Nerac Earth Cycling

Riders: Brian, Dave, Doug, Jill, Mike, Pete
After working indoors all day I couldn’t wait to get on my bike to enjoy a gorgeous summer evening. Although I’ve mainly mtn. biked for past 18 yrs and ridden with mostly a few friends and small groups, I now have switched to road riding so this was my first large group road ride. I usually ride by myself or with a small group of friends which includes Doug.
With that said I was excited and intimidated for my maiden voyage and when I arrived at the parking lot and saw the large group of riders – a little freaked out. But I soon saw a couple of Nerac (Jill and Mike) riders introduced myself and was pleasantly surprised by their friendliness. They soon talked Doug and me to ride with the B group. After starting in the back of the group it didn’t take long for us to move up toward the front. The first half of the ride was pretty laid back but the second half seemed to be much more serious with more passing and faster speeds.
Eventually the group to split but about half way through we waited for everyone to regroup. We did average around 18.7 for the ride which was a comfortable pace for me as the ride is pretty flat. There was some confusion toward the end of the ride when the leaders decided to take turns pulling for 3 pole lengths at 24-25mph, Dave, myself and another rider decided to start the pull but after two rotations of the three of us pulling nobody was behind us apparently the rest of the group didn’t hear the plan.
Did I like it? Well the jury is still out on that one. After talking to Doug (it was his first large group ride also) about the ride the following day we kind of had the same mixed thoughts. This wasn’t my “style” of riding, I like to go just as fast as the next rider, keep my heart rate up, get some exercise, check out the scenery, relieve some stress and have fun. Did I do that, definitely the first three on my list, but with so many cyclists, more traffic than I usually have to deal with and not being used to a large group I never felt relaxed or comfortable during the ride. I must admit I would do it again for a training ride to go out and crank out 32-35 miles at a good pace and maybe after a few times be more comfortable. Thanks to Brian, Dave, Jill and Mike for their friendliness during the ride and I’m sure I’ll be checking out more of the group rides to come. -Pete

Riders: Dave F., Dave I., Pete, Doug Bocuzzi (we have 3 Doug’s now!), Brian, Michael, Jill and around 70 more riders.
Holy cow, what a fantastic ride! I am still feeling the euphoria from the ride. It was that good. Started off with Michael taking his bike off the car and immediately flatting. While he was fixing it I met our two newest club members Doug, and Pete. Dave offered to lead the B group that Glenn usually leads and as we rolled over I saw the largest group of riders I had ever seen. So we rolled out with what seemed like 70+ riders. Michael and Dave I. were out front, Brian and I were about a 3rd back, Dave F. was making sure nobody got dropped in the back and Doug and Pete were somewhere between Brian and I and Dave F.
It started off a bit touch and go, I was pretty nervous about riding with such a big group and was itching to step up the pace. I kept leapfrogging groups of riders to get closer to the front and Brian leapt along with me. We kept doing this until we were about a dozen riders back then sat in comfortably and waited for the pace to pick up.
And it sure did. There was a stretch when Michael and Dave I. were about 30 yards in front of the rest of the group and we were was stuck behind a group of 6 or 7 riders and riders started bunching up behind us. Pete and Doug were suddenly next to me and I think we were all on the same page when we just passed everyone and starting chasing to catch up with the lead group. This sort of caused a free for all (which I loved!) and it was probably bad group riding behavior on our part (but so much fun!). After this the group thinned out quite a bit and we were left with around 25 riders in the group. At this point Dave F. caught up with us after doing the good Samaritan thing and making sure the rest of the group were matched up with riders who knew the route. The front group stayed together until about 5 miles out until we got to what I think of as “The free for all road”. This is where we make a left and everyone starts sprinting and craziness ensues. So fun! We then split into 2 or 3 groups and tried to regroup as everyone fried up the last of their energy and their legs. If you haven’t tried this ride yet, come on out for some fantastic and memorable rides. Each one has been better than the last… - Jill

Riders: Michael, Jill
Another one of those heavy, hot, humid evenings. Had lot’s of 2nd thoughts about skipping the ride. Everyone else bailed because of the heat. I was feeling sleepy and cranky, and not necessarily in that order. Finally I got my act together, filled up my water bottles and headed over. Michael and I were both running late, I got there about a minute before he did and we frantically got our gear together and scooted over to the ride. I wanted to ride with Glenn tonight and his group was just heading out of the parking lot as we rode over. He split the group into a 19 avg and 18 avg and we chose the 18 although Dave I. was trying to get us to do the 19. It was tempting but the last 3 Tuesday rides my heart rate was steadily in the 190’s and I wanted to ride at a less crazed tempo tonight. But I do have to say these rides are becoming so addicting. The routes are mostly flat so you can really ride like the wind forever and they can be seriously fast and furious. When my heart rate was in the 190’s we were actually on a flat stretch of road but the pace was furious and riding with such a large group of fast riders is both nerve racking and exhilarating.
So anyway, about this particular ride. I am fairly oblivious to direction, location, etc. when on a group road ride so I will describe the route but don’t expect to really figure out where we went unless you talk to somebody else on the ride! We headed out the way we normally return but then we popped onto the bike path headed toward Hartford. I saw the sign for Bradley International Airport and thought “Where the heck are we going?”. It ended up being sort of an urban adventure riding through the city and although the pace was a bit stop and go because of all the stop signs and traffic lights it was also very exciting because there was so much to see. We ran into a group of city kids around 11 or 12 years old on bikes and they joined with our group for a short time. What a great crew they were, very respectful and sort of in awe of our huge group of riders. They hung with us as long as they could but we quickly lost them on their non-geared bikes. The city folks were apparently a great fan of spandex because there was quite a bit of cheering from the women we passed. We also rode by a Calypso band playing in the park in the city (Bloomfield?) and it was quite fun to wait for the light to turn green and for a moment pretend you are on the beach somewhere listening to some light and fun tunes without a care in the world. Ok, back to reality. This is where the ride starts to pick up and it’s pretty much a flat stretch of free for all back to South Windsor. Lots of jockeying for position and trying to hang on to the wheel in front of you. There was a lot of chatter early in the ride about the pace being so slow, after Glenn turned the speed on I didn’t hear much chatter at all behind me. We must have been screaming the last half of the ride because we still averaged 18.9 even with all the city riding. This ended up being a favorite ride for both Michael and I. Good times! – Jill

