How Far Would You Ride............................

For a Harpoon!!

That is the catch phrase on the jersey given to us for the Harpoon Brewery to Brewery (B2B) from Boston to Windsor, Vermont. I just did this ride last weekend with a cycling buddy Steve from Virginia and college classmate Bill from Massachusetts.

After an efficient drive, surprisingly, from home to Connecticut for a stop at TGOs overnight, and then on to Boston I linked up with Steve at the Harpoon brewery for packet pick, some great free beer, a bit of schwag from IBEX and then we rode over to Pasta Beach for dinner and then I was done for the night. 

Many thanks to my old USAF pal Steve (a different Steve) who let me crash in his house in Charlestown 2.5 miles from the ride start. The 5:15 wake-up was painless and I was out the door and at the brewery in about 7 minutes.

Steve in the start Queue

Steve was already in the line to roll out when I arrived so I had to hurry to eat a bagel, park my car, use the loo, and then we waited for 30 minutes for our time to roll out. For safety purposes only 25 riders were allowed to depart every 10 minutes. Ideally we were to ride in a pack of 25 for the first 25-30 miles but that broke up pretty soon after the first water stop and Steve flatted. So, we just linked up with the next pack on its way by. I will say riding through downtown Boston, normally choked with people and traffic, was a great experience but I definitely do not miss the damage a New England winter does to the roads---dodging potholes everywhere!!

Steve a victim of the potholes

The Queue

We stopped briefly at the first aid station for a pee break and then we were back on the road in our pack of riders and that is when Steve hit a pothole dead-on and had his first flat of the day. Anyway, I snapped the phote, watched him change the tube, and then we were back on the road.

About 10 min later one of the sag cars drove by and asked if I needed anything. Well...................of course...............so I asked for an apple fritter and a cup of coffee. She just laughed, sped off for a few min, and then came back and started handing me mini clif bars. After I had 4-5 she said "take a few more because you are skinny" and then she drove off again.

Feeling the heat! About 90!

 The ride continued working our way Northwest and the roads began to improve significantly--did i mention the potholes yet??. Translation.......................fewer potholes but there was one section of about 50 yards where there were a bunch of potholes and at this time there was a pretty good pack moving and boom..............boom.............boom...............about 5 riders were pulling off the road because of flats. What happened was we were riding too fast to be able to see the potholes and react accordingly. JOCMO..................it did not happen to me......................

I rarely drink soda but this Coke was Awesome!

Aid Station 3. Mile 98.

After our rest at Mile 98 it was tough to get going........................for the non-cyclists out there after you have a rhythm and then take a break it is real tough to get the blood going again in the legs. When Steve and I mounted back-up the first 30 minutes were a challenge to get the legs moving.

So after mile 98 and then cresting the century mark the temps were climbing and it was about 90 but humidity bearable..................unlike DC. At about the 110 mark Steve and I linked-up with a few other riders and we had a group of 6-7 and surprisingly we were moving along at a pretty good clip. The terrain was relatively flat so we had some legs left in us.


At this point we just started to push the pace and this is one of those wonderful things about long rides and riding in general. For the next 10-15 miles we just pushed the pace hard and kept the line going. Not sure what the average was as most of us were busy keeping up, watching our line, and taking in fluids but looking down at my Garmin from time to time I would assess we were in the 21-24 mph range for 10-15 miles. Needless to say when we hit a hill about 2 miles from the aid station I was absolutely toast. No Joy left in my legs whatsoever but it was definitely worth the effort to ride that hard..

the next aid station was a desperate need to refuel, dump some cold water over my head to drop my core temp and take in some calories. Not sure why but at the B2B the pickles are a big hit at the aid stations but not for me. I took in some fruit and a lot of fluids.

Bill and Steve with post ride chow and Harpoon IPA

Steve nudged me to get going and said "Let's get this thing done" so we were back on the road with about 20 to go. We kept a good pace and with about 6 miles to go Steve had another flat........................bummer. So I pulled out my spare tube and C02 and he was back on the road in about 5 min.

Rock N Roll

The last few miles in was pretty easy and when we crossed the line, grabbed our pint glasses, my U Maine pal Bill was waiting. Several great brews, a pile of food, and then we were in the shuttle back to Beantown.

I did not need it but MAVIC Wheel Support all Day!

JOCMO: Nothing like a paceline with 110 in your legs and moving along in the 22-24 mph range. This is what makes it worthwhile!!