Think Pink

When the going gets weird, the tough put on Burberry scarves. Its been pretty bananas out there. Not gonna lie. Ronde recon this year has been pretty gonzo. I mean who wears (and loses!) a $300 Burberry scarf in the woods for a hike? Only in the 'burbs. Only in the 'burbs. Same 'burbs that gives you $300 fine cashmere scarves gives you broken tvs and 20 foot graffiti penises...So be on your game okay? Ronde is this Sunday. All the latest info is on Rosey's blog.. Check it daily so you don't miss out on something. Or at least check it Friday before the race. The course will be blazed with pink ribbons. We have done a really thorough job. We will try and spray can some arrows on the road sections but the whole getting arrested thing may limit that a bit. Why can Verizon spray can the shit out of my neighborhood and its "ok" but I feel like a vandal spray canning a little arrow?

Check Rosey's strava it will have the actual route. But basically its Washington Square Tavern-Skyline Park in Brookline-Cutler Park in Needham-NTF-Ridge Hill-Aquaduct in Wellesley-Wellesely College-Central St in Wellesley. Take the Marathon route to Cliff rd. Cliff Rd to Oak street.Oak Street to Fields Pond rd. Through the woods by Weston reservoir pop out and cut across ash into the woods again and over to Regis. Wellesley Street to School Street to Church Street. Find the Weston Rail Trail. Haul ass down that to Lincoln. Find Lincoln road. Take that across 117 and over to Concord. Get to Walden Pond. Go into the woods in before Walden right across from Baker Bridge road. Haul ass to Concord. Hop onto the Bedford rail trail to Beddy. Then it gets fun. All through Lexington over the top of Belmont. Then haul ass back to Brookline. You get the idea by now. Lots of orienteering with dashes of hauling ass. I would say its 70/30 dirt to road. The first dirt sector is probably the most mountain bikey. Cross bikes. Steer clear of road bikes. File treads could work but I would go with a knob up front.

You WILL get lost. This is a bandit race. We did not rake the trails. Be prepared for adventure! If the shit hits the fan which it will just take a deep breathe and improvise. You don't have to do exactly what is on the "cue" sheet. This is just as much a cannonball run as it is a Ronde. If you get kicked out of an area or super lost just get to a road sector and find the next dirt sector. Maybe you will find a new section we can use next year!

You might stop and eat. Wellesley and Concord are good restock spots. We have an aid station p/b Hammer Nutrition. Bring plenty of tubes and $10 per rider. All proceeds go straight to Bikes not Bombs. We will have a kick ass party and raffle after the Ronde at Washington Square Tavern! So stoked to see all of you Sunday! Hup! Hup!

Oh we have a few Strava KOM sectors. We will have some prizes for them. So bring a Garmin or superphone and Strava this bad boy. Rosey has some nice prizes check his blog for the details.The KOM and QOM will also receive a pair of Lion of Flanders socks for their efforts. I would like to add my own personal windmill Powell's Island in Cutler. I had that KOM and plan on getting it back. Sub-3 minutes gets the current KOM. It would be interesting to see how far it could come down. Obviously be careful. We don't need anyone getting hurt in Cutler or anywhere else hunting KOMs...it will be a Sunday and bird watchers pretty much have no clue that anyone other than them "uses" the woods.