Skip’s Summer Solstice Ride

Once a year, on or about June 21st, We in the Northern Hemishere Experience the Summer Solstice and enjoy the maximum amount of daylight. And every year to celebrate the event, MHCC President Skip Holmes organizes his Summer Solstice Ride to take advantage of the extra daylight with a 50 mile ride in Southern Albany County. The ride is always a Tuesday night so this year the ride took place on June 23rd. Skip advertises the ride on the club web site and makes it a special ride with pizzas delivered right to the parking lot where the ride starts and finishes. Very cool.

More than 50 riders showed up on that beautiful warm summer night. I got delayed a bit at work so i missed the official 5:30 pm start time but i was able to snare a map and then i connected with a fellow CBRC'er hoping to chase down the pack. This of course was a futile effort, even though we worked well together and made a good pace into a light headwind from the west. There were hoards of very fast and fit riders that i saw exit the parking lot as i was changing into my riding gear, so i knew we would never catch the "A" group, but maybe the "B" group?

The route was mostly flat all the way to Altamont, so it was not likely we would catch anyone, but we did catch some folks off the main group as we climbed up the Altamont hill to Thompson Lake Road. From there we passed a few more riders and enjoyed the view along Warners Lake. We were again chasing but i knew we would never catch too many more riders. We dropped down into Thatcher Park via Beaver Dam Road and then along the park road before climbing up the Helderberg Escarpment for a second time on Indian Ledge Road.

It was here that we caught our ride leader Skip and some fellow Masters riders. Skip was stopped on the side of the road with a flat rear tire. We all pitched in to fix that and then proceeded up the hill. Indian Ledge connects with Wolf Hill and then NYS Rt. 443. Here the ride gradually descends for several miles and a pace line can cover this stretch all the way to Rt. 9W easily averaging 30+ mph. It's a blast. By now my group had dwindled to just me and Gary G. as Skip needed to cut his ride short to order the pizzas and a few others needed to bail for various reasons. Gary and I were determined to get the whole 53 miles in so we pressed on. We caught two more riders and we four stayed together to finish up in the dark. The reward at the end was finally connecting with all the familiar faces and having some pizza and cold drinks. Thanks Skip for a great Club tradition. And thanks Art for the beer... and yes, its pronounced "smid-icks". Who knew?

The Black Fly Challenge

Yikes, its been a while since i last posted here... well i've got a good reason to post now, the Black Fly Challenge Race, held last Saturday, June 13th. This is a point to point 'mountain bike race' that has really grown in popularity. I put the mtb race in quotes because there is a fair amount of pavement and mostly dirt roads and a tiny smattering of single track. No matter...this race is a blast. Its extremely fast race on a CX bike and that's what i rode. In fact, the numbers of CX racers has grown so much that the organizers created a CX category this year and i think it was the largest field. Anyone with a 700c wheel was in the CX category. So we all raced against each other, men and women, Cyclocross dudes and dudettes, young and old, beginner or Pro. That was cool.

It’s a 40 + mile point to point race that for this year started in Indian Lake, NY and finished up in Inlet, NY. Each year the direction of the race alternates. Last year was my inaugural ride and we started in Inlet ending up in Indian Lake. In that race I had no clue how hard, how fast, how hilly, how difficult, or how long it would take me to complete the course. Last year I was quite surprised to finish in 2 hrs and 15 minutes. I was expecting a more MTB pace and more like 3+ hours, but I certainly did not complain and I made a mental note for next year not to ride so conservatively. This year I had a much better idea of what to expect, although this year brought some surprises.

This year the field of racers was huge… 300 riders, a record. And its a mass start! Oh boy, the start was frightening. They lined up all CX riders that considered themselves expert, then they asked for MTB experts, CX intermediate or something like that and proceeded to try to line up people based on expected finish time. A noble attempt. Anyway, its a mess as soon as we left the Parking lot with folks jockeying for position and trying to move up. I was terrified. Mountain bike dudes are riding on the left over the yellow line and on the grass on the right. I was about 50 or so riders back for the first few miles of pavement and it was all white-knuckles for me. At maybe three quarters of the way thru the pavement section (i had no time piece or computer, so i'm just riding and trying to avoid elbows and rear tires) three guys tangle up in front of me and i am able to go around the screaming and scraping and body carnage unscathed. Whew!

