D2R2

 

The Real Pickles/Hampshire Bicycle Exchange team was well represented at the legendary D2R2 in 2016. This late August dirt road endurance event has a long and daunting history. Dean and I rode the 180k loop, Bob, Phil, Jonathan, and Alex rode the 160k loop, and Adin rode the family ride with his family.

Not only is the 180k ride very long (112 miles in our case) but it has nearly 14,000 feet of elevation gain. I had trained very hard for this event as it would be the longest ride I had ever done and the most elevation gain in a single ride, by far. I was concerned going into the event as Dean had only ridden his gravel bike a few times in the past few months which also equated to not much elevation gain. He had a few flats on his gravel bike the week before and I hoped that he had ironed it out.

We rode with Scott, a friend of a friend of Dean's from PA. He was fit, good natured, and had a Garmin with the course downloaded on it. Scott and the Garmin proved to be a blessing for this undertaking. We got started a half hour later than we had planned but all was good.

Within 10 or so miles Scott had a flat. No worries. We were back rolling within 5 or so minutes. Shortly after this Dean got his first flat. 3 more flats for Dean were to follow, in pretty quick succession. After his forth flat he decided that he should ride to Berkshire East and get his faulty rim tape replaced. Upon arriving at BE we had ridden 37 miles in 5 hours. I was concerned that we would not make the cut off for lunch. 45 minutes later we left BE with Deans problem resolved.

 

We managed to roll into lunch at 2:00 p.m. with just over 66 miles under our belts. We ate, drank, and rested while Dean contemplated his D2 fate. He had struggled with the hills for the past 20 miles and was discouraged. He decided to ride on feeling refreshed from the meal. We rolled out.

 

I was a bit concerned that we could end up riding in the dark and hoped for a reasonably brisk pace after getting past the next four hills. Following the hills we had a bit of a break from climbing, enjoying some fast paved descents and a good flat stretch on Green River Road.

 

We were going to complete this beast! I started losing a bit of steam around mile eighty after feeling great all day. I had never ridden the famed Patton Hill climb around mile 100.

 

Patton was a beast, it was long and hard, with plenty of loose gravel. At the top were Real Pickles!!!! and fresh watermelon. Glorious. We rolled through the rest of the miles until about a mile or so out when we rode up on a young strong rider who we had gone back and forth with all day. Scott and I put in the chase then blew past him. He immediately attacked, overtaking us. I awaited Scotts counter attack that did not come. I dug in, and surprised myself by realing him back in. Of course he attacked again when I casually rode up next to him and smiled. We let him go through the finish gate first.

 

It was an amazing experience. Maybe I'll do it again someday! It has been a great year riding gravel. Peace, Tim











RAS Gravel Grinder - Peru, VT

6/25/16

 

Phil Brubaker and myself participated in the RAS Ride, a gravel grinder that was located in Peru, Vermont. RAS stands for Rasopathies, one of many rare genetic disorders. Shane, Jack Baily's son has Rasopathies and the ride is a fundraiser for the research of such disorders.

Having had a great time at the inaugural 2015 RAS ride I looked forward to this event for a year. Peru is picturesque Vermont, the home of Hapgood Pond (a beautiful spot which my family has camped at), and the memorable JJ Hapgood Store. The second running of this event drew more than twice the participants and had several storied riders including John Funk, Peter Vollers (THE New England gravel ambassador), a female cross heavy and Von Hoff team rider, Matt Boobar and others.

My buddy and Real Pickles / Hampshire Bicycle Exchange teammate Phil Brubaker travelled with me and rode the event with me. We were blessed with perfect weather and a feel good event with amazing terrain and a few extended sections of rugged class 4 roads and some single track.

Phil and I started out at a relaxed pace and slowly ratcheted up the pace. I made a few hard efforts on some of the more challenging climbs. Phil got stronger as the ride went and definitely left his comfort zone and we drove very hard on the 3 mile paved section immediately before the hardest climb of the day (more than 20%). The rider support was great with well stocked aid stations and the post race meal, provided by the JJ Hapgood Store was a delight.

IT was such a nice experience with such a nice group of riders. I had lots of back and forth's with several folks during the ride. It was a blast traveling and riding with Phil. I look forward to next years RAS ride!



Tour de Heifer 2016

 

After much trepidation about participating in the 60+ mile dirt tour, with over 7,000 feet of elevation gain, 3 sections of class 4 road, on a day of steady rain, I committed to attend. Also riding was team mate Dean Matweecha and riding buddies Mathew Meunier and Arne Hammerlund. Real Pickles Bob Bonneau also participated in the ride but began a bit later and did an augmented route totaling 45 miles.

 

We chose to roll out early trying to get the least wet window in the ever changing forecast. It was a day of much mud, foggy glasses, and grit everywhere. Really we the weather was not all that bad. The conditions required additional caution, particularly in the last 15 or 20 miles as high winds and strong showers emerged.

Why is Arne's face so clean? Answer: he rode Mathew's wheel on the pavement to clean up!

 

We generally rode a very relaxed pace and took full advantage of the many well stocked feed zones. That said we did some charging through sections, suffering up brutal hills, and bombing downhills. We had a mixed group with varying levels of fitness so there was some waiting at the top of climbs. There were several other local riders including Scott Wade, Shams Helminski, Noah Elbers, Ellen Stein, John Dimick, Doug Favreau to name a few. The attendance was actually pretty good considering the weather. 

Deano!

 

For me the highlights of the day were the class 4 sections which included mud, a long ascent with some rocks and techy stuff, and a crazy rock garden section with a decent that would have been much more a manageable on a mountain bike. I cleaned all of the section except one dab cased when a slower rider flubbed in front of me.

