Day 1: Started off in Sunday River at the top of a mountain road. This had the potential for some incredibly fast riding, but I was still convinced that I was going to ride with my cousin and her friend and not leave them behind. Mosquitos were out en force biting at every possible inch of exposed skin. The biting would have been greatly reduced by speed on the bike, but alas my cousin and her friend are slow. Before I started riding I had made a point to myself that I would not ride with my cousin's ex, who originally convinced her to do the ride. Logically, about 25 minutes in, I found myself riding right next to him at what we both thought was a snail's pace in our little rings and middle cogs. I don't think that either of us broke a sweat before the first rest area 40km in, but we did arrive way before Claudia and Jenn. Oops again. From that point, I ended up separating a bit from the others and averaged around 25kph for the rest of the day. The University of Maine at Farmington was our host for the first night, providing sleeping accommodations in the gym and horrible food for dinner. I did manage to sneak some beer (I hate 21-year-old drinking ages with a passion) and meet the rest of the team, many of whom did not previously believe that I existed.
The bike parking on the first night:
Day 2: Started riding with Claudia and Jenn around 6:15. My ancient Vetta saddle started showing its poor design for long rides almost immediately via a very sore ass and numbness. After about 20 minutes of riding some of the guys from the team caught up and I picked up the pace to ride with them. These dudes were on some pretty serious machines all carbon fibered, Mavic Ksyriumed, Ultegrad, and Dura-aced up. Obviously, this meant that I had to keep up with them, legs be damned, but I soon found that with a little drafting, the weight of the bike makes very little difference. It also helped that they slowed down a bit to let me keep up. Managed to average 32kph for most of the day, right up until the last 15km, when I got dropped on a hill, then dropped my chain. After some goofing around with the chain and help from 2 of the guys from the team, Cory and Scott, I got going again. The second night was at Colby College, which was much better than UMF. The food was incredibly tasty, and the Exes dad (one of the riders) had some incredible home-made beer which I enjoyed with pleasure. There was one particularly good darker ale brewed with jalapenos that gave it a fantastic kick along with the taste of the beer. I really wish that this was available at the Beer Store, because it makes for a hell of a post-ride beer. Perhaps I need to add brewing to my list of hobbies...
Day 3: Woke up with my ankle in all kinds of pain, but I figured it was fine to ride on. Got a bit of a later start but I ran into the guys from the team at the start, so I rode with them. We ended up hooking up with a bunch of people from the team along the route. The rest stops were pretty close-spaced, so I never ended up feeling less tired. We also rode slower because we tried to keep as much of the team together as we could as we rode to the finish. About a mile out, we started riding much slower and 4-abreast, then finished as a team in style. Then, I nearly collapsed as my ankle screamed in pain when I stepped on the ground...shit. I hope this isn't any grievous problem, but it's not going away, so we'll see. Claudia and Jenn finished an hour and a bit later, though I didn't get to see them finish, because I was busy trying to find and group our bags for an easy pick-up from Jenn's fiancee. They had a great time on the ride, too. Both of them got much more comfortable on their bikes, and I hope that they continue to ride into the summer.
The three happy finishers:
Verdict: I had an awesome time on the ride, and I would definitely consider riding again next year. Considering how easily I managed to keep up on my steel bike with wide wheels, I've started to consider what some upgrades to the bike, or a complete bike upgrade, would do to make riding faster or easier. I've already bought a new seat and some dual-pivot Tektro brakes. I'm trying to get in touch with someone who has a bunch of Shimano 600 parts (including 8-speed STI!) for sale on Pinkbike. Hopefully, I'll be able to give this bike a whole new lease on life for about $300 (a ton of money, considering I only spent $160 on it originally). At some point in a few months, when winter sales start, I might even look into getting a 1-inch threadless headset and carbon fork to modernize the bike even more. Unfortunately, due to my ankle, I doubt that I will be riding mountain or road this week or before I see a doctor. In the meantime, I get to think about bikes and bike parts. And a name for the road bike...
A last one:
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