HPG Velo Quabin Ride Recap
Damon Bates·
Jon McNeill's B2B option: clockwise out to the Quabbin, north to Wachusett at mile 130, climb and head home. 175.6 miles. 11,100 feet. Complements of Eric.
Complements of Eric:
I’ll do a quick recap here and others can add to it. I can never finish reading the long ones so I’ll assume same here. Yesterday was Jon McNeill’s B2B option and it didn’t disappoint. Compatible riders, great weather, and a really nice route. Prior to the ride Jon sent out an email detailing some basic rules of the road and something about riding easy when it’s hard and easy when it’s not. At least that was my plan for the first 125 miles. The route was clockwise out to the Quabbin, north to watchusett at mile 130, climb and head home. I didn’t realize we were doing watchusett until the night before when I texted G to confirm.
My son Ari and Eric Poch’s daughter, Geneva, did a nice job sagging the ride. No one ever needed anything but food and water. No mechanicals and no biological bonks to necessitate any additional support. Not a single flat or anything.
There was a good sized group for the first leg until the first stop at 42.5 miles. Tom, Thomas, Lewis, Audrey, Mikey, Andy K, G, Rob— about 20 ish people total. All turned back home except 8 of us. We took it easy through the next stop at about mile 78. Easy day so far. How great is it to Kessler back on the bike and riding so well. Love him. The 8 on the full ride were Jon, Mike Moran, Lebo, Rob, me, G, Eric Poch, Alan.
The course was great and scenic. Through the Quabbin, up to the fire tower (complete with imminent wedding) and plenty of quiet country roads. Giuseppe was riding like a little puppy dog and at one point said to me “I’m going to do whatever you do.” Ie ride conservatively. That lasted for about 3 mins. He felt good until the watchusett climb at mile 130. I could see his smile slowly disappearing. Just like mine did 30 miles earlier. Rob— he just kept going like it was just another Sunday ride.
I started to feel a little sick and got a wicked headache between 100-115 and wondered if I could make the climb. I took on some water, electrolytes and switched to caffeinated gel. Rob all the while showed no signs of being tired, ever. At the mile 115 rest stop, I wasn’t circling to leave and G knew something was wrong…
Approaching the long climb from the south to watchusett I could see G and 4 others way ahead. There was no way I was going to let them drop me on the climb. The gel had kicked in and I caught and passed the group and only Steve Lebo could stay with me. He and I finished with Steve about 20 minutes ahead of me. I had my second wind that lasted the rest of the day. Everyone did well on the climb and the descent. At the last stop on 117 near 495, my favorite section to pull long and hard, Jon asked we ride at a pace to keep everyone together. Darn. 19 to go.
Amazingly by the end, everyone was strong and felt good. No one was toast or feeling spent. Since we all rode smartly and had well timed stops, the ride didn’t kill us. I’m sure everyone had their own little issues they were dealing with, but everyone worked hard to get through them and finish really strong. I don’t know about the others, but 12 hours later, I’m still 6 lbs down from my starting weight…
Total for me from Weston Center: 175.6 miles and 11,100 feet of climbing. I’m glad G convinced me to put on my 27.
I’ll do a quick recap here and others can add to it. I can never finish reading the long ones so I’ll assume same here. Yesterday was Jon McNeill’s B2B option and it didn’t disappoint. Compatible riders, great weather, and a really nice route. Prior to the ride Jon sent out an email detailing some basic rules of the road and something about riding easy when it’s hard and easy when it’s not. At least that was my plan for the first 125 miles. The route was clockwise out to the Quabbin, north to watchusett at mile 130, climb and head home. I didn’t realize we were doing watchusett until the night before when I texted G to confirm.
My son Ari and Eric Poch’s daughter, Geneva, did a nice job sagging the ride. No one ever needed anything but food and water. No mechanicals and no biological bonks to necessitate any additional support. Not a single flat or anything.
There was a good sized group for the first leg until the first stop at 42.5 miles. Tom, Thomas, Lewis, Audrey, Mikey, Andy K, G, Rob— about 20 ish people total. All turned back home except 8 of us. We took it easy through the next stop at about mile 78. Easy day so far. How great is it to Kessler back on the bike and riding so well. Love him. The 8 on the full ride were Jon, Mike Moran, Lebo, Rob, me, G, Eric Poch, Alan.
The course was great and scenic. Through the Quabbin, up to the fire tower (complete with imminent wedding) and plenty of quiet country roads. Giuseppe was riding like a little puppy dog and at one point said to me “I’m going to do whatever you do.” Ie ride conservatively. That lasted for about 3 mins. He felt good until the watchusett climb at mile 130. I could see his smile slowly disappearing. Just like mine did 30 miles earlier. Rob— he just kept going like it was just another Sunday ride.
I started to feel a little sick and got a wicked headache between 100-115 and wondered if I could make the climb. I took on some water, electrolytes and switched to caffeinated gel. Rob all the while showed no signs of being tired, ever. At the mile 115 rest stop, I wasn’t circling to leave and G knew something was wrong…
Approaching the long climb from the south to watchusett I could see G and 4 others way ahead. There was no way I was going to let them drop me on the climb. The gel had kicked in and I caught and passed the group and only Steve Lebo could stay with me. He and I finished with Steve about 20 minutes ahead of me. I had my second wind that lasted the rest of the day. Everyone did well on the climb and the descent. At the last stop on 117 near 495, my favorite section to pull long and hard, Jon asked we ride at a pace to keep everyone together. Darn. 19 to go.
Amazingly by the end, everyone was strong and felt good. No one was toast or feeling spent. Since we all rode smartly and had well timed stops, the ride didn’t kill us. I’m sure everyone had their own little issues they were dealing with, but everyone worked hard to get through them and finish really strong. I don’t know about the others, but 12 hours later, I’m still 6 lbs down from my starting weight…
Total for me from Weston Center: 175.6 miles and 11,100 feet of climbing. I’m glad G convinced me to put on my 27.