Rampup Roundup

Well, May’s rain finally ended, and the season’s upon us, so it’s time to get you caught up on every little thing.

First off is a happy update to my cycling website—specifically the Charts & Statistics page. Instead of a long page full of static images, now it’s all interactive and prettified. Check it out, it’s very cool.

It’s also much easier for me to maintain, since it’s updated automagically, but that’s not anything you care about.

Another big piece of news is that I managed to sneak into one of the most memorable events in the Pan-Mass Challenge’s history: the dedication of the PMC Plaza which fronts the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s new Yawkey Center for Cancer Care. Rather than dive into that here, I’ll point you to the article in my main journal for a full writeup and pictures.

Aside from that, we been riding! In addition to the regular commuting, I completed my second century of the year. Like the first, it was a regular weekend Quad ride that I extended past all normal dimensions. This one went out to Framingham to stop by my buddy Paul’s housewarming.

The other big ride I’ve done was an epic excursion up to Vermont with my buddy Jay. We rode a great 70-mile loop over and back the gigantic Jay Peak (no relation), which in pro cycling terms means two Category 2 climbs.

Jay captured a lot of the action in his blog post, which I strongly encourage you to read, but I want to underscore a few things he passed over. First is my GPS data; check it out, if only for the ride elevation profile! I don’t think he captured how ridiculously high/long the ascents were, or how much the rain/cold sucked. He didn’t mention his flatting a tire, or our quick trip to the bank, or the fact that we were both sleep- and food-deprived at the start. And I think he overlooked my glorious post-ride hot tub dip and our Thai food extravaganza that followed. It was indeed an epic trip!

And I should note that another milestone occurred during that ride: the Plastic Bullet’s odometer tripped 16,793. That means it has finally surpassed my old Devinci hybrid as the bike I’ve ridden the most. Chapeau to both of my reliable old steeds.

In the way of a preview, on Saturday is another of my major rides: Outriders. I’ll be pedaling my way from Boston down to Cape Cod and out to Provincetown, then taking the ferry back. At 130 miles, that will almost certainly be the longest one-day ride I’ll do all year. I’m really looking forward to it, even though my riding buddies will all be elsewhere that day.

You might note the lack of any mention of PMC fundraising; that’s because I haven’t even started yet. The one thing I can say is that I did finally complete my 2011 fundraising video, which I hope you’ll peruse. That frees me to start sending out emails; look for yours to appear soon, or get a jump on me by bringing your underutilized credit card to http://ornoth.PMCrider.com/