Weekend with the Leonator I

A big Team Shad welcome to the Leonator, a Brooklyn-based cyclist possessed of a wolverine relentlessness and unflagging spirit.  Longtime friend of both Wing Nut and Dubstoevsky, the Leonator doesn't make it to the Bay State that often so having him along for a team ride this weekend was a special treat. And what a weekend - more booming sun and clear blue skies, no humidity, slight breeze, perfect weather for the long haul.

The Leonator in the final sprint for the summit of Mt. Wachusett

Setting out from Team Shad HQ in downtown Woo, the 55 mile round trip to the mountaintop promised everything - empty country roads, farmland, sinuous descents, vistas, several cat 4 climbs, a cat 3 climb, wretched connector stretches on busy main road, neighborhoods, kamikaze downhills, twists & turns, long slogging pedal-cranking ascents, flat straightaways under canopied green foliage along reservoirs.

The fact is, you can plot out a mega ride in central Massholia. Though getting to the the huge swathes of forest and farmland requires traversing various town 'centers,' these are often just intersections of roads at town commons, and they are quickly and easily navigated. Mostly, you can be 'out there' on small, sparsely-traveled roads for very long periods of time.

The fact is that this was Wing Nut's first training ride from Team Shad HQ. Centered as he is in western Mass with a surfeit of long empty roads and fabulous climbing, he was, until Saturday the 25th, uninitiated into the glories of Woo-centric cycling, especially the Vonchusett Summit loop. Now it's a done deal, and having the Leonator along rounded out the triumvirate shadosterone.

As team leader I was responsible for the route. Small worry there. On a dry sunny Saturday with temps in the mid 80s, conditions were utterly perfect; it was so nice, we could have done laps around Holden Reservoir and it would have been excellent. But we didn't do laps - we hammered into the hills, we paced ourselves on the long rollers, we pulled each other along like a team time trial.

Wing Nut on Mason Rd

We also chilled and soaked up the general awesomeness of Being.

A hawk jumps out of the canopy'ing oak trees and flaps silently into other-side-of-the-road wisdom. A great blue heron, surprised by our passing, leaps into unnecessary flight from the silent pond face over which it stared. Occasionally, massive trees rear into consciousness, giant old veterans that have been growing for centuries and that have escaped the farmer's ax. Whispers of generations passed. The cycle of growth and regression. It's all there, visible across the landscape. Etched with stone walls. Dissected by road and field.

Dinner for Hungry Shad

Pompano and Red Snapper