My muddy legs.

 

At about 40 or so miles into the ride Scott, Noah and Shams rode up on us and went right past. I would have loved to jump on but elected to remain with my group. While the pace was very manageable and I would have like to have gone a bit faster it made for an enjoyable day in the saddle. Completing such a ride with gas left in the tank is a rare thing. Now that it is over I am left wondering if a new drivetrain will be in order - the horrible sounds coming from it were painful!

Official Heifer photo. A female rider we spent some time on the course with, Mathew, Dean, Arne and myself.
 

Next ride: RAS Ride in Peru, VT 

 



Dirty Road-A-Coaster

I had concerns about racing this 100k gravel grinder when my neighbor Mathew texted me suggesting it 3 days before the event. First, it was 100k, second, Mathew is faster than I am. When I looked at the pre-reg list I identified several fast riders from Rasputitsa.

My concerns were confirmed when the group began organizing around the start line. More than half of the bikes were road bikes with slick tires. There were even several pairs of carbon wheels. It was billed as 80% gravel but I am guessing the it was less than that. In addition, the gravel was strangely smooth with no technical or gnarly sections.

I was happy to get started and felt pretty good, riding in the half of the group. The first 5 miles were paved and mostly flat until it turned left up a steady hill. soon there was gravel and the lead group reduced to about twenty. I hung on until around mile 9 then thought better of riding in the red so early in a long ride.

I rode for some time with a group of 5 to 9 riders. The pace did not feel any easier as some young riders were breathing so hard I thought that I'd have to administer CPR. I was in a very compatible group that rode nicely for about ten miles. In this pack I elected to skip the first of 2 feed zones - a mistake. I was carrying minimal food and should have known better.

I ended up riding off with one other rider. We were joined by another rider who peeled off of the front group. The pace was too fast for me but I elected to push instead of being alone. I asked one of these riders how many miles we had gone. He looked at his computer and told me 34. A rider came up from behind and the pace quickened more on a paved section. I had to let them go after a few miles. I rode alone for 5 or six miles. After around 40 miles I knew I was bonking. I had less and less power on the hills. A roadie came up on me and we rode a few miles to the second feed zone. We stopped as did the rider ahead of us. I ate a cliff bar, half a banana and we were off. I felt a bit better for the next five miles. The roadie left me on another road section to face a tough had wind.

The last ten or twelve miles were purely survival riding; I was done. Small groups caught and passed me. It was painful to watch some riders that I was faster than ride away. The race ended on a long section of pavement. Mathew finished twelfth, I was near the back. I have endured sore knees and lower back as a result of using all of my body to climb the hills late in the event. I am really looking forward to a more relaxed pace with the rest of the Pickles riders and some other friends at the Tour de Heifer in 3 weeks.

Discovered a few additional pictures from F2G2 2015

 

 

 

3.5 - 4 hour gravel ride tomorrow, Saturday, at 1:00 p.m. Thought I would share a little inspiration:
http://salsacycles.com/videos/i_ride_for_her

Muddy Onion

 

On April 23, 2016 I found myself, the sole Real Pickles/Hampshire Bicycle Exchange rider, again in a sea of riders awaiting the start of another grueling Vermont Gravel Grinder. Although just over half the size of Rasputitsa, this group of 350+ was crammed into the city streets of Montpelier, Vermont, with the state house in the foreground. It is wonderful to watch the gravel explosion happen in New England. I waited for what seemed like an eternity for the event to start. I was absolutely freezing, choosing to dress light with bare legs and one base layer too few.

 

After a neutral loop around the city and onto Main Street we veered North up a series of steep paved climbs. I was just thrilled to be riding, even better to be climbing and generating some heat. I was tucked neatly into the front group sheltered behind other riders. This series of pictures tells the story of the quick toll the initial hills took on the group.

 

 

 

 



 As we finally hit our first dirt road about two or three miles in, the lead group, which contained Putney/West Hill's Kate Northcutt, was down to 15 with me hanging on to the back. The surging pack quickly became 14 as I dropped off, knowing that I would suffer later if I tried to stay with this group.

 

 

A mile or so later a group of 6 formed the chase group. This grew to as many as fourteen. It was  a peleton which lacked road racing experience, unlike the groups I had been part of at Rasputitsa. I tried to organize the group by setting a sensible pace when up front but 3 riders repeatedly attacked on the hills, causing a gap, then eventually fading back to the pack. The course was full of sharp, short hills with only two or three sustained climbs (beyond the initial climbs). I found myself with four other riders with about 7 miles to go. One of these was a strong rider who had fell out of the lead group (a few others had been shelled earlier). As we got closer to Montpelier I again experienced fatigue and stiffness in my legs. A few times I briefly got separated but was able to dig in and get back on. My descending saved me as I was able to make up time lost late in the ride.

 

On the last sustained climb the group shattered, it was mostly downhill from here. I was the last in the group. The fast group rider got away, 2 guys charged off together, I was left chasing a like aged strong Onion River rider. Fortunately I descended better than the prior, passed him and got a few hundred meters on him. As we hit pavement outside of Montpelier the terrain became flat. The Onion River rider slowly caught me. I sat on his wheel, my roadie days serve me well. He had tried to power by me and may not of known that I was sitting on him. He let up a little as a race organizer told us of the 90 degree left turn into the finishing shute. I accelerated by him and stayed in front with the two fellow pack riders just ahead. 

 

Another excellent event with tremendous support from the Onion River Shop. I was rewarded with a good feed and a Heady Topper (for the road)!