Let the Melting Begin

The melting has begun in earnest and I'm elated. Not to mention the spiritual balm that comes with the warming temperatures.

I overestimated how comfortably warm the today actually was and opted for only two long sleeves of the three layers. That proved an ill choice as I ended up sweating early, getting totally damp inside the heavy duty cold weather top layer, and then feeling slightly chilled as the day went on and the weak sun disappeared into gauzy gloaming.

But it was alright because I did have the paper bag staunching the cold against my chest and I never actually got cold in a "fuck, this sucks" sort of way.

And today I finally got out of the neighborhoods and into the wilds beyond the city limits. I did start with a loop through the Elm Park neighborhood; up William St, around to Lincoln Sq., onto Institute St through WPI, across Park Ave and up the utterly brutal climb of Farnum St. Why the Seven Hills Wheelmen sponsor the George St. Challenge instead of the Farnum St challenge, I don't know because the climb up Farnum to Bancroft Tower is longer, just as steep, and then gets demonstrably steeper at the very top. A truly savage, stand-and-hammer climb.

Bancroft Tower, March 10, 2015

Instead of sticking to a neighborhood ramble, I opted to forge outward and see if the road conditions allowed a dash for the Holden Reservoir. June St was okay but after turning onto the heavily-trafficked May St with its two lanes of cars and in a state of winterized disrepair I wondered momentarily if I'd made a mistake. There was broken pavement, pot holes, excessive water, and the lanes were still narrowed by encroaching snow banks. In short, it sucked but I told myself not to be a baby and to ride it out, that once I was beyond Tatnuck and onto Mower St hurtling toward the Holden line I would be okay. So it proved to be.

Ah! A revelation. THIS is what it's like to roll along without having to traverse intersections and worry about city congestion. I actually got into a decent cadence and zipped along at a pretty good clip, feeling strong in the effort.

Holden Reservoir

What I'd forgotten about before setting out, even though I knew it was a melty day, was the amount of water there would be on the road surfaces. All the roads are still bordered with tall snow banks and as it melts there's nowhere for the water to drain so it puddles up and spills across the tarmac. Plus, along the more forested roads outside the city, particularly along Holden Reservoir and South Rd, the air temperature was noticeably cooler coming off the snow pack (that's when I started to be chilled). Occasionally I would pass through a warm air pocket but mostly it was chilly in the country.

South Rd., going up

The climb up South Rd. was as sweet as always; long, car-free, and just steep enough to be challenging. I loved it.

One note. My bike computer is on the fritz (dead battery) and that bummed me out at first. I'm a statistics freak. What's my average speed? How far have I gone? How fast am I going? But as I rode without it (I even took the display console off the bike) I started to think it was a good thing to be without it. I wasn't constantly looking down to check my speed. Instead, I focused more on my actual pedaling, I paid closer attention to how I actually felt in the process. I may not even replace the battery. I have Strava to track my ride and give me an overall mileage so I may just let the computerized monitoring go. We'll see.

In the end, I notched a shade over 20 miles and was happy with my effort.

Ride summary: 20+ miles, 1200+ ft elevation gain, over 90 minutes in the saddle.