PMC08

PMC 08 Photo Highlights

2008-08-06T17:15:00.005-04:00

Here's a sampling of photos from the PMC weekend. We're back home now and trying to wrap our heads around the idea of going to work tomorrow. I'll post some final thoughts in a few days, but for now here's what it looked like to do the ride. (The full set is here.)

Thanks to everyone for your unbelievable support. We broke $26,800 -- we're "Heavy Hitters"!

The Team poses with PMC founder Billy Starr at the P-Town Inn. We don't know the guy on the right, but it seems like he's a supporter.

GoooOOOO B-Team! At the P-Town finish.

Riding over the Bourne bridge early Sunday morning. With one hand.

OK, just because there are no bikes left on the racks doesn't mean we were the last ones out of MMA...

The Beasley girls meet up with family friend Caroline at dinner.

Janet crossing the Day 1 finish line at MMA. See Arounkone, we did wear the shorts!

Brian with a scale model of the MMA wind turbine stuck to his helmet.

The Team enjoying lunch on Saturday. Believe me, a turkey sandwich never tasted so good.

Janet and a swarm of bees at the Wellesley start. Oddly enough, they followed her the whole way to P-Town...

The gals at registration Friday night. Don't worry Ellen -- you're going to do just fine!

Provincetown!

2008-08-03T14:18:00.002-04:00

Provincetown!, originally uploaded by btitus.

Woo hoo! We made it! We weren't first and we weren't last; we're just happy to be here.

We're enjoying beer & burgers at the finish line party. We also got a photo with Billy Starr. What an awesome event.

Congratulations to our rookie Ellen - she did it!

Day 2 ride stats
Distance: 74.84 mi
Moving Speed: 14.3 mph
Moving Pace: 4.11
Max Speed: 34.3 mph
Elevation Gain: 3,393 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 11.0%
Moving Time: 5:14:18

Into the homestretch

2008-08-03T11:06:00.001-04:00

Into the homestretch, originally uploaded by btitus.

Last waterstop before P-town. We've got another 22 miles to go and it seems like the weather is cooperating.

The Fuji has been great so I thought it deserved its own photo.

Halfway there!

2008-08-03T09:37:00.001-04:00

Halfway there!, originally uploaded by btitus.

Carol and I got to the Nickerson waterstop first; Ellen and Janet are taking an easier pace.

We are at about 39 miles now so just about halfway to P-town.

Onto the cape

2008-08-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

Onto the cape, originally uploaded by btitus.

This was the scene just after crossing the Bourne bridge. We're now at the first waterstop 25 miles into day 2.

There are some dark clouds overhead but we're hoping the rain holds off.

Wake up everyone it's time to ride!

2008-08-03T05:16:00.001-04:00

Wake up everyone it's time to ride!, originally uploaded by btitus.

Even though it cooled down from the thunderstorms, the dorm was its 'traditional' hot self. Not nearly as bad as last year, but still a little warm. At about midnight we felt some breezes wafting through and managed to drift off for a few good hours... until 4am wake-up!

Now (5:10) we're having breakfast and we should hit the road before 6. No idea what the weather is going to do; I guess we'll find out soon.

Thunderstorms + dinner tent = trouble

2008-08-02T19:09:00.001-04:00

Thunderstorms + dinner tent = trouble, originally uploaded by btitus.

Well, we've a little excitement here at MMA -- a storm blew through and caused a tent pole to drop (we're talking giant circus tent here).

It caused a pretty big upset in the food-serving logistics, but we've recovered and managed to enjoy beer, burgers, and "chowda."

OK for real this time, next post tomorrow morning!

We made it! Well to Bourne that is.

2008-08-02T17:07:00.002-04:00

We made it! Well to Bourne that is., originally uploaded by btitus.

We arrived safe and sound at MMA at about 4:00, just ahead of a thunderstorm. We're hoping to get it all out of the way overnight -- it's pouring right now.

We're all cleaned up and ready to grab some chow. Next blog entry: 4 am!

Day 1 ride stats
Distance: 83.45 mi
Moving Speed: 14.5 mph
Moving Pace: 4.08
Max Speed: 31.7 mph
Elevation Gain: 3,567 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 10.2%
Moving Time: 5:46:15

Last stop before Bourne

2008-08-02T13:27:00.002-04:00

downsized_0802081158.jpg, originally uploaded by btitus.

