Colorful Country Collage & ME Seacoast - October 26, 2016

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 26 October 2016, Colorful Country Collage & ME Seacoast rides & LUNCH
Ride Leaders:  Joanne Samuels & Ken Hablow
26 & 48 miles, 10:30 am starts from Joanne's house, Portsmouth, NH

Riders - 30 mi (12):  Joanne, Bob Anderson, Carol Anderson Dale Ferguson, Don Mannes, Susan Sabin, Tom Lucas, and first-timers Jackie Terkow, Jane Harrington, Kathy Paradis, Lillian Hurn, and Peter Terkow.  

Riders -48 mi (9):   Ken, Bernie Flynn, Bob Wolf, Curt Dudley-Marling, Dom Jorge, Francie Sparks, Gene Ho, Julie Dodd, and Russ Keene.

Present at ride start & lunch:  Helen Greitzer.

Present at lunch:  Karen Saltus.

The Wednesday short ride this week started at Joanne's house in Portsmouth.  We actually combined some of the members of the Tour de Tuesday group, that rides in NH on Tuesday evenings, with the Wednesday Wheelers to create a group of twelve.  After practicing a few times with the leader-arrow-sweep system, we were well on our way and stayed together without incident.  The weather was a bit on the cool side, with some wind.  However, the sun peeked through and warmed us a bit along the way.

We rode through the towns of Newington, Greenland, North Hampton, and Rye to make a lovely, fall thirty mile route.  The trees were just a tad past peak, but, with many of the trees losing their leaves, we were able to view the scenery which included Great Bay and large expanses of farmland.  The climax of the ride was when we came upon the glistening Atlantic Ocean from atop a slight hill.  The isles of Shoals were in perfect view.  Then we headed home through the town of Rye for more color, on streets with few cars.  There were no mechanical or other difficulties.

Once home, we gathered for three different kinds of soup and lovely salad and dessert contributions.  People stayed for a while to chat and reconnect.  It was a fun afternoon.  Thanks to Helen for warming the soup, so it was ready for us we returned, and to all who contributed such delicious food items.

Report by Joanne Samuels.

There was a chill in the air.  After all, this was the coldest day since last April.  With the temperature for the day hovering around 44 degrees and moderate amounts of sunshine, nine of us started out on a rolling 49 mile ride.  Once we crossed the bridge into Kittery we spent the next 20 miles along the coast up to Ogunquit.  We had a slight headwind and lots of sun along the coast to offset the temperature.

It was near low tide. The beaches were devoid of people. The long expanses of wet sand were quite beautiful and a bit eerie.   It was apparent that after tourist season all the public restrooms are shut down.  Leaving York Beach, we rode up to Ogunquit on Shore Road which is twisty and rolling.  We spied a great place by a pond, where we could get off the road and claim it a DPS (Designated Pee Stop) with a view.

The route back from Ogunquit took us inland on some very quiet roads with a few rolling hills, past the Stonewall Kitchen headquarters, and into a bit of Eliot, ME.  With the promise of a great feed of three homemade soups and assorted salads, combined with the fact we never passed a place to eat that was open, we made a short “lunch” stop so people could eat out of their back pockets.  Okay, Stonewall has a great restaurant, but we wanted to get back in time to miss the afternoon commuter traffic.

I have come to realize that we have two seasons in New England.  Southern NE has Winter and Construction.  That accounted for all the newly paved roads this summer.  The northern states have Construction and Summer.  We hit one single lane site in Portsmouth, going out and coming back.  The next one we encountered was the last turn to Nubble light.  Several of us got to this site before the others and there was a cop on a construction detail right at the turn.  I stopped to ask her if she would direct the other riders in our direction - she laughed and was glad to do so.  Going into Ogunquit we came upon a Road Closed sign which we promptly ignored.  It looked like a water pipe installation and the right side of the road was a mess with lots of big equipment.  There was a large Caterpillar front end loader blocking the left side, but the driver nicely backed out of the road and waved us through.  Only in Maine.

With a small group, all compatible, we only used a few human arrows.  Thanks to Gene for sweeping, which was a good thing since with seven riders in red, one in blue, Gene stood out draped in yellow with a yellow helmet.  Along with his flashing headlight he was quite visible in my mirror.  As long as I could see Gene, I knew that he could see the rest of the riders and where we were going.  We did make a few regrouping stops at critical points.

