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Until I figure out how to make this a hyperlink, you might have to cut and paste it.

Thanks for your help.

Longest Ride Yet

The Club of Sevens has raised the ante after our picturesque 50 mile loop. The day, the ride, the weather, the group, simply could not have been better. In attendance were the regulars, Neil Doshi (still leading with a 100% attendance rate), Rob Vandermark, Jenna Weikerth, and Graham Dimmock. Keeping my goal alive we had not just one new addition but THREE.

Newcomer #1
Wayne Maceyka:



That’s Wayne on the right, clearly Wayne is pretending to hold a bowl of chips and salsa while Neil demonstrates how to eat them. Wayne is a good friend of mine and of Seven Cycles and it was a pleasure to have him along. He also likes to blog: http://www.renewacycle.com/ check it out.

Newcomer #2
Jake Bridge:



Jake showed up on his most recent build, a beautiful Axiom Steel fixie. Jake is our IT whiz and commutes to the office from Lowell. Could he keep up on a fixie? Turns out he had to back it off a bit. The leather fender flaps are surely mint to those who appreciate fenders, I wouldn’t understand. As a side note, Jake, like me, is a lover of tamarind.

Newcomer #3
Denise Caruso:



I knew Denise was going to tear it up long before she showed up for the ride, after all she is a born and raised a Nutmegger just like me. Hailing from the ‘Shire, she is no stranger to beautiful cycling roads. She was test riding an Axiom as she is in the shopping phase for her first Seven, a fine position to be in as far as I am concerned.

Newcomers, welcome to the club.

Eight strong, we headed out of the parking lot on the way to Concord. I’d guess it was 73 degrees, just enough to get a nice farmers tan base to build on for the rest of the year.

Here is the Nagog loop:


If you would prefer to call this loop the "Second grader's rendition of a withered old man with a large nose tripping over his tangled legs loop" that's fine, but I'll continue to call it the Nagog loop.

Heading out:



Every ride I say the same thing, “I’m going to wait and take pictures once we get to Concord or further where it’s more scenic.” However, I have been forgetting. This trip I did a little better, but still not great. What I like most about the pictures though, even when I do a poor job, is that in every case, people are smiling. See for yourself:



But the best smile? Your number one participant, Mr. Neil Doshi himself:



Priceless. Surely that smile has won some awards. Why wouldn't we be smiling? The sun was out and we were logging miles. Heading out of Concord we rode past Nagog Hill Orchard:



Then around Nagog Pond:



If only we were drinking egg nog, or near a bog, or saw a frog, or even listening to the Troggs,



then we really could have had some fun but unpredictable rhymes.

We headed back on 225 to Bedford, passing parades and patriotic folks all along the way. Once we got back to Belmont, we parted ways. When the smoke cleared we had done around 52 miles and averaged about fifteen and a half miles an hour.

The Club of Sevens is starting to take form, come join us:


See you soon.

Memorial Day is Looking Good

What time do we meet?



8:30 AM tomorrow morning at Seven Cycles' parking lot. The temps are supposed to be in the mid to high 70's, let's take advantage.

See you soon.

Caption that Photo!

This week’s rendition of the photo caption contest starts now!



The prize this week for the funniest/only entry will be a Chunky Candy Bar. I will also be participating in hopes to win that candy bar!



Enjoy the weekend, see you on Monday morning, 8:30. Wayne Maceyka is on board.

Fresh New Route!

Quick update on Monday's Memorial Day Ride, Jenna Weikerth:



Has plotted a new course. I don't know all of the details yet, but I believe we'll be out in Acton, Carlisle, Bedford, etc. Pretty area, for the most part. I can't wait.

More to come.

Winchester Loop

Short and Sweet ride on Tuesday morning. Cold enough to wear "tights," long sleeves, gloves, a hat, and of course a mint pair of shoe covers. I say "tights" because I learned this morning that my tights aren't really tight. In fact, they were flapping in the wind which is surely the reason Joe Wignall and Neil Doshi sailed passed me on every down hill. Pitiful. Maybe someone is having a close out sale on tight tights, or will be soon. Anyone? Anyone?

We met up at the coffee shop and headed out just before 7:00 AM. The route was undetermined so we opted for the often traveled "Winchester Loop" which has a nice moderate climb and two lovely downhill's. Just lovely. Of my five goals, one was achieved this week in that we had a new rider, actually two join us for the ride, Joe Wignall:



This is typically how you see Joe on a ride, from the back.

and Graham Dimmock on my right here, but I wouldn't say this is typical:



Both proved to be more awake than I was. Completing the group was Jenna Weikerth, Rob Vandermark, and the aforementioned Neil Doshi. Neil still leads with participation having not missed a single ride.

Action Shots:





And a look at Joe's mint deep dish rims:



What's not so nice about this loop, is that it's 10 miles long. Yup, it was pretty quick. For extra credit Joe, Graham, Neil, and I went up Spring Street in Arlington, aka the Water Tower. Joe won the first King of the Mountain challenge although no one gave him a real test as we were too tired. As I mentioned we had just rode ten miles.