Riders: Rick, John Stockford, Glenn, Derryl, Jason, Michael, Jill, ?
We met up with the EMS crew (Derryl) at the Case Pond lot under dark and threatening skies. It seems like every ride lately we have been getting caught out in the rain. We decide to go for it because we all want to ride and start climbing as the rain starts to come down. The rain doesn’t last long and in the woods you can barely tell it’s raining anyway. We head up the blue, over the metal bridge, (we found Glenn here or more accurately - he found us!) up fern, down the tinti, over to the reservoir, back to the lookout, and back down to the parking lot. 2 flats – one of them mine. Other than the flats the ride is pretty fast and steady with one rider in the back suffering it out (can’t remember his name!) on a heavy bike and platform pedals. Classic Case ride. – Jill

October 5th 2008 the first annual Ashford Metric Century will take place. This event will benefit the Ashford Recreation Department.

Race Results

Race Results

Riders: Brian, Nicole, Will

Tonight’s ride group was very small, consisting of only the most optimistic/wishful bikers. The skies started off a bit cloudy but it was a pleasant 70 degree night. With only a few riders Brian was deemed our ride leader. We decided to try and stick to our normal roads but with no cheat sheet we couldn’t promise where we would end up. With Brian’s confident statement of “you can’t get lost in CT” we were off. It was a pretty easy going ride thru the fairly flat farm roads and we were so determined to get a ride in we gave only a few glances toward the sky. That was until we got about 45 minutes into the ride, at which point I don’t think any of us could keep our eyes off the almost black clouds surrounding us. With nervous glances we decided we were really pushing our luck and decided to start heading back at a quicker pace. The skies grew darker and darker and the winds started to pick up. Halfway back it was almost completely dark and we were at an all out sprint to try and beat the storm. There were a few drops here and there but with Brian encouraging “you can do it” we kept pumping our legs, determined to beat the storm to Vernon Cycle. We were 5-10 minutes short of Walgreens (intersection of Dart Hill + Talcottville Rd) in Vernon when the skies opened up and started pelting us with huge rain drops while lightning filled the skies. Defeated…but now just trying to get back safely, we hopped onto the rail trails to stay clear of cars and to get some protection with the trees. We all finished safe and soaking wet with 18.8 miles tucked under our belts (15.9 mph average). That’s the biking spirit!!! –Nicole

Riders: Brian, Keith, Nicole, Steve, Jeff and Ausher (spelled right??)

Monday was the perfect day for a nice 30 mile bike ride (average 15.8 mph). It was finally warmer then 55 degrees and the wind wasn’t trying to knock us over. We were lead by the lucky Keith (don’t worry you can follow, not lead, next week) who started us off on some nice hills that felt like they went on…..and on….and on. After awhile I was starting to wonder if I would make it even half way thru the ride but then we were lead down some pretty flat roads for a nice recovery. This is where a few of us had the interesting experience of hitting a crazy squirrel who decided to play chicken with the group. He hit my back tire and then after a beautiful spin decided to try it again only to then be hit by another rider’s tire. That’s when he decided to high tail it out of there and went scurrying home. Hope you’re okay little squirrel!!! We had one other mishap of a flat tire, which allowed us to get to know some of our new riders from the West coast. The ride ended with a few more hills, to challenge even the most determined rider, although Keith made it look easy. I think we all had a nice time and can’t wait for next week. — Nicole H

To start with, what an absolutely Great Event! This event was so well managed and coordinated; I even had the ability to test their support system. From the time that I arrived, everything went very smoothly from registration to where to go to get ready and lining up. Channel 3 news was there to cover the event and I believe there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 or more riders participating in the 100 mile route.

I ran into quite a few riders that I have met over the past few years at other rides as well as meeting some new riders, so there were plenty of folks to talk with. A fairly large group of us, somewhere around 20-25 wanted to take advantage of the absolutely great weather and mostly flat course to see if we could push the upper limits on avg. speed over the 100 miles. We rolled out together and quickly moved to a pace line taking turns up front, before I knew it, we had gone 80 miles averaging 22MPH.

This is where I had the opportunity to test the support system! I had a little mishap and ended up with a demolished rear wheel and so ended my MS tour at the 80 mile marker… the SAG support was great and easy to get in touch with, I hooked a ride back to the start/finish area for a massage, burger and good conversation with the many riders I met throughout the day. I ran into Garth, Andria, Jesse, and Natasha and it sounded like the others doing the 50 had a really good time as well! I encourage everyone that can to try this event out next year; I know I am definitely going to be there again.

Cliff was with us on the 100 as you mentioned, I spotted him and introduced myself on the ride we chatted it up for a bit, very nice guy.

Thank you and Nerac again for providing the opportunity to participate in this event, I had an absolutely great time!

Oh - side note, there was a motorcycle event coming down route 5 with 100’s and 100’s of motorcycles and a huge police escort… I was at the front of the group at a light waiting to turn and one of the guys riding by gave Nerac a huge yell out! Amazing to see how many folks recognize the name! Good “Brand” recognition!

–David H