I must correct the “EPIC RIDE” from post from the other day. I couldn’t figure out what
part of the map I created was wrong but it was. The 48 miles seemed way too long and turns out it is.
In order to honor the “Carfreebrad Ethos” to maintain honesty the best I can, here’s the real ride that wiped us out on Saturday. I’ll leave it up to you whether I blatantly lied to make us appear to be real badass or just mistakenly almost doubled the ride.
The ride across town was especially slow this morning, my legs were just plain dead. I had no pop in the old thighs. At first, I was a bit surprised but then a figure it out. The answer is pretty obvious.
This past weekend I spent a great few days in upstate NY just a few miles down the road from the site of the original Woodstock. This area is a great and ripe with long winding country roads with CRAZY hills. Naturally, the only thing to do is bring the road bike and carve out at least one full day to head out into the country. With that attitude, the GF and I went out on Saturday. It was a great ride and tons of fun, until it wasn’t. I’m not too proud to admit that we bit off more than we could chew. Luckily, the crew we were with are great people, fellow cyclists and happily came to pick us up about 2 miles short of home base. Normally, I’d be embarrassed I didn’t push through and get it done but I’ve ridden that 2 mile stretch before and it’s the hardest climb I’ve ever done on my bike, it’s one of those stretched of road that you get tired driving up it!
Huge thank you’s are in order to Tori and Joel for coming to pick us up and to Stu and Ester for making it all possible. Layne, Meg, Rick, Kayla, Max, Will, Jack, Nora for a great Memorial Day weekend and most importantly to Maura for putting up with me and my antics. I’ve spent a number of these holidays at the house with this crew and no matter how many dogs, kids, random friends and/or wild animals we add to the equation, it’s always SO MUCH FUN!
In honor of the fact that I’ll be spending Memorial Day in upstate NY out in the wilderness with lots of wood to cut and I went on an EPIC bike thru the hills of the Catskills, this bike would be ideal right now!
I had a whole post written that talked about how exhausted I am and would keep things short and to the point. Well, when I saved it. It was gone.
So all you get is that my chain got stuck so I took my road bike today. It turned out to be great. Love my road bike and need to take it out for dedicated, non commuting, rides more and ASAP!
If you plan to be car free and like me have only the most basic working knowledge of bike
“Thunder Thighs” Strikes Again!
maintenance, you need a great bike mechanic friend. I was just ridiculously lucky that my buddy Will turned out to be a bike wiz and super enthusiastic to help and/or talk bikes. I don’t bring much to these conversations but I enjoy the hell out of listening.
Today was just another example of how important he is/has been/will be to my maintaining the CarFree lifestyle. Beyond things like my random flat and loose brake cables, which I’m pretty sure I could fix but lack some special tools and it would take me 
10 times longer, snapping a crank calls for this very specific skill set. Apparently, cyclists don’t snap cranks on a regular basis and add the fact that I’m riding a 30-year-old custom single speed Shogun(it’s a frame brand name, I think?) so I can’t just pick up a replacement part.
Having Will as a friend allowed me to shoot him a text, swing by his place and before I knew it I had a functioning bike again! So seriously, as soon as you start or before you ditch your car for your bike, GET A WILL IN YOUR LIFE!
Today was a big old DON’T! I had a accelerated finance class from 9am-5pm, my rain gear suffered a wardrobe malfunction, my glasses broke while resting on my head.
The straw that broke the bikers back was when my pedal went ahead a BROKE off as I tried to get through a treacherous rotary in Worcester. If you’re driving around Worcester, keep an eye out for my peddle as it’s being kicked around the rotary by Union Station.
I guess all these runs and squats are paying off. Seriously, how much thunder must be in these thighs to snap a pedal right off. Tune in tomorrow when I rip telephone books in half!
The fact is that I can’t answer that question. Sometimes when you get off the train and have 45 minutes to print your presentation at Kinko’s then get to the location and still haven’t had a chance to practice the presentation you’re about to give, you gotta’ dig deep and just go for it!
Sometimes when this type of situation crashes over me, I get into the Freight Farms Evangelical Presentation zone and black out everything else. The best way to describe it is through the majesty of Will Ferrell.
Put this on the list of things that I would have missed if I didn’t ride my bike everyday.
I saw a sign for this outside but it wasn’t until I had ridden past it about a thousand times that it finally stuck. And now it’s really happening!
That is the question I’ve been wrestling with all day. In the past 36-48 hours so many things have happened/are happening it’s completely overwhelming.
First, I had SO MUCH fun on Friday at Wheaton College brainstorming in the Computer Science Automation Lab playing with a variety of hardware, software, monitoring and automation components. It was the kind of session that only hunger could interrupt!
Second, Tough Mudder Challenge was great! 10 miles up, down and all around Mt.Snow
is pretty grueling in itself then add in all the obstacles that do a tremendous job of finding at least one if not many of your fears/weaknesses and exploit them. Thanks to the best team I could’ve imagined, everyone finished without any major injuries.
Third, we have confirmed the date of delivery for the Worcester Freight Farm unit for this week. Details will be released shortly!
Fourth, my summer plans will be determined(partially) today as I find out if Freight Farms has made it to the next round of MassChallenge!
Ok, that’s it. I can’t elaborate or think about the rest of the little things going on right now! The best part of it all is that it’s 65 degrees and sunny and I can’t wait to cruise home across town and take the long way home!
I don’t follow the draft and definitely have no clue past the first round but this Patriots 6th round pick out of OSU is a beast. Don’t take my word for it let the tape talk and not the BS football tape, this kinda’ clip gets your drafted.
And in case you want to route for this guy, there’s an emotional back story just to prove that this guys human and loved his dad.