Next week's ride, thanks to Memorial Day has been pushed to Monday. See you then!

Change of Date

Thanks to a light rain and a minor plumbing issue, the ride was cancelled on Sunday. What makes it even worse, was that Stephen Jablonski showed up!



Had I known, I would have been there. Sorry Steve. I hope this won’t reduce your cookie deliveries to the Seven office.

So last week’s ride has been pushed off until tomorrow morning, 6:45 AM at Jam N’Java in Arlington Center. Trust me, 6:45 AM will not be the new trend in the Club of Sevens group rides.

Head Count as of 6:00 this evening:
Joe Wignall
Rob Vandermark
Jenna Weikerth
Mike Salvatore
Me

Hopefulls?
Neil Doshi
Ian Sutton
Ray Allen
Eddie Vedder


I reassembled the bad boy ID8 for comparison purposes to the ISP. With exception to the shiny silver braking surface of the rims, I’m not sure how this bike could look any sicker. See?



See you tomorrow, bright and shiny. If I’m not there by 6:45, just keep waiting.

Mother's Day Ride

This week’s loop was the same, but our pace combined with a head wind in every direction, made for a more challenging ride. Making matters worse was Ian Sutton, one of our scrapping machinists, who showed up ready to increase our average speed. Not only did he make us ride faster, but he did so on a brakeless fixed gear bike with a differential somewhere in the teens.

Ian, Jon Henig, and Rob Vandermark were newcomers to the group and put on an impressive display.

Henneg:

I show up with deep dish rims and a pair of mint arm warmers.

Henneg? He shows up with a picture perfect pedal stroke. While he didn’t ride his fixie on this particular ride, it’s clear he has spent plenty of time on one.

Sutton:

Ian is nearly 6’5” and tips the scales at just over 78 pounds. What does this mean to me and you? It means he can ride a fixie faster than you can ride a geared bike. It means when Neil sells him a road bike, that we are done for. It means we’re going to have to come up with new routes that he is unfamiliar with to prevent others from being lapped. It means he can clean the lights in the production area without using a stool to stand on. It means he weighs about 1.012 pounds per inch. But most importantly it means you won’t feel too bad when he tears up the hills and out of sight because after all he weighs 78 pounds.

Vandie: Rob opted to rock the silver and black V∙II from our demo fleet. It occurred to me, like two trains coming together on the same track, why all of our demo bikes are roughly Rob’s size. Smart fellow. While I don’t know Rob’s background in riding bikes, I remember hearing from someone that he used to ride a lot, and was a gifted mountain bike racer. I don’t know how long ago that was, but you can tell when he pushes the pedals that he’s got some calves to back up the stories.

We left around 8:30 as planned and headed to Weston. Now, last time we rode I was the only one who knew the loop, so this time I was glad to have Neil along to help lead the way. This way I thought, when Ian took off I could hang back and let Neil show him the way. This was not the case. Not only could Neil not remember the route, he made the same wrong turns as the week before. But who could blame him, it was windy and we were starving. Before I had even started paying attention we were at the Campion Center mowing down a bag of Clif Blok Shots. For those of you who haven’t had a Blok Shot, I’ll give you a quick review:

Clif Lemon Lime Blok Shots:

I should start off by qualifying myself and my taste buds. I love energy/power food. I strongly believe that GU in the “Just Plain” flavor is the greatest flavor ever developed. A shot of Gu followed by a plasticy blast of water bottle water is simply scrumptious. I love it. I crave it. When PowerBar was a new product I was working in a shop in Wallingford, CT called Alpha Lo Bicycles. I was in 6th grade and had my dream job working at the coolest shop in town, maybe even the state. One of the owners, George Dickerson or maybe his wife Sahala decided to cut up a PowerBars into sample sizes for patrons to try. There was a whole plate of them. Malt, Chocolate, Apple Cinnamon, they were all there. By noon I had eaten the whole plate. I tried to deny it but was bouncing off the walls with energy. I’ve been hooked on energy food ever since.

On to the review.

Clif Shot Bloks are rubbery cubes of delectable-ness. The consistency was best put by my buddy Fernando who, upon eating his very first one, said “It’s like eating an eraser.” He’s right. It’s like putting one of those erasers you were forced to use in elementary school when you pencil eraser was worn down to nothing but your pencil was too long to throw out, in your mouth. Take that eraser and make it taste like the very nectar of heaven, and you’ve got a Lemon Lime Blok Shot. Whether it’s a placebo or for reals I do think they provide a fifteen to twenty minute delay in hunger which may or may not be considered energy. Speaking from experience, I would only recommend eating two squares in a day. During a particularly long ride (http://www.berkshirecycling.org/rides/greylock.php) I found myself completely out of gas, alone, and left with nothing but a bag of Shot Bloks. Coincidentally I was pretty confident that in order for me to finish the ride I would need the energy of roughly one bag worth of Blok Shots. So, I ate them, two at a time until they were gone. I could barely breathe, the erasers filled my mouth and throat, I was gasping for air. I drained what little water I had left, but it wasn’t enough. The ensuing gut ache was something out of a Wes Craven movie. The gurgling sounds were deep and constant. How I lasted the remaining sixty miles is beyond me. Perhaps it was the energy from the bag of Blok Shots.

