Greenfield
Montague
Sunderland
Amherst
Belchertown
Easthampton
Granby
Hadley
Northampton
Southampton
Williamsburg
Agawam
Chicopee
East Longmeadow
Holyoke
Palmer
Southwick
Westfield
West Springfield
Wilbraham
Bicycle shops in the Pioneer Valley by Brian W. Ogilvie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
A summary of this year’s activity:
Activity | Distance | Time | Weekly average | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cycling | 3,204 miles | 236h 10m | 4h 33m | ||
– on rollers/stationary bike | 402 miles | ||||
Running | 364 miles | 52h 54m | 1h 1m | ||
Walking/hiking | 262 miles | 90h 30m | 1h 44m | ||
Canoeing and erg rowing | 88417 m (55 miles) | 12h 33m | 15m | ||
Cross-country skiing | 14 miles | 6h 21m | 7m | ||
Strength training | 28h 59m | 33 m | |||
TOTAL | 4301 miles | 427h 27m =17d 19h 27m |
8h 13m |
My longest bike ride was only 82 miles, a hilly ride (6,716 feet of climbing) that I did in preparation for D2R2 the following week. My D2R2 ride was shorter, only 77 miles, but featured 7,566 feet of climbing. My longest run, on the other hand, was only 6.5 miles.
I didn’t do that much strength training, mostly bodyweight exercises to help preserve lean muscle mass as I lost fat. That’s an area on which to focus in 2015.
After losing 47 pounds in 2013, I took off another 18 in 2014, most of it in the first eight months of the year. I’ve reached a reasonable weight for my height and build and will focus on not regaining weight. I joined the National Weight Control Registry, so that my experience can be used for ongoing research into weight loss.
I’ve been pretty healthy this year: a couple of colds, and one upper respiratory illness that might have been strep throat in early spring, but no major illnesses or injuries. I did reactivate my February 2012 cycling injury by running too much and too far in the spring, not helped by all the standing and slow walking that came with graduation events. And I lost a tooth to an olive pit in September.
I’ll be taking a week off of physical activity this month when I have a sinus lift and dental implant to replace the molar that I lost in the fall. It’s probably not a bad idea to take a week off anyway, and I’ll need rest as I recover from surgery.
Barring any new injuries, I plan to keep running regularly, three times a week for a total of 15-20 miles. I’ve decided to do the UMass 5K Dash and Dine race on April 11, which will give me about 12 weeks to train once I’ve recovered from surgery. I might run more often when I’m traveling for work, since it’s easier to pack running shoes and shorts than a bicycle!
I’ll continue to cycle regularly, too. My travel plans for the summer are still up in the air, but I imagine I’ll be back in western Massachusetts in time for this year’s D2R2 on August 22. Presuming that I have time to train adequately, I’ll tackle the 115K again. I’m not sure I’ll do any other organized rides, though I might do a few Wednesday night rides with the Northampton Cycling Club if I’m around.
Now that we have a canoe and a roof carrier, I expect that we’ll try to work in a few days of paddling every month once the spring melt comes. That, in turn, will probably mean fewer bike rides, so I’ll aim to do a couple of shorter rides during the week and then one long ride on the weekend.
I’m also going to make a habit of hiking the 2-mile loop trail at the Mount Warner Reservation that opened last fall. My family gave us snowshoes for Christmas, so I might even give it a try in the snow, either by myself or on the hot chocolate snowshoe hike in a few weeks. I’d like to make a point of hiking more regularly elsewhere, too.
I enjoy seeing improvements in my strength and endurance, especially cycling and running faster and farther. But I don’t have much of an urge to compete against others. I’d rather be a good all-around athlete, someone who can go for a long hike or tromp around a city all day without getting fatigued, than a competitive cyclist or runner. I might enter a couple of running races, just for the experience of participating with hundreds of others. That was the enjoyable part of the 25K River Bank Run I did back in 1995 (my first, and to date only, organized race). I don’t see myself cycle racing. I can imagine doing more randonneuring, perhaps a 200K and 300K brevet in the fall or in spring 2016. It’s a sport in which everyone who finishes the distance within the allotted time is a winner. That’s my style!
Mostly, though, as I approach my fifth decade, I want to do fun stuff outdoors in a way that will help me preserve my mobility and independence for decades to come. The one weak spot in my routine is strength training: I should add a little more every week, probably bodyweight exercises that are easy to do when traveling. I don’t want to end up looking like the cyclists in Les Triplettes de Belleville!
]]>Most websites provide route maps or cue sheets for the rides, so they can provide useful suggestions for routes to follow even if you don’t want to participate in the organized event.
