Cycling week 21 in review (mmxxii)

After a recovery week felt more energetic at the start of the week. Monday went out for a ride with John after work. Since it was John's birthday we went for just a short 10 mile loop along Reeds bridge and then along Sherburne Falls rd back via Pine Hill. Off course we stopped for a quick photo shoot at the Old Man Puttering sign to celebrate John's newly acquired year of seniority.

As a nice  birthday surprise even the shy Scottish Highlander on Pine Hill came close to the road to let himself be photographed.

Tuesday I joined the hill climb ride from Greenfield. There was quite a turnout, more than 20 riders showed up. After some debate about the route it leaned towards riding to Whately, Williamsburg and then via Conway back to Greenfield. An almost 50 miler with lots of elevation. In the first stretch on Lower rd along the Deerfield river the tempo was super high. And I spun out on my 40t one-by. But with some strategic coasting and fast pedaling was able to stay with the first group.

By the time we hit upper rd the group had already shattered in little groups of riders and it was decided to split up into 2 groups. As soon as we went up the first short climb on Still water the lead group broke up again. I was not able to follow Dusty, Harper and Ethan but shortly after was able to reconnect. That turned out to be theme for this ride. After a regroup at 116 we rode as a group towards Whately. Where the climb into Whately was another uphill race. From there a number of riders choose to do so more gratuitous climbing on Masterson rd, but I skipped that. After the regroup we rode together to Haydenville and instead of turning towards Williamsburg, we went further south to Leeds to than turn back to Williamsburg. Did not remember that being a climbing section, but it sure felt that way. Here again lost contact with the front 3 riders but joined Wendy in a pursuit and regrouped in Willamsburg center.

From there we went up Ashfield rd, a long rolling uphill. At that time my legs were basically empty, so did not give myself a lot of chance to stay with the group. But by skipping the pulls and let the 3 wear themselves out :-) was able to stay until Main Poland rd. That steep section split the group again. As we encountered other riders from the ride who had not taken the bonus miles towards Leeds.

Soon it was Wendy and myself again and found the 3 at the intersection of North Poland and rt 116. Here we waited for a few more riders, Terry  and another rider joined. We flew down 116 to Conway, where Dusty peeled off and rode home. Was weird riding passed my house and having to ride to Greenfield first. At the little climb out of Conway the group splintered, but I was able to get back on before the 2nd part of the rt116 descend. When we turned left on the Lee rd, turned out we has lost Wendy. So we waited for her. From there we rode back to Greenfield passed the D2R2 pastures and Old Deerfield. A good hard ride. I had a TSS of 185 with an Intensity of 0.72. An average speed of 19.9 mph. and an Normalized Power of 245 watts. Pff was I tired.

Unfortunately that must have emptied out my energy reserves and the next day Wednesday got sick. Stomach ache, headache and flu symptoms. On Friday made an appointment with my doctor, as I was concerned about the tick bite I had gotten a few weeks earlier. But it turned out all negative: no Covid, Lyme or Anaplasmosis (also tick related), but probably just a virus.

We had originally planned to go the East Burke to the Bike Barn for Memorial day weekend on Friday. But postponed that until Saturday.

Sunday I was back on the bike. The main group did a 72 mile loop to Craftsbury were we would meet Domi and Christine for lunch. They rode from Stowe where they stayed the weekendd. Since I was not up to that distance, we (Paula, Sandra, Sara and Gary) decided to drive Craftsbury for a short 10 mile loop and meet the others for lunch. The loop started with a steep, loose gravel climb which some folks had to walk some sections, but gave us beautiful vistas.

And when we arrived back in Crafstbury the others had already arrived. It was a fun lunch and good to see Christine and Domi again after the Covid years.

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