RIDE REPORTS
Wednesday 16 January 2019, Clyde’s 67 km birthday ride
Ride Leaders: Clyde Kessel & Tom Allen
67 km (41 mi), 10:00 am start from Great Brook Farm SP Visitors’ Center, Carlisle, MA
16 mi, 10:30 am start from Great Brook Farm SP Visitors’ Center, Carlisle, MA
Riders - 41 mi (8): Clyde, Bob Wolf, Curt Dudley-Marling, Gerry Sheetoo, Greg Stathis, Ray Komow, Rich Taylor, and Robin Frain. David Fay also showed up but elected to wait for Tom Allen’s shorter ride which was scheduled to leave thirty minutes later.
Riders - 16 mi (5): Tom, Bill Widnall, David Fay, Peggy Gelin, and Susan Sabin.
We were promised a sunny day and near 40 degrees. Although we know the rules (the ride, in miles, cannot exceed the temperature), we thought that our ride, if not strictly conforming, was close enough to legal that we wouldn’t get into trouble. So, eight of us headed out happily. We agreed from the start to stay together so that no one would be stuck arrowing in the cold, but it did require some twisting of arms to get a volunteer to sweep - thank you, Ray. As the ride progressed, it became clear that the sun was NOT going to make an appearance and the temperature was NOT getting anywhere near 40 degrees. Basically, the group felt cold and cheated.
A little history: Lynn and Mac were ride leaders some twenty-five years ago and lived next door to me. I never rode their Mother’s Day ride because my wife was a mother and bike rides weren’t on the agenda for Mother’s Day. A couple of weeks ago, I found a hard copy map of the route while doing some downsizing. The route was an old one designed before the days of GPS and it used more main roads than would be acceptable nowadays. I did take the liberty of rerouting it slightly, to avoid the big shopping plaza on Rte 110 in Westford. Imagine! Traffic must have been a lot lighter twenty-five years ago for anyone to consider leading a group there. Whatever - the map is going into the shredder along with a lot of other junk.
At this time of year, there isn’t much outdoor plumbing available, so we made two civilized stops - one at the Westford Community Center (a very nice facility in Forge Village); another at the Triple-D where hot chocolate was a very popular item. After that it was a straight shot back to the start. Three of us split a pizza post-ride.
Report by Clyde Kessel.
A few of us, daunted by the distance of Clyde's 67 km birthday ride proposal, conspired to do a shorter ride. Peggy offered a 25 mile route that cut off a fair amount of Clyde's route and we planned for a delayed start. At the start I found David Fay and met with co-conspirators Peggy and Susan. As we were preparing to leave, Bill drove in, having been delayed by a tire problem that he had addressed before leaving his house.
We waited for him to get his bike out and gear on and announced we were starting. Somehow Bill was distracted by his high tech GPS watch and failed to notice which way we turned out of the parking lot. He guessed wrong and ended up on his own ride.
We expected rising temperatures and sunshine. At about mile 9 we conceded that neither the sun nor the milder temperatures were going to happen, and that we seemed to be torturing ourselves. Having nothing to prove, we bailed out of the route on the BFRT and picked it up again at Kate's Corner in South Chelmsford for a total of sixteen miles. We all agreed that that was enough, but that the ride through Carlisle was quite picturesque and enjoyable (save for the frigid digits).
Tom, Peggy, and Susan had lunch at Chelmsford Pizza (Clyde's recommended place), where we struggled to deal with their generous portions.
Report by Tom Allen.
No comments:
Post a Comment