Harvard and Bolton - October 23, 2024

 RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 23 October 2024, Harvard and Bolton

Ride Leader:  Tom Allen

31 miles, 10:00 am start from Boxborough, MA

Riders (12):  Tom, Betsy Kimball, Clyde Kessel, Dave Balaban, Dmitry Gorenburg, Ed Hill, Marie Keutmann, Martin Hemler, Phyllis Evan, Simon Lingard, Wing Chow, and first-timer Lisa O'Connor.

Most of us found our way to the rear of the building at the ride start location.  Those who parked at the front side were rounded up by Wing who circled multiple times and herded folks to the right place.

The weather was delightful, the scenery spectacular, and the route was challenging and fun.  We started on the flat and were soon in climbing mode as we headed into Harvard.  Despite the hills, we were able, with some regrouping pauses, to stay together while employing the WW arrowing protocol.

The first porta-potty stop was quite popular and provided a pause during which Clyde took the initiative to drum up some interest in ride leading among some of the participants.  He pointed out that, while showing up for WW rides was important, it was not enough to keep the program going.  He may have recruited a couple of candidates.

Things progressed as we traveled from Harvard to Bolton and Berlin and back around over some fun roads.  Ascending Prospect Hill we paused for a photo and proceeded to our planned stop at the General Store.  That was interrupted by a bridge construction project that we couldn't sneak past – we were forced to take a detour that was a bit less satisfactory than the planned route, but only a half mile longer.

From "The Gen" we headed back to the start via an extended 2.5 mile downhill and some flat terrain.  Seven of us stayed at the Boxborough Craft Food Hall for a congenial lunch al fresco on their patio.

Thank you to the willing arrows and, especially, to Clyde for ably and patiently performing as sweep.

Report by Tom Allen.