Well, we're at the last waterstop before Bourne. The weather has held, but suddenly it looks a little threatening. I don't think any of us would mind a nice cool rain.

The photo is from lunch - the B-Team girls getting ready to head out.

Lunchtime + some shoutouts

2008-08-02T10:44:00.002-04:00

0802081041.jpg, originally uploaded by btitus.

Wow it's time for lunch already! hi to blog readers Kevin, Traci, Karen - so far it's been a great ride...

Waterstop - we can do this!

2008-08-02T09:03:00.001-04:00

Waterstop - we can do this!, originally uploaded by btitus.

We made it to the first waterstop at 21 miles. We rode out in the morning fog, but it's cleared up and the sun is shining. So far so good...

The start

2008-08-02T07:01:00.001-04:00

The start, originally uploaded by btitus.

The Beasley girls ready to ride!

It's Sarah!

2008-08-01T19:25:00.001-04:00

It's Sarah!, originally uploaded by btitus.

We were thrilled to meet up with Sarah from the PMC staff at Babson. Sarah set us up with banners & stuff for the fundraiser and we've kept in touch with her since.

We're all registered now and on our way to see friends Bob and Sarah in Natick.

Registration

2008-08-01T16:42:00.001-04:00

Registration, originally uploaded by btitus.

Registering at Babson, then it's up to Boston to pick up the rest of the team. We are all going for Heavy Hitter!

Heading out...

2008-08-01T09:27:00.001-04:00

Heading out..., originally uploaded by btitus.

It's time to head out! We're on our way; first to CT, then to Babson. Stay tuned for more updates.

The Final Ride

2008-07-27T10:22:00.005-04:00

Total Training Miles: 638.85

It's hard to believe, but we are done with our training for the PMC! 638 miles from where we started in April, we feel that we are ready for the real thing next Saturday morning.

For this morning's ride we thought we'd repeat some parts of yesterday -- without the Eagle Rd. climb. So, off we went on Linton Hill to Stoopville to Highland. We took Highland to Woodhill and decided to go left to pick up Pineville and eventually Buckmanville. From there it was over to Van Sant, down Aquetong to River, and back up Brownsburg to Eagle (the easy part) to Woodhill (again).

Anyway, it was a lovely morning ride; most appropriate for our final run. We got back in time to clean up and get ready for little Dylan Burt's 2nd birthday party over at the Zebra Striped Whale. The pizza and ice cream sure tasted good!

We'll probably visit spin class on Monday to say goodbye to Rachel before the ride. Maybe we'll hand out copies of our newspaper story as well.

Next Saturday we'll begin the "live blog" so be sure to follow along as we ride in the 29th Pan-Mass Challenge! Woo-hoo!

Sunday morning ride stats
Distance: 23.55 mi
Moving Speed: 13.0 mph
Moving Pace: 4.36
Max Speed: 34.6 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,530 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 8.9%
Moving Time: 1:48:38

Brian and the Fuji on Pineville

600 miles!

2008-07-26T16:46:00.009-04:00

Total Training Miles: 615.3

It's our last weekend before the PMC ride.

Things have been a little hectic this week -- I started a new job on Monday and we've had some car issues all week that finally resolved themselves Thursday. Also, we have the kids this weekend, so it's a little trickier to get our rides in.

Anyway, we had planned to get out early this morning but a certain child woke up at 3:30 am and threw a monkey wrench into the works. Bottom line, I ended up sleeping in until after 8:00 and the morning basically got away from us.

So, Plan B was hatched: we would ride in the afternoon instead. Luckily the recent heat wave has broken so a 3:30 ride was quite doable. With Mark (supposedly) down for a nap, we set off from the Aaron Ridge House in search of something that would bring us over the 600 mile mark.

We rode out toward Stoopville Rd via the usual route and decided to make up a loop as we went. So we hung a right on Stoopville and then a left on Highland which we took all the way to Woodhill. From there it was down to River (via Slack) and then we rode up Aquetong to Van Sant to cross the covered bridge in the "reverse" direction. Eventually, we found ourselves on Eagle and rode up Mt. Jericho, again in the reverse of how we usually do it.

