Quabbin Bike Race

This weekend, Amber and I will be doing the Quabbin Classic Bike race which is a 64.5 mile race around the Quabbin Reservoir. I have attempted this race once before but it became one of only 4 times that I have DNF'd(See Vermont 88.6, Vermont 30 and Duathlon Championships for the other three). This will be Amber's first attempt and likely will have a far better outcome than I did.  The Quabbin Reservoir is the primary source of drinking water for Boston and has a bit of a storied history. In its creation, Massachusetts lost four towns which are now at the bottom of the reservoir. The buildings were destroyed but the cellars remain and you can trace old roads that once led to the towns right to the water's edge. I remember growing up to a scary story of a railroad worker who refused to leave and divers who are exploring Quabbin will still see him riding his train. Not even sure if there's train tracks remaining down there but as a little kid it was a scary story to think that people would be drowned so others could get drinking water. Nothing compared to being murdered for drinking water like in China Town.

Jack soon after a run in with Roman Polanski

So I made a mistake when I registered us for the race. I thought it was a Sunday race but it turns out that it's on Saturday. This stinks since it's the same day as Rich Lavers' Emerson Trail race that Amber and I were both excited about doing. It's unlikely that I will be able to figure out to be in two places at once so unfortunately this means that we will be missing the Emerson Trail race. However, this means you, yes YOU, need to go to show your support:)

So in preparation for this Saturday's bike race, I took my road bike out yesterday for the first time this year. After a few miles, I was just wrecked. I couldn't believe how hard it was to pedal. I knew that I wasn't in great shape but this was ridiculous! I was having to stand on every hill and was riding in my easier gear and STILL very tuckered out. After a few more miles, I finally got off my bike convinced that my brakes were rubbing. And lo and behold! They weren't. BUT... my wheel was. I had been riding my bike with my wheel inappropriately centered so the wheel had been rubbing on my left seat stay for the whole ride. Suffice it to say, after fixing that problem, the rest of the ride went considerably better. Still riding 64.5 miles at race pace is likely going to be quite difficult.

An illustration of what likely will be occurring when Amber passes me in the race-me holding on for dear life

The reason that we're doing this race though is as a nice race prep for Amber's following weekend race in St. George, UT. She will be competing in the US 70.3 Championships with 42 other pro females! It seems that every race this year just gets more and more stacked. As always I'm very excited to see just how well things come together for her and I am expecting good things. The Championships are on May 4th and you can follow her at ironman.com.