Turning 45

What's the most fun way to celebrate turning 45? That was the question S kept asking me all last week. My first idea was to head to the north shore with our kayaks, paddle out the Essex over to the front side of Crane Beach. A quick check of the tides, though showed that nature would be making our lives difficult - the timing of the tides was the worst possible. Scratch that option. Ok, how about sailing to some of hahbah islands? Weather was looking a little chilly to be out on the water. Not to mention the serious risk of S turning green out there. Not such a good idea.Only one thing left to do - long bike ride!

This weekend also happens to be the Fitchburg Longsjo bike races and Sunday was the downtown criterium. We picked that as our destination. The plan - ride out there, take a shower at the firestation, leave our bikes there, watch the races, then take the commuter rail home. Saturday night, PFFC came over for dinner, we pulled out the maps and planned our route.

The weather was almost ideal for cycling. Sunny, cool, but an annoying headwind. Can't have everything, I suppose. Started out wishing I had my knee warmers but after a few miles was peeling off the arm warmers as the sun started heating things up. The route we planned turned out to be great. Quiet roads, nice pavement and some fun hills as we neared Fitchburg. Only made one wrong turn but ended up on some nice roads because of it. "Meant to do that!" ;-)

The fire station in town was offering showers to the riders and racers so we took full advantage. The guys there were super nice offering us ice cold drinks, a perfect place to store the bikes, and even were sure to tell us where the extra toilet paper and soap for the ladies room/shower were. Even got to hang out in one of their lounge chairs watching tv while waiting for everyone to finish up.


I really enjoyed watching the races. I haven't done many crits and it was super interesting to see how much positions changed on every lap. I love XC mtb racing but I really do miss the tactics, strategy and boost you get from racing with teammates. Observing the races with S and PFFC, I also realized just how little real race time I've had. We were spectating from one of the tight corners. As the pack goes by there's lots of noise - riders yelling to one another, wheels running over loose manholes, the steady hum of the tires and chains. And then I heard one loud scrape. "What was that?" "Scraping pedal." says S. "Can't believe that guy scraped his pedal and didn't fall!" says PFFC. Apparently, they've been in that position way more than me. Second nature for them to recognize the sound. Me - clueless.

After watching the women's Pro/1/2 field race, we headed to the train station to catch our ride back. Found out they were running the special bike car on the route (typically it goes to the north shore on weekends). Who knew the MBTA was so with it and actually has a car outfitted to carry a bunch of bikes? I was so incredulous I had to take a bunch of pictures. And of course, we started planning our next ride to take advantage of the train. Next ride - Newburyport.













Finished up the day with presents, pizza and champagne. I like 45.