Wachusett from the East - August 9, 2023

 RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 9 August 2023, Wachusett from the East

Ride Leader:  Zach Woods

39.7 miles, 10:00 am start from Bolton, MA

Riders (10):  Zach, Al Kumnick, Aviram Cohen, Betsy Harper, Craig Tulig, Frank Calabrese, John Kitchen, Sue Amsel, and first-timers Graham Eacock and Lior Netzer.

This ride is known as Wachusett from the East and the first half, to the Wachusett Mountain John Hitchcock Visitor Center, can be quite challenging as it is mostly a steady uphill climb.  Fortunately, pleasant weather helped to mediate the hills a bit.  Before starting, the group decided that they would prefer following the route on their own and, given that everyone had the route loaded onto their devices, we went without human arrows.  This led to the majority of the riders heading off with a 15 mph pace as a goal, with a slightly slower sweep taking up the rear.

Shortly before the mid-point one of the riders was dealing with rear derailleur difficulties which did not seem to be diagnosable and repairable by the roadside, so they turned around and headed back to the start location.  Two other riders cut the route a little short as they needed to get to appointments.  The majority of the remaining riders biked the easier downhill return to the lunch stop at Meadowbrook Orchards at mile 34.1, after which they rode back to the start point in Bolton.

Report by Zach Woods.