Desperate Wheelers - November 24, 2021

 RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 24 November 2021, Desperate Wheelers

Ride Leaders: Jack Donohue/Wing Chow

Sweeps: Wing Chow/Jack Donohue
35 miles, 10:00 am start from Bedford, MA

Riders (2): Jack Donohue, Wing Chow.

This was almost "the Ride that Wasn't." My rider list that came out on Tuesday contained one rider besides me. Early Wednesday morning, said rider bailed. Was looking pretty lonely, until I checked the rides calendar, and two more riders had registered, plus a third who was having trouble with the signup. Wahoo! - beginning to look like a crowd. The throng dwindled as one emailed me that he wasn't coming. and two never showed by post time. This raises the philosophical question "What if you gave a ride and nobody came?" Is it still a ride? Fortunately, I didn't have to ponder this for very long as Wing showed up nearly on time.

(Note: I'm not really a zero tolerance about start time kind of guy, but my tolerance tends toward miniscule as the temperature drops. Good rule of thumb: wait x minutes beyond published start time (