Assabet River Beach Bash - June 20, 2018

RIDE REPORTS


Wednesday, 20 June 2018, Assabet River Beach Bash
Ride Leaders:  Bill Lane & Tom Fortmann

39 or 27 miles, 10:00 & 10:30 am starts from Concord Town Parking Lot, Concord, MA

Riders – 39 mi (23):  Tom, Barry Kaditz, Bill Umphrey, Bill Wachur, Bob Apsler, Brett Serkez, Catherine Schroeder, Celia Donatio, Dave Balaban, Ellen Gugel, Herb Kavet, Jack Donohue, Julie Dodd, Kathy Horvath, Kevin Donnelly, Marc Baskin, Mike Byrne, Neil Martin, Ron Marland, Sandy Gotlib, Tim Wilson, Tom Wolf, and Wing Chow.

Riders – 27 mi (21):  Bill, Ann Northup, Bill Widnall, Butch Pemstein, David Kobes, Emily McPhillips, Harriet Fell, Ilkka Suvanto, Janet Miller, Jeff Smith, Jim Whinfield, Lisa Najavits, Nancy Schlecht, Patrick Ward, Robert Wilson, Robyn Maislin, Rochelle Holman, Sally Chapman, Susan Sabin, and first-timers Arnie Zaff and Joni Syrotick.

Present at lunch:  Steve Kolek.

39 miles - We traversed familiar Strawberry Hill and Newtown Roads, through Concord and Acton to Westford.  We then began climbing through Graniteville to reach the radars and radio telescopes on Millstone and Haystack Hills, with a view like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”  The weather was excellent, the pace brisk, and the only mechanical problem was a dislodged chain which was quickly fixed.

The return through Westford and Chelmsford included a special treat of freshly paved roads.  The only delays were another dislodged chain, requiring removal of the rear wheel (the first rule of a major chain malfunction), and a wait for a very long train. We arrived at Bill’s house shortly after 1:00 pm, more or less on schedule.

Thanks to Kathy who performed admirably as sweep, keeping the pack (mostly) together and reporting status to the leading group.  The sweep thanks all of the arrows, especially those caught on the other side of the train tracks.

Report by Tom Fortmann & Kathy Horvath.


27 miles - At the ride start, Ann Northrup announced that Winslow Green was having surgery that day. Winslow, a longtime PMC rider was co-founder of this Beach Bash, co-leading the ride for eleven years from Plymouth and Concord.  We all wish him well and the speediest of recoveries.

With the weather powers on our side, we set out on familiar roads from Concord, through Acton on Newtown Road, to the back of Nagog Pond. At this point, with our pace at a respectable WW average of 13.1 mph, we had regrouped twice and it became clear that one rider, new to the Wheelers, was slower than the rest of the group.  Ever the gentleman and now nominated for sainthood by the ride leader, Bill Widnall offered to take over riding with her separately, and to bring them both safely to lunch at our 1:15 pm ETA.  They arrived at lunch an hour later than the rest of us, full of stories of their epic journey up the new section of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, complete with pond visits, encounters with snapping turtles, and other wildlife wonders. Meanwhile, the short ride continued to a brief rest stop at Heart Pond and then headed back through quiet roads in Carlisle to Concord. There were no mechanicals.

Many thanks to those who arrowed and especially to Butch Pemstein for sweeping.

Back at our home, twenty-seven attended lunch, overlooking the Assabet River on a glorious afternoon.  We thank everyone for their extraordinary generosity.  We will be able to contribute $304 to the PMC, a record for this ride.  Finally, thank you to my wife, Connie, for her behind the scenes work in laying out the lunch.

Report by Bill Lane.

At Haystack Observatory

Aggie’s Ice Cream Ride - June 13, 2018

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 13 June 2019, Aggie’s Ice Cream Ride
Ride Leader:  Karen Saltus
33 miles, 10:30 am start from Kittery Lion’s Club, Kittery, ME

Riders (12):  Karen, Amy Ellis, Chuck McWilliams, Dale Ferguson, Dan Krechmer, Jim Goldberg, Karen Ontell, Ray Best, Rochelle Holman, Ron Marland, Susan Sabin, plus one unidentified rider.

We set out from Kittery on a gorgeous summer day.  We cycled along beautiful back roads, at times riding along the Piscataqua River and Great Bay.  Flowers were in abundance and there was very little traffic.  The group was fantastic about getting in single file on the few occasions when cars came along.

We arrived at Aggie’s about ten minutes before they opened and happily waited.  After a leisurely break, we looped around for a few miles before re-joining the route and heading back to Kittery.  The group stayed together for the first half of the ride, but heading home we felt a few raindrops, so some folks picked up the pace.  We ended up being sprinkled on all the way home, but, since it was still somewhat warm, we were not very uncomfortable.  Ten of us headed to Warren’s for a great lunch afterwards.

The leader notes that she should have emphasized the “human arrow” procedure before the ride, as several times no one stopped to arrow and the leader ended up becoming an arrow!

Thanks to everyone who made the long drive up to Kittery, and to Dale for sweeping the ride.  The leader and Rochelle re-connected after what they estimated was over twenty years of not seeing each other (we had previously been in the Seven Hills Wheelmen together).

Report by Karen Saltus.