If you know of a ride that I have not listed, please let me know!
2014-09-08: Updated to include the Pedal Poker Run on Oct. 12.
Berkshire Brevets series (Westfield): A series of rides from 100 to 600 km, sanctioned by Randonneurs USA and, in some cases, by the Audax Club Parisien. The traditional 100 km Populaire is held St. Patrick’s Day weekend, with the Super Randonneur series from early April through June. Details are posted on the New Horizons Bikes website.
Katelynn’s Ride (Amherst), Sunday, May 31, 2015. A charity ride for several children’s cancer organizations. Rides of 10, 25, 50, and 100 miles.
Steph’s Wild Ride (Northampton), Saturday, June 7, 2014. A charity ride that raises funds to assist families of children with cancer in the Valley. 25-mile and metric century (100 km/62 mile) options. There’s a motorcycle version, too, bringing together two groups of two-wheeled enthusiasts.
King’s Tour of the Quabbin (Rutland), Sunday, June 8, 2014. Not strictly speaking a ride that starts in the Pioneer Valley, but the ride around the Quabbin Reservoir brings riders into the Valley. Rides of 62, 100, and 125 miles.
JAM Grand Fundo/Grand Hundo (Southampton), Saturday, July 19, 2014. Fundraiser for the JAM Fund, which provides grants for cyclists under 25 years old. The Grand Fundo ride is 64 miles; in 2014 other options included the 38-mile Mini Fundo and the 84-mile Grand Hundo. Rides are challenging for their length, with substantial climbing and some nasty hills: the Fundo gains 5300 feet and the Hundo, 7600.
D2R2 – the Deerfield Dirt Road RandonnĂ©e (Deerfield), Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. A benefit for the Franklin Land Trust, D2R2 involves rides from 100 km (62 miles) to 180 km (112 miles) on the challenging dirt roads of Franklin County and southern Vermont. There’s also a 40-mile family Green River Tour, which follows the mostly flat Green River Road (also dirt). Registration for the randonnĂ©es is capped at 1,000 riders total.
Wheeling for Healing Bike Ride (Greenfield), Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014. Fundraiser for Baystate Health Foundation. Rides of 3, 10, 25, and 50 miles. The 25-mile ride has some hills; the 50-miler, many.
Connecticut Valley Century (COVAC) Benefit Bike Ride (Hatfield), Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014. Proceeds benefit the Amherst Rotary Club’s Good Works Fund. Rides of 25, 50, 75, and 100 miles, mostly flat.
BikeFest and Tour of the Valley (Florence/Northampton), Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014. Organized by the Northampton Cycling Club. Ride options: 8, 25, 45, 72, and 104 miles. The longer rides involve a challenging amount of climbing.
Will Bike 4 Food (Hatfield), Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. Charity ride for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Rides of 10, 25, 50, and 100 miles. The longer rides are hilly.
Sunderland Clover Century (Sunderland), October 4, 2014. Rides of 25, 50, 75, and 100 miles, arranged so that there are four 25-mile loops that start and end in town. Riders can mix and match loops for rides up to 100 miles. Organized in conjunction with the town’s annual fall festival; information is usually posted sometime in late August or September.
Great River Ride (Westfield), Sunday, October 12, 2014. Rides of 15, 25, 35, 62, 85, 111, and 125 miles (more options than in the past), along the different branches of the Westfield River. The longer rides are challenging (the 111-mile ride last year involved 8,800 feet of climbing). The longer distances are RUSA-sanctioned Populaires; new for 2014 is an ACP-sanctioned 200K brevet.
4th annual Pedal Poker Run (Northampton), Sunday, October 12, 2014. 10- and 50-mile rides. Charity event supporting Valley CDC. Participants draw five cards over the course of the ride, with prizes for the best poker hands.
Organized bike rides in the Pioneer Valley by Brian W. Ogilvie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
With all the travel I’m doing in July, I won’t be riding nearly as much, but I should have a good base for tackling D2R2 on August 23. Fingers crossed….
]]>From our house, we rode up to Stockwell, down Route 47 and North Lane to the Hadley Common, then took the Norwottuck and Northampton bike trails to Look Park and Leeds. Then we took Audubon Road/South Street to Williamsburg, then Nash Hill Road to Whately Road (partially closed, but passable to bikes) to the Northampton Reservoir. Thence we rode north to Conway and back to South Deerfield on 116. After creemees in the village, we took Sugarloaf St. to 116, back to 47, and then around Mount Warner on Stockbridge and Maple. The complete route map is available on Strava.
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