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My 16th consecutive monthly century was as enjoyable as the others. This time I believe I did more miles on dirt than in the past. The Strava total was low as I can never seem to keep the thing running accurately for 16 hours. My old-school magnet-pulse computer is reliable and says 109.3 miles at 9.64 mph.
The first 25 miles or-so was on dirt. Much of it in the
Quabbin reservoir, and some on
Trustees land, including four miles of rocky single track I usually mountain bike on. The Quabbin consists of seven villages the state took by eminent domain and flooded in 1938 as Boston's water supply. So there are a lot of roads that once saw cars, now preserved in time. (Some of them are paved)
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This is a bit of the single track I usually ride on my trail bike. Riding this rigid 26" steel bike through these rock gardens reminded me of what mountain biking used to be like.
I first starting riding this particular trail in 1985. I've muscled many now-ancient bikes over these rocks.This Surly Trucker's bottom bracket is way too low for this.
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It wasn't all dirt. The other 60% or-so of the ride was on old farm roads like this:
That's the French King Bridge over the Connecticut River in Erving, MA. The bridge I'm standing on is where the Miller's River empties into it.
I wore my chest strap HRM just for yuks. I thought it was pretty good to have spent more than thirteen hours up over 60 percent max heart rate. (The three hours unaccounted for on the wrist unit would have been below zone one).
This is an old garage that has fallen down around an old truck.
