Monday, April 29, 2019

South to Northboro - April 24, 2019

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 24 April 2019, South to Northboro
Ride Leaders:  Ken Hablow & Mike Byrne
47 or 37 miles, 10:00 am start from Haskell Field, Sudbury, MA

Riders - 47 mi (15):  Ken, Barbara Martin, Barry Nelson, Bernie Flynn, Curt Dudley-Marling, Dom Jorge, Gene Ho, Herb Kavet, Julie Dodd, Lindy King, Marc Baskin, Ray Komow, Richard Lawrence, Russ Keene, and Wing Chow.
Riders - 37 mi (16):  Mike Byrne, Bill Umphrey, David Fay, Fred Newton, Gary Williams, Gerry Sheetoo, Jerry Skurla, Kathy Horvath, Margaret Coughlin, Rich Taylor, Richard Vignoni, Roy Westerberg, Rudge McKenney, Selig Saltzman, Steve Miller, and Susan Sabin.

After a last minute cancellation for this date, the notice was very last minute.  After it came out, I had several people ask me about a longer ride.  My original route was 46 miles with a 37 split off it.  I sent the longer route to a handful of people, and Mike Byrne graciously offered to lead the 37.  As it turns out we had fifteen riders on the longer route, so it split the group nicely.  Both routes took most people into an area on roads they never cycle on.

The day started out damp, but by the start of the ride, the sun was burning through the clouds.  The wind was also picking up and stayed with us all day.  On the long ride we did not use arrows or a sweep.  We pretty much stayed together, other than a few who occasionally blasted off the front but managed to wait for the rest of us at various points. The 47 mile route took us through Northboro, UP to Tougas Farm, then DOWN Green Street.  We made a stop at the Northboro Fire Station to use the facilities.  The folks at the station were very welcoming.  Our next stop was in Berlin center at the newly renovated convenience store.  We had one other unscheduled stop to fix a flat tire.

It was nice to welcome Fred Newton back on his bike.  Ride photos courtesy of Russ Keene.

Report by Ken Hablow.

The day went well.  We regrouped three or four times, once before we reached Marlboro, at the Berlin Police Station (for toilets), and at the Berlin store.  There were no mechanicals or flats. There were two tough climbs which contributed to two of the regroupings.  After Honey Pot, I sent the group ahead to the end with Rich Taylor leading, and I rode in with the sweep.

Thanks to Steve for sweeping.

Report by Mike Byrne.

From Rich Taylor (on Wednesday's short route):  "While we were waiting for everyone at the summit of Long Hill, a resident brought out one of his pet ferrets and passed him around.  Rudge McKenney took this picture (third photo below) of Kathy Horvath and said ferret.

Monday, April 22, 2019

Long and Short Way to Heart Pond - April 17, 2019

RIDES REPORT

Wednesday, 17 April 2019, Long and Short Way to Heart Pond
Ride Leaders:  Lindy King - for the "Long Way” and Harriet Fell (& John Allen) - for the “Short Way"
30 or 22 miles, 10:00 am start from Castle in the Trees playground, Littleton, MA

Riders - 30 mi (18):  Lindy, Al Berardi, Beth Rosenzweig, Bruce Lederer, David Wean, Ellen Durgins, Ellen Gugel, Gerry Sheetoo, Kaz Zelny, Patrick Ward, Robert Wilson, Rochelle Holman, Ron Beland, Selig Saltzman, Veronica Vedensky, Wing Chow, and first-timers Gary Williams and Jerry Skurla.
Riders - 22 mi (13): Harriet, John, Barbara Pike, Carol Hartigan, David Fay, Doug Hobkirk, Janet Miller, Margaret Coughlin, Peggy Gelin, Richard Fortier, Robyn Maislin, Sally Chapman, and Susan Sabin.
Present at lunch:  Helen Greitzer.

My apologies if I missed any riders or placed you in the incorrect ride group.

It was a bright and mild April morning as riders arrived at the "Castle in the Trees" parking lot, competing with moms of toddlers going to the park.  The parking lot was packed when we left.  We divided into two obvious groups for the long and short ride options and there were plenty of riders on both.  All riders were asked to share human arrowing responsibility and not let it fall to a few overzealous volunteers.

After a quick safety announcement, we were off!  Although some of the roads in Littleton and Carlisle had been repaved, there were still some riddled with pot-holes, so riders needed to be on alert!  The Nagog hills proved to be a good challenge after the beginning of the ride and spread everyone out.  The roads were mostly quiet on this Wednesday morning and we continued through the usual, difficult crossing of Rte 119 with no problems!  Yours truly had a great time chatting with all the new arrowers on our route.  Two of us waited a while at the turn onto Rte 225 in Carlisle, 'til a bunch of riders came upon us and we continued along.  Shortly after turning onto Rutland Street, I received a call from Kaz, our sweep.  Butch had gone down after riding over a bad patch of pavement on E. Riding Road.  We all waited a while and eventually Butch, Kaz, and other riders showed up.  Luckily Gerry had a large bandaid and antiseptic wipes to get Butch cleaned up.  What a good sport - Butch rode with us as if nothing had happened!