Mt. Jericho in that direction is more gradual at first, but the last hundred feet feel like they are straight up. Cresting the top, I tried taking a photo and posting with my new phone, which I will use to blog "live" on the ride next weekend. From there it was a very familiar route back to the ARH and over the magic number of 600 training miles.

In other news, we got a nice feature story in our local paper -- the Advance of Bucks County -- which is available here. For the record, last year we did the 163 mile route, not the 192 miler!

Saturday afternoon ride stats
Distance: 19.92 mi
Moving Speed: 12.6 mph
Moving Pace: 4.46
Max Speed: 37.2 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,453 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 14.4%
Moving Time: 1:39:52

downsized_0726081645.jpg, originally uploaded by btitus.

top of mt. jericho

Into the home stretch

2008-07-20T13:04:00.007-04:00

Total Training Miles: 595.38

After an evening spent celebrating a birthday with friends, we were just a bit slow to get going this morning. Also, by 7:00 the temperature was already 75 degrees and climbing, so the motivation to get on the road was a little hard to find. However, we knew that if we didn't get moving the day would slip away to scorching heat, so off we went at about 8:20 -- on our way to Carversville.

We decided to concentrate on "seat time" rather than hill climbing, so we actually worked to avoid the big hills. We skirted Mt. Jericho by taking Pineville to Buckmanville, then we took Street Rd. to Lower Mountain to Aquetong, staying on Aquetong to Carversville. We arrived at the General Store already drenched in sweat, but even so we still managed to enjoy the freshly made donuts.

After refilling our water bottles, we took off down Fleecydale with the intent to visit the sheep over on Cuttalossa. However we realized that River Rd. is still all torn up in the Lumberville area so Plan B was established -- cross the pedestrian bridge and ride 29 all the way to New Hope. This looked like it would work out pretty well, however the blazing sun took a toll on Janet and by the time we arrived in New Hope she had had enough.

Unfortunately, we still had to get ourselves home, so we negotiated our way through town and picked up River Rd which we rode all the way to Stonybrook -- after a minor directional mishap on Taylorsville that saw us turning around after a mile. By the time we got back to the ARH -- 42 miles later -- we were wiped out. Our home thermometer told us it was somewhere between 95 and 98 degrees out and it definitely felt like it.

With just one more training weekend before the ride, we feel that we're pretty well prepared. We'll hit over 600 road miles before then, and we've done 2 or 3 rides in some pretty nasty heat. PMC here we come!

Sunday morning ride stats
Distance: 41.99 mi
Moving Speed: 11.8 mph
Moving Pace: 5.06
Max Speed: 32.3 mph
Elevation Gain: 2,581 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 10.9%
Moving Time: 3:34:17

Cornfield on Street Rd., Bucks County, PA

A ride in three parts

2008-07-19T16:39:00.010-04:00

Total Training Miles: 553.39

We've been looking forward to this weekend because it's really the last one before PMC where we can log some decent mileage. Next weekend we'll need to just do some light riding and the weekend after that is the ride itself!

So, we arranged with my friends Joe and Chiu to do a three-part ride: first Janet and I would ride out to Lambertville to meet them at Pure Energy; then we'd all do a loop around Joe's neck of the woods; finally, we'd part ways and Janet and I would ride back home. It looked like about 45 or 50 miles with plenty of potential for hills.

We began early by going out to Eagle and tackling the big hill. The cows were out so I stopped to take a quick photo in the morning light. Up and over Mt. Jericho, we just slowed down to wave at the animals at London Purchase Farm.

We decided to take Lurgan to Van Sant -- across the covered bridge -- and down Aquetong to River Rd. Then we just rode straight into New Hope, crossed the bridge to Lambertville, and pulled into Pure Energy at 8:30.

We had made an appointment to finalize Janet's fitting (seat height mostly), so Arounkone attended to that while we waited for Joe and Chiu. A little after 9 they came in with another friend Bill in tow. Once we finished our coffee and settled the tab, we took off up the hills of Franklin St., Highland, and Goat Hill Rd.

