I had a 100 mile weekend between Saturday's Cyclopath ride, (40 mile social pace to Stone Soup), and today's loop up to Annisquam, (61 miles, 85 degrees). Awesome.
Today, my solo ride through Cape Ann had me thinking of Manny and Sam all morning, as I headed up the hills through Gloucester and Rockport. There are some long hills near Pigeon Cove that Manny used to coach me up, and I can still hear him saying, "You got this.", as we climbed those hills together. I really miss him.
My mileage today almost mimics last Sunday's Rapha 100k, minus last week's climbing. I took side detours through Magnolia and Rocky Neck, and headed out towards Bass Rocks. It's my favorite ride. (I missed Lobster Cove on the ride because I stopped at Bearskin Neck for a long water break. I'll have to hit the cove the next time.)
The only drawback to the Annisquam loop is the slow ride through Rockport and hitting the eventual rotary in Gloucester. (Rotaries are already crazy in a car... it's true madness on a bike.) Fortunately today, I managed to squeak through the rotary without any problems. All of Gloucester was at Good Harbor beach. I know this because I passed the mile long line waiting to get into the already-full parking lot.
Great weekend for riding!
"Ride as much or as little or as long or as short as you feel, but RIDE" -- Eddy Merckx
