Tuesday, November 21, 2017

The 2017 coffeeneuring season

It's over, apparently.  I saw the Daily Randonneur's post for his last coffeeneuring trip of the season and thought, "uh oh, maybe time's up, I should have paid more attention to the schedule."  He should know as he is married to Mary, the Chief Coffeeneur.  So I went back to the announcement and, sure enough, it ended on November 19, the evening I saw the post.  So I narrowly missed it but here is my report for the history (of coffeeneuring) books.

My first coffeeneuring trip was an early morning ride, starting in the fog, with remarkably little traffic.  You say there shouldn't be much traffic at 5:30 AM but there is some and there wasn't any that day.  Full report is here.  In case you don't follow the link, here is what sunrise looked like:



My second coffeeneuring trip was a weekday trip, taking advantage of new rules as of 2016:


My third coffeeneuring trip was a ride from Concord to Harvard with my friend Carl.  Concord is approximately the midpoint between our homes and starting there made for a pretty short ride to Harvard.  We had very cold weather to start but the day warmed up so we could enjoy coffee outside.

On the way up the hill - time to remove some layers.

Bike parking at the Harvard General Store.

Coffee, outside.  But not a coffees shop without walls. We even sat on one.
Coffeenneuring #4 was also a weekday coffeeneuring with a shop relatively new to me:


Coffeeneuring #5 was a nice dirt and paved road ride, including the Reformatory Branch Trail and Battle Road along with a great latte at Ride Studio Cafe.

Side trail in Concord.  It was a bit rooty but I made it on 28 mm tires.

At Ride Studio Cafe.
Next, I used the "friend's house as a coffee shop" rule and rode to East Cambridge for a coffee and a great long conversation with Paul, who has joined me on a least one coffeeneuring trip, although he doesn't join in the challenge.  I left just in time and made it home in the dark and as the rain was about to get me really wet.


And, finally, I missed the ending date but still made time for an espresso at NOCA (North Cambridge) Provisions, which was worth the stop:



Coffeeneuring maps

Mary asked me to make the maps again and I happily worked with her on the maps.  Mary adds the data and I've been hosting the maps here.


Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Lit up like a Christmas tree


Just bright enough or needlessly bright?
Yesterday I had a conversation with Emily O'Brien of Dill Pickle Gear about bike lighting, as we were standing next to my lit up bike.  She is of the opinion that one ought to ride with the required lighting, which ensures that anyone paying attention, and even those not paying complete attention, would notice.  Here is the text from the online Massachusetts General Laws:

(8) During the period from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise, the operator shall display to the front of his bicycle a lamp emitting a white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet, and to the rear of said bicycle either a lamp emitting a red light, or a red reflector visible for not less than six hundred feet when directly in front of lawful lower beams of headlamps on a motor vehicle. A generator powered lamp which emits light only when the bicycle is moving shall meet the requirements of this clause.
(9) During the period from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise, the operator shall display on each pedal of his bicycle a reflector, or around each of his ankles reflective material visible from the front and rear for a distance of six hundred feet, and reflectors or reflective material, either on said bicycle or on the person of the operator, visible on each side for a distance of six hundred feet, when directly in front of lawful lower beams of headlamps of a motor vehicle. This clause shall not prohibit a bicycle or its operator to be equipped with lights or reflectors in addition to those required by clauses (8) and (9).
I feel pretty safe with the above standards when out of town on unlit streets and on the Minuteman Path.  I don't feel it's enough when riding down busy streets with a lot of lights competing for drivers' attention.  So I up the lighting for my bikes a bit:

  • Small helmet light, high enough to get a driver's attention when they can't see the lights on my bike.
  • A second taillight, in slow (non siezure inducing) flashing mode.
  • A second headlight, aimed down and centered 10 feet in front of my wheel.
  • Spoke reflectors with integrated lights.  They are bright but not overpowering.

I also wear one of Emily's reflective sashes and have reflective bands on my arms and around my gloves.

Emily makes a great point that all of the extras that I use may cause a new cyclist to wonder about whether it is actually safe to be riding at all.  There is no small expense if getting all of the extras I use and I spend a decent amount of time and effort ensuring that I have the reflectors with me and put them on and take them off, along with all of the less permanently mounted lights.  I also have to admit that I use a lot less gear when I simply ride down the Minuteman and feel pretty safe even when I get on streets as I wind my way home.  And she also correctly pointed out that all of the lights and reflectors won't make an impaired driver see me.

She is right about all of this but I still feel exposed on a bike at night in the city so I will continue doing what I do.  What is your strategy?


Thursday, October 19, 2017

Magic hour: coffeeneuring #1, 2017

Magic hour or golden hour is a great time to be out riding or doing just about anything outdoors.  It's commonly defined as just before sunset or just after sunrise.  I experienced a pretty different kind of magic hour on my first coffeeneuring ride of the season last Sunday.  The ride was like a lot of my coffeeneuring season rides over the years - me going for a ride and getting some coffee on the way.  That also describes many of my off season rides, too.  I have my best chance to get in rides in the early morning - I get home before anyone really notices or cares that I am gone.  During a decent part of the year that means that it's dark out when I start my rides and that was true on Sunday - I left over and hour and a half before sunrise.

