Strava Sprinter Van Saves the Day

Thanks to Ride Studio Cafe and Strava for an awesome ride today!  I didn't get word about the inaugural run of the Strava van until yesterday but a century out of Ride Studio Cafe in Lexington up to Wachusett and back sounded like a capital idea.  I knew most of the route, but had never strung the bits and pieces together  for a single ride.  The plan was to turn around at the top of Wachusett, but it only occurred to me this morning that the Access Road would still be snowed in.  Or that the many, many miles that I put in this week should be considered before embarking on a hundred mile odyssey involving well over a mile of climbing.

 True to form, fools rush in where angels dare tread.  If I hadn't downed a Coke and grabbed CLIF Bloks and a bar from the Strava Van at 40 miles, I would have passed out somewhere around where JM's tire failed.  For the record, first Coke in years.

Bottom line:  I over committed on the climbs and paid on the way back.  We had about 20 in the group with two distinct camps on long rides, but I couldn't have enjoyed it more - unless I had eaten more and ridden faster.  My guess is that's a wide spread issue.

Look out for the Strava Sprinter Van.  Bright orange, full of swag and totally on your wavelength. How often do a carload of Californians click with a bunch of New Englander?

A Little Reach and A Lot of Tire Pressure

Since winter reasserted itself, I've been sticking with the cyclocross bike on roads.  The woods have been too crusty with snow or too muddy with melt to be good riding.  Without hope of hitting the trails, I let the knobby Mud2 tires wear down smooth at the center.  At 40psi they provide a comfy cushion for wrecked roads and plenty of traction on grit trails.  Quite honestly, I was totally digging the ride.  A great aluminum frame and 32mm tires seemed like THE combo.  I couldn't get excited about the high torque/low cadence intervals that make up my usual prep for racing.  But each day I'd look forward to getting outside and pushing the fatties around Boston.

Today I got the road bike out for the first time in months.  A little extra reach in the cockpit and a lot of extra pressure in the tires seemed to have an out-sized impact.  There's the speed, but that's not so obvious in the moment.  The feel of cornering is crazy different.  Given a little thought, the frame geometry, tires and technique are not at all alike.  I'm just surprised how something could look so similar and feel so different.  And how about this:  in past years, the switch was all about getting off rolley tires and bad brakes.  None of that this year.  This year I get to revel in two completely different and completely exciting styles of cornering.    If I have the energy later in the week, I'll see if I can nail down the hows and whys.

For now, I'm just really happy with the long and fast return of the road bike.