Thanks to Joanne for the great spread she put out for the after-ride party at her house.

Report by Ken Hablow.

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Long ride photos courtesy of Russ Keene.

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Short riders at lunch (photo by Don Mannes)

Round the Res & the View from Fruitlands - October 19, 2016

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RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 19 October 2016, Round the Res & the View from Fruitlands rides
Ride Leaders:  Ken Hablow & Jack Donohue
10:00 am starts from Trinity Church parking lot, Bolton, MA

Riders - 46 mi (24):  Ken, Barbara Martin, Bob Apsler, Butch Pemstein, Cecilia Scimia, Curt Dudley-Marling, Fred Newton, Gene Ho, Jody Angevin, Julie Dodd, Kaz Zelny, Kimberly Wach, Larry Kernan, Lindy King, Marc Baskin, Mary Kernan, Michael Byrne, Ray Komow, Richard Lawrence, Rick Carlson, Robert Wilson, Russ Keene, Stanley Kay, and Tim Wilson.  

Riders -36 mi (19):  Jack, Adele Ferreira, Annemarie Altman, Ann Northup, Francie Sparks, Ilkka Suvanto, Jack Mroczkowski, James Hsia, Jeff Smith, Jim Whinfield, Patrick Ward, Rich Taylor, Richard Fortier, Roy Westerberg, Rudge McKenney, Selig Saltzman, Stuart Kaufman, Wing Chow, and Winnie Parker.

It doesn’t get any better than a Wednesday in mid-October at the height of fall foliage, with temperatures in the mid to high 70s, and a ride around the Wachusset Reservoir with a lunch stop at Rota Springs Farm at the top of a hill in Sterling.
 
We had twenty-four riders on the 46 mile ride. Several riders could not wait for the leader and went out ahead, right from the start.  For a while I was “leading from the middle” of the group.  This helped spread out the group so we were not all bunched up.  We were close enough so the “arrows” did not have to wait long.  After a tour through some back roads in Northboro, we hit the major climb at about mile 14. Although the next five miles were mostly uphill, there were a few welcome downhills.  The faster group of about six went on ahead.  The rest of us stopped at about mile 19 to regroup.  Since there were no major hills after that and everyone was compatible, we used very few arrows on the return.

We made a stop in West Boylston for water and stopped for lunch in Sterling where we were surrounded by bright foliage.  Several people were wowed with the “meatball special” and others pigged out on Rota’s great ice cream.  The ride back took us through some back roads in Berlin, with the last three miles being mostly “up,” but we were rewarded with a screaming half-mile downhill finish.

We had one mishap when a rider felt his heart rate escalate more than he wanted - he had the good sense to drop out early.  A later inquiry found him to be fine.

Thanks to Kaz for sweeping, even though, when we were all together, he occasionally swept from the front then dropped back to his assigned duties.  Although we did not need arrows during the entire ride, Tim gets the award for doing the most amount of arrowing.  Thanks to Jack for taking attendance on his very special WW Attendance App on his cell phone.

Report by Ken Hablow.

I once again volunteered to co-lead a ride I'd never been on, but, emboldened by my success last week, I figured it would be a piece of cake.  I was disabused of that idea quite early in the game.

Less than two miles into the ride I was confronted by a fork in the road.  Yes, I'm familiar with the famous Yogi Berra quote, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."  And so I did.  And again, at the next fork.  I was having an uncanny ability to make the wrong choice.  My phone navigation is pretty good at lefts and rights, but it doesn't say much about slight deviations that could potentially be the true path.  I could turn on the screen, which would show me the route outline quickly, but the rest of the actual roads would appear much later or not at all.  So I had to resort to blundering down one or the other road and comparing the little red line, which is where I was, with the little blue line, which is where I wanted to be.  Having unerringly chosen the wrong one each time, I would then have to stop everyone and order an about face.  Needless to say, this did not instill confidence in my followers.

Fortunately, there were a few others in the group with GPS, so we resorted to crowdsourcing the route, which seemed to work pretty well, and we managed the rest of the ride without incident.