I'm always a little ambivalent and very cautious when riding in the dark, especially early morning rides.  While I prefer early morning to late night rides because there are a lot fewer people out who may have a measurable BAC, those under the influence in the early morning hours may be really tired and with a higher BAC so I keep my eyes open.  I can't have eyes in the back of my head but Sunday was a case where I really didn't need to.  For whatever quirk in everyone's schedule, no one passed me from behind before sunrise.  That's right, I rode 16 or 17 miles and was out for over an hour and not a single car was in my lane.  And to top it off, not many cars, maybe 15, passed me in the other direction.  That was incredibly calming for a road ride.  But that didn't make it a magic hour. 

What made it magic was the quiet whenever I stopped.  It was just a calm, quiet night, late enough in the year and early enough in the day that birds and bugs were also quiet.  I stopped at one point and looked up in the sky and saw that the moon broke through the low clouds.  Every road was a calm, quiet place and some of the narrower roads seemed more like paved trails through a forest.  As the light increased closer to sunrise, I would turn off my lights for a second or two to experience the quiet, smooth roads in a very soft light.  It really was magical for me.

The sun rose eventually, although I didn't see it right away.  I made my way through Great Brook Farm Park and then south into Concord where I made my coffeeneuring stop.  I made it to Haute Coffee not long after it opened but there was already a longish wait for coffee.  I had a granola bar and an espresso.  I was at Haute Coffee the previous week and was there later and ended up enjoying coffee and conversation with 5 other guys out for rides.  This time I was the only cyclist and the only person eating outside.  It made for quiet coffeeneuring but also a very calm stop after a very calming ride.

Some pictures from the morning:

The moon breaks through the clouds.

Lights were required.  The brighter light is dynamo powered.  I've also been using a small, battery operated one on steady for rides like this.  I also have a second battery powered light in reserve.  The reserve light and the dynamo powered light also have integrated reflectors.  You can see the white light of the dynamo powered headlamp. I also have a 350 lumen rechargeable headlight in reserve.  I was wearing reflective ankle straps and a reflective vest and have reflectors on my wheels.  So I was legal by randonneuring standards and Massachusetts laws.

That's what I saw of sunrise at Great Brook Farm Park.  Not much to see that day.

Roads like these, at least at this hour (maybe 7:45) on a quiet Sunday.

Coffeeneuring proof 1.

Coffeeneuring proof 2.  I originally intended to ride the previous morning and had rain gear packed.  So when I warmed up, my sweater had to be tied onto the saddlebag.  I also intended only a short ride on Saturday so I had only a single water bottle, which was just enough to get to Concord.

Monday, August 28, 2017

D2R2 2017: Green River Tour with a taste of hills

After riding in the 2013, 2014, and 2015 versions of the D2R2, I missed the D2R2 in 2016 because of family scheduling issues (I can no longer remember what we did instead but it was probably important at the time) so I really tried hard to go in 2017.  I thought I could convince my boys to do the short (12 miles) family ride but that idea was ultimately vetoed.  After that, I asked my friend Carl to join me and he said he could, although he had not rode farther than 25-30 mile rides this year.  I was a better off - I rode 60 miles once and have several 40 milers under my belt this year.  That said, most of my miles this year are commuting miles, which aren't the highest impact for conditioningb ut I wouldn't die trying this.  Carl and I (and Carla and Alex) did the Green River Tour together in 2013 so Carl knew what to expect from that ride.  He considered the 100K but we settled on the Green River Tour plus Optional Loop 2.  That made for a 55 mile ride with 3,700 feet of climbing according to RideWithGPS.com.  That didn't seem too hard.

The plan was for me to pick up Carl and drive together to Deerfield.  Carl and I apparently share a predilection for getting started slowly.  And taking long breaks.  I managed to get out of the house only 15 minutes late and we didn't linger too long at Carl's house so we managed to get to Deerfield around 9:15.  We had called Carla and Alex, who were back in Massachusetts for the ride and enjoyed talking with them for 15 minutes before they left and we started to get ready (register, eat something, change, apply sunscreen, and get the bikes off the car.  We weren't on the road until after 10, maybe 10:20 or so.  And we took 7 hours to ride for about 4 hours.  The weather was a blue sky day with moderate temperatures, maybe into the low 80s.  It was warm but not muggy and not too hot.

One great part of stopping at Carl's house was getting a pair of gloves from him, after realizing that I left mine at home.  I remember using a pair like these on a 1985 tour of northern New England and Nova Scotia.  By the end of 7 weeks I had tanned dots over the back of my hands.  These gloves were very comfortable.

