Five Marathons

Last year, Patriots Day was the first really warm day of the year, and I took the opportunity to put in a long, if beleaguered, ride, described in this previous posting.

With the holiday again being the first truly warm days of this year, and to escape the Boston Marathon, which finishes a block from my house, I decided to again make this the first long ride of the year.

On Sunday, I was hoping to go out with the Quad Cycles crew, but it was just too cold to hit the pavement at the necessary 8:30am start, so I hung around until 11 before going out.

I wound up doing 68 miles through Waltham, Concord, and Carlisle. I also hit no less than eight of the meanest, most challenging hills in the area: Prospect Hill in Waltham, Baker Bridge Road in Lincoln, the insane Pine Hill by Walden Pond, Strawberry Hill in Concord, “the Dinosaur” on Route 4 in Chelmsford, Grove Street in Lexington, Arlington Heights via the ludicrous School Street climb, and Summit Ave in Brookline. And, of course, I made my first stop of the year at Kimball Farm for ice cream.

My goal was really to see what condition I am in, but looking back, I’m still of two minds. On one hand, I crushed the first 30 miles, and I only made two rest stops the whole day. In those respects, I’m in much better shape than in previous years. On the other hand, the last 40 miles I dragged quite a bit, even cramping up at around mile 60. So I’m not in summertime form by any stretch of the imagination, but I guess I’m in pretty good shape for now. And I definitely didn’t hear any of those birds calling “You’re beat! You’re beat-beat!” this year.

Of course, that was the day before Patriots Day. I still wanted to get out of town on Monday to avoid the marathon. This year, remembering that there are parades and colonial reenactments to observe the holiday in Lexington, Concord, and Arlington, I opted to head south rather than the usual northwest, striking out for new territory. I wound up riding down through Quincy and stopping briefly at the World War II vintage USS Salem at the Fore River Shipyard. And let me tell you, crossing the rickety Fore River Bridge on a bike is absolutely harrowing! Then along the shore through the ritzy coastal enclaves of Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate before turning inland and back home via Norwell, taking part of the route I’d taken when I went down to the kayak expo described in this journal entry.

Despite a little stiffness, I was fine on this second long ride. Although I took it much easier (and didn’t seek out the big hills), It was still another 68 miles at a respectable pace. Again, a very promising sign, when compared to my fitness level in previous years.

Welcome spring and summer! It’s time to ride!