she pulled that one off w/o falling).

An Ends to a Means

Most people view travel as a means to an end.  If there was a fast forward button they'd zip through the journey and get to their final destination.  Our Ptown adventure was just the opposite.  The hours spent out on the bike as a family were the point of the trip, and that's where most of the memories were created.  That said, our stop in Ptown had some real appeal for all of us.  We spent nearly two hours swimming in the hotel's pool upon our arrival (well, the girls were swimming, the Mrs and I were mostly just lounging).  The time in the water seemed to regenerate the adult's batteries a bit, whereas the extra exercise seemed to zap most of the kiddo's remaining reserves.

The girls started to look a bit like zombies after the swim, and who could blame them?  I don't know too many girls who could go on a 2 hr bike ride and then do nearly 2 hours in the pool, but we figured that we'd complete their triathlon of sorts with a one hour walking leg into Ptown (that was after having dinner at Fanizzi's -- great atmosphere, food, and prices -- highly recommended!).  During the walk, Mrs. D enjoyed soaking up the quintessential Cape Cod atmosphere and architecture, and of course home-made ice cream.  The girls occupied their time by seeking out and counting every dog in town (we tallied 48 that evening).  And I was intent on observing a different king of bike culture.  With its narrow streets Ptown isn't really a car friendly town, so bike commuters, at least this weekend, seemed to outnumber travelers in cars.  There were all sorts of helmetless riders on the types of bikes I don't see too often ( I think I only saw one spandex clad person riding a road bike amongst the mass of riders on Mtb bikes, hybrid bikes, commuters, etc ).  Even the taxis seemed to be outnumbered by bicycle powered pedicabs. 

I initially wasn't too excited with Ptown as our destination, but during the short time we spent there (our whole adventure took up only about 24 hours total, including the time riding) I think we all agreed that this was a place we had to visit again.  No matter where we end up going though, I'm hoping that I have many more Father's day presents like this adventure!

Gearing up for our return trip

Killinton or Bust

Family Get-away

Just finished my last short ride outside -- I think it is now been almost ten days w/o hopping on the trainer.  I am packing my trainer with me though.  One thing I learned from my Time Trial fiasco at the Longsjo Classic last year is that it really isn't much of a warm-up if you're out riding in a bone chilling downpour, especially if your competitors are spinning on their trainers while protected under umbrellas and awnings.  I don't think I have to worry about bad weather this weekend, but I'm taking my trainer just in case.

I'm packing a lot more than just my trainer.  While I think that Mrs. D would be more than supportive if I took off for a three day stage race, I'd feel a tad bit guilty, especially knowing that I was going to be away from the family again next weekend at the CT stage race as well. 

So, after I wrap up a 1/2 day of work today, I'll be packing up a ton of gear and bike stuff, but that will still be dwarfed by what Mrs D, my two cheerleaders, and my mother-in-law will be taking.  Sure, there would be no trip to Killington this weekend if there wasn't a bicycle race.  The mornings for the next three days will be fully consumed by the race for me at least.  And don't get me wrong, if for some reason things really don't work out for me during the race, I'll probably be a bit bummed out. 

However, this weekend is now an exciting family event where Mrs D gets away from the normal routine and spends time with her mom.  I'll be wrapped up in racing during the mornings, and I'll probably be needing a rest in the afternoons, but I'll also get out with the family to explore the area and have some fun, especially with the weather outlook as it now stands. No doubt about it -- my focus over the next three days is gonna be on racing, but having the family up there with me will surely fill out the weekend.

[BTW, I know that I've just announced to the 7 readers of this blog that my house will be vacant this weekend.  I do that with knowledge that I trust you, but I also have a really good security system because I don't trust your friends!]

Blogging Dividends

One thing that I'm taking up with me to Killington actually consumes no space in the car.  Over the course of the last five months I've enjoyed my time punching the keyboard and collecting my thoughts in this blog.  The time invested has definitely paid dividends for me, but up until now I don't think my blogging has actually helped my race results.  However, as I make the trek up to VT, I'll arrive armed with a number of good tid bits that are certainly going to help this weekend, assuming of course that I don't forget everything as I enter oxygen deprived states of mental hallucination.

One of the most important tips I got was one about my handlebars.  I've continued to worry about over tightening my clip-on aero bars and causing some sort of safety issue where the structural integrity of the handlebars is compromised.  Turns out that though I have a carbon bike frame, I have an aluminum handlebar, and therefore I shouldn't worry too much about going too far when tightening the bolts.  This might be my first TT where the bars don't come loose!

Another tip came in on my aero form for the TT.  Turns out that a picture I had posted on this blog last week revealed some poor form.  Now armed with the tip, I'm sure I'll cut a few seconds off my time.

I also posted last week some comments about my observations on the course profile.  Turns out I neglected a few key elements to the course -- location of rough roads, a sharp turn, and better understanding of the extent of the hills for Stage 3s Road Race.  I've now got a tiny cheat sheet I'll have taped to my top tube to make sure I position myself towards the front at the right times.

So, in way, I'm riding up to Killington today with the family, lots of stuff, and all of the knowledge contributed from my virtual coaches!  Thanks for all of the tips, and for the time spent reading my ramblings.  In return I hope to file a few good race reports for all of you over the next few days.  Stay tuned.....