The Adventurous Life: Fleche 2016 Trip Report

This was probably the hardest of my 3 Fleches. At 233 miles it was similar length to the previous two, and the 12,000 feet climbing was only a thousand more than last year, though most of it was on two big hills--on Rte 119 just before NH and another heading east out of Keene.

At the start, Kickstand Cafe in Arlington, MA.

Mid-ride with Mt Monadnock in the background.

At the finish, Starbucks in Portland, ME.

The beginning of the ride was uneventful. We took the (congested) Minuteman Bikeway to Bedford, then Rte 225 to Groton, and then (congested) Rte 119 all the way to Winchester, NH roughly the halfway point of the B2VT ride. Fortunately, the riding was much quieter and more pleasant once we got off 119 and on the fine roads Darren found for us in New Hampshire.

Our original plan was to ride through all six New England States for a total of 281 miles and 15,000 feet climbing. We scaled it back to Plan B, which was almost 50 miles shorter, and still we barely finished in the 24 hours.

Original Plan: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/12840769

Plan B: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13466730

First we lost significant time due to a mechanical. Darren’s generator hub stopped generating soon after nightfall. While the rest of the team tried to diagnose and fix the problem, Phillip used the break to visit the Hancock Inn across the street and resolve some GI distress that had been bothering him since that bowl of chili 60 miles earlier. Phillip’s problem was solved, but not Darren’s. Fortunately, Martin had a backup headlight that he loaned to Darren (along with his helmet because the light mount didn’t fit Darren’s helmet). We had no way to recharge the backup light and worried that it wouldn’t last through the night, so we stopped at a mini-mart and bought a little flashlight to tape to Darren’s helmet if necessary. The backup light served its purpose until the sun came up but we spent precious energy and time worrying about our lights.

Phillip wasn’t the only one suffering; Emily had a cold that sapped her energy; Darren had his own bouts of stomach issues; and Martin (whose longest ride to this point was 150 miles) lost all ability to go fast a couple of times in the last 80 miles. With different people hurting at different points of the ride, we didn’t ride together as a group like we planned to. Fortunately, with a team of four we always had someone to ride in the back with the hurting puppy, while the other two rode at a Rippers Muffin pace (i.e., 14 mph) up the road. It didn’t save the team any time splitting up into a faster duo and a slower duo, but sometimes if you are feeling good it is just too hard to ride slow, so this seemed a reasonable compromise.

At times during the night we were riding at 8 mph when we had planned to average 15 mph. Our speed plummeted on the climbs, which we expected. Emily is the most experienced randonneur with multiple 1000k and PBPs on her resume, but her M.O. is slow and steady up the hills and then make up the time on the downhills and flats. This time, however, we weren’t making it back on the flats. When we arrived late to our control in Epping, NH, I doubted we would finish by our 9:30 AM deadline. We had about 6 hours to go the remaining 70 miles; over the previous 24 miles we averaged below the 12 mph necessary to complete on time.

We had a team meeting over Egg McMuffins and McCafé Shakes. We decided we would ride in a tighter group, all four together--more for psychological support than for reduced wind resistance--and would skip the next food stop in Dover. Our speed picked up and we gained 30 minutes by skipping Dunkin Donuts in Dover; so we were back on schedule as the sun came up. Then Martin hit the wall. We reduced speed to below 8 mph on the flats. We tried to talk to him, but he wasn’t making any sense. When Darren got worried that Martin couldn’t ride safely, he called a halt and we all lay down in a grassy field for 20 minutes. Surprisingly, that was all Martin needed to fully recover and we rode the last 20 miles faster than expected, finishing in Portland with 20 minutes to spare. We even had time for coffee at our mandatory 22-hour control, which came in Biddeford, ME as planned.

The sun is shining, we feel strong... all is right in the world.

Plus, we are only 19 miles from the finish with 2 hours to go.

So most of my photos are from this last stretch along the Eastern Trail.

Sure, Martin's all smiles now. You should have seen him a couple of hours ago.

We made it! 233 miles and 24 hours after we started, we arrived at the Starbucks in Portland, ME

Cheers to Team Fleche Rippers!

The reward for all that pedaling was brunch at The King's Head.

We had a great team and I am really pleased how we worked together and looked out for each other. Spending 24 hours with the same people can be trying, especially when everyone is exhausted or hurting, but we managed to figure out when to joke around, when to back off, and when to let a comment just slide. Reaching the finish together provided a great sense of accomplishment and I think we all look forward to riding together again.

Team Fleche Rippers

Darren Garnier was the captain. He took care of most of the pre-ride details: registration, transportation home, final route adjustments, finding the control points, and making sure RideWithGps didn’t steer us onto dirt roads and trails. Darren’s greatest strength as captain was his mid-ride adjustments. I tend to stick with the plan even when it isn’t working. Darren suggested skipping the last 2 food stops when we were behind schedule and bloated from all our previous meals plus on-the-bike food. Then he recognized when we needed that impromptu break in the field. Without these changes to the plan, we definitely would not have finished the Fleche in 24 hours.

