Down Brown & Crossing Cisco - October 20, 2021

 RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 20 October 2021, Down Brown & Crossing Cisco

Ride Leaders:  Judith McMichael, Julie Dodd & Patrick Ward

33 or 29 miles, 10:00 am start from Stow, MA

Riders (35):  Judith, Julie, Patrick, Alan Cantor, Allison Easton, Barbara Martin, Barry Nelson, Betsy Harper, Celia Donatio, Dan Nelson, Dave Balaban, Dmitry Gorenburg, Don Mannes, Gary Williams, Herb Kavet, James Hsia, Jeanne McDermott, Jim Pearl, Joanne Samuels, Joel Bauman, Jonathan Kannair, Julia Zhogina, Kaz Zelny, Linda Nelson, Marc Baskin, Richard Vignoni, Rochelle Holman, Ron Marland, Sandy Gotlib, Susan Sabin, Tami Kellogg, Ted Finch, Tom Allen, Wing Chow, and first-timers Gary Anderson and Maya Mosyak.
Present at ride start:  Helen Greitzer.

Wednesday was a perfect day for the "Down Brown" ride, with beautiful sunshine, mild temps, and plenty of fall colors still on display.  The spirited group lived up to its billing, with at least half of the group going off the front from the start of the ride.  The majority of us regrouped for a short visit to Harvard Observatory on Pinnacle Road and then again at Bolton Orchards.  Most everyone had navigation, so we didn’t use human arrows.  Julie was the sweep and she escorted one rider back to the start after he chose to abandon the ride due to a health concern.  At that point, Barbara Martin took over as sweep.

Having completed her "medical" assist, Julie tried to use her Garmin and GPS to ride the route in reverse, but the Garmin kept directing her to the ride start or alerting her that she was off course.  Nevertheless, with directional help from a dog walker, she rejoined the route at Sugar Road and rode to the finish with Judith - plus, she added a couple of extra miles to her ride total.

There was a lot of animated socializing in the parking lot at the end of the ride, and a small group of the short and longer-route riders enjoyed lunch together at Emma’s.

Thanks to all riders for their participation and, especially, to Julie and Barbara for sweeping.

Report by Judith McMichael.

Billed as a fun ride in beautiful weather, the 29-mile "Crossing Cisco" route followed the traditional Wednesday Wheeler pace and human arrow system.  It all worked well for our fairly large group.

I encouraged riders to pass me, if they wished, on the climb up Stow Road and the long downhill into Littleton.  Although our group was spread out, I doubt that anyone felt at risk of being dropped, thanks to solid work by the arrows and Gary Williams as sweep.

We had no incidents, except when we regrouped at the entrance to Carlson Orchards.  It turned out that the somewhat irritated driver trying to turn in to the orchard was the owner himself!  Next time we regroup across the street.

Everyone appeared to enjoy the ride.  Several stayed for an outdoor lunch at the bicyclist-friendly Emma’s Café.

Report by Patrick Ward.

Circling Wachusett Foliage Ride - October 13 , 2021

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 13 October 2021, Circling Wachusett Foliage Ride (with remote start option)

Ride Leaders:  Richard Vignoni, Wing Chow & Judith McMichael

39 miles, 10:00 am start from Sterling, MA

    or 63 miles, 8:50 am start from Bolton, MA

Riders - 39 mi (11):  Wing, Richard, Ellen Gugel, Francie Sparks, Frank Hubbard, Harriet Fell, John Ho, Kaz Zelny, Mike Barry, Ray Komow, and Robin Frain.

Riders - 63 mi (12):  Judith, Adam Walpert, Beth Rosenzweig, Bob Apsler, Elizabeth Wicks, Gene Ho, Gerry Sheetoo, Jerry Skurla, Lindy King, Maria Noya, Rochelle Holman, and first-timer Jonathan Kannair.

Eleven remote-start riders, led by Judith McMichael, headed out of the Forbush Mill Road parking lot in Bolton for the eleven-mile journey to join up with the core riders in Sterling.  After a brief orientation talk, a spirited-pace group, led by Wing Chow, started out over the many hills of the core loop.  Five minutes later, a more relaxed-pace group of twelve riders, led by Richard, followed in their tracks.  FYI, three riders were on e-bikes.

Lunch was bring-your-own at the bottom of the ski area.  A few riders went up Mile Hill Road.  Upon their return, we headed back to our cars in Sterling, where Judith gathered the remote start riders and led them back to Bolton.

The route lived up to its billing as being very hilly and beautiful.  The weather was near perfect, making up for the foliage that was not yet near its peak.

Report by Richard Vignoni.

It was a beautiful day and a great-looking route, then it all went awry.  The very first climb broke my group apart.  I decided to lower my pace and wound up between the very-spirited riders and the rest of the group.  Nine miles in, I waited for the riders behind me to catch up.  Informed that there were more stragglers, I had a snack and waited some more.

