Vermont is spelled with a capital “V”, surely no coincidence. With the loads of mountains and climbs available, it had to start with a “V”. I mean, if it was mountainous enough to draw a runaway “loose” nun who left the church for a sailor, it must be good, right? (Great nordic skiing there””Trapp Family Lodge, if you are there in the winter months as well).
Anyways, being a seventh generation “V”ermonter myself, who was raised on a family farm on Rogers’ Hill in West Newbury, VT (which was hand cleared and settled in 1763 by my G-G-G-G-G-Grandfather and still owned by my father) I have a deep love and feel for VT, liberal politics notwithstanding. So when I heard about the 200 on 100 “Dumptruck of Awesome” that was available, I just knew that I had to do it. And not only that, I knew that I had to share this beautiful “Ode to the V in Vermont” with all of my best cyber-cycling-soul mates. Okay, soul mates might be going a bit far there, but you get my meaning.
So, enough with the intro.
Break out the rollers, get on the trainers, find your winter gear; lay off the seconds, nurse that one glass of booze, hold the toasting to one drink, dodge Cupid’s chocolates and shoot the Easter Bunny because training for this bastard started yesterday and you’ll be paying for it on the 28th of June, 2012 in spades!
See you in the pre-dawn hours on the Canadian border with our eyes firmly fixed on the prize of the Massachusetts border. Let’s drive this dump truck like Mel Gibson leaving the compound in a post-apocalyptic world, baby!
Route and location details on the Cogal Event Page.
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@Steampunk
...which is to say I'm resigned to riding myself into form as we roll through Vermont...
@Buck Rogers
I was just going from what Wolfram Alpha returned when I queried it. I would think we would start at V past V regardless of the official Sunrise.
So with a revised stopping schedule of 1 hour off the bike over the course of the day, we need to ride at an average pace of 25km/h to finish during daily hours (a pace of 26.4km/h gives us a hour of daytime to spare). Maybe I won't need to buy a 300 lumens light after all.
@Rob
Similarly, I plan to do a flat 210km on June 3rd, followed by 80 the next day. That will be my longest weekend. Other weekends, I'm alternating between rolling 100kms and climbing 100kms (~2,000m). I'm going to top it off with 160km with 3,750m the weekend before (had already committed to that event before the Cogal) and then pray that I can recover in time for VT.
@Rob
Damn, those are some strong times. But if I understand it correctly, this was a large pack ride? Was this a GranFondo event? That always throws things off for times. I can average around 29 to 32 kph solo over varied terrain with some climbing normally but in a race we'll be at least 8 to 12 kph faster with the pack. Still, they sound like the van guard of the ride to me!
@CanuckChuck
I hope to do a long ride this Thursday (The Leakey Death Challenge Ride--172 K's in the Hill Country with a supposed SHIT-TON of climbing, to paraphrase my Best Bike Rides--Texas book) but they are predicting flash floods with massive thunder and lightning storms here all day Thrusday. But, then again, I rode to work today and they are predicting the same today. I am good with riding in the rain but the flash floods/lightening stuff does intimidate me a bit.
After that will be steady rides of probably no more than 100k in length and then the 210k Paris-Roubaix Cyclo on June 10th and then massive taper until the actual ride on the 28th.
Good news is that the knees are feeling better but now I have tweaked my right calf a bit. But, this is par for the course with me. I swear that I always become a hypochondriac whenever training for a big event and then things turn out fine.
I'm following this thread with interest.
It reminds me of a joke by Steven Wright;
'Everywhere is within walking distance. If you have the time'
The average of 26.4km/h sounds acheivable with the climbing and distance taken into account. Good luck to those taking part.
@CanuckChuck & @Buck Rogers:
I should preface what follows by saying that I have never ridden this far in a single day before, but I can roll happily and comfortably on uneven terrain at 25kph for 6+ hours. Like Buck, I'll typically average ~30kph on solo rides and not be at my limit. To wit, I'm less concerned about the pace than I am the time/distance. If the group is fairly well-coordinated, I would imagine that 27-30kph wouldn't be out of the question at all.
BFGs feeling good. Weight and power are where I want them, and I seem to be climbing well for my weight. But I haven't had the opportunity to really test my legs on a longer ride in quite some time. Hoping to fit in some 100-150km solo rides over the next couple of weeks. The real acid test will be my form at the Ontario Cogal, but I'm hoping to be able to push both pace and distance in the interim.
Ladies, I need to know what time you can be at North Adams on Wednesday to catch the bus. Thank you men.
@CanuckChuck
@Buck Rogers
Sounds like reasonable training for the insanity. I'm simply planning on getting up as early as I can and riding as much as I can for as long as I can. Daily. Not sure it'll be enough, but it's my best shot.
@roger
What's your preference? I'm shuttling a few peeps up to the finish on Wednesday, and I suspect that we can be there when we need to be there. Is the bus/van big enough for all + bikes (except @xyxax, whose bike will have to be towed up north, naturally)? That is, do you foresee one trip to the start, or more than one?
It is a big yellow schoolbus, just like the one that picks up your children, so room wont be an issue. Cant say it wont smell like piss and vomit, however