Westford Ho - July 4, 2018

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 4 July 2018, Westford Ho
Ride Leader: Curt Dudley-Marling (subbing for Jack Donohue)
36 miles, 10:00 am start from Bikeway Source, Bedford, MA

Riders (9):  Curt, Andrea Clardy, Barry Kaditz, Dan Krechmer, Don Buchholtz, Emily McPhillips, Jon Clardy, Ray Komow, and Susan Broome.

Nice ride, nicer people, with scorching temperatures.  By the time we got back to Bikeway Source in Bedford, the temps were well into the 90s with high humidity.  So we kept the pace down (probably a little slower than normal Wheeler pace) and stopped often.

In addition to the scheduled stops at Great Brook and Grassy Pond, we added a stop at Kate’s Corner in Chelmsford, to top up our liquids and just get out of the sun for a while. We also did two shorter stops, closer to the end of the ride, to give folks a chance to recover from doing a couple of hills in the extreme heat.

In the end, one of our group was beaten by the heat and unable to finish. Thanks to Emily McPhillips for going back to check on him. She recommended he stay put while she finished the ride, and then she drove back to pick him up.  We were all impressed by this act of kindness.  Thanks, Emily!!

All in all it was a lovely ride, even if the heat made what should have been a fairly easy ride into a bit of a challenge.  Thanks to Ray for sweeping.  Scheduled lunch at Ken’s Diner was cancelled because Ken’s was closed for the 4th of July.

Note:  I led the ride because Jack Donohue had a nasty fall the previous day. He was missed and we all hope he’s back on the road soon.

Report by Curt Dudley-Marling.