A ride from Weston to Concord - February 5, 2020

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 5 February 2020, A ride from Weston to Concord
Ride Leader:  Harriet Fell (assisted by John Allen)
30 miles, 10:00 am start from Burchard Park, Weston, MA
Riders (10):  Harriet, John Allen (sweep), David Fay, Doug Hobkirk, Ellen Gugel, Elizabeth Wicks, Gerry Sheetoo, John Springfield, Ron Beland, and Selig Saltzman.

The sky was gray but the temperature hovered around 40 degrees -   decent riding weather for this time of year.  Harriet and I expected a large turnout, but only ten showed up, perhaps because the roads were
damp, with puddles here and there.  The downside of these road conditions was the post-ride need to wash one's jacket and bicycle, for those who didn't have fenders.  Harriet was nominally the leader and arrows were posted at some turns, though the group mostly stayed together and several people alternated taking the lead.  I swept, often fell behind, and caught up at regrouping points.  John Springfield, recovering from bronchitis, left the ride and returned to Burchard Park after a few miles.

Harriet organized the ride in memory of her husband, Sheldon Brown, who died twelve years ago.  She and I maintain and expand his bicycle repair and maintenance website, https://sheldonbrown.com.

At the ride start, Harriet and I told how we met Sheldon:  she - on a CRW ride, and I - when he stayed after closing time to repair a flat tire for me at the bike shop where he worked.  The ride, contributed to CRW by Barry Nelson, featured Water Row, one of Sheldon's favorites - and one of ours, too - 1.25 miles bordering, for the most part, the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.  The ride continued on (mostly) quiet roads, with a rest stop at Starbucks on Thoreau Street in Concord.  We passed Walden Pond, though we did not stop for a swim, and then deviated from Barry's route to take the new segment of rail trail from Wayland to Weston - a pleasant, early-season thirty miles.  The group dispersed, as only one participant wanted to stay for lunch after the ride.

Report by John Allen.