RIDE REPORT
Wednesday, 19 October 2016, Round the Res & the View from Fruitlands rides
Ride Leaders: Ken Hablow & Jack Donohue
10:00 am starts from Trinity Church parking lot, Bolton, MA
Ride Leaders: Ken Hablow & Jack Donohue
10:00 am starts from Trinity Church parking lot, Bolton, MA
Riders - 46 mi (24): Ken, Barbara Martin, Bob Apsler, Butch Pemstein, Cecilia Scimia, Curt Dudley-Marling, Fred Newton, Gene Ho, Jody Angevin, Julie Dodd, Kaz Zelny, Kimberly Wach, Larry Kernan, Lindy King, Marc Baskin, Mary Kernan, Michael Byrne, Ray Komow, Richard Lawrence, Rick Carlson, Robert Wilson, Russ Keene, Stanley Kay, and Tim Wilson.
Riders -36 mi (19): Jack, Adele Ferreira, Annemarie Altman, Ann Northup, Francie Sparks, Ilkka Suvanto, Jack Mroczkowski, James Hsia, Jeff Smith, Jim Whinfield, Patrick Ward, Rich Taylor, Richard Fortier, Roy Westerberg, Rudge McKenney, Selig Saltzman, Stuart Kaufman, Wing Chow, and Winnie Parker.
It doesn’t get any better than a Wednesday in mid-October at the height of fall foliage, with temperatures in the mid to high 70s, and a ride around the Wachusset Reservoir with a lunch stop at Rota Springs Farm at the top of a hill in Sterling.
We had twenty-four riders on the 46 mile ride. Several riders could not wait for the leader and went out ahead, right from the start. For a while I was “leading from the middle” of the group. This helped spread out the group so we were not all bunched up. We were close enough so the “arrows” did not have to wait long. After a tour through some back roads in Northboro, we hit the major climb at about mile 14. Although the next five miles were mostly uphill, there were a few welcome downhills. The faster group of about six went on ahead. The rest of us stopped at about mile 19 to regroup. Since there were no major hills after that and everyone was compatible, we used very few arrows on the return.
We had twenty-four riders on the 46 mile ride. Several riders could not wait for the leader and went out ahead, right from the start. For a while I was “leading from the middle” of the group. This helped spread out the group so we were not all bunched up. We were close enough so the “arrows” did not have to wait long. After a tour through some back roads in Northboro, we hit the major climb at about mile 14. Although the next five miles were mostly uphill, there were a few welcome downhills. The faster group of about six went on ahead. The rest of us stopped at about mile 19 to regroup. Since there were no major hills after that and everyone was compatible, we used very few arrows on the return.
We made a stop in West Boylston for water and stopped for lunch in Sterling where we were surrounded by bright foliage. Several people were wowed with the “meatball special” and others pigged out on Rota’s great ice cream. The ride back took us through some back roads in Berlin, with the last three miles being mostly “up,” but we were rewarded with a screaming half-mile downhill finish.
We had one mishap when a rider felt his heart rate escalate more than he wanted - he had the good sense to drop out early. A later inquiry found him to be fine.
Thanks to Kaz for sweeping, even though, when we were all together, he occasionally swept from the front then dropped back to his assigned duties. Although we did not need arrows during the entire ride, Tim gets the award for doing the most amount of arrowing. Thanks to Jack for taking attendance on his very special WW Attendance App on his cell phone.
We had one mishap when a rider felt his heart rate escalate more than he wanted - he had the good sense to drop out early. A later inquiry found him to be fine.
Thanks to Kaz for sweeping, even though, when we were all together, he occasionally swept from the front then dropped back to his assigned duties. Although we did not need arrows during the entire ride, Tim gets the award for doing the most amount of arrowing. Thanks to Jack for taking attendance on his very special WW Attendance App on his cell phone.
Report by Ken Hablow.
I once again volunteered to co-lead a ride I'd never been on, but, emboldened by my success last week, I figured it would be a piece of cake. I was disabused of that idea quite early in the game.
Less than two miles into the ride I was confronted by a fork in the road. Yes, I'm familiar with the famous Yogi Berra quote, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." And so I did. And again, at the next fork. I was having an uncanny ability to make the wrong choice. My phone navigation is pretty good at lefts and rights, but it doesn't say much about slight deviations that could potentially be the true path. I could turn on the screen, which would show me the route outline quickly, but the rest of the actual roads would appear much later or not at all. So I had to resort to blundering down one or the other road and comparing the little red line, which is where I was, with the little blue line, which is where I wanted to be. Having unerringly chosen the wrong one each time, I would then have to stop everyone and order an about face. Needless to say, this did not instill confidence in my followers.
