King’s Tour of the Quabbin
Yesterday I did the King’s Tour of the Quabbin by Seven Hills Wheelmen in Rutland, Massachusetts.
[map]
This was one tough ride. I don’t remember the hills being this hard last year. But last year my knee was giving me a lot of trouble so maybe I was fixating on that rather than the hills. For one reason or another, this was tough! I was 1/2 MPH slower this year than last year in spite of, IMO, being in better shape. Then again, I’m also heavier this year, so that probably plays into it as well. It was also hot and sunny this year, and IIRC, it was sunny last year, it wasn’t all that hot. Hmm.. let me check…
Yesterday (KORE)
Temperature
Max Temperature 87 °F
Min Temperature 54 °F
Last year (KORE)
Temperature
Max Temperature 73 °F
Min Temperature 37 °F
So, yeah, this year was much hotter. Dead calm winds both days, though.
Route US 202 which runs along the western edge of the Quabbin, is freshly repaved which is both good and bad. Good in that it’s remarkably smooth and free of defects. Bad in that it’s blacker than black. It’s Spinal Tap black album black. I mean, how much blacker could it be? None. No more black. That made the road surface very, very hot, and it’s the part that runs through the forest, so there is nowhere to stop to recharge water bottles. Thank the goddesses for the New Salem General Store.
New Salem General Store, New Salem, Massachusetts
There was one bad route marking that lots of people missed, including me. The route changed slightly from last year because of construction on Route SR 122. In Barre Center, there was a right turn but the markings were obscured by sand and many people went straight through, like last year. This didn’t really cause too much problem except that when you get to the part where SR122 splits from SR32, there are no markings (because you’re not supposed to be there). I ran into the two Fassa Bortolo guys who had stopped and were trying to figure out the que sheet. This is the intersection I took the wrong turn at last year, but I couldn’t remember what the right turn should be. Two other guys rode by looking like they knew what they were doing, and we decided that even if we got lost, SR122 goes back to Rutland, so everything would work out okay. As it turned out, it made the ride about a mile or so shorter than it would otherwise have been. My odometer read 99.6 at the end (but the ride to the back lot where the car was parked put it over the century mark at 100.11).
The Fassa Bortolo guys at the finish line in Rutland, Massachusetts
The hills went up relentlessly. Or at least they seemed to. But then, going downhill at 40+ MPH makes the downhills go by pretty quickly, whereas going uphill at 8MPH makes the ups take forever. Still, there seemed to be a lot more up than down. Starting out of the parking lot in the morning begins with about a 4 mile downhill, which has to be reclimbed at the end. That’s tough. I ran into Chuck I rode with last year, but the first downhills were so fast, and I was doing so well in the morning that I dropped him and didn’t see him for the rest of the day. That was suprizing since I did not so well from about 11AM on that I thought for sure he’d catch up.
I really like this ride and will do it again next year. It’s tough riding in the heat right away. Last week it was 60 and jumping right to 85 and blazing sun is tough. The organizers said there were 261 riders.
I have to say, again, what a nice club 7 Hills seems to be. Nice route, nice people. But, you know, it’s like way out in Worcester.
[ride log]