We continued until we got to Heart Pond where we had time for a break, snacks, lots of chatting, and a line-up ensued for the port-a-potty.  A congenial volunteer took our group photo and then we were off down the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, briefly, and rode through Chelmsford back to Westford and into Littleton.  Everyone made it back just fine and Butch got patched up by the EMTs at the Littleton Fire Station.  Thanks to Kaz for sweeping.

Several riders headed over to Andrea’s Littleton Cafe for lunch, where they were joined by Helen.

Report by Lindy King.

It was a lovely route with very little time spent on busy roads.  The group stayed together pretty well, with a few short stops for all to catch up.  I took two wrong turns - I corrected the first quickly and on the second, where I mistakenly took the right fork, all the following riders correctly took the left fork and called me back.  We averaged 12.5 mph.  I don’t usually go on short rides when I have to drive a long distance, but the people and the route made it worthwhile.

Report by Harriet Fell.

After cluelessly passing the arrow ahead of the last rider at the first turn (apologies!), I settled into my role as sweep. The short ride proved to be a good option for me and several other WWs who hadn't yet gotten in much spring mileage.  The Bruce Freeman RailTrail cutoff, for the short ride option, proved scenic and other traffic on the path was light.  We arrived back at the ride start about a half hour before the long ride.  Several of us set out on foot to the lunch stop, where the southwest chicken salad was ample and delicious!

Report by John Allen.


Sunday, April 14, 2019

Spring Butterfly Ride - April 10, 2019


RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 10 April 2019, Spring Butterfly Ride
Ride Leader:  Clyde Kessel
32 miles, 10:00 am start from Great Brook State Park Visitors’ Center, Carlisle, MA

Riders (17):  Clyde, Bernie Flynn, Bob Wadsworth, David Fay, Dom Jorge, Gerry Sheetoo, Jack Donohue, Julie Dodd, Kaz Zelny, Ken Hablow, Maria Noya, Rochelle Holman, Roy Westerberg, Selig Saltzman, Steve Carlson, Veronica Vedensky, and Wing Chow.
Present at lunch:  Helen Greitzer.


It was a dark and stormy night a cold and windy day and as we waited in the parking lot for our 10:00 am start, many of us were happy we had dressed for the weather realized we should have dressed more warmly.  Fairly close to the designated time, we got on our bikes and headed out of the parking lot.  At that moment, one more rider arrived, so we all stopped to wait for him but no one was in the mood to wait/freeze any longer, so we just kept riding.  The tardy rider finally caught up to us seventeen miles later at our rest stop at the Dunstable town hall.  After the rest stop we headed back south, so the wind was no longer in our faces.  The sun came out and the day warmed up beautifully never came out so it didn’t warm up much, but, even so, the ride home was faster and more pleasant than the northbound leg.  As far as the leader knows, there were no mishaps or other problems on the ride.

Kudos to Maria and Julie and Rochelle (and anyone else I might have missed) who remoted all the way from their homes to the ride start didn’t use cars to get to the ride start.

I made two small changes to the route this year.  The first change was to use the railroad underpass at Stoney Brook Road, instead of the level crossing on Chamberlain Road.  By chance, a long and slow train was passing by and we would have had to wait for it if we had used the old route.  The other change was to avoid the dead-end stretch of Providence Road near the end of the ride.  Once again, by chance, that bit or road was closed the day of the ride.

It was wonderful that every single rider took at least one turn as a human arrow I was a little disappointed that three or four riders had to do all the arrowing, because the bulk of the group hung back, shirking their responsibility.  I realize that the weather was cold, but we rode a nice gentle pace and regrouped a couple of times so the group never got spread out very much.  A big thank you to those riders who did their arrowing duty and also to Kaz for sweeping.

I am happy to report that the seasonal porta-johns have started to reappear.  There are two at the Rodenbush Center at the corner of Plain and Oak Hill roads in Westford, and two more at the playing fields on Nutting Road, also in Westford.

Report by Clyde Kessel.








Sunday, April 7, 2019

Ashland and Beyond - April 5, 2019

RIDE REPORT

Friday, 5 April 2019, Ashland and Beyond
Ride Leader:  Alan Cantor
37 miles, 10:00 am start from Shaw's Plaza parking lot, Ashland, MA

Riders (6):  Alan, Barry Nelson, Ellen Dirgins, Gerry Sheetoo, Rick Carlson (Birthday Boy), and Wing Chow.

Just after gathering on this chilly morning, Gerry’s newly inflated tire literally blew up right in front of us. He said not to wait as he was going home. The rest of us hit the roads. It was a great ride with all of us staying pretty much together so no arrows and no sweep (thank you for offering Barry) needed. There were no further mechanicals. Wing left the ride early and actually arrived after the rest of us. Gerry, after fixing the flat, decided to do the ride and appeared in the parking lot soon after we did. Great group of riders, thanks to all for coming out.

Report by Alan Cantor.