The Green River Tour is a great ride on a nice dirt road.  It was in stellar condition this year probably the best I've seen it in the four years I've done this ride.  In fact all of the dirt roads where in great shape.  We did have some paved roads on the Green River Tour but it was around half dirt, or so it seemed.  The great surface condition meant that we could ride fast (relatively speaking) and we did.  We had a few cars pass us on Green River Road but traffic was light and passing other riders (or get passed by other riders) was easy.  Still, I was happy to be running daytime running lights to give drivers a bit of an extra chance to see me when Carl and I were riding side by side.

The organizers let people know we would be on the roads.


I snapped a picture of our bikes at the first water, food stop (and also the family ride start.  Carl's Bicycle Quarterly reviewed Joshua Bryant bike is behind my Surly.  There was good food at the stop.  I ate some pickles but drew the line at pickle brine.


I saw this great child carrying set up at the first stop and late at the lunch stop.  The family is from Cambridge.  They were riding the Green River Tour.  The bike is a flat bar version of the Salsa Marrakesh.


I think this is Tyler Evan's Firefly, equipped for carrying their child.

A MAP.  We saw one on the Green River Tour and a total of three at the lunch stop.

The real fun began after lunch.  While eating, I saw a group heading up Jacksonville Stage Road and they made it look hard (although they were likely a lot stronger than we were so it was a bit intimidating.  But after a long lunch (maybe 2 hours?) and meeting a lot of cool people and checking out cool bikes, we headed up the hill and it wasn't that bad but it was long.  And, as I said, the dirt was in great condition - smooth and very few potholes.  I checked in with Carl at the summit and then proceeded down a pretty fast run to the next intersection.  We met Emma there.  She was pondering the map.  It turned out that she had missed the turn (and wondering why Green River Road was so steep).  After considering how to get back on route (with cue sheets and a bread crumb trail on my Garmin), Emma decided to ride with us.  Staying on route with the bread crumb trail was easy.

The hills were harder than the Green River Tour hill (see the image from my Garmin ride page) but the views were amazing.  Coming from western Massachusetts, these hills are just like home to me. My 34/32 gearing was just enough most of the time.  There were a few places that I had to stand up but I had no issues with that with the great road surfaces.  Carl had a much lower gear and came up slower.  He had some issues with the chain jumping off but was stayed with us.  Emma is a triathlete and conditioning coach and rolled over everything with seeming ease.

On Optional Loop 2, at the top of the hill before descending to Green River Road and back to the tour route.

One issue with taking the optional loop was that we were running low on water.   And low on time.  When we got back on route, we asked other riders (including Amy, who I hope found her iPhone) who told us we were one half mile from the water stop, in the wrong direction.  In the interest of time, we headed home and found a store about five miles down the road and bought liquid and a couple of snacks.  We also decided that in the interest of time, we would head straight back to the tent, skipping the Lower Road and Stillwater section.  Getting back on Route 5 wasn't fun but we all felt some pressure to get back.  I know Emma was heading back to her family who was texting her (as my family was but they were two hours further away).  We said goodbye to Emma at the tent and then went to find food and water.

A Chapman Cycles machine at the finish.
While we both in a hurry (me more so than Carl), we spent a lot of time checking out bikes after dinner.  There was no shortage of amazing bikes on hand, from gravel-ish bikes to randonneuring bikes.  We ended up talking to the owner of a Chapman and his wife, owner of a new Independent Fabrication.  And we took pictures of riders coming in from the 180K ride.  And a few other people.  Finally, after 7:15, we were on our way home.

I would say that was my best experience on the D2R2, from the great company of Carl and Emma for part of the ride, to the amazing road surfaces, the little taste of hills on the optional loop, and the great weather.  I will be back next year and Carl plans to be there as well, this time trying the 100K version, something I did back in 2009.

My Surly was a great bike for the ride, with 38 mm Compass tires softening what bumps there were.  The gearing was just about perfect and brakes (Paul Neo Retro) made me feel secure on the dirt decents.  Ride Studio Cafe in Lexington, MA put the bike together, including hand built wheels, last November and I think this is the longest and most adventurous ride I've done on the bike.  Hopefully it carries me a few more D2R2 rides.

Strava says we only put out an average of 85 watts but it felt harder than that.

The ride, as we intended on RideWithGPS.

From Garmin:
The first little peak was on the Green River Tour.  The three bigger peaks were on the optional loop.  Note the steep backsides all four climbs.  We clearly took the right route.  The last very steep descent was on great pavement.  Surprisingly, we met three Boston area cyclists who did our route in reverse and thought we would have the harder climbs.

Carl and Emma on the optional loop.  It was a lot of extra work but also the best part of the ride for us.  Emma was on the 100K ride so she had a lot more miles under her belt by the time we met up with her.
A Circle A made by Brian Chapman and a Chapman Cycles.  Carl was looking for Brian and knew he would be riding a yellow Circle A so we knew where to look.  It was great talking with Brian.