Training Log Archive: danfoster

Road ride with the Cisco crew, on a reversed version of Vaughn Hill. The hills seem steeper this way. Or maybe it was last night's lack of sleep. As DH and I returned home, we jumped off the road to avoid an overtaking utility truck missing the right front tire. I guess it's OK to drive around on your rims as long as you've got your hazards on.

Janet and I took on NEOC's Wanderings (3hr bike-O course). Didn't have time for the full 4.5hr bike/foot combo, so we planned to do 1.5 hr bike, 1.5 foot, but decided to just keep going on the bike after the first hour. Aaron A ran in on foot and collapsed at the finish just as we were arriving, so we talked to him for a while about AR, rogaines, and the growing number of nav opportunities near Boston.

Our pace was much more relaxed. Janet took my bike map board, and I figured I could ride and hold my maps in my left hand. Yeah, that doesn't work at all on drop handlebars, what with the need to brake, shift, maintain control of the bike, and signal turns on busy roads. Maps eventually went down my jersey, and came out at each CP. Janet lead the nav, and I tagged along. We got lost on our second CP, but recovered and things went fairly smoothly after that.

The Wanderings continue to be the best value in nav racing! We talked about going back sometime when we've got an entire free day and trying to clear the course. So many micro-nav decisions to make. Really fun stuff.

First attempt at the wildlife refuge gravel loop since a horrific "night of the deerflies" ride there 1.5 months ago at dusk. Bugs weren't bad. Flooded trails were still massively flooded, and we were in over the tops of our shoes in several places. Stopped by Carver Hill Orchard on the way out for the first cider donuts of the season. Looking forward to doing this ride weekly until the snow flies! I just hope the water recedes a bit.

24 mile road ride with the Cisco crew, and then a quick MTB with Jess to clear a tree that's been blocking the trail for well over a month. Because once you're already sweaty and gross, how much worse can it get? Much worse, given the mosquito bite count when I finally got home.

Event: D2R2
 

My first D2R2 (Deerfield Dirt Road Randonee). Humid and foggy at the start, followed by humid and overcast, humid and 5 drops of rain, and finally humid and sunny. In a word, it was humid.

We launched at 7:30 as a group of 11 on the 100k route, trying to get ahead of the heat and the chance of afternoon thunderstorms. We quickly broke into three groups of differing paces, and I rode with the middle group of 4. D2R2 front-loads most of the climbing into the first part of the course, and I suffered more than expected on the sticky climbs early in the day. For this ride, I had swapped down from a 34t to a 30t chainring driving my new 9-46 cassette, so I had a super-low granny gear for grinding up the hills. I like to think that it was this super-low gear that "allowed" me to get to the top of the hills behind everyone else, conserving energy. Either that, or I'm just slow. In any case, I was slow up the hills but managed to avoid cramping or bonking throughout the course.

At just 700 riders this year, this was still the biggest ride I've ever attended, and I wasn't sure how I'd feel about being part of a big event. With our non-standard start time, we only saw other groups of riders occasionally, and it never felt crowded. Some of the views were spectacular - church steeples peeking out from the fog, the long descent along Green River, sweeping vistas from the peach orchard, bucolic double-track leading into Hawks Road at the end. But the blood-boiling humidity really threw a wet towel (warm, sweaty blanket?) on my enjoyment of the scenery.

Back at the finish, we put on swim trunks and pedaled back up the road a bit to a swimming hole in the fast-flowing Deerfield. This was heaven. We all agreed that our training regimen needs to include more swimming holes, preferably with some cold drinks stashed nearby.

I've been piecing together a "greatest hits" gravel loop from home that incorporates all of the gravel-friendly (and some not-so-gravel-friendly) trails that we've discovered over the last year. This morning was dry and cool, so it seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Biked up to Holy Hill, where I had to climb the "traction assist" hill twice after looping back to return an energetic German Shepherd to his owner for the second time. He ran about a 1/4 mile to catch up with me after the owner thought I was good and gone and unleashed him again. Fun dog - Jess would be instant friends.

Found some great new trails that didn't dump me out into a field of poison ivy, and then explored two possible ways into Devens, one of which DID dump me out in a field (technically, a swamp) full of poison ivy.

Came back along the Bare Hill Pond trails, and found an awesome rocky perch for mid-ride snacks, and a landing for a future bikerafting adventure. More snowmobile trails and hill climbs on the way home.

I'm very excited to have this route in my quiver. Lots of options to extend the suffering.

Cisco road ride to Oak Hill and Bare Hill Pond, and then MTB with Jess. Penultimate ride before D2R2?

