Day 4 - Worchester, MA to Windsor Locks, CT 68 miles

Just the stats: 68 miles, 14.1 MPH average. Started riding at 7:30 am, finished at 1:00 pm - 4 hours 37 minutes riding time. Sunny, cool with sunny blue skies, 47 to 70 degrees. Calories burned on the ride - 3,807.

Today was a big climbing day. The hills were long and steep. To give you an idea what it was like, after the first ten miles my average speed was 11.1 mph. Usually in the morning we take off in a pace line averaging 18 to 20 mph. So as strong as I was yesterday, that's how un-trained I felt today. I was able to up my average speed to 14.1 mph in the last 10 to 15 miles because the terrain flattened out and we had some downhills to finish the day.

One 1.7 mile climb was particularly long and steep. I went one mile in 7 minutes 55 seconds. That is slow. Also, anyone who was behind me on most hills was passing me. I heard as riders came by "on your left". I am going to have to work on long, steep hill training. I can fly down hills, do well on the flats and great on rolling terrain, it's those long two to three mile grades where I fall back.

On one long 2+ mile 7 percent to 12 percent grade downhill (that's long and steep), I hit my first "Oh shit moment". That's when I kept picking up speed, hit 41.6 mph, and thought to myself "Oh shit, what have you done, I better hold on now because I am not breaking!" Actually, going that fast is not too much fun, when I am in that, it's some very tense moments. After I got through, I thought to myself that the rush probably wasn't worth the risk. I may think about using breaks next time .... nah, just kidding.

Take a look at those pictures again. All of those guys, Dennis, Dave, Gordon, Ty and Tom are strong riders. I can't keep up with them on the long climbs. In a two mile climb, those guys are 1/2 mile ahead of me. I have to fly down hill just to catch up. Gordon, the guy with me in the Stanford, Conn picture is 64 years old and very strong. I hope someday to ride as well as he.

We have been told that tomorrow may be one of our hardest days. Guess what it is? You got it -- a 95 mile big climbing day, long and steep grades. Our route sheet tells us about four big climbs of 1.5, 1.6, 2.7 and 3.6 miles. Wish me luck. I just plan on riding to survive to ride another day. My guess is I will be in by 4 pm.

Tomorrow is Sunday, I'm hoping for extra prayers to help me along. I need some Holy Spirit power tomorrow! I am thankful we have had such great weather. It is a little cool in the morning but it has been dry. Also, notice I haven't had any mechanical problems if you know what I mean. I don't want to mention that four letter word that rhymes with fat, related to the round things on my bike, so I won't say it.

Catch you later. Tom