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There’s a lot of icy looking slush and snow on the streets out in front of the Continental on google streetview. I’m not so crazy about riding there in so much ice. Can me move it someplace a little less icy?

I will likely be there and my wife may come as well.

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First of all, that’s a great reward even though you did not ask for or expect one. Nice job raising so much money! Your pro/con list so far is hilarious. I think if you do either of these rides you’ll have a great time.

Another addition to your pro/con list, you may want to consider overall weather too. May 5th seems kinda early in the season for a ride up in New England. On the other hand, late May in North Carolina could be kinda hot and sweaty and possibly thunderstormy. Accoding to wunderground.com, the climo data for Martha’s Vineyard would almost gurantee 40-50s and possibly 30’s. That would not be very enjoyable if it rained, although you’re probably hardier than I am if you grew up up there. Gibsonville weather is more of a toss-up. Could range from the 50’s to the 80’s in late May.

Would it be impossible to make a longer trip out of it and head out to Colorado or Arizona? One of these days I need to see what riding in the high desert or in the Rockies feels like.

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That’s exactly where I lost my key a couple of years ago. A colleague found it and taped it where I would see it. Fortunately I got it back the next day, not a week later. I’m sure your bike is very happy to be free from its shackles.

Otherwise, this is a great thread for people to check when it happens to them.

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Congrats on the great ride and thanks for the nice write up! And nice job sticking it to your friends with no faith in you!!

I’ll have to keep this one in mind when I’m looking for rides to do next fall. Is it REALLY hilly? Any long, sustained climbs? My wife really wants to do a century ride. She was thinking this fall she might do her first, but it didn’t quite work out with training. Maybe next year…. I think we need to get her a road bike first – I may post a question about an entry level road bike for a short woman later.

I used to think a 7am start was too early until I did the PMC this year. The main Sturbridge ride starts at 5:30 sharp! Since we stayed at a hotel 15 minutes away and had to drive there leaving extra time for this and that, that meant my alarm went off before 4am. Insane!

Anyway, congrats on finishing so well and now you can say that you’ve ridden 100 miles.

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Hey vailpass, I think I sent you an e-mail with information right? Let me know when/if you think you’d be interested in the bike. Thanks, Chris

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If you needed any other reasons to go with panniers over a backpack (I don’t know much about messenger bags) – My wife and I have been riding to the grocery store in Potomac Yard for weekly trips since we moved to the area in April. A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted a little more than just food, so I brought one of my panniers in the store and made sure one of the larger (with the tap on top) Newcastle mini-kegs would fit inside. It did! With room to spare even. So I got grabbed that, picked up the veggies, cheese, PB, milk and OJ I was supposed to get and rode home. My wife already thinks I’m insane so it wasn’t too much of a surprise when I got there.

Anyway, from my experience you’d need a pretty large backpack, and a stronger than normal back to comfortably carry a mini-keg plus 1.5 gallons of other liquid on your back. Being so used to hauling loaded panniers around, the extra weight wasn’t a problem.

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Thanks for all the comments so far. I’m imaging myself a few months from now on a trainer and being really really bored, so I am now also considering the rollers thing. It looks like they’d provide some extra benefits with improved balance and core strength too. I watched a bunch of youtube videos of people on rollers and while quite difficult, they don’t look impossible. They even may be a little fun. We have a nice narrow hallway where I can get started.

We have a handful of old beach towels I can lay down on the carpet for sweat/carpet protection, and a big old fan too. I drip sweat on my bike while riding outside so it will just have to deal. It will be winter time and cold air will be in abundance as well.

@Dirt – is your ear still bleeding? Let’s hope not.

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I may have a used Scott SUB 30 I can part with. It was supposed to be my bad weather commuter but it’s clearly too small for me, and the BB/cranks etc don’t handle my clydesdale (overweight) leg strength very well. Also, my commute distance doubled and I just don’t trust it for rides over a few miles. Will you accept bikes that need a little TLC? It’s operable, but definitely needs a little bit of a tuneup.

I’ve been thinking lately about what I want to do with it. To sell it, I’d have to put time and money into it, which hardly seems worth it. Donating to someone who can actually use it seems to be the best idea.

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@Dirt 8018 wrote:

Unfortunately the world is full of Dumbassos… this area in particular. Hopefully this particular one, as well as Mr. Mazda 6 will have an awakening that doesn’t involve killing or hurting people.

You forgot the word ‘other’. “…. Mr. Mazda 6 will have an awakening that doesn’t involve killing or hurting OTHER people.”

If they want to kill themselves by being dumbassos that’s generally ok with me.

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Thinking back, I wish I had ‘neglectful’ parents like you guys when I was in school.

I had a bus for elementary school, but in Junior High I had to walk, even though the schools were next to each other (about 1.5 miles away. Anyway, it would have been so much cooler had I biked to school. Man! If only I could do it all over again…

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@justasaintz 7771 wrote:

Has anyone camped the night before and do the ride?

A few years back, my wife and I did the Salvation Army Camping thing… http://www.seagullcentury.org/sleep.html#camping

It wasn’t bad. Only 1-2 miles from the start area, so we just rode down from there in the morning. We camped on a high school football field and they opened up the gymnasium locker room for bathroom and showers and stuff. I would recommend that if you’re up for camping. It unfortunately does not lend itself to tip-top performance on Saturday, but it’s a cheap, and close, if indeed they still have space.

If you’ll be parking on campus, I recommend heading to the lots nearby the dining hall on the west side of campus. There always seemed to be lots of spaces back there.

We’ve done it for the past three years, but I don’t think we’re going to this year. Good luck!

[creadinger]

Another thing about mapmyride that I have noticed is that the longer your route, the more smoothed out the hills will be.

For example, using the mapmyride classic website you can export the elevation data to use in excel. For my trip from MA to VA I have a day that I only rode 38 miles and another where I cranked out 113. These days have the same number of elevation data points (2500), even though one ride is almost 3 times longer.

I don’t know why the number of data points seems to be limited to 2500, but the effect on the elevation and slope calculations is that it smooths the hills out. You can also test it using the current version of MMR by mapping a significant hill on a short ride <30 miles. MMR will hopefully categorize it as a 5. But if you put that hill in the middle of a much longer ride ~100 miles you'll often find that it is no longer categorized.

So, I guess the lesson here is that if you want more accurate data, map shorter trips by breaking up long rides into 2-3 sections.

[creadinger]

I was out for a big ride today and happened to cross paths with these guys. I passed most of them heading south toward Purcellville from Brunswick, MD and then I leapfrogged with a few of them on the W&OD on my way back east.

All in all I saw about 8. They would cruise on the flats and downhills but seemed to have trouble on some of the hills. They drew a lot of curious looks and while I didn’t get a picture, some of them had awesome designs.

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Congrats man!

It must be interesting to think back to the split in the route where you made the decision to go for the 100 instead of the 75 you were expecting. Also, you didn’t have the cue sheet for the 100 mile ride right? So you had to stick with the pack you were riding with. No falling off the back or you’d be screwed. Haha.

[creadinger]

@StopMeansStop 7345 wrote:

I’m trying REALLY hard to turn negative energy around and make that finger into a thank you wave instead.

I’ve given the finger plenty of times, as a pedestrian, a cyclist and driver, but I really like your thinking. Lately, I’ve decided that giving the finger for bad behavior really doesn’t accomplish anything because people get defensive when they’re affronted. I feel that energy would be better used rewarding good behavior by giving a friendly wave or head nod to all the drivers that actually yield for me or give me extra room when passing. As a result I’m making a conscious effort to do that more and give the finger less…. although sometimes the bird is just a necessity.

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