Celebrate The Nuts! Tricycle Racing in the UK!

I was looking for information on common bottom bracket shell heights, honestly! That led me to an ex frame builder's blog which led me to the Tricycle Associations official web site and now my concept of this sphere we all share has expanded like blowing into the balloon of knowledge. Tricycle racing! See pictures of decked out tricycles with CARBON DISC WHEELS. Horray for the nuts! The link is to the right under "People".

Across The Great Bay Again: Clockwise for 50+ Miles...

The problem with this time of year, is getting the warm layers right. Today I was sure I would be shaking in my booties. Within 15 miles, I peeled away 4 heat conserving items cause I was too freakin hot. I was wearing a Specialized Deflect Trail jacket I had bought earlier in the year. I don't know who it was designed for. But there is waay too much material in the upper arm. It becomes quite annoying when the arms get to a-flappin in the wind like a flag atop a ship's mast. The jacket also turns out to breathe about as well as any other "breathable" water resistant material I've come across. That is to say, about as breathable as a plastic bag. It was dripping inside. I tied it around my frame and kept going.
Checking out this loop south from Portsmouth, through Greenland, back up to Pease, across the cool abandoned bridge, Dover Pt. Road, tagged Dover, back through Eliot. I forgot to count the grave yards! I'm going to guess over 15. 4 hours and 50 plus miles. I have a hard time believing it was only 50 miles. Whatever.

Descending Upon The Earth

Snow, mixed with rain. Nice ride home from Portsmouth in falling slush. 30 miles earlier before getting downtown by 12. This loop is short, but not short of graveyards. I'm counting 11 graveyards on this ride. I think I'm missing at least two more that don't come to mind...New England is full of dead people.

Golf Courses and Graveyards, 59 Miles of New Hampshire

I had been reluctant to delve into mileage rides in NH because from Portsmouth, it all just seems like a bunghole of freeways and fast 4 lane roads. I know there are some sweet two laner 35mph'ers out there somewhere. So I consulted the maps, donned 5 layers of protection against the 41 deg. damp air out there, and headed for Exeter via the Great Bay.
Things started out just fine until I was riding on Rte. 33. I usually don't prefer to ride on busy roads like Rte. 33. Today I was despising it. Things got better as I found my way around the south side of Pease Air Base and the great abandoned bridge over the north end of Great Bay. Then back to the suck for a ways on Rte. 4 until finally hooking a lefty at Durham Point Rd. That road was beautiful.
Before I could ride victorious into Exeter, I was sick of riding on 33/108. I stopped at Sweet Dreams Bakery for a sandwich, espresso, and directions. Good food, very nice people. They helped me figure out an alternate route dodging Exeter all together in favor of turning back towards Portsmouth.
I passed at least 5 golf courses and 15 graveyards on this ride. This route had some nice sections along Durham Point Rd., the bridge closed to cars, and Bunker Hill Rd back to Portsmouth. I think if there were a way to dodge Rte. 33, 108, 4, it would be a sweet ride.
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It's On: Group Ride Thursday October 22nd

I've set a date. I came up with this day because Josh Pierce can ride that day. So there's two of us. We'll go for at least 50 miles with an caffeine/carb stop somewhere. Ride is limited to fixed gears only cause any freewheeling flounders can join any old group ride, OK??. Helmets and front brakes STRONGLY recommended. Some money for a coffee, food to eat en route, at least two pints of water, warm riding gear and flat repair stuff also strongly recommended. I'm thinking we'll be in for partly sunny under 50 degrees f. But I'll update as we get closer. Check back here for a route as well. Or will it be a surprise? I'm not sure yet!
We're meeting at Papa Wheelies at 653 Islington in Portsmouth. Why? Cause us two Joshes work there, that's why. Plus there's food, coffee, and any bike related stuff anybody might need right there. No "oh, I have to go ride to the bike shop for a tube. Can you guys wait here?" funny business. Got it? Cool. Please comment to RSVP.

Lost And Delerious, Going Clockwise 57 miles

I had to beat the rain predicted to arrive by 3pm. So I figured only 3 hours this time out. To mix it up a bit on the same old roads here in Southern Vacationland, I opted to go the same route I posted below, only backwards. That seemed fine. Until I entered the obscure suburban maze off 238 that is The Old Mill suburban community. Suburbs are like vortexes, mind fucks of modern living. I was looping around the same "Lanes" and "Drives" over and over until I began to curse the inhabitants. Who would choose to live like this? In a manicured system of oversized hampster habitrails that go nowhere? And what sick mind would continue to design them?
Once I made it out, I was again in familiar territory, Agamenticus Road. Easy, right? Just go right, take another right at Emery Bridge Rd. and you're homeward bound. Unless you happen to take a left at the Meeting House church instead of continuing straight. If you take a left, you end up on a 45 minute loop that finds us back at the entrance to, you guessed it, the same suburban hell. Now I'm an hour off schedule. On that dreadful loop I was challenged by a bull dog who had not been tethered to the trailer he guarded. The fella got across the yellow doubles toward me as I picked up the pace. I yelled Fuck You, which in these moments, sounds more like "Fugeuh". But he slowed down as he found out I barked louder. He also was a pretty slow fucker and couldn't top 28 miles an hour.
The rain never really materialized. But I was out of water and food about an hour and a half from home. The last 45 minutes were a bit delirious.
Another observation about clockwise, was the frost heaves. They were way worse on the side of the roads going clockwise! I have no idea why. Every time I entered the astroid field of frost heaves, I'd take a look across the double yellow stripes at pristine pavement. So I guess it's counter clockwise from here on out. In some places, the pavement had cracked and split into chunks of squares, loose but still held in place. Riding through these sections creates a popping, crackling sound as each chunk shifts beneath the weight of the bicycle's wheels. Sort of strange, sort of eerie. 57 miles, a few less than Monday given that I didnt' end up on Tatnic Rd. this time around. That's ok too.

60 Miles on the Squeaky Cleat Trail

I tried greasing the bolts and bolt plate of my SPD cleats before I left. They still creaked like a mo'fo for all 60 miles. I didn't lose my map this time. But I did discover that some road names used by Google Maps are incorrect. In fact, there is one road in Kittery on Google Maps that no longer exists! I know because I bushwacked it with my fixie last spring. It's overgrown poison ivy patch boardering a swamp. Scenic, yes. A road, definitely not. And near by that chicken path is a distribution warehouse Google Maps labels as a shopping plaza. But it's not just Google Maps. I also had problems with incorrect road names on my Maine Gazetteer atlas. Thus, I needed to stop repeatedly to get my bearings. Apparently, Maine is so primitive as to not been mapped accurately or not recently.
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