Phillip Stern [me] was the Chief of Communications, sending out such detailed plans and preparation tips that the rest of the team just rolled their eyes. I also kept up a pretty steady stream of communication on the bike, which I think was appreciated, at least some of the time. Like last year, I was responsible for the beginning and end of the route, while Darren designed the long section in the middle. Like last year, Darren did a better job than I did at picking quiet, smooth roads. My choice of Rte 119 had heavy traffic in the afternoon, while Darren's route from Keene to Manchester was particularly pleasant.

Martin Hillion was the Fleche rookie. He is a regular and fast participant of the Ride Studio Cafe rides, but this was his longest ride ever, by 80+ miles. We rode together a few times prior to the Fleche in the NER 100km and the 200km. Martin also rode with us on the 80-mile Midnight Marathon, which was his introduction to night riding.

Emily O’Brien was the grizzled veteran, though in reality she was the youngest and only one not grizzled. But veteran for sure. She’s done something like 8 Fleches, some in Germany, most on a fixie. She was the youngest female to finish PBP. She has lots and lots of experience organizing and riding brevets. We were lucky to have her as a late addition to our team. In contrast to my overwrought description of ride above, Emily wrote, “I'd call it a pretty much uneventful (in a good way!) ride. But it was my longest non-fixie ride in about six years, and my third-longest non-fixie ride ever. So there's that. The bigger descents were more fun due to a freehub (duhh), but for the second half or so I found myself missing the fixie a little more.”

Pre-Ride

Preparing for the Fleche this year was once again an adventure in itself. For the first time ever, we had a full team of 5 riders on board. Then as we did some training rides together, we began to realize that we would probably only have 4 riders, since #5 was MIA, both from our rides and on Strava.

The Fleche may sound like a good idea over beers in March, but it's hard to put in the cold, rainy miles in April to prepare for the ride. Not only did we lose our 5th teammate, but an entire 2nd Ripper team disappeared. I give them all credit though for taking the first step and deciding to ride the Fleche, and hope they will make it to the starting line next year.

Then Team Fleche Rippers was further reduced to the minimum 3 riders. During our long training rides, we realized that the 280-mile 6 State ride was too ambitious. On the day registration was due, we all agreed that it made more sense to do the shorter 233-mile ride from Arlington, to Keene and Manchester, and on to Portland. But a week later, Rami decided he was only interested in riding through all 6 New England States and withdrew from the team. Instead, he would ride a shorter version of the 6 State route by himself, leaving earlier and finishing in Newburyport so he could take the commuter rail home. Surprisingly, he passed us in the night, while we were stopped in Hancock trying to repair Darren’s generator light. We met again at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester and squeezed into the same booth, because the diner was crowded with college students at 3 AM on a Sunday.

And yes, the waitress was ticked off that Rami grabbed a recently vacated booth

He soon crowded back into our booth, but the waitress gave him crap until he rode off into the night.

Another pre-ride headache was trying to nail down transportation home from Portland. Like last year, we had pre-paid reservations for riders and bicycles on the Downeaster train from Portland to South Station. Like last year, they cancelled bicycle service a few days before the Fleche. Last year we managed to get our bikes on a bus back to Boston, but this year we decided we didn’t want to deal with yet another stress point, so Darren and I shuttled his car up to the Portland Park & Ride on Friday morning. It was a great luxury to finish the ride, rack our bikes, and get our clean clothes out of his car. Thanks to Darren for giving up his car for a day, for driving us home after 24-hours of biking, and for not kicking me out of the car for farting in my sleep. I guess I slept through an amusing moment while Darren and Martin accused each other before realizing the smell was coming from the back seat. Oh well, that’s what happens after 24-hours of dried fruit followed by 4 or 5 pints at The King’s Head.

Post-Ride

Speaking of beer… I’ve been playing with a Six Brewery route for next year’s Fleche. I proposed the Six Brewery theme this year, but most people thought bikes and beers don’t mix. So when we stopped at our control in Keene--the Elm City Brewing Company Restaurant, Brewery and Pub--I passed on a pint and ordered water. My teammates decided we should split a sampler, so I joined in and couldn’t believe how good that 4 ounces of Elm City Session Ale tasted after riding 90 miles. Now I’m convinced that having more controls at breweries would make the ride even better, and probably attract more Rippers to our team.

4 oz looks pretty big during a long ride; it's all about perspective.

I thought about bags quite a bit during the ride, probably because Emily has a business making bike bags, Dill Pickle Gear. (Emily also asked for dill pickles at most controls. For those who don’t know, some randonneurs refer to dill pickle juice as “that magical elixir”.) Martin and I used Viscacha bags which are affordable and expansive, but they do cause the bike to wag its tail under hard acceleration. Darren used a trunk rack bag sorta like this, that listed drunkenly regardless of how tight he made the straps. Maybe we’ll use the prize money (ha!) and get new bags before next year’s Fleche.

I packed so much stuff (flat repair kit, tool kit, food, 1st aid kit, electronics cables and charger, extra clothes) that I filled the bag to its 14 L capacity and had trouble closing it. When the rain started in Manchester, I put on my rain pants and Ripper Thermal Jacket so that freed up space in my bag. Even though the rain started and stopped while we were at the diner, it got much colder and I left the rain gear on for the warmth it provided. I don’t think I will reduce my gear much next year; carrying extra food, repair equipment, and bandages is for emergencies, so I’m glad I didn’t use everything I carried. In fact, I will probably add to the load next year: a backup headlight, and a second battery pack.