It was a great day for riding.  Orange was the color of the day - between the leaves that had finally turned and the ubiquitous pumpkins.  We passed "Peach Orchard Farm" which could really have been called "Pumpkin Orchard Farm," since that was all that was in evidence, as was the case for every other farm we passed.

Finding a place to pee once again became an issue.  I was trying to hold out for indoor plumbing or even an outdoor portapotty, but there were mighty slim pick'ns.  At one point we spotted a church that looked promising - after trying the front doors unsuccessfully, Roy snuck around back and was gone for a while, so I suspect he accomplished his mission.

Wing got KOM points on the ride for blasting by the leader on every hill.

We had our obligatory photo shoot on Prospect Hill Road near Fruitlands.

The Harvard General Store was the designated lunch stop, but it was seven miles from the end and it was unclear to me what the plan was - to eat en route or return by car.  So I gave the troops the opportunity to eat first and return to the cars after lunch, or soldier on.  Being leader, I felt honor bound to lead my merry band back to the start, but I made sure that the diners had at least a vague idea of how to get back.

Francie stepped in as sweep, since Stuart elected to eat at the store.  I figured Francie's white jersey would be easy to spot, and checked for her periodically in my rear view mirror.  It seemed my party had gotten even smaller than I thought when I realized that the white jersey was not unique, there was another white jersey wearer in the group.

I started out with eighteen riders, but ended up with a lot less.  Several people opted for the twenty mile option.  The early eaters accounted for a few more.  The last regrouping was taking a while and the early arrivals were chafing at the bit.  Bolton was beckoning, so they took off.  I am confident that all my people eventually found their way home.

Thanks to Stuart and Francie for sweeping.

Report by Jack Donohue.

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Coordinator's note:  Photos courtesy of Rick Carlson, Russ Keene, and Jack Donohue.  See all of Russ Keene’s photos at  https://goo.gl/photos/sn9TYo3oCHBrznvo6

Short riders obscuring the view

You can see for miles

Not bad scenery in the parking lot

Circling Wachusett Foliage Ride - October 12, 2016

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 12 October 2016, Circling Wachusett Foliage Ride

Ride Leader:  Bob Apsler
Core Ride:  39 miles from West Sterling Athletic Field, Sterling,MA

Remote Start:  62 miles from Forbush Mill Road Soccer Field, Bolton, MA.
Optional climbs – see below (65 miles with all options).

Riders - 39 mi (11):  Dom Jorge, Doug Hobkirk, Ellen Gugel, Francie Sparks, Julie Dodd, Kaz Zelny, Pat Schindeler, Richard Lawrence, Rudge McKenney, Tom Lucas, and Winslow Green.
Riders - 62 mi (5):  Bob, Barbara Martin, Curt Dudley-Marling, Everett Briggs, and Gene Ho.

A perfect, glorious day of riding!  Sun + minimal wind + fall leaves near peak color + temperatures starting at 50 degrees for the remote starters and rising into the mid-60s + lovely routes laid out by Richard Vignoni = an ideal WW outing.

Challenging climbs warmed the self-selected riders, but failed to spread out the group more than a modest amount.  Many riders commented on the lovely route and riding conditions.

All but one rider enjoyed the exhilarating descent to the Wachusett ski area for lunch.  Her chain wrap required more than the usual tug and ended her riding.  Rumor had it that her husband planned on joining her for lunch, though he might have switched from motorcycle to auto in order to pick up the bicycle.

We ate the lunches we brought, sitting in the sun at tables behind the ski lodge.  Core riders waited for the climbers’ return, but justifiably grew impatient after a respectable delay and took advantage of the ride leader’s suggestion that they make their own way back to the start.

Thanks to Kaz for sweeping the core ride.

Report by Bob Apsler.

The remote start offered more of the same superb riding conditions and some other possibilities.

CLIMB TO THE VISITORS CENTER & BACK:  +2 miles (n=8) - Bob, Everett Briggs, Francie Sparks, Gene Ho, Julie Dodd, Pat Schindeler, Rick Lawrence, Tom Lucas.  Climbers who took advantage of this option benefited from a brief rest provided by the lunch stop.  Nevertheless, most of us needed our lowest gear for the entire mile at a reputed 9% grade.