Black Cherry is another recommended flavor. They don’t replace GU, but they are a welcome change and a totally different consistency. Go out and get yourself a Blok Shot and see for yourself.

Back to the ride.

After a brief stop at the Campion Center we were off to Wayland and Sudbury and enjoying the scenery. Twenty minutes of Blok Shot induced energy later and we were starting to re-develop a hunger. Walden Pond came and went and we were cruising down Walden Street racing to the Main Street Market and Café.

I ordered up a Banana Chocolate Chip muffin and a large lemonade. I’d review the muffin, but truth be told, it was pretty average. The lemonade hit the spot. Two stories came out of the breakfast stop that are marginally entertaining.

#1: Breakfast Sandwiches. The sign at the store says “Breakfast Sandwiches,” but gives no hint as to what that means or how much they cost. This is a red flag for me as I typically look to get in and get out of any situation that involves me prancing about in spandex. Neil however, was up for the task. Their conversation went something like this.
ND: Do you have breakfast sandwiches?
Shop Keep: Yes.
ND: Hmm that sounds nice. Do you have a sense of what the flavors might be?
SK: Well, if you have to ask, we have bacon, egg, and cheese. Sausage, egg, and cheese. And ham, egg, and cheese.
ND: I’ll have a pistachio muffin and an iced coffee.

This made me smile. Let the record show that the employees at the Main Street Market and Café are nothing but the nicest people and happy to help. It’s just odd how mysterious the breakfast sandwiches are. Plus Neil has a funny way of asking questions which added or the fun. Perhaps you had to be there? I also learned that we pay our machinists big bucks, check out how Ian rolls:



"Keepin' the big ones on the outside," as they say:



#2 Flat tires. So there we are, the five of us eating our breakfast in the alley between the market and the shoe store, basking in the sun. As you probably already know Concord is a hub of cycling activity so it’s not uncommon to see several bikers pass by, if not join you in the alley for a snack. This day was no different. While we slurped down our beverages a married couple pulled in for a snack and to fix a flat. I asked if they had all the tools they would need for the fix, but it was clear that not only didn’t they have the tools, but they wouldn’t know what to do with them if they did. Not to worry, we had a boat load of tools, tubes, and pumps to remedy the situation, plus it was mother’s day so we were happy to donate a tube to the mom in need. They were grateful for the tube and pump but appeared poised to fix the flat on their own. I backed off and refocused on my banana muffin. A few minutes later we heard the tell tale sigh of a husband who just popped his wife’s second tube on Mother’s Day. Not a problem, Ian donated another tube to the cause. While we giggled and ate, Vandie, as usual, saw the bigger picture and realized that if we (he) didn’t fix the flat, it was possible that we could be there all day letting the over matched husband work on the flat. So there we were, the kids of the company laughing away, eating, joking, and glad to be among friends, while El Presidente himself fixed the couples flat tire.



They said they might stop by for a tour of the company some day to thank us, but judging from their frustration of the flat tire, they might think twice before ever riding a bike again.

After breakfast we jumped back on the bikes and tried to catch Ian once more. We tore past the Hanscom Air Force Base passing several other riders before jumping on the battle road up over to Lexington. From Lexington we formed a pace line and cruised all the way to Arlington Center at about 23 mph. That’s about 8 mph faster than I am comfortable riding for an extended period of time.

Here's me at 23:



Ian, Neil, and Henneg all looked like they were just getting started, much to my dismay.

We broke up at Pleasant Street and went are separate ways home.

Thanks again to Jon Henneg and Ian Sutton for their maiden voyage in the club. Thanks to Neil for his continued support. And a very special shout out to Rob Vandermark for coming along. He might not have been thinking about it while trying to keep up with Ian in the constant head wind, but he and his company are responsible for introducing me and everyone else to the fun people I get to work and ride with every day. The Seven Cycles family, past and present, are some of my favorite people in the world. Come along and find out for yourself.

I have decided to set a few goals for the Club of Sevens to keep things interesting:

#1 One new rider every week. Next week I am hoping to get Wayne Maceyka to join us. I haven’t seen him in a year but thanks to email and texting I feel like we are as close as ever. For those who don’t know him, you are missing out, he’s as genuine as it gets. PLUS he can recite “Real Men of Genius” commercials.

#2 We will get a minimum of ten rider to participate in the annual Kancamagus group ride. Details and dates to come.

#3 To solicit feedback from riders in the form of “guest entries” on the blog. This way you can see through my lies and determine just how fun the rides really are.

#4 Better photography and videos. This is a work in progress, but something I am interested in improving.

#5 Caption this photo contests, episode one



That’s all for now, see you Sunday.