Beyond the Century Takeaways
Beyond the Century with John Bayley and Pamela Blalock
The cyclists have spoken: March 20th, the first day of spring after a harsh winter, is not too early to be thinking about riding over 100 miles on bike. We had an incredible turnout for John Bayley and Pamela Blalock's talk entitled Beyond the Century, an evening co-sponsored by The Charles River Wheelmen (CRW).
To ask John and Pamela to share their 30+ years and hundreds of thousands of miles of cycling experience in 1 hour and 15 minutes isn't a fair question. They did a terrific job of presenting a lot of information and, even better, they've written a lot that really goes into many nuances of being prepared for, and executing, a very long ride.
Here is a summary of resources they've made available to you and other events mentioned throughout the evening.
As John and Pamela emphasized, long rides are just a series of shorter rides strung together. It's possible for anyone with any level of experience and almost any bicycle that works well. And, maybe as they did, you'll find it fun (and addicting), and then the mileage just seems to add up naturally.
John and Pamela had a slideshow running on the screen before their presentation. Check out their photos taken on some of their many long adventures in many incredible places.
Countless people have told us how they are students of these two. Much of this is due to how they try practically every setup, almost all of the equipment there is, and test everything in all weather, on all terrain.
They wrote a very detailed blog post to supplement their talk. Check it out:
Beyond the Century: What's the right bike?
and the slides they spoke to are here, in PDF format:
People who were introduced during the evening were:
Dan Greene: President of New England Randonneurs, NER (Website: nerandonneurs.org where you'll find many long rides for people of all abilities/speeds) Jake Kassen, Regional Brevet Administrator for NER Jon Doyle - Membership coordinator for NER Emily O'Brien - Dill Pickle Gear and fixed-gear bike endurance rider
Eli Post from CRW. Note the many organized (and long) rides CRW hosts including their Spring Century on May 18th. CRW Rides Calendar.
Matt Roy (endurance rider and John Bayley's RSC Endurance teammate) of mmracing - He announced their End of Season Party and Raffle for a great cause - win a new Seven Cycles full bike, Honey All Roads frameset, fork, and stem among other great prizes.
Many Thanks To: Mark McMinn of LexMedia - He video recorded the presentation and we will post the link here when it's available online.
Want to ride from here to Mt Greylock and sleep at the top of this beautiful mountain? Consider our Highpoint Ride coming up in August!
Like riding long and on dirt, too? Honey Bikes' 2014 calendar is awesome.
Thanks to all who showed up for the talk. We're looking forward to going on many long rides with you this year!
Many Riding Options for You
Lexington, Mass. is at the crossroads of great cycling. There are few places that offer access to the incredible variety of riding options, beautiful scenery and quiet roads. Every day we see uncountable cyclists coming or going to some cool destination that is completely accessible from our front door.
The roads that comprise the limitless riding possibilities are woven together in a fairly chaotic pattern making it incredibly easy, even for natives of this area, to get lost while trying to explore new roads on a ride. Think about it: when was the last time you went on a ride on all new roads? It's just a matter of having a guide. Check out some of the rides, listed below. It's helpful to have a GPS unit, but it's not necessary. We'll discuss GPS more later. The cue sheet with written directions is available for each of the below routes once you click into it.
To find all of the routes we've ridden and mapped, go to ridewithgps.com & do a keyword search for RSC 1720. See what other maps have been uploaded by others, too. Be sure the starting location is somewhere near Boston, MA and you'll see what's in there. The database continues to grow & we welcome you to submit your rides. Drop us a note when you have uploaded something so we know to tell others about it! Below is a variety of notable routes to get you started:
- 5 miles, a nice loop with dirt (not too technical)
- 26 miles, a lovely loop starting at Hanscom (& it was Stage 2 of the Tour of the Unattended)
- 36 miles, one of the loops used for the Wednesday Morning Worlds 6am-8am ride
- 37 miles, a route typical of our 9am Sunday morning ride
- 52 miles, the anniversary ride (sorry, at mile 23.4 there isn't a special sign - waffles only served here on the 1st anniversary of Ride Studio Cafe!)
- 57 miles, a beautiful ride south to Dover on back roads
- 75 miles, for a bit more climbing, sweeping views and dirt. Destination: Harvard & hit the Harvard General Store for some mid-ride fuel.
- 117 miles, Climb up nearly every hill between Lexington and Mt. Wachusett: this is the RSC version of the CRW Climb to the Clouds.
Enjoy exploring beautiful Massachusetts on two wheels & remember to stop by to say hello as you're heading out or on your way back!