Back Roads of Dunstable and Forge Village - August 7, 2019

RIDE REPORTS

Wednesday, 7 August 2091, Back Roads of Dunstable and Forge Village
Ride Leaders: Merle Adelman, Kathy Horvath, & Curt Dudley-Marling
27 or 48 miles, 10:00 am start from Elm Street playground, Acton, MA

Riders – 27 mi (14):  Merle, Adena Schutzberg, Butch Pemstein, Cindy Chin, Doug Chin, Fred Newton, Gary Williams, Herb Kavet, Margaret Coughlin, Patrick Ward, Rochelle Holman, Roy Westerberg, Sami Elamin, and Winslow Green.

Riders – 48 mi (15):  Kathy & Curt, Bernie Flynn, Bob Wolf, Dave Balaban, Frank Hubbard, Gerry Sheetoo, Jerry Skurla, Kaz Zelny, Lindy King, Maria Noya, Mike Byrne, Rudge McKenney, Wing Chow, and first-timer, Betsy Harper.

Present at ride start:  Ken Hablow.

Our intrepid group headed out behind the “longer” riders, almost overtaking them at one point because of traffic lights and stop signs.  After barreling down Taylor Street, we briefly stopped to check on a rider with a flat.  Mike Byrne had this well in hand, so we proceeded on to Ayer.  A very nice ride from Ayer into Westford and on to Littleton and Boxborough, stopping at Nashoba Ski Area for a short break.

Leader Merle was working from a cue sheet and memory, so we did have to slow a couple of times to check on streets.  Did you know that there is a Nashoba Road in Littleton and one in Acton?  Or maybe Boxborough?  Whatever, we did find the right one and finished up meandering through some nice neighborhoods before turning back onto Arlington Street and back to Elm.  Everyone really enjoyed the ride!  AND we missed the rain.

I really liked the short route. Very pleasant.  Butch said it was a great recovery ride after the PMC.

Report by Merle Adelman.


We enjoyed the lovely route and cooperative weather.  Special thanks to Mike for sweeping, which included helping with an early flat.  The group stayed together for a while, then eventually divided into a few paced groups.  We were happy to see Kaz join us early on, then Wing and Jerry and Lindy.  Bob tempted fate and went to a favorite cafe, while most others took a quick rest stop, being conscious of the weather report, and kept on moving.  The last riders pulled in at 2:01 and the rain started a couple of minutes later - a very successful ride overall.  On a day that had less of a time factor I might have asked for more consistent arrowing, but most folks had navigation and everyone was very courteous within each paced group and rode safely.


Report by Kathy Horvath.



Note from Ken:  Thanks to Merle for leading the short ride and thanks to Kathy and Curt for stepping up to fill in for me when I was unable to ride on Wednesday.