10/2 Saturday Ride

Good luck to everyone planning on doing the Dempsey Challenge and the Cadillac Challenge Century this weekend!

For those looking to join the Saturday ride this week, Jim will be taking the lead on a route out through Falmouth, Cumberland and Yarmouth (MapMyRide route).

9/25 Saturday Ride

The Saturday ride will be leaving at the normal time this week.

See you at the shop at 8:00am.

This week is a final jaunt before many folks head off to tackle the Dempsey Challenge or the Cadillac Challenge Century next weekend. Since the summer folks have all headed home, we are planning a long-contemplated route down through Old Orchard Beach and Gorham (MapMyRide route). While the route is shorter and flatter than the past few weeks, the hope is that we can take advantage of some long, uninterrupted sections to maintain a decent pace without the need for many stops.

Like the past two weeks, we do not have a specific shorter loop planned. However, since the ride starts by heading over the bridge, it will be relatives simple to break off and do some permutation of the Prout's Neck Loop (MapMyRide route).

9/18 Saturday Ride

Given the length of this week's ride, we will be starting a bit early and leaving the shop at 7:30. Plan on a chilly start to the day, with temps hovering just above 50° when we head out.

This week's route will be an 86 mile jaunt up through Raymond (MapMyRide route). In addition to the length, there's also a fair bit of climbing with a touch over 6,000' of total elevation gain. We will try to incorporate two stops along the way to provide people with the opportunity to grab a snack, but please plan ahead and bring extra fluids, some solid food and cash to cover any drinks or snack. Speaking of solid food, I got a fair bit of grief for bringing waffles the last time we did the Raymond loop. It turns out I'm not alone in considering them a great biking snack: Honey Stinger Waffle review.

Like last week there is no "normal" Saturday route planned. However, for those not interested in riding the full loop, there are several opportunities to break off and head back to the shop. We'll check in with people before we head out and figure out what makes the most sense.

For those of you looking to do more than 86 miles this week, the Loon Echo Hike n' Bike Trek, which claims to be the "toughest century ride in Maine," is this weekend.

9/11 Saturday Ride

After a great ride last Sunday, we will stretch things out a bit more this week with a jaunt up toward Brunswick (MapMyRide route). For those interested in a shorter loop that is more in line with the normal Saturday ride, there are several options, so we will work something out as the ride develops.

As for our plans on 9/18, we would like to get some feedback on the idea of starting at 7:30. With an 86 mile ride that includes over 6000' of climbing scheduled (MapMyRide route), starting early seems to make a lot of sense. Please drop me an email or leave a comment if you are either for or against a slightly earlier start. Also, before I get a deluge of responses that there is less than 3000' of climbing according to MapMyRide, you should be aware that MapMyRide significantly underestimates the elevation gain.

Fall is obviously a great time of year to bike around here, and there are a bunch of rides in the coming weeks in addition to the Dempsey Challenge and the Cadillac Challenge Century on October 3. Two local options worth considering are the Lighthouse Ride this weekend and the Loon Echo Hike n' Bike Trek next weekend.

9/4 Saturday Ride

- UPDATE -

Ride Moved to SUNDAY at 8:00am this Week

Thank you for all the responses. It was nearly unanimous that we move this week's ride to Sunday morning, so we will leave the shop on Sunday at 8:00am for the planned longer route through Cumberland, Falmouth and Yarmouth (MapMyRide route).

In the event that the weather moves through faster than expected and things dry out by Saturday morning, I will probably head to the shop since we are not sure how many people actually follow the blog. So, if it isn't raining steadily tomorrow morning and people show up at the shop to ride, I'm happy to do something relatively flat and easy in the 25-30 mile range (probably the Monday night loop going counterclockwise).

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First, thanks to Eric for stepping up and leading the ride last week. All reports were that it was a great ride.

The story for this week is Earl. According to the NOAA forecast, we are looking at a chance of showers and 15mph winds for Saturday. However, the weather.com projected track looks to have the storm somewhere right off our coast, which could potentially mean some seriously heavy rain and winds. Not that anyone would be likely to show up, but we are not going to have the ride in the midst of a tropical storm.

Ordinarily, we would head out in light rain and light winds and if there was no lightening anywhere in the area. However, since we have a fairly long ride planned for this weekend (MapMyRide route) and since this week's ride is part of a progression intended to help people prepare for the Dempsey or the Cadillac century rides, I am open to discussing the option of moving the ride to Sunday morning.

Please drop me an email and let me know if you would prefer to ride on Sunday. Not surprisingly, these pleas for input often go ignored, but please take the 10 seconds to drop me your thoughts. Since people need to know what we are doing, we will make the decision no later than Friday at 7:00 pm. Please check back here after then for an update.

As for the rest of the longer training rides, we will stick with the original plan:

• 9/11 - Brunswick loop (66 miles)
• 9/18 - Raymond Hill from Portland (86 miles)
• 9/25 - Old Orchard Beach (52 miles)