Meanders from Concord - August 23, 2017

RIDE REPORTS

Wednesday, 23 August 2017, Meanders from Concord

Ride Leaders:  Ken Hablow & Jack Donohue

46 or 25 miles, 10:00 am start from Alcott Elementary School, Concord, MA

 

Riders - 46 mi (10): Ken, Bill Lane, Bill Wachur, Dan Krechmer, Dave Balaban, Everett Briggs, Kaz Zelny, Stan Kay, Steve Kolek (a cameo appearance joining us along the route then leaving well before we returned), and first-timer Austin O'Malley.

Riders - 25 mi (12): Jack, Barry Kaditz, Bill Hanson, Ilkka Suvanto, Mike Hanauer, Nancy Schlecht, Pat Brennan, Richard Fortier, Robyn Maislin, Ron Marland, Roy Westerberg, and first-timer William Feiring.

 

The day started with high humidity and wet roads from the non-rain event the previous night.  By ride start time the sun was out and the roads mostly dry.  For the first hour we could feel the humidity dropping, until the temperature started to rise.  With a light northerly wind, it was a very comfortable and dry day.  Our group stayed together for the entire ride, although some felt we should arrow since, after all, it is a WW ride. 

The route was on some very quiet and pretty back roads through Chelmsford, Westford, and Tyngsboro.  We encountered some nice new pavement which was welcomed by all.  We made the obligatory stop at Great Brook Farm and a longer stop at the DD in Westford on Rte 40.  Our pace was a comfortable 14 mph average, until near the end when the route flattened out and we picked up a nice tail wind.

Thanks to Kaz for sweeping, even though the only time I lost sight of him was when he missed a turn.

 

Report by Ken Hablow.

There was a lot of angst leading up to the ride, since the weather was looking dubious days ahead.  I told Ken a five day forecast is pure fiction and that even the day before is too soon to call it.  We agreed to wait until the morning of the ride for a final decision, which turned out to be an excellent idea, since we woke to a totally changed forecast, and the day turned out to be absolutely perfect.

Many of the long ride regulars were away in Vermont and the short ride outnumbered the long ride.  With a dozen riders, I figured we could stay together and forgo the human arrows.  Roy volunteered to sweep and was wearing a jersey of many colors that was pretty easy to spot.

We had our obligatory photo op at Great Brook Farm.  As an added feature, we had the Best Beard competition.  I had recently been shorn and was, thus, not a contender, but I think Roy is the hands-down winner.

The ride was pretty uneventful (a good thing), except for being stopped by a tree trimming crew for a very long time.  They managed to block the road in both directions while they did their lumberjack stuff.  Not being the most patient person, I considered going overland cyclocross style, but I figured there was no point annoying the police force of yet another town.

We had several who rode to the start, and departed along the way, so I was not concerned by the diminishing numbers as we entered the home stretch.  No one elected to go to the advertised lunch at Trail's End.

Thanks to Roy for sweeping.

Report by Jack Donohue

Short Riders at Great Brook Farm

Best Beard Competition