Activity: road cycling
Location: North Hillsdale, NY > Great Barrington, MA > Amenia, MA > Copake Falls, NY > North Hillsdale
Distance: 51.0 miles (hilly)
Duration: 3:21
Weather: mostly sunny, 77-89 degrees
Avg HR: 140 (max 172)
Type: aerobic
A ride from the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival to Great Barrington, MA, then over Mt. Washington to Bash Bish Falls, Copake Falls, then back to the festival grounds in North Hillsdale. I didn’t feel great going into the ride, and had just established a nice clip when I experienced a rear tire blowout just outside of Great Barrington. Two fellow festival goers gave my rear wheel and me a ride back to G.B. so that I could purchase a new tire (I stashed the bike along the side of the road). Once back on the road (after a 45-minute break), I took it easy. I passed the site of the last battle of Shays’ Rebellion, and found that my planned route had some really loose dirt roads in its path. I diverted around said roads. The climb up Mt. Washington Road was good – my legs are in better shape this year. The heat became quite fierce by the end of the ride.
jank
30 July 2007 — 13:59
Loose dirt’s the absolute best on a road bike. Love it.
I’ve been amazed at how much better slicks handle on dirt than they did when I was a little kid; a revelation, really, and a way to channel the early days of the bike before pavement.
Grand Poobah
30 July 2007 — 14:35
Normally I wouldn’t be as averse to dirt – like you say, slicks aren’t terrible on dirt (though 700×23 tires knife in fairly well into loam, which is what a lot of this dirt was).
However, given that my front tire had a good gash in its sidewall (which I didn’t discover until the following morning), I’m glad I didn’t traverse the dirt. It could’ve been a long walk back to civilization.