Wednesday, 30 August 2017
Witches & Pitches Ride
Ride Leaders: Lindy King & Sue Edwards
43 or 28 miles, 9:30 & 10:00 am starts from Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, MA
Riders - 43 mi (10): Lindy, Bernie Flynn, Curt Dudley-Marling, Dave Balaban, Frank Hubbard, Judith McMichael, Kathy Horvath, Kevin Donnelly, Neil Martin, and Ray Komow.
Riders - 28 mi (13): Sue, Bob Wilson, Ed Rumsey, Elissa Brown, Greg Tobin, Jack Mroczkowski, Kaz Zelny, Patrick Ward, Rich Taylor, Richard Fortier, Rochelle Holman, Ron Marland, and Roy Westerberg.
It was slightly drizzling as I rode to the start of the Witches & Pitches ride in Groton. Fortunately, as I arrived, the clouds parted, the sun peeked through, and a group of WW riders were raring to go! The early morning temperatures were still cool, so we had a mix of riders with jackets, vests, arm-warmers, long tights, etc. Being a small and compatible bunch, we opted for riding as a group and using arrows only sparingly. After a very spirited start, we regrouped to remove the extra layers and rode on to Monument Square in Hollis, NH.
We departed Hollis at a more sensible pace and made our way over to the very lovely Witches Spring Road. Shortly thereafter, as I was looking forward to the lovely pitches on Ponemah Hill Road, we were stopped by the highway crew because the road was out – apparently had been for some weeks. Although it was not as lovely a route as I had hoped for, we rode on 122 south, then picked up the short route and had a wonderful time riding around Rocky Pond Road and downhill into Brookline, NH. We came upon Sue and Kaz (from the 28 mile route), fixing his flat, and then met up with the rest of that group a short distance later. We stopped at the (now defunct) Brookline General Store for a snack, and then the ballfield @ Bohannon Bridge for a pit stop and photo op. It was a lovely ride through the wilds of Pepperell back to Groton.
Report by Lindy King.
It was a very good day to be on a bicycle. The cool, light breeze swept most of the grey away and our mostly lucky thirteen pedaled the shorter version of Witches and Pitches under bluebird skies and puffy white clouds.
Though it was our intention to have twenty-six fully inflated tires for the entire route, one fellow's fell flat, at the halfway point. Though he begged and pleaded with us not to hover and wait, we hid around the corner, hovering and waiting. Suddenly, the long route pedalers came whizzing by; we were caught in their spellbinding wake. We handed Kaz, the guy with the flat, the cue sheet - as he had implored all along. With his sworn avowal to text when he got going, we clipped in and spun on - up and down hills, past farms and ferns and fields, and a few, fluffy white hens.
With about ten mile to go, we began the human arrow system because our middle was spreading; throughout the ride, Greg arrowed (thank you!). In the end, we were all in the right place, at the right time, at the start point, on our bikes on this glorious day.
Report by Sue Edwards.
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| Short Riders |
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| Caz fixing his flat |
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| Long Riders |
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