After a long, harsh winter in New England, I’ve been back on the bike. My Surly Long Haul Trucker is still in the basement on rollers, where it has been since December, but I’ve set up the New World Tourist for my outdoor rides. When I’ve ventured onto muddy dirt roads, the NWT drivetrain gets a little crudded up, since the medium-cage rear derailleur is close to the ground, but otherwise it’s a fine bike. I recently moved the handlebar bag off of the handlebar onto a Klickfix adapter that’s attached to the NWT stem riser, which makes the handlebar less cramped and the steering a little smoother.
I’ve been riding rollers all winter (except for the holiday trip to Michigan), but I haven’t been building up endurance on longer rides due to the snow and to my normal pattern of being overcommitted at work. My longest rides this year have been 30 and 33 miles. The 30-mile ride was on a rented hybrid in Charleston, SC—not the most comfortable bike, but the terrain was flat. The 33-mile ride involved a little climbing up to Leverett, including a couple of short steep (10-12%) hills, but no serious sustained climbs.
In short, I’m not sure that I’ll be ready for the Berkshire Brevets 200K on April 30. If I do want to try that, I need to get in at least a couple long rides, and ideally at least one of 80 miles. Whether that will work…we’ll see!
