Monday, June 24, 2019

Assabet River Beach Bash - June 19, 2019

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 19 June 2019, Assabet River Beach Bash
Ride Leaders:  Bill Lane & Tom Fortmann
39 or 27 miles, 10:00 & 10:30 am starts from Concord Town Lot, Concord, MA

Riders - 39 mi (30):  Tom, Barbara Martin, Beth Rosenzweig, Bill McCarthy, Bill Umphrey, Bill Wachur, Bruce Lederer, Clyde Kessel, Curt Dudley-Marling, Dan Bertko, Dave Balaban, Dom Jorge, Everett Briggs, Gene Ho, Gerry Sheetoo, Jack Donohue, Jerry Skurla, Kaz Zelny, Ken Hablow, Margaret Coughlin, Randy Stern, Ray Komow, Rich Taylor, Richard Vignoni, Rita Cramer, Robert Joseph, Rudge McKenney, Steve Bader, Steve Delaney, and Steve Miller.
Riders - 27 mi (24):  Bill, Adena Schutzberg, Al Berardi, Ann Northup, Bill Lane, Bruce Barnett, Butch Pemstein, Chuck McWilliams, Cindy Chin, Don Mannes, Doug Chin, Doug Hobkirk, Ellen Gugel, Harriet Fell, Herb Kavet, Julia Zhogina, Mike Hanauer, Patty Grasso, Penny Leslie, Richard Fortier, Robert Wilson, Rochelle Holman, Susan Sabin, and first-timer Hank Holstein.
Ad hoc routes (2):  Marie Keutmann and Steve Kolek.
Lunch only (3):  Eli Post, Elizabeth Wicks, and Judith McMichael.
Bushwacking (1):  Bob Apsler

The weather was cloudy, but dry, and the pace brisk going out Strawberry Hill and Newtown Roads through Concord and Acton to Westford.  The sun came out briefly as we climbed through Graniteville to reach the radars and radio telescopes on Millstone and Haystack Hills.  The return through Westford and Chelmsford was pleasant with little traffic.  The only mishap was a flat, at around mile 29, which delayed the sweep and stranded two arrows temporarily.  We arrived at Bill and Connie's house shortly after the 27-mile group and enjoyed the customary outstanding lunch.  Steve Bader performed admirably as sweep, keeping the peloton ruly and overcoming broken tools and other problems to fix the flat.

Report by Tom Fortmann; photos by Jack Donohue.


With the previous weekend's forecast promising a work-week of rainy days, lunch orders and preparations were made nonetheless, and nature granted a midweek reprieve.  A pleasant 71 degree, overcast day at ride start gave way to an even more pleasant mixture of sun and clouds.

Leaving a half-hour later than the long riders, we followed their route, shortcutting on the lovely Old Lowell and Parkerville Roads to Heart Pond Beach for a brief rest stop.  At this point one very self-aware and GPS-equipped rider, who was substantially slower than the rest of the group, took it upon themselves to proceed on ahead.

After a song by Butch and the traditional group picture we were off to a record early arrival at lunch, only a few minutes ahead of the long riders.  A few miles out, we were intercepted by Steve Kolek who had missed the start but navigated his own path.

Thirty-three enjoyed lunch and camaraderie overlooking the Assabet River at our home. We’d like to especially thank my wife, Connie, for preparing the lunch, augmented by helpers Elizabeth Wicks, Bob Apsler and Eli Post.  We especially want to thank everyone for their generosity to the PMC.  We will be able to contribute $364 to the PMC, another record for this annual bash.  Thank you.  Final thanks go to Butch for his ever convivial sweep and song, and to those who arrowed.

Report by Bill Lane; photo by bystander.



Long Riders At Haystack
Approach to Haystack


Short Riders


Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Saugus Iron Works and Nahant - June 12, 2019

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 12 June 2019, Saugus Iron Works and Nahant
Ride Leader:  Tom Allen
38 miles, 10:00 am start from Sandy (Shannon) Beach, Winchester, MA

Riders (22): Tom, Adena Schutzberg, Aliza Edwards, Bruce Barnett, Bruce Lederer, Butch Pemstein, Carol Hartigan, Dan Bertko, Dave Balaban, Don Mannes, Doug Hobkirk, Gerry Sheetoo, Greg Stathis, Kaz Zelny, Nancy Cahn, Patty Grasso, Randy Stern, Richard Fortier, Sally Chapman, Steve Robins, Susan Sabin, and Veronica Vedensky.

