Tuesday late afternoon, I arrived back at the airport in Hartford, Connecticut. I started the week easy since I needed some recovery after the big week of riding in Holland. First, on Wednesday, a quick spin on the trainer. Since I had really good power numbers in the Netherlands with the Rally power pedals, wanted to make sure they were measuring well. So I installed them on the indoor bike to compare. They seem pretty inline. They measures around 4% lower average power than the the Kickr Core power meter.
Thursday, I played my first pickleball in over a week, almost forgetting how much fun that was. It took a bit to get back in the swing of it but soon was back into it.
The next day I was on my way to Burke, Vermont. I had a long list of errands on my up there. It started at Bay State Medical Center in Springfield, where they made a CT Scan of my heart to ensure all the plumbing was alright. Then I drove to Deerfield and, for lunch, got a Beef Brisket sandwich at Zack's. Then on to Pekarski to buy some steak. The next stop was to Mobil gas station in Greenfield, where I filled up the car, with the next stop at Ryan & Casey Liquors for some beverages. The following stop was at Bicycling World, where after saying hello to fellow customers Melissa and Daryl, I got some energy bars. The last visit was at the Chrysler dealer to see the status of my Promaster Van order. Unfortunately, after some confusion about a White Van, it turns out there was no update on my Silver Van. And finally, I was off to Burke. We had a big group gathering for Memorial Day weekend at the Bike barn.
We went for a 60-mile gravel ride north along the power lines to Brighton on Saturday morning. The route started towards the Radar tower but then took a right on Stony Brooke road, just before a left north, where the group split.
The other riders took a shorter route back. We continued as a smaller group of 8. Soon we were on the powerline access road, with steep, short, gravely climbs and descents, where we were rewarded with beautiful views of the windy roads.
This was followed by a beautiful gravel road called S America Pond rd which brought us to Vermont route 105. Here we had a steady headwind, making the super smooth, recently paved road harder than needed. After a lunch stop in Brighton, we returned south and rode back to the barn via Newark Hollow.
The following day early, I climbed up Mt Burke with Jutta. On the Seven EverOrange, the gearing and saddle position could have been better. So it was a challenging and slow ride up.
Also, I brought my drone with me in a backpack. I wanted to take some photos at the top. Unfortunately, all the batteries were dead despite being on the charger all night. Bummer. Forgetting Jutta's warning about glass on the ground, I managed to get a leak in my tire.
With the sealant spraying out, I tried to stop it with my finger but was unsuccessful. Fortunately, Pamela had joined us, and she fixed the whole with a plug, as I had forgotten my repair kit.
In the afternoon Paula, Neil, Bill and I went to the Lyndonville Power Park and played some pickleball. Neil and Bill were new to the sport but picked it up fast, first time playing in the heat.
This week on Veloviewer
