GSW Tri-State
What would Maxwell Smart say? “Missed it by that much.” Okay, so it was a little more than “that” much. I was shooting for 18 and got 17.34, not even season’s best (but not by much). Oh well. There’s always next year.
It was very, very cold in the morning and didn’t warm up much all day. I ran into Bela and Janet and some friends of theirs in the morning. It was good to see them.
I was shooting for 18mph but it would depend on how I felt, wind, weather, &c &c. I hooked up with three others who were going at a good speed through the Massachusetts portion (the ride goes from Hampton Beach, NH down to Mass, then back, then up to Maine and return), but I must have hit something because there was a tick-tick-tick as my tire went around. I stopped to check it out, but didn’t see anything and the tire hadn’t deflated, but by that time I’d already lost them. It was a bit windy and it took a long time to find another group.
A long (20+) line passed me going a good speed, so I glommed onto them and rode a good long way, but the group got split up after the Portsmouth-Kittery bridge. When taking a couple of turns through Kittery, the rear tire was getting all squirrelly, so I stopped and found the tire half deflated. It took about 10 or 15 minutes to repair it. That intersection was a very sharp right right turn and either the route was marked with disappearing ink or something, because a lot of people missed it.
Most of the route is not particularly scenic for a good part of the way. There are barrier dunes between the road and the water, so you can’t see much in that direction, and there’s scrub on the other side, so there’s not much to see there either. It goes through some resort towns like Hampton and York, ME, where you really have to watch the parked cars to keep from being doored.
A crowded rest stop, then on to Nubble Light and a bit farther before turning around and coming back. Because this is a sort of “out and back” ride, they can re-use the rest stops and only need one to service the whole ride. Clever, but it makes the ride a little boring in places. Still, there really aren’t a lot of roads up there, so there aren’t many to choose from.
Do you know how difficult it is to staunch a bloody nose while 80 miles into a bike ride? Pretty darn difficult. And it doesn’t help that all the Hampton beach houses are closed for the season.
Huge turnout, again. This is one of those you need to register for a long time in advance, and they cut off registration at the end of August. This is another one I’ll have to think about whether to do next year.
Stopped at Brown’s on the way home and wolfed down a quart of steamers. MMmmm MMmmm. There was a little girl at the table next to me with her father and grandfather. She was really going to town tearing the steamers apart and giving them all to her dad. Her dad asked her if she didn’t want one, but she said “no, they’re funny.”
September 26th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
Creepy. The poor guy died not too long after you published this entry.
Just to be safe, don’t quote anyone else for at least the next 48-72 hours. With any luck it’s just a passing hex.
Apart from that macabre coincidence, congrats on the ride. AFAIC, that’s 18. The resistance from that wonky tire threw the instrumentation off. Yeah.
September 26th, 2005 at 4:27 pm
Oooh. Spooky.
I remember when you once said, … uh, nevermind.
I like your thinking re the tire.
September 26th, 2005 at 9:20 pm
Hey Todd,
Unrelated to your canny ability to hex people, I am curious about what you are using for your online ride log. It seems much simpler, and therefore easier to obsess about, than my current excel data sheet.
Thanks,
Knox
PS. I think I might have to go down and see those Liberty fellows this weekend.
September 26th, 2005 at 9:40 pm
This is the sort of stuff I do for work, so this, along with southend.org, are sort of scratch pads to try things out without inflicting them on paying clients. So the short answer is, it’s home grown. You’re welcome to it, if you like. It’s one MySQL table with some PHP. Eventually, the airport codes are supposed to link to wunderground.com for the historical page, or (less likely) fetch the METAR data from somewhere. One or the other. Or both. That should be along RSN.
That said, I was “just” pointed to a place called “Active Body” but haven’t had a chance to check it out yet.
Oh, and welcome back.
September 28th, 2005 at 7:37 am
Um, Todd, I hate to say it but MySQL table and PHP mean little to me despite being a nerd. Homegrown is something I more easliy understand. I’ll look at it some more and see if I can’t figure it out. I like it.
Being back is, well, ok. I have to go start work today. I should be very excited to get some money, but I find it rather depressing being back in the temp pool. Sigh.
September 28th, 2005 at 9:15 am
Well, it is something I just sort of threw together so I’m not sure how useful it would be for you, but if you’d like it, you’re welcome to it. As I say, I use it for experimentation and sometimes I’ve proved my concept, so I never actually finish the thing. That’s the state of most of my stuff most of the time.
October 3rd, 2005 at 2:04 pm
[...] Right at the halfway point, just past the covered bridge, I got a flat. When I got the bike ready the night before, the tire was way down, but I’d figured it was because it had been patched during the Tri-state [...]