Deer Island - June 6, 2018

RIDE REPORT


WED, June 6, 2018, Deer Island
Ride Leader:  Tom Allen
36 miles (in an urban setting with some interesting bike paths), 10:00 am start from Mayor Danehy Park, Cambridge, MA

Riders - (16):  Tom, Adena Schutzberg, Andy Brand, Bob Wadsworth, Butch Pemstein, David Fay, Don Mannes, Harriet Fell, Jeff Kushner, Jeff Smith, Jim Campen, Rochelle Holman, Stuart Kaufman, Susan Sabin, Veronica Vedensky, and Wing Chow.

The day started cool and gray.  A few of us were in long pants and all of us were wearing windbreaker tops.  Starting off through Cambridge and Somerville we rode to the current eastern end of the Somerville Community Path and took the ramp up to Lowell Street. This being the season for road construction, we detoured onto Trull Street and on up to Broadway.

We then pedaled along the bike path, sandwiched between Rte 93 and the Mystic River, where we saw a great blue heron and numerous black-crowned night herons.  Crossing the river, we entered the Mystic River Reservation where we encountered more construction.  Paths are being re-bedded and prepped for paving, forcing us to do a bit of dirt biking.

From the Wellington Station parking lot, we headed north and intercepted the Northern Strand Bikeway that brought us through Malden and into Revere.  Construction once again forced a detour on our way to Revere Beach, where we posed for the group photo. Meanwhile, Wing Chow who had missed the muster at the start managed to catch up just in time to be in the picture.

By the time we reached Deer Island, the sun appeared and some layers were shed.  The ride around the perimeter of Deer Island was very scenic and pleasant.  Only a brief whiff of sewage from the treatment plant met our noses as we achieved the appropriate alignment with the light sea breeze.

The return route brought us through East Boston and over a white-knuckle grid deck bridge to Chelsea.  The rather idyllic Commandants Way in the Admiral Hill section spit us out onto Beecham Street where we enjoyed the company of very large trucks and some moonscape-like potholes.  As we left this area we were able to get an up-close view of the new casino construction.

 The rest of the way back was uneventful and we lost a couple of riders along the way who sought more direct routes back to their individual homes.  Six of us enjoyed a Mexican lunch at Jose's, conveniently located hard by Danehy park.

All my warnings about urban riding seem to have brought out a hardy group that thoroughly enjoyed the ride and adventure.  We did the entire ride without arrows, keeping the group together.  Thanks to Stuart Kaufman for serving as sweep and keeping us safe and in tow.

Report by Tom Allen.

North Shore: Nahant, Marblehead, Salem - May 30, 2018

RIDE REPORTS


WEDNESDAY, 30 May 2018, North Shore – Nahant, Marblehead, Salem
Ride Leaders:  Gardner (Sandy) Gray & William Feiring
41 or 30 miles, 10:00 am start from Nahant Beach, Nahant, MA


Riders (25):  Gardner, William, Adena Schutzberg, Andy Brand, Barbara Jacobs, Butch Pemstein, Celia Donatio, Dan Krechmer, Dave Balaban, David Fay, Don Buchholtz, Elissa Brown, Elsa Lawrence, Ilkka Suvanto, Judi Burten, Julie Dodd, Kevin Donnelly, Nancy Schlecht, Rochelle Holman, Ron Beland, Selig Saltzman, Ted Nyder, Tom Lawrence, Veronica Vedensky, and Wing Chow.

Twenty-five WWs braved the convoluted route to Nahant Beach for the start of a spectacular ride up the coast.  At the start we broke up into two groups with Gardner (Sandy) Gray leading the 41 mile ride, with Butch Pemstein as sweep.  William Feiring led the 30 mile group and Barbara Jacobs was his sweep.  Both groups stayed together - past Lynn Beach, into Swampscott, and on to Marblehead Neck where we stopped to take in the sights at Chandler Hovey Park.  We continued together through Marblehead to Fort Sewall, where the 40 mile group headed out first, to continue north, and the 30 mile group headed back to Nahant. 

Just after the two groups split, the 40 mile group headed down a gravel path through Chadwick Lead Mills Park where Tom Lawrence caught a stick in his wheel and went down hard.  Tom was taken to the hospital for xrays and observation.  Note:  Tom’s new helmet was dented - thank goodness that he was wearing it.  Tom is sore, but is recovering nicely at home.

The 40 mile group continued north through Pickering Point, Pickering Wharf, the Salem Ferry Dock, Winter Island Park, and onto Salem Willows Park where we headed back south, through the outdoor Salem Mall.  With the wind now at our backs, we had a fast ride back to Nahant where some folks jumped into their cars, while others continued on through Nahant and to lunch at the Tides.  Outside of Tom’s accident and a wardrobe malfunction, all had a great time exploring the Ghost coast.

Report by Gardner Gray.

The 30 mile group made a stop at Red Rock Park, on Lynn Shore Drive, to take in some beautiful ocean views.  Once we hit the trail parallel to Nahant Road, we were hoping for a nice tailwind but, instead, there was a strong crosswind (reminded me of driving my car over a bridge on a very windy day).  Once we made it to Nahant, we still didn't get any tailwinds, but had some headwinds.  A lot of us had never been to Nahant and really enjoyed the great vistas.

Report by William Feiring.