CLIMB FROM VISITORS CENTER TO SUMMIT & BACK:  +2 miles (n=4) - Bob, Everett Briggs, Gene Ho, Rick Lawrence.  At lunch, Everett insisted that riding near Mt. Wachusett during the fall spectacle of color necessitates taking in the view from the summit.  Four riders succumbed to his exhortations and made the demanding trek to the summit.  The clear air and beautiful day easily justified the effort.

CLIMB BACK UP TO THE VISITORS CENTER:  +1 mile (n=3) - Bob, Everett Briggs, Gene Ho.  The summit riders had flown back down to the ski lodge to learn if any core riders remained.  Finding none, Everett persuaded two others that climbing back up to the Visitors Center would reward us with a descent superior to that followed by the core riders.  So back up we went.  And, in fact, we enjoyed yet another exhilarating descent at substantially high velocity.

Reports by Bob Apsler.

Not Carlisle - October 5, 2016

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RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 5 October 2016, Not Carlisle
Ride Leader:  Jack Donohue, assisted by Ken Hablow
33.3 miles from Bedford Depot, Bedford, MA

Riders (24): Jack, Ken, Andy Brand, Barry Nelson, Chuck McWilliams, Fred Newton, Ilkka Suvanto, Janet Miller, Jeff Smith, Lindy King, Mike Byrne, Patrick Brennan, Rich Taylor, Rick Lawrence, Robyn Maislin, Romaine Randall, Roy Westerberg, Selig Saltzman, Steve Bogue, Steve Maislin, Tom Allen, Tom Lucas, Veronica Vedensky, and Wing Chow.

Present at lunch:  Helen Greitzer.

Tom Lucas's good bike was at the bike shop for repairs, so he showed up on a single speed and elected to do the bike path instead and meet us for lunch.

Cameo appearance by Butch Pemstein, who discovered he had a flat and decided to abort.

Starting at Bedford Depot is always a problem, since the gathering place is not well defined.  I usually end up waiting at the circle of benches where there is a water fountain and bathroom.  People seem to congregate by their cars for some reason, and the only people to appear were Tom Allen, who rode up on the bike path, and Rick Lawrence.  Despite the fact that the ride announcement clearly said "Bedford Depot," many of the participants seemed to have fond memories of parking across the street next to Bikeway Source on a previous ride.  I spied riders over there and dispatched Tom and Rick to herd them over - their attempt was largely unsuccessful.  I was tempted to stand on ceremony and stand my ground until they came to me or hell froze over, whichever came first, but relented.  Tom reported a Ken sighting, so I called him and asked that he use his stentorian voice to tell the masses to get their butts over here.  That worked and, after collecting names, it was time to ride.

The group was a bit large, so I was trying to encourage people to break up into smaller groups leaving a gap between groups.  This has rarely worked in the past, since people, seeing a two second advantage by joining the group ahead, will blithely abandon their assigned group.  Ken, as usual, was looking for a faster group, so I let him siphon off the speed demons and do his own ride.  This left me with a manageable sized group, so the gap concept was abandoned.  In fact, however, we did have a bit of gap for most of the ride, with each group in sight of the next.  We needed few arrows, and those who assumed the position didn't have to wait very long.

I was going to do one of my tried and true routes, but instead I came up with a completely new route.  It could have been called the "One-third Century" ride since it came out to exactly 33.3 miles.  Or it would have if my little excursion down a short stretch of dirt road hadn't been outvoted.  The route probably had more new pavement than my "Smooth as Silk" ride and was pretty traffic free, the major obstacles being road construction and the lawn service van slalom course.

Robyn and Steve got to revisit their old house on Annursnac Hill Road.  Strangely enough, they don't miss doing that climb every day.

Most everyone on the ride went to Ken's Deli for lunch (not our Ken, another Ken), joined by about one hundred high school kids (don't they have cafeterias any more?).  I was envious of Jeff's beer, but I figured if I had one, I would definitely need a nap.  There was a Kaz sighting at lunch.

Thanks to Tom Allen for sweeping.

Report by Jack Donohue.

Ken led a breakaway group of eight riders at a more spirited pace.  With all the riders compatible, we never needed arrows or a sweep - we stayed together for the entire ride.  We rode at an average 14.3 mph pace and got back to Bedford at 12:30 pm. 

Report by Ken Hablow.