From Orange with love! Love and honor the spinning wheels. Peter Matthiessen has died. OM AH HUM.
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| Team Lime About I-ward (left) has just gotten a new bike (pictured) |
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| Captain Shad with the Ventoux Jersey from Scrod and lightening impromptu from I-ward |
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| The bare hardwoods the sandy roads the blue sky Mostly it was like this It was chilly at first but warmed throughout the ride |
We wing it. Orange. New Salem. Shutesbury. Pelham. Old mountain biking routes from decades earlier revisited. Montague Rd a sick incline that goes on and on. Jennison Rd. Another Montague Rd. Many dirt roads. If only the Rasputitsa were to be like this! Some softness and melt but much firm moist roadway. We try to imagine what it will be like but we can't. We agree that our approach & our strategy will depend on the conditions. I hope for colder temps, overcast skies, surfaces unmelted. Newport Vermont and the surrounding land currently has a snow cover greater than any around here. A full warm day of melting with roadside snow banks will transform the race into a mud bath. I hope for frozen sand pack.
But ours is not to expect favors from Mother Nature, we're to make our way forward regardless. Life is un gran abrazo, a great embrace. So we embrace!
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| Monsieur Rouge in the foreground The Virginian up ahead |
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| Leaving the Leverett Coop en route to Wendell three quarters through the ride |
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| Spring Melt, the Great Flow, and Us |
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| Eventually it's Shad Time |
Ride Summary: Lots of climbing! 40.80 miles (64 K) over all. Almost a Rasputitsa! Over three hours in the saddle. Plenty of dirt roads. Rutted, pot-holed, squishy. Chilly to start, it warmed throughout the ride. Once again I was dressed just right (even without the brown paper bag which I forgot to bring). We pushed it at times but also stopped occasionally. Getting a sense of what we can and cannot reasonably expect to accomplish. First and secondary; not get hurt, and finish. After that, it's gravy.
