Monday, March 12, 2018

Rattlesnake Ramble - March 6, 2018

HIKE REPORT

WED, 6 March 2018, Rattlesnake Ramble
Hike Leader:  Winslow Green
4.7 mi, 10:00 am start from Lime Kiln trailhead, Bolton, MA

Hikers (7):  Winslow, Ann Northup, Gerry Sheetoo, Gordon Taylor, Richard Fortier, Rini Kester, and first-timer Beverly Rodriguez.

Seven hikers took advantage of a lovely sunny day prior to the coming snowstorm to walk through the beautiful Rattlesnake Hill conservation parcel in Bolton.  We stopped to see the lime kiln, the lime quarries, the historic Whitcomb Inn (1710), Split Rock, and The Cave.  We passed a group of fairy houses where local elves and fairies dwell.  The trails were wet and muddy in places, but the hiking was generally excellent.  Lunch followed at Slater’s.

 Report by Winslow Green.

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Rides from Verrill Farm - February 28, 2018

RIDE REPORT

WED 28 February 2018, Rides from Verrill Farm
Ride Leaders, Ken Hablow & Tom Allen
45 or 23 Miles, 10:00 am start from Verrill Farm

Riders – 23 mi (13): Tom, Barbara Pike, Chuck McWilliams, Don Buchholtz, Harriet Fell, Jack Donohue, Janet Miller, John Allen, Richard Fortier, Robert Wilson, Robyn Maislin, Selig Saltzman, and Winslow Green.
Riders – 45 mi (25): Ken, Barbara Gaughan, Bill Lane, Bob Wadsworth, Bob Wolf, Dan Krechmer, David Fay, Dom Jorge, Elizabeth Wicks, Francie Sparks, Gene Ho, Joe Tavilla, Judith McMichael, Julie Dodd, Kaz Zelny, Mike Byrne, Rich Taylor, Richard Lawrence, Richard Vignoni, Rochelle Holman, Russ Keene, Sanford Gotlib, Tim Wilson, Wing Chow, and first-timer Maria Noya.
Present at lunch: Helen Greitzer and Mike Hanauer.

The shorter route riders waited for the long route riders to depart giving them enough time to avoid the embarrassment of being caught up. (It worked except for the meet up at the South Acton fire station, which was not at all embarrassing.) Our numbers varied as we picked up one rider on the route (Janet Miller) and lost a couple to planned truncations.

The route was praised by our riders who were pleased that there was a short ride option to accommodate early-season legs. I made clear that I could take none of the credit for either the route or the weather. Thanks to the many arrows who volunteered without prompting and to John Allen for sweeping us. Happily there were no issues for him to deal with.

Lunch was pleasantly spent in the Verrill Farm greenhouse where we were met by Helen (our stellar coordinator) and by Mike Hanauer who rode down from Carlisle for sustenance and company. And a special shout out to Chuck McWilliams, who treated his ride leader to a Verrill sandwich (a nice precedent!).

Report by Tom Allen.


The longer ride consisted of a rather large group with varying degrees of early season fitness. This helped to break the group apart and leave lots of room for traffic. We also picked up a rider on the route in West Concord, Richard Vignoni who had just left PT. It was nice to see Richard back riding after knee replacement surgery in November.

The first part of the ride was rolling. We were spread out, but mostly visible, so we used arrows only where necessary. Once we got into the hillier part of the ride, we used more arrows and stopped several times to re-group so the arrows did not have to wait an unusual length of time.

We made a well needed food and rest stop at Idylwilde Farms in Acton. This was prolonged by several of the riders tending to another who had a problem with the length of the ride and the hills. We re-grouped at the Keyes Road parking lot in Concord, so we could navigate through the center of town as a single group. In full disclosure, we stopped after the stop sign not at it. My luck, there was a Concord officer walking through the parking lot and nicely told us we needed to stop at the stop sign. At one point Wing Chow and Sandy Gotlib blasted off the front never to be seen or heard from again.

Thanks to Mike Byrne for sweeping and to all those who arrowed. Thanks also to Kaz for keeping the ride leader in good humor during the ride - we certainly do not want to leave Kaz out there by himself. Also a big shout out to Tom Allen for leading the short ride option.
I can’t take credit for the weather, although I will take credit for picking a nice day only four days before the ride. The route, however, was mine. Several people said they thought they knew all the roads in the area we rode in, but were amazed by being on some that they had never cycled previously.

Report by Ken Hablow.
Short Riders at the Start

Long Riders at Rest Stop

Short Riders at Rest Stop