BikeRide.com Cycling Blog

I got up at 4:30 am, and left at 5 for the 1.5 hour drive from Canton, CT to Rutland, MA. Coleman and Beth met me at the start of the ride.

A guy named Rich from Boston left with us from the start. He rode the same pace, so we ended up riding together the whole ride.

I really liked this ride. The roads were constantly going up and down. Coleman’s altimeter said 7500 feet of total climbing. There were a lot of potholes, which seems normal for Massachusetts.

There were official rest stops at 25 and 100 miles that were well stocked with granola bars, fig newtons, rolls with peanut butter, gatorade, and water. They even had sunscreen.

The resevoir was very scenic, and we took some roads that were off limits to cars. We stopped to climb a tower that offered great panoramic views of the area.

At 50 miles, the Century route split off from the 125 mile route. We stopped at a convenience store to get some water to top off out bottles before heading on to Amherst. Beth and Rich mixed it up sprinting for a few town lines. I went for one, which was probably not that smart for a 125 ride.

We started a long climb to the 75 mile mark. It was getting hot at this time of the day. We stopped a the Wendell Country store and sat in the shade for a break. I bought some pasta salad, and some PowerAde. The powerade was a little too sweet. With it being so hot, I think it would have been better just to drink water.

After the rest stop at the store there was a fun downhill section. Then more uphill. It seemed like the hills never ended. The combination of hills and heat got to me at the 95 mile mark, and I was bonking.

We finally made it to the 100 rest stop. There were a lot of riders there since the century route also stopped here. I sat in the shade, ate a banana with peanut butter and recovered.

Rich and I rode together the last 25 miles, which had even more steep hills. Our pace was pretty slow, but we made it to the finish. Coleman and Beth took a wrong turn somewhere and finshed after us.

Photos