Joe showed us around the quiet, hilly roads of the Harbourton/West Amwell area, and we tried valiantly to keep up with Bill and Chiu. About 20 miles later we pulled back into the lot of Pure Energy -- which was very busy -- to complete part 2 of the ride.

After refueling with drinks and snacks, we said goodbye to the NJ crew and Janet and I rode off for part 3 and home. We did not want to do Windy Bush Rd., so we simply took River Rd. all the way to Brownsburg Rd. From there it was a pretty standard route on Woodhill to Creamery, etc.

A very nice ride, although it was extremely hot out, especially in part 3. Later in the afternoon temps reached the upper 90s, so I'm sure it was in the mid-90s most of the day!

Saturday ride stats
Distance: 46.23 mi
Moving Speed: 11.6 mph
Moving Pace: 5.09
Max Speed: 38.2 mph
Elevation Gain: 3,564 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 15.8%
Moving Time: 3:58:36

The herd out for the morning on Eagle Rd., Bucks County, PA

The hustle and bustle at Pure Energy, Lambertville, NJ

Sun-baked solo ride

2008-07-17T16:18:00.007-04:00

Well, I had some time off this week (more about that in some later post), so I figured I should do a ride to keep in shape. Of course it's about 95 degrees and humid, so what better time than mid-day to go out for a ride? I decided to think of it as a simulation of day one of last year's PMC.

I stuck to some of our usual routes on my way to Carversville. I was going to go up Eagle but there was some roadwork that created a detour. Lucky me! I ended up taking Street Rd. all the way so at least I had to do that little monster of a hill after Peddler's Village.

A filling lunch at the General Store ("The Vermonter" - yummy!) fueled me for continuing on into NJ via the pedestrian bridge. I wanted to ride into Pure Energy and kill some time there since I needed to be out of the house until 4:00 anyway. I must say it's a very cool shop because you can hang out and drool over some incredible bikes while chatting with Arounkone while drinking coffee, etc. etc.

After purchasing a new head band to keep the buckets of sweat out of my eyes, I headed off to New Hope, crossing the bridge on foot. Once on the main drag there, I rode out to Windy Bush and completed the ride home.

Now, it's off to Happy Hour!

Thursday ride stats
Distance: 43.74 mi (not added to training total since it was solo)
Moving Speed: 13.4 mph
Moving Pace: 4.28
Max Speed: 40.0 mph
Elevation Gain: 2,692 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 15.6%
Moving Time: 3:15:47

Pure Energy Cycling & Java House

Three in a row

2008-07-15T21:00:00.004-04:00

Total Training Miles: 507.16

Another great evening for riding -- perhaps hotter than yesterday, but it did feel a little less humid. We decided to try yesterday's "new" loop in reverse since we liked being able to get a quick 20 miles in before losing the light. This also allowed us to climb Lurgan from River Rd, which felt like a mini-simulation of "Heartbreak Hill" from the PMC ride.

I thought we were riding faster than yesterday, but the stats say we were actually a bit slower! Well, it was good to get out for the third night in a row (and break the 500 mile mark); now we'll take a couple of days off before the weekend, when we hope to get at least 100 more miles in.

Tuesday night ride stats
Distance: 20.68 mi
Moving Speed: 12.7 mph
Moving Pace: 4.42
Max Speed: 31.1 mph
Elevation Gain: 1394 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 10.1%
Moving Time: 1:37:19

Summer evening on Buckmanville Rd., Bucks County, PA

Car Trouble = Bike Ride

2008-07-14T22:29:00.006-04:00

Total Training Miles: 486.48

Car trouble - ugh! We're down to one car today, so there was just no way to make spin class. Once Janet made it home from the Navy Yard, we decided a road ride would be the thing to do instead. The weather was kind of gross all day, but by 6:30 it was looking a bit better for a ride.

We figured we'd do something on our basic set of roads, but try to avoid Eagle so it wouldn't be too difficult. As it turned out, we created a new loop that we'll probably try tomorrow in reverse.

Notable animal sightings: on Lurgan heading down to River Rd, we saw a field just full of deer. We couldn't stop for pictures, but trust me it was quite a sight. Other than that, it was just another pretty evening in Bucks County.

