600K reide report
Steve Fox
Ride Report:
The 600K of The Boston Brevet Series a =8CBent Perspective
This year=B9s 600 was on a new course, at least for me, it was changed last
year, but since I missed last year I had only heard about it=B9s difficulty.
As you will read it lived up to it=B9s reputation. This would be the first
year I attempted it recumbent.
The ride started at 3:00AM on Saturday, July 22nd with the forecast for
rain, hard at times during the morning. There were 34 riders who came out t=
o
brave the elements (27 finished). Alas, there was only one other =8Cbent and
that was George Reynolds on his Wishbone, who I saw and spoke to briefly at
the start and then never saw again.
The 600 first headed west to south out of Bedford, MA, just outside Boston,
snaking it=B9s way out through Framingham onto the first checkpoint in Sutto=
n
near Worcester. The terrain for this first 40 mile leg was flat to easy
rolling with a few steep pitches, but nothing compared to later in the day.
The hardest part of this section for me was the rain. Oncew in Sutton I was
in and out of the checkpoint in around 10 minutes or so. This is pretty goo=
d
for me.
>From Sutton the rides starts it=B9s northerly turn and the hills become a bit
more apparent as I climbed up to the town of Barre, MA. Fortunately from
Barre it was mostly flat to down hill to the next checkpoint in New Salem
near the Quabbin Reservoir. This speedy last leg allowed me to make-up for
some lost time due to the rain. Oh yes, the sun had broken through by this
time and the rest of the day was spectacular.....but a bit breezy. I was a
little longer at this checkpoint as I refilled water bottles and Camelback
and put on some dry socks.
>From here the ride cut west again before turning north up into Vermont. And
the climbs started in ernest. In fact for the next 75 miles the predominate
direction was up. This was not recumbent heaven, but it sure felt like any
minute I was going to reach it. I wasn=B9t setting any King of The Hill
records, but I was getting up no problem. And the Barcroft=B9s speed and
agility on the downs and flats helped make up for lost time.
>From here the ride dropped down into Bennington, VT and I mean dropped. Wha=
t
a joy to scream along at 45 after crawling at 7 to 8 and even 5 on some of
the steeper ups. Once in Bennington the ride looped north briefly, crossed
into NY then heads south to Petersburg, NY. I was able to make up a good
deal of lost time, averaging 20+, along this section as it was beautifully
flat and I had the wind to my back. Once in Petersburg the ride turns east
for the last big climb of the day - Petersburg Pass - which goes from 0=B9 to
about 800=B9 in 2.5 miles with a couple of good pitches thrown in just to kee=
p
you honest, by the way the mileage at this point is 205. I finally reached
the the top of the pass after averaging between 5 - 8 mph and my knees
yelling at me for for some relief. Fortunately daylight was still with me,
not much, but at least I wasn=B9t making the descent in the dark. I finally
pulled into checkpoint #5 at Mt Greylock H.S. in Williamstown, MA at around
8:30PM.
My original plan was to grab a hot meal, (thanks David & Co) a shower, a
change of clothes and then push on to the finish. Ah, how a meal and a hot
shower and a sleeping bag that I had packed in a bag,which was sagged to th=
e
checkpoint, change your plans. Well, a little over five hours later I pushe=
d
on heading for home.
This would be the first time I had ever ridden alone at nite for this lengt=
h
of time. It was going to be the test for my new Schmidt Dyno hub and Lumote=
c
light along with helmet mounted Night-Sun Sun Sport helmet mounted light
which runs on a 6V lithium battery. The Sun Sport is a really nice little
lighting system that throws out a good beam for about 90 minutes of constan=
t
run time. The batteries are so light carrying extras is no problem and
keeping used ones to dispose of properly isn=B9t an issue. Nor do you need to
stop to change batteries, once you get the system down. I also used a Palm
combined with the BikeBrain for following the route and it worked great. A
lot easier to read at nite than the cue sheet. I changedthe batteries in th=
e
Palm once over the entire length of the ride.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Flying down hill in the dark wa=
s
a real test of my lighting system and nerves, but I was very pleased with
both the Schmidt hub and Lumotec light as well as the Sun Sport. There were
only two major climbs on the second half, one shortly after leaving
Williamstown in Adams, MA which is a steady up for just about five miles to
Savoy, MA. It=B9s rolling to down from here to the next checkpoint in Whately
at mile 270.
It was starting to get light as I headed out of Whately for the next
checkpoint some 40 miles away back in New Salem and the last big climb up
Warwick Hill, other than that flat to rolling. However, my climbs were
getting slower as time progressed and I was having to work hard on the flat=
s
and downs to try and keep my average speed up. The good news? A gorgeous da=
y
was presenting itself with a tail wind! I finally reached New Salem at
around 8:45AM and left a little after 9. I knew it was going to be slow
going for the last 72 miles to the finish as the route was hilly, not long
climbs just a ton of rollers and a bunch of good old fashion New England
steep pitches. Then you throw in feeling a bit fried, I just didn=B9t think
hammering along was going to be in the cards.
I finally reached Clinton, MA around 12:30 PM where I stopped and grabbed a
Coke and a sandwich and came to the decision I had been out here to long an=
d
wanted to get home. I started to push a bit harder and thanks to the
Barcroft I was able to get from Hudson to the finish, about 20 miles,
faster than I ever had before - averaging between 18 and 22.
I finally reached the finish at 2:34PM at total of 35hrs and 34 minutes,
average on bike speed 15mph. A little worse for wear, but far better than =
I
used to feel at the end of these rides on my LiteSpeed. All in all a great
ride!
Some notes of interest:
Total climbing approx. 20,000 ft, total miles 372.
Lighting: Lumotec running off the Schmidt hub,NiteSun helmet light, Vista
Light flashers mounted on either side of the Rans seat and a flasher on the
rear of my helmet.
I=B9m running a 56 big ring just to help on the down hills and flats.
I=B9ve installed Ride-on cabling to help protect shifter and brake cables fro=
m
the weather and road grime.
.