Now i reconnect to the front group of about 30 - 40 riders. Into the first dirt section, i accelerate and get down to some racing. Up over the first few punchy little hills, i'm having a blast. I have to dig a bit to stay with these fast guys, but i still feel that i can. Maybe on the fourth small hill i notice that the tail end of that front group of 30 or so is farther up the dirt road....buh bye! Now its racing with whoever i can connect with. Its still pretty crowded. I still feel strong and i eventually catch Chris McBurnie from Team Battenkill United. He and i rode most of the race together picking up a few riders here and there but for many miles we rode hard together, taking turns and catching no one. I could not understand it because we were flying! it seemed like we were flying to me, but why were we not catching anyone? Anyway, Chris McB was crushing the downhills... i mean i could not keep up. He would sometimes get 50 meters on me and i would reconnect on the uphill... i think i was stronger on the up-hills but i'm not so sure that he wasn't waiting for me so he could thrill me on the next downhill. I had a couple of OMG moments trying to negotiate some of the 35 mph downhill sweepers, not to mention bunny hopping culverts, drainage ditches, and orange colored bowling ball sized rocks. It was fun indeed.

Anyway, i did manage to finish with a decent time, just few minutes behind last year's time and a minute behind McB. Our own Chuck Q bagged a third place overall with a blistering time of 2:01 and change right behind my CX buddy Phil McC from Ommegang in second place .... Others from the CBRC tribe that had excellent rides were Rob Dadekian who lost a bit of time at the end by riding in with a flat tire, and Steve W who had to stop and repair a flat. All had a great time, with minimal blood spilt. Rob somehow went off course a bit and came home with a cut on his nose but other than that, no crashes for the Team. Other notable rides were Tierry Blanchet, (Cannondale MTB) 5th overall, the Young brothers, Brad and Brett, 9th and 10th respectively riding under new Team Tinney's colors. Hey Brad, how come i'm not on your team? Congrats also to first time participant, Jen Clunie, Executive Director of the NY Bicycling Coalition for her first place finish in the beginner Master's Women's race. Spectators reported that Jen blasted by a number of others in the muddy single track all the while hooting and hollering. Way to go Jen!

Thanks to CBRC team manager for the day, Connie Beals for the food, logistical support (driving) and team support... cheers.

Johnny Cake # 1

Today was the first race of the Johnny Cake training race series that my club (http://www.cbrc.us/) puts on every Spring. We had good turn outs and exceptional weather. All in all, things went well, no serious crashes, and a good time was had by all. Race Promoter, Tom Butler, Race Director Tom Despart, and a host of CBRC volunteers did a superb job and started the season out on the right foot. Its been through these efforts that this race has grown in popularity and stature. Racers from all over the Northeast attended. Every year the race makes a donation to the David Brinkerhoff scholarship fund... a truly worthy cause for a NYS Trooper who lost his life in the line of duty. The scholarship will be given to an outstanding Coxsackie-Athens High School Graduate who is interested in majoring in criminal justice or the medical field.


This year, i filled in for our Club Treasurer and i handled non BikeReg registration duties. It was good to see a lot of familiar faces of folks that i have not seen for some months. I do have to make some purely biased comments and observations.... Please, racers, sign up on http://www.bikereg.com/. That's all i have to say. Well, one more thing.... bring your license to the race. And i will leave it at that. Well, maybe one more thing... i have a much greater appreciation for the hard work that our Treasurer and our registration volunteers put in for the numerous races that we run every year... including my own Schenectady Central Park Cyclocross race. Thanks again Harry and Margaret, and Deb, and Amanda, and Erica, and all you guys, you know who you are.

