The 200-on-100 is coming up in two weeks and I am woefully behind schedule in training, largely due to retirement and the loss of my regular commuting regime. I did my first century ride of the year last weekend, climbing both App Gap and Smuggler's Notch, and this week the intention was to extend the distance. Years ago we had an unfortunate mishap near the end of the big ride when we found there was a bridge replacement underway in Readsboro that we didn't know about, as it didn't appear on the state road construction listings. A combination of factors made the temporary bridge a hazard for cyclists and a few of our riders who crossed it after dark went down, one bad enough that he broke a collarbone. After this experience I started travelling the entire route in sections during the month before the ride, to ensure that we could warn cyclists of any hazards they might need to navigate.
Saturday, I rode up to the North Troy border crossing to complete my coverage of the section north of Waitsfield. The weather was supposed to be showers in the morning, mostly ending by 10 am, and I waited until then to start. The actual weather proved to be much wetter, with periodic showers, and a few downpours. It wasn't warm, but I was wearing a wool jersey that I bought from Road Holland before they sadly went out of business, and a light vest and that was perfect for the conditions. The thing that saved me was switching to my Waterford RS-11, a lugged classic with fenders that I had setup specifically for long, hilly, wet rides.
I took a hilly route out, taking Pleasant Valley Road to Jeffersonville and then the long climb up VT 109 through Belvidere, joining VT 100 in Eden, which was the farthest north that I had covered this year. To avoid redundancy, I try to do these pre-rides in the opposite direction from the actual event, so I followed 100 north all the way to the border. I had thought I might cross into Canada and follow the Missisquoi to Richford, but decided instead to backtrack to Ludlow and take VT 58 over Hazen's Notch. The climb isn't bad from the east side and there is a nice roadside spring on the descent to refill. It was cool enough that I only went through three water bottles on the 150-mile ride.
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| Near the top of Hazen's Notch. The Bailey-Hazen Military Road was cut during the American Revolution and construction ended at the high point of this section, where a small stone monument now marks the spot. |
I stopped briefly in Montgomery where the bike shop was still open and the guys graciously gave me some lube to quiet what was becoming a loud chain after all the rain. Luckily, I only went through one more brief shower afterwards. By this time I was learning the hard way the foolishness in assuming that just because I had ridden that Specialized saddle on a previous edition of the 200-on-100, that didn't mean I could be comfortable on it again without some shorter rides. I'm sure I would have been fine with a Brooks, but I was finding the saddle to be a real pain with 60 miles to go. By the time I got to Enosburg, it was bad enough that I was looking for any opportunity to up get off it. The only good thing was that it took my mind off how sore my legs were getting.
I got home just as it was getting dark, very happy to finally get off that saddle for good. I think if I end up riding this bike on the 200-on-100 due to rain, I will switch to a Brooks with a saddle cover. I am planning on getting in another ride at least as long next weekend and hopefully that will be enough prep to get me through the big ride. This one ended up being hillier than I expected, at around 9800' of climbing, so I am cautiously optimistic that the 23rd run won't be my first DNF.
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| The Specialized "Not My Body Geometry" saddle. |