Spent the work week "working" on my navigation skills in the fog. 4 night sea kayaking trip to Jonesport, ME, perhaps the foggiest place in the US. (OK, in researching this, it turns out that the lighthouse we paddled to on Mistake Island on Thursday is listed as the 5th foggiest place in the US by Farmer's Almanac)

I was the 7th member to join a group trip that had permission for 6 people to camp on a new MITA island off Jonesport, so I was accepted on the condition that I sleep solo on nearby Mouse Island, a tiny, treeless acre of rock just a few minutes away. It turned out to be the highlight of the trip for me, as I found a small patch of sand just above the high tide line with just enough room for my tent, and had a sweeping view of the ocean around me while my friends lugged gear across a foggy, boggy, buggy field to their spot on the larger island.

We had three long days of paddling 9-5, almost entirely through dense fog with less than 1/4 mile visibility. Crossing between islands meant knowing exactly where we were departing from, calculating a bearing and distance, offsetting the bearing for drift from the tidal current, and then religiously following a compass bearing off into the gloomy void, keeping a watch out for lobster boats and any sign of our destination ahead. Most islands wouldn't appear out of the fog until we were about 30 seconds away from reaching them. It was pretty surreal, but strangely beautiful, and a high-stakes application of all of the navigation skills I've developed over years in Scouts, working with maps, and adventure racing.

C • Sounds amazing 1

Mixed-terrain ride with the Cisco gang from Stone Cow Brewery in Barre to Hardwick, Quabbin, Petersham for lunch, and then up into some crazy abandoned woods roads where things got very mountain-bikey, very fast. On the way back south, we had another woods road to deal with, this one with a long, deep flooded section that surprisingly failed to immerse anyone. The sun came out just in time to roast us as we pedaled back to a victory beer at Stone Cow.

Spent the rest of the evening frantically packing for 5 days of sea kayaking in Jonesport, ME.

Cisco Vaughn Hill ride on gravel bikes, with a detour onto the singletrack/gravel road that Steve showed me earlier in the week. Pushed hard on the first two hills, and suffered on the remainder.

Hilly Harvard road ride with the AMC. I should have looked at the route beforehand. It turns out there was significant overlap between this ride and the Oak Hill ride from yesterday, albeit without the underbiking up and down the Oak Hill MTB trails.

Rode up to the trails at Oak Hill with an adventurous subset of the Cisco Tuesday morning gang, and got in a bit over our heads on the yellow MTB trail coming down from the summit. On the way back, Steve introduced me to a great downhill trail that was much more gravel-bike friendly.

On my way back home from Cisco I decided to explore the trails at Wolf Swamp. Haven't been in there in well over a decade. There's a new solar array with a gravel access road that intersects some of the old bulldozer trails I used to explore. Came across an 8-point buck as I was grinding up a hill - he didn't budge from his grassy breakfast and I just pedaled on by in awe.

Got turned around by a big mud hole, went to consult the maps on my phone, and found I was deep in unfamiliar woods with 3% battery left. Backtracked and had to ride a babyhead MTB trail to get back out to the road. Biked back in on my intended exit trail and had smooth riding right up to the puddle where I'd turned around.

Got home, retrieved the Pest, and immediately headed back out for 7+ miles of dog singletrack. Got home an hour later, saved the ride (now with 1% battery left!?), and the phone then promptly died.

4-day sea kayak circumnavigation of Deer Isle/Stonington ME with Boston AMC. First afternoon had a stiff headwind and a long open crossing, and we made it to our first campsite with just enough time to get tents (and my hammock) pitched before the rain started falling. We cooked dinner under a big group tarp and then hunkered down for a rainy, windy night. My hammock spot under some trees just in from the beach kept me out of the wind, and I was very happy with my just-big-enough tarp's performance in its first real storm. Slept like a baby.

Woke up to more drizzle, wind, and decreasing visibility. Thankfully it began to clear as we cooked breakfast, and the sun was peeking out and we were shedding rain gear right before we launched.

The wind kept up for days 2 and 3, finally dropping on day 4. Day 2 stayed cool and cloudy, and teased us with 5 minute rain showers each time we tried to dry gear in camp. Then it cleared and we had sunny paddling for the rest of the trip. Our second and third camping islands had huge granite ledges and dense forest, and we barely fit six tents and my hammock each time. I ended up with spectacular views from the only two suitable trees on each island, and ditched the tarp for open star gazing on the final night.

We shared group dinners and breakfasts, and ate like kings. The adventure racer in me winced at 5:30 sunrises and 11am launches, but the leisurely morning routines and gourmet food felt luxurious, and filled the days. I'm already thinking of ways to travel heavier, slower, and in more comfort on the next excursion.