Fortunately, there were a few others in the group with GPS, so we resorted to crowdsourcing the route, which seemed to work pretty well, and we managed the rest of the ride without incident.
It was a great day for riding. Orange was the color of the day - between the leaves that had finally turned and the ubiquitous pumpkins. We passed "Peach Orchard Farm" which could really have been called "Pumpkin Orchard Farm," since that was all that was in evidence, as was the case for every other farm we passed.
Finding a place to pee once again became an issue. I was trying to hold out for indoor plumbing or even an outdoor portapotty, but there were mighty slim pick'ns. At one point we spotted a church that looked promising - after trying the front doors unsuccessfully, Roy snuck around back and was gone for a while, so I suspect he accomplished his mission.
Wing got KOM points on the ride for blasting by the leader on every hill.
We had our obligatory photo shoot on Prospect Hill Road near Fruitlands.
The Harvard General Store was the designated lunch stop, but it was seven miles from the end and it was unclear to me what the plan was - to eat en route or return by car. So I gave the troops the opportunity to eat first and return to the cars after lunch, or soldier on. Being leader, I felt honor bound to lead my merry band back to the start, but I made sure that the diners had at least a vague idea of how to get back.
Francie stepped in as sweep, since Stuart elected to eat at the store. I figured Francie's white jersey would be easy to spot, and checked for her periodically in my rear view mirror. It seemed my party had gotten even smaller than I thought when I realized that the white jersey was not unique, there was another white jersey wearer in the group.
I started out with eighteen riders, but ended up with a lot less. Several people opted for the twenty mile option. The early eaters accounted for a few more. The last regrouping was taking a while and the early arrivals were chafing at the bit. Bolton was beckoning, so they took off. I am confident that all my people eventually found their way home.
Thanks to Stuart and Francie for sweeping.
Report by Jack Donohue.
Less than two miles into the ride I was confronted by a fork in the road. Yes, I'm familiar with the famous Yogi Berra quote, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." And so I did. And again, at the next fork. I was having an uncanny ability to make the wrong choice. My phone navigation is pretty good at lefts and rights, but it doesn't say much about slight deviations that could potentially be the true path. I could turn on the screen, which would show me the route outline quickly, but the rest of the actual roads would appear much later or not at all. So I had to resort to blundering down one or the other road and comparing the little red line, which is where I was, with the little blue line, which is where I wanted to be. Having unerringly chosen the wrong one each time, I would then have to stop everyone and order an about face. Needless to say, this did not instill confidence in my followers.
Fortunately, there were a few others in the group with GPS, so we resorted to crowdsourcing the route, which seemed to work pretty well, and we managed the rest of the ride without incident.
It was a great day for riding. Orange was the color of the day - between the leaves that had finally turned and the ubiquitous pumpkins. We passed "Peach Orchard Farm" which could really have been called "Pumpkin Orchard Farm," since that was all that was in evidence, as was the case for every other farm we passed.
Finding a place to pee once again became an issue. I was trying to hold out for indoor plumbing or even an outdoor portapotty, but there were mighty slim pick'ns. At one point we spotted a church that looked promising - after trying the front doors unsuccessfully, Roy snuck around back and was gone for a while, so I suspect he accomplished his mission.
Wing got KOM points on the ride for blasting by the leader on every hill.
We had our obligatory photo shoot on Prospect Hill Road near Fruitlands.
The Harvard General Store was the designated lunch stop, but it was seven miles from the end and it was unclear to me what the plan was - to eat en route or return by car. So I gave the troops the opportunity to eat first and return to the cars after lunch, or soldier on. Being leader, I felt honor bound to lead my merry band back to the start, but I made sure that the diners had at least a vague idea of how to get back.
Francie stepped in as sweep, since Stuart elected to eat at the store. I figured Francie's white jersey would be easy to spot, and checked for her periodically in my rear view mirror. It seemed my party had gotten even smaller than I thought when I realized that the white jersey was not unique, there was another white jersey wearer in the group.
I started out with eighteen riders, but ended up with a lot less. Several people opted for the twenty mile option. The early eaters accounted for a few more. The last regrouping was taking a while and the early arrivals were chafing at the bit. Bolton was beckoning, so they took off. I am confident that all my people eventually found their way home.
Thanks to Stuart and Francie for sweeping.
Report by Jack Donohue.
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Coordinator's note: Photos courtesy of Rick Carlson, Russ Keene, and Jack Donohue. See all of Russ Keene’s photos at https://goo.gl/
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| Short riders obscuring the view |
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| You can see for miles |
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| Not bad scenery in the parking lot |
