Blog

Ride Headquarters Trail Mix 100K
New Hampshire Edition
5/22/21

Wow, it was nice to ride bikes with other people! And get out of Boston for a day. This gravel ride was put on by a Boston area bike shop. 65 miles, 4500 feet of climbing, 50% pavement. I went by myself, but ended up seeing lots of old friends. It took all the strength I had. Between the 88 degree weather, the climbing, and my lack of spring training - it was all I could do to finish. My hydration pack was empty at mile 30.

The Kona Super Jake worked great with stock gearing and cyclocross tires. I didn't have any trouble with cramps. I drank a bottle of Hammer HEED. I also drank HEED the day before the ride. I'm still not sure how I feel about all this navigation. I've never owned a cycling GPS unit, and I thought that this would be the year that I finally broke down and bought a Wahoo or Garmin. However, when I was riding with other people, I wasn't impressed with the performance of these GPS units. It wasn't better than my phone and Ride With GPS app. Heck, I was doing pretty well looking for tire tracks in the dirt at all the intersections. I don't know, it seems like gravel riding is sometimes about the adventure of navigating and not getting lost as much as riding. What is wrong with putting arrows on the road or trees?

Anyway, I had a good time. Never got lost - no extra miles. Lots of sunshine and smiles. Ride Headquarters puts on a good event. They had a grilled cheese truck at the finish line, as well as cupcakes and iced coffee. I even found a river to jump into.