Chuck and i did a nice post-race ride... heading West towards Earlton and Catskill. Chuck knew of a nice road that a had a hill in its name that climbed up to a Christmas tree farm that he and his family had frequented. We found that road, climbed that hill and continued on. We had no plan nor destination other than to ride. We found some very picturesque roads and hills. Nothing is flat out there. We rode for a bit more and stopped to check the time... neither of us had a time piece, bike computer, cell phone, GPS device, heart rate monitor, or lap top computer with us, just a inkling to ride some. There was a soft voice (Jen) inside Chuck's helmet telling Chuck that he had house guests at home and he'd better not be out too late, so we turned to a more North easterly direction to find our way back to civilization, and to avoid the mean junk yard dog that chased some miles back, and to hopefully make progress towards returning to the school parking lot. After an unknown number of miles, we exited off a nice winding downhill gravely road onto Rt 81 which ran us right back to Coxsackie, almost like we knew what we were doing. Back at the parking lot... average speed? don't know... mileage? no clue.... maximum heart rate?... unknown.... What a nice ride.

Battenkill Pre-ride

Today, three of us old guys got together and made an hour drive north to Cambridge, NY to pre-ride the Tour of Battenkill course. Artie Gee, Q and I got an early start and left the Cambridge High School parking lot under brilliant sunny skies but bitter cold temps in the low 20's. The first hour or so, my toes and fingers were suffering from the cold. The sides of the road still showed some snow in the shadows and all the standing water was frozen, but there was hope the the strong Spring sun was going to warm us up. Q promised temps in the 50's. We'll see.

We made a stop at Stewarts in Salem and i sat in the sun and i fashioned some make shift booties out of duct tape. From that point on in the ride, i was fine. The route is different this year, but several favorite features remain, like the trip over the Battenkill River via a covered bridge, Juniper Swamp Road, and Meeting House Road and the usual collection of dirt roads. We approached Juniper Swamp from a different direction, which was OK by me as it somehow eliminated that painful pavement climb approaching Juniper. Going up Juniper was not as tough as i remembered from previous rides. Perhaps because the surface is nicely hard packed this year, no loose dirt to speak of, and the road seems wider. Are there road crews out here? or is everything just left to Mother Nature?

Another change in the route is a dirt road section around Willard Mountain which was very cool. There was opportunity here for a nice long big ring dirt road, gravel pinging downhill churn which was fun. Another change is doing Meeting House in the opposite direction. Towards the end of Meeting House, Q had a leaky front tire, so we stopped to fix that and Q got an opportunity to test out his fancy new tire pump which worked quite nicely. While we were stopped, several B-kill and Farm Team guys flew past, and Mark from Nav too. We got the flat fixed and were back on the road quicly and we connected with a bunch of other folks out doing the same thing as us.

Aproximately 5 miles from the finish there is new dirt section called Stage Road. Its uphill of course. It climbs and then false flats, then climbs some more and then a slight downhill to a low lying area that had been recently filled with 2 to 3 inch sized trapeziodal shaped boulders. More than one roadie had to get off and (gasp) hoof it. I had my old Redline 'cross bike with these big old 35 cc semi-road tread tires and i was able to pedal through, but it completely sapped what little energy i had at this late point in the ride. I limped back to town as back markers from the Battenkill and Farm team group blew past. It was a fun day in the saddle and we got to chat with some of the locals afterwards at the Cambridge Hotel. At the end of the day, i was pooped. I went home and took a nap. I was up way too late the night before watching the Siena game.

Photo courtesy of Rob Havemeyer

Back in Albany

The training camp has moved back home to the Capital District. Warmer temps and sunny skies lured campers back to the hills of southern Albany County. We connected this past Sunday and did a nice ride around the Alcove Resevoir. This is a favorite Spring ride of about 45 miles, depending on detours or deviations from the standard route, that heads south, then west on Rt 143 into the Town of Coeymans. The ride skirts the eastern edge of the Resevoir, passing by the dam. This area has an interesting history as told by our rolling on the bike historian Artie Gee. Back in the 1700's and 1800's the area was known for its brick making. At the intersection of County Route 111, we turned south heading out towards the dam. Just off the road to the left is the remains of a massive 110 foot tall smoke stack, left over from the Valley Mill that made wool then later on paper. It burned in 1892, but the stack remains.