We couldn't have ordered up a finer day to ride - bright blue skies, warm but not hot, and gentle breezes.  Start was delayed a bit when a rider noticed a flat tire as he mounted his bike.  Fortunately, we were able to assemble a small enough committee to deal with it. The time that the repair took enabled a late-comer to join the group.

We started out from Winchester, through Stoneham and Melrose, where the group was split by a passing commuter train, and on to Saugus.  A very educational stop at the Saugus Iron Works site was of interest to all thanks to a dynamic presentation by a National Park Service docent.

We then rode on to Lynn.  (How many of you have said, "Let's ride to Lynn today."?)  Anyway, that brought us to the Nahant Causeway and a ride past a very busy and well populated Nahant Beach.  The ride around the peninsula brought us to two lovely parks - Bailey's Point and East Point.

After that a small number of riders became concerned with the time, electing to leave the group and head back to the start.  That involved a change in sweep - Kaz Zelny relieving Carol Hartigan.  The ride back took us through some drab neighborhoods, but a stop at Kane's Donuts perked things up a bit when Butch bought a donut big enough to share.

The remainder of the return was pleasant enough on the Northern Strand Bikeway bringing us to Medford.  Between the earlier breakaway group and others who wanted to ride directly back to the start, that left a scant half dozen of us for lunch at Snappy Patty's in their cozy outdoor patio. 

Thanks to both Carol and Kaz for sweep duties, and to Adena as safety monitor, herder, and all around border collie - big help.  :)  Thanks also to the numerous arrowers who jumped in without prompting to keep us all going around the proper corners.

Report by Tom Allen.





Monday, June 10, 2019

Two Glen Ascents - June 5, 2019,

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 5 June 2019, Two Glen Ascents
Ride Leaders:  Barry Nelson & Kathy Horvath
45 or 42 miles, 10:00 am start from Burchard Park, Weston, MA

Riders (21):  Barry Nelson, Kathy Horvath, Adena Schutzberg, Barry Kaditz, Beth Rosenzweig, Bruce Lederer, Cindy Chin, Doug Chin, Gerry Sheetoo, Harriet Fell, Ira Weinberg, Jim Whinfield, Julie Stephenson, Rich Taylor, Rochelle Holman, Rudge McKenney, Selig Saltzman, Susan Sabin, Veronica Vedensky, and first-timers Lauren Johnson and Tom Wilmot.


Kathy led the faster group that did not want to eat mid-ride at the Blue Moon.  I was surprised that my group was larger (11), suggesting that there are WWs who want a different type of ride.  Perhaps we should offer, more often, the option for lunch during the middle of the ride instead of at 2:00 pm.  I promised that our group would be slower than Kathy's, and our average speed was 13.1mph.

Thanks to Jim for sweeping, although the group stayed together for almost all the turns except for the two Glen ascents.  We had a leisurely lunch at the Blue Moon, and a few riders requested a 22 minute delay so they could finish their nap before continuing on the ride.  There is a very short video of our group at the end of the ride.

Report by Barry Nelson.

There were ten 42 mile Through-Riders, and nine of us started out while Rich made a quick trip home for missing equipment - suffice it to say “We’ve all been there.”  The group was evenly matched for riding preferences, except for the stronger hill climbers   Regrouping at the top of a hill or at the next intersection kept the group together and very little arrowing was needed.

We stopped for a nature break at Dover/Sherborn High School and, as we were leaving, said a quick "Hi" and "Bye" to Barry, et al. as they pulled in.  We continued on and enjoyed a fuel/rest stop in Dover center where a kindly gentleman saw us discussing options and offered his shady lawn and fresh water from an outdoor hose.  Soon after, we were joined again by Rich and were back at ten riders strong.

As we began the second Glen ascent, the leader was seriously lagging and, in effect, became the sweep!  Kathy thankseveryone for the collective leadership skills at the end, especially since I began sinus/viral symptoms upon returning home.  Thanks also to Rudge for sweeping, to Gerry for filling in at the end, and for the courtesy and safe riding habits of everyone.

We returned to the start before 1:30 pm for an overall average speed on the leader’s odometer of 14.2 mph.

Report by Kathy Horvath.