Monday night ride stats
Distance: 20.69 mi
Moving Speed: 13.1 mph
Moving Pace: 4.34
Max Speed: 31.9 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,421 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 10.5%
Moving Time: 1:34:46

Janet rounds the corner at Buckmanville Rd.

Back in the saddle

2008-07-13T14:29:00.011-04:00

Total Training Miles: 465.79

With the July 4 weekend off, and some bad luck with the weather, it seems like it's been forever since we've been on the bikes. Luckily we did get a spin class in, but of course at this point we'd rather put in seat-time on the road. Even Saturday was a bust as it was scout camp pick-up day -- would have been a great morning for a ride!

Anyway, we decided to go very early this morning and do a repeat of our Memorial Day ride. That is, a trip out to the Carversville General Store and back -- 34 miles. We managed to get out very early so it was quiet and cool on the roads. We both felt pretty good even with the time off; Mt. Jericho was its usual self, but we managed it without too much trouble.

We took Van Sant across the covered bridge and over to Aquetong, which we rode all the way out to Carversville. We take this to avoid the hill on Street Rd. right after Peddler's Village, but as we realize each time we do it, Aquetong seems like it's uphill the whole way.

A quick stop at the General Store provided us with fresh donuts and coffee -- delicious. Chatting with another rider outside, we got a suggestion for an alteration to our ride home. We took Stover's Mill Road as suggested and enjoyed the variation in scenery.

Mostly downhill on the way back, we made very good time. We pulled into the driveway of the ARH at 10:00 with 34 good miles on the Garmin. Next weekend we really have to get into gear if we're going to make 600 miles before PMC!

Sunday morning ride stats
Distance: 34.39 mi
Moving Speed: 12.3 mph
Moving Pace: 4.52
Max Speed: 34.6 mph
Elevation Gain: 2,812 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 13.6%
Moving Time: 2:47:50

Eagle Rd., Bucks County, PA

Bikes parked outside the Carversville General Store

The infamous Carversville General Store - view from the counter

Fourth of July

2008-07-08T06:56:00.002-04:00

Well, we did put in a ton of road miles over the fourth of July weekend; unfortunately, none of them were on bicycles. Instead, we set training aside for a road trip out to Bedford, Ohio to see Janet's family. Carol joined us (via airplane) and we all enjoyed visiting and catching up with everyone in beautiful summer weather.

On the way out we stopped in Monroeville, PA to see where Brian grew up and went to High School. Things sure looked different...

We came home to intensely muggy weather so instead of riding Monday morning as previously planned, we took spin with Rachel Monday night. Hopefully we'll have some good riding weather this coming weekend.

Janet dutifully plugging "The B-Team" while visiting Aunt Murt's house in Bedford

Brian on the steps of "Pitcairn III" where he attended grades 1-3 many, many years ago

Turtle watching on a Sunday morning

2008-06-29T12:02:00.007-04:00

Total Training Miles: 431.40

Another early morning ride; today a little less steamy than yesterday. We hit the road around 7:00 and decided to do about 20-25 miles. We had thought perhaps we'd go out to Carversville, but that ends up being at least 34 miles and with the weather.com report calling for rain we decided against it.

As we started off some dark clouds threatened but they quickly moved out and the sky cleared nicely. Riding down Creamery, Janet spotted a beautiful box turtle sitting on a stone driveway. We stopped to take a few photos and move him into the grass where he'd be safer.

We turned left on Woodhill and, like a few rides ago, "reversed" the loop via Pineville to Buckmanville to Street. We again crossed the Van Sant covered bridge and made our way down to River Rd. We took Brownsburg back to Woodhill, but then backtracked and took Highland home instead of Creamery. We really enjoyed the rolling hills of Highland and we'll certainly do this 24 miler again.

Sunday morning ride stats
Distance: 23.50 mi
Moving Speed: 12.8 mph
Moving Pace: 4.41
Max Speed: 31.8 mph
Elevation Gain: 1,582 ft
Max Ascent Grade: 10.4%
Moving Time: 1:50:08

Mr. Box Turtle munching on an early morning treat

Janet with her turtle-eyes riding along Highland