The real destination of the ride is Featherbed Lane. A narrow, gravely, and sometimes muddy road in the Spring. Its 15 - 20 % steep for a very short distance as soon as you turn onto the road. So steep that your rear tire will skid if you don't turn a smooth pedal stroke. The steep part is only 30 -40 meters, NBD. Hidden along the way are two tiny county line or town line signs. Art and i always sprint for these. Don, who is along for the ride and does not know the area is at a distinct disadvantage here because he has no idea that these signs are coming up and he wonders why these two old guys are suddenly accelerating to such incredible speeds (like 15 to 16 mph) and pointing to tiny signs nailed to a tree in the middle of nowhere. He soon catches on to our tactics and starts marking every move, which is hilareous, because bozo the clown on a circus trike could cover any move i might make. The route passes briefly into Greene county (tiny sign, Art gets it) and then turns north back to Albany Co ( a huge green sign proudly proclaiming ENTERING ALBANY COUNTY ) and i have no clue who got that sign because i am so far off the back. Its a nice sceneic trip, with nice views of the Resevoir. Along the way back, Artie passes along more history.... a former mayor of Albany met his demise driving off road along the twisty hilly Onesquethaw Road that we sped downhill on. Yikes, thanks for that news.

Day 6... not really from Asheville… the Asheville weather forecast for Friday was cold...temps in the forties and a 30% chance of rain and 90% chance of rain for Saturday… yuck. The weather forecasted for Albany was sunny and the predicted temps were approaching 50, so we decided to hit the road in the Toyota and head home. We stopped along the way at the pawn shop and we got 175 bucks for Wayne's Look Carbon bike. The plan is to tell Wayne that it was stolen off the roof rack.

Day 5 in Asheville… We started the day with French toast, eggs, bacon, juice and coffee. That was my job. That was easy. I can do basic breakfast stuff. Wayne is the real cook. Wayne did a great pasta dish two nights ago which was excellent. This AM, Wayne surveyed the meager provisions left scattered about the kitchen and cooked up this warm apple concoction with fresh apple chunks, brown sugar, cinnamon, jelly, jam, and other stuff that topped off the French toast and provided the kick for the ride ahead. Today Wayne is due to fly back to Albany. We are going to miss our cook. Its gonna be the Waffle House and cheap spaghetti from this day forward.

Day 5 we took a conservative approach for the day’s ride. We chose to avoid the mountains and to ride out to Marshall along the French Broad River again. We visited the Zuma coffe shop there last Tuesday and enjoyed the stop and the town so much we decided to return. Plus, it was a known quantity and we were comfortable with the distance and the amount of time that it would take so we could get back to town in time for Wayne’s flight.

Today’s weather was cooler than what we had been blessed with earlier this week. Today was overcast and temps in the 40’s. Back to long sleeves, tights, and long fingered gloves. So the stop at Zuma’s would be for coffee and baked goodies. We started out at a reasonable pace and quickly settled into a nice four man pace line. The roads here are quite narrow with no shoulder at all. In fact, some spots the road can disappear near the right hand edge due to erosion. Everyone needed to be alert. Motorists are understanding and will hang back behind us and wait until the coast is clear to pass on the windy road. They also seem very appreciative when we scout the traffic up ahead and wave them on when we see that the road ahead is clear. No one has yelled or blown a horn at us for five solid days of riding. At one point in the ride, Wayne sprinted ahead for a county line sign. Obviously he had been holding back all week. Maybe because this was his last day, he was leaving it all out on the road. In any event, I chased and chased and came up short. It was a photo finish, though. It felt good to hammer a bit on a flat stretch of road. Soon we were in Marshal and we all piled into the shop anxious to get some warm liquid and fresh baked cookies. We sat in the lounge, read the paper, chatted with the locals, and sipped the house brew. This Zuma’s place is awesome. Friendly folks and tasty cookies.

We left the warm confines and fresh baked smells of Zuma’s and headed south. Again we settled into a nice unhurried pace line. This time though, I was on the lookout for the same county line sign going in the opposite direction. I carefully timed my duration at the front of the line so that I could be at the back when we were going to approach where I thought the sign was. Of course it worked out just the opposite. The sign came into view after a corner and I went off the front. This time I surprised Mr. Triner and I think the photo will show that I took that sign. We got back to the car in plenty of time for the drive back to the house, a quick bite to eat and then off to the airport. We will miss the cook.

On a side note, and off topic just a bit, special mention goes out to to “Carmen” Garmin Nuvi. This piece of technology has won me over. Its no toy. If you drive lots anywhere in unfamiliar territory… OMG it’s the hot set up.