I then recalled that I was a co-leader and made all haste to catch up to my group.  I managed to reach the very-spirited riders as they climbed to the ski lodge parking lot.  At this point, my group split into two - those who stopped for lunch and a few that wished to continue riding.  So I led this much smaller group back to the start in Sterling.

[Coordinator's note:  All's well that ends well.]

Report by Wing Chow.

Weston by Northweston - October 6, 2021

 RIDE REPORT

 

Wednesday, 6 October 2021, Weston by Northweston

Ride Leaders:  Wes DeNering & Betsy Harper

35 mi, 10:00 am start from Weston, MA

Riders (19):  Wes, Betsy, Alan Cantor, Barry Nelson, Beth Rosenzweig, Butch Pemstein, Dave Balaban, Dmitry Gorenburg, Frank Aronson, Gary Williams, Harriet Fell, Jim Pearl, John Allen, Julia Zhogina, Linda Nelson, Neil Martin, Rochelle Holman, Ted Finch, and Wing Chow.

I went through a bunch of really bad ride name choices before settling on a bit of a take on Hitchcock’s North by Northwest for the name of the ride (perhaps still bad, but what can you do).  Now, as I sit here trying to come up with a good writeup for the ride, and even though I’ve consumed some bourbon (voluntarily), I’m realizing that connecting that movie to this ride is almost impossible.  Even if golf balls were raining down on you on Meadowbrook Road (they were not), it does not compare to being buzzed by a cropdusting plane, so I’ll give up, and play it straight. 

 

We had quite the varied group at the start as far as relative speed, so I was quite happy that my friend, Betsy, had volunteered to lead a faster group.  Of the nineteen riders, ten opted for this quicker pace.  Her report was that these riders rode as a group and wound up averaging about 15.5 mph.  They opted not to stop at the designated lunch venue near the end of the ride.

The rest of us rode at a leisurely pace, enjoying the surprisingly quiet, nicely wooded roads and bike trails of Weston, Wayland, and Sudbury, as well as the lovely 68F temperature.  At about 22 miles, we stopped at Lincoln-Sudbury High School for a short break, and then continued on to "Ponyhenge" for a group photo.  We then rode on to the near-the-end Waltham lunch stop choices of AK’s of Waltham or the South Street Café.  We all chose AK’s, as they had plenty of outdoor seating, which was very attractive given the temperature of 74F and bright sunshine.  I was very happy with my meatball sub, and others said they very much liked the food they chose.  We then finished with two miles back to the parking lot. 

Thanks to Butch for sweeping.

Report by Wes DeNering.

"To the End of the World and Back" or "To Hull in a Handbasket" - September 29, 2021

 RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 29 September 2021, "To the End of the World and Back" or "To Hull in a Handbasket"

Ride Leaders:  David Wean (assisted by Ron Beland) & Bob Apsler

27 & 39 mi, 10:00 am start from Hingham, MA

Riders - 27 mi (7):  David, Ron, Ann Northup, Marie Keutmann, Stuart Kaufman, Susan Sabin, and first-timer Dan Nelson.

Riders - 39 mi (5):  Bob, Frank Aronson, Gary Williams, John Ho, and Wing Chow.

After the first few miles on the road, we began our tour de parks, starting with Osprey Overlook Park, before climbing through Great ("more than just pretty good") Esker Park and meandering through Bare Cove Park, the three parks framing the Back River estuary which divides Weymouth and Hingham.  Continuing by road through downtown Hingham, we made our way to World's End (admission fee, but fortunately we had enough Trustees of Reservations membership cards between us) where some of us enjoyed water views while riding the Olmsted-designed dirt and gravel carriage paths, while others chose to spare their tires and stroll instead.  From there we cruised Jerusalem Road and Atlantic Avenue in Cohasset, passing "some ok houses," and enjoying lunch from the Fresh Feast in downtown Cohasset.  A new return route into Wompatuck (our fifth park of the day) used the Whitney Spur Rail Trail.  Low average speed, but high average enjoyment.

 

Finally, Bob says that I messed up with the temperature at the start of the ride - too cold (!!).  I'll try to do better next time.

Report by David Wean.

Six miles into the ride, David suggested that the long riders could head off on their own.  And the five of us did so on a spectacularly beautiful day.  The outbound ride to the tip of Hull was uneventful except for the lunch stop at Fort Revere park, where we lounged in the sun while enjoying panoramic views.  Two riders headed back early, leaving three of us returning from the tip of Hull to share the amazing views of Boston, Hingham, and World’s End on a clear day, with a perfect mixture of puffy white clouds scattered about the blue sky.  Jerusalem Road and Atlantic Avenue provided the final scenic treats of magnificent homes, beautiful landscapes, beaches, and an inland “lake” connected to the ocean.

Report by Bob Apsler.