The Pain in the Mass Tour

 



Cool start to a long day

Day 1 of The Pain in the Mass Tour.   Looooong day in the saddle. 115 miles and over 8 hours and the hills were very tough and there were many as evidenced by 9500 feet of climbing. I am not a very good climber and as usual  Wachusett Mountain kicked my a$$. As part of this tour the climb up Wachusett was a timed event so I tried to give it my best to see how quickly I could reach the summit.  I tried to stay conservative on Mile Hill road (which I think is the toughest part of the  climb) but failed.  My heart rate was soaring and I knew it was going to be a slow ride to the summit.  I reached the summit and went through the timing mat and was smoked and had to get off my bike for a few minutes to let my heart rate slow down.  I couldn't stay to long as it was a little chilly atop the mountain. With that climb done it was on to Greenfield, MA via the Quabbin Reservoir area and the endless hill in Shutesbury, MA.  I have ridden The King's Tour of the Quabbin century before so I knew what to expect.  At this point in the ride I was just ridding easy and enjoying the view.  I must say that I am a little burnt out from the Ironman training and the 7 Mile swim the weekend before so it was time to smell the roses.  Once I reached the top of Quabbin it was pretty much down hill from there.  The route took us through Amherst, MA and through the University of Massachusetts campus.  I had never been there before so it was nice to see.   Once through Amherst, we followed the Connecticut River in to Greenfield, MA and Greenfield Community College and our day was done.   The event organizers did a great job having every detailed planned when we arrived.  Our bags we already in the hotel room and they had three 3 Massage therapist to provide relief to sore legs.  Then to top off the day, a nice pasta dinner to refuel for day 2. 

Climbing Wachusett

 

 

Day 2 of Pain in the Mass Tour. Wow what a difficult day of climbing. I have never seen hills like the hills I saw today. Today was a shorter ride but definitely harder.  Right out the door with no warm up after less than a mile, 3 miles of 10-12% grades. That will wake you up and the rest of the day was about the same.  It was like the event organizers searched and found some of the steepest hills in western, MA.  To me the toughest and most challenging part of the day was the half mile climb of Reservoir Road in North Adams, MA just before we  get to Mount Greylock.  It was so steep, I had to stop halfway and almost did not get out of my clip on pedals.  That hill was a bitch and we still had Greylock which at 3491 ft. is the state's tallest mountain. We ascended via Notch Road in North Adams which is the steeper of the two paved roads to the summit, with hairpin turns and some very steep sections in the first half of the climb I had to swerve back and forth to get up some them. As you can see from my average speed for the day (13 MPH) it was a tough day.   At the end of the day the views on top of Mt Greylock were awesome and we got some good group photos. 



I made it!

Beautiful Backdrop

Check out the Devil from the Tour de France

 

 

This event was for a good cause, The Home Away Fund and I want to thank all who made donations.  Your caring and generosity are always appreciated.  This ride is a very professional run event. Having ridden across the country, I have to say this was one of the most challenging rides I have ever done. I encourage everyone to give it a try next year. The best part of the ride is support to the home away fund. Thanks to Peter Femino and crew and all the volunteers for a great weekend.