Westford Ho - July 5, 2017

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 5 July 2017, Westford Ho

Ride Leader:  Jack Donohue

36 miles  - 10:00 am start from Bikeway Source parking lot, Bedford, MA

Riders (33):  Jack, Andy Brand, Barry Kaditz, Bob Wadsworth, Bob Wolf, Butch Pemstein, Chuck McWilliams, Clyde Kessel, Curt Dudley-Marling, David Wean, Dom Jorge, Don Buchholtz, Greg Stathis, Herb Kavet, Jack Mroczkowski, James Hsia, Judi Burten, Judith McMichael, Kathy Horvath, Lindy King, Martha Soper, Mike Hanauer, Nancy Schlecht, Patrick Brennan, Patrick Ward, Rich Taylor, Richard Fortier, Robert Wilson, Roy Westerberg, Steve Robins, Wing Chow, and first-timers Ed Ramsey and Greg Tobin.

The ride was basically a mashup of my favorite back roads and a Ken Hablow route.  Someone pointed out that the eponymous Gene Ho was missing from his namesake ride (don't get to use that word very often).  He was there in spirit.

With a big group, I suggested that we split into several separate, but equal, groups.  Three groups of eleven would have been nice.  Two groups of 16/17 would have been OK, but it never seems to work since no one wants to be the gappee.  To spread out a bit, I picked up the pace, and was reprimanded for exceeding the advertised speed.  With the human arrow system it sort of doesn't matter how fast the leader goes- it should all sort itself out, but the perception is that people have to hustle to keep up with the leader.  So I shifted gears (literally) after the first stop and everyone seemed happier.

The faster riders in the group did yeoman's work arrowing.  We had a couple of instances of arrows "paying forward" by going ahead of the leader and doing a preemptive arrowing stint, which worked well.  Unlike some rides where there was reluctance to arrow, the group was happy to perform arrow duty.  In fact, there was some competition for arrowing.

First stop was Great Brook farm, for bathroom, water, and the obligatory photo op.  While I had a captive audience, I took the opportunity to stress the need for singling up when there was a car back.  From my rear view mirror perspective, it appears people for the most part did this.

Except for a wisp of a cloud in an otherwise completely blue sky, the weather was perfect.  We did have to make a detour off the planned route when it turned out Grandview Road was closed.  This is where a real GPS would come in handy, since the RideWithGPS phone app I was using doesn't allow for rerouting.  If you're off the planned route, all bets are off.  Fortunately, I was able to see that the alternate road joined the route shortly, so we were easily able to get back on course.

I never did find the pond where our planned second stop was, but the store at Kate's Corner seemed a good alternative.  When we stopped, no one seemed interested in visiting the store, so we just carried on.

Butch and I did have a couple of "failures to communicate."  We exchanged phone numbers at the start and I had Butch call me to make sure we had each others' numbers.  Problem was, I had inadvertently turned the volume down on my phone, so when Butch had an actual problem, his calls went unanswered.  It seems someone in the group had a mechanical, but was able to secure a ride.  It should have been a clue that, when we did our test call at the start, my phone didn't actually ring.

When we got to the end, I figured everyone could find their way back to the parking lot, but, just to be sure, posted an arrow at the traffic light and at the final turn in front of Bikeway Source.  Butch decided to go straight to the restaurant, and we had two hanging arrows until I called him.  Next time a better plan might be to collect everyone in front of Ken's, so I could point out its location, before returning to the ride start.

All's well that ends well, and a number of people found their way to Ken's for lunch.  Thanks to Butch for sweeping and to all of the very willing arrows!

Report by Jack Donohue