From Concord to Westford and Around Keyes Pond0 - September 11 2024

 RIDE REPORT

 

Wednesday, 11 September 2024, From Concord to Westford and Around Keyes Pond

Ride Leader:  Ken Hablow

41 miles, 10:00 am start from Concord, MA

 

Riders (21):  Ken, Aiko Pinkoski, Barry Kaditz, Barry Nelson, Dave Balaban, David Goldberg, Frank Aronson, Gary Williams, Jim Whinfield, Julia Zhogina, Marc Baskin, Mark Friedman, Mike Hanauer, Renee Rees, Rick Lawrence, Scott Mandell, Simon Lingard, Stan Kay, Wing Chow, and first-timers Debra Mello and Ken Gray.

 

It was a gorgeous late summer day, starting ou8t a tad chilly, but temps got into the low to mid-70s with a light wind.  The first ten miles were the hilliest, not steep but definitely “up.”  There were different pace groups which caused us to split up a bit.  Once we got past these hills, we stopped to re-group.  The rest of the route was more rolling.  We all stopped at the Dunkin Donuts at mile 17, and then continued through Forge Village.

 

At mile 22 we had a big OOPS!  It seems the town of Westford had started paving some of their very lightly travelled back roads.  The road that we were supposed to take was closed.  I know the area well, so a detour was not an issue, other than the fact that it was not on anyone’s navigation.  I told the sweep, Rick, where we were going – he also knows the roads in that area.  We had been using sporadic arrows where absolutely necessary.  However (there is always a “however”), the lead group stayed straight at one bend in the road with a road to the right, so no arrow was left.  The second group took the right turn.  We all ended up in the same place, with only a half mile difference in the route, but it took us a while on our phones to figure all this out.  Once we regrouped, we were on the original route and headed out on the return to Concord.

 

When we left the Dunkin Donuts (before the detour), there were several stragglers that told us to go ahead, as they had navigation and did not wish to hold up the entire group.  Wing Chow rescued one rider from the confusion of the detour.  Others used GPS to get back onto the route.

 

All-in-all, it was a nice day and a good group.  Everyone seemed to like the route.

 

Thanks to Rick for sweeping and to all those who arrowed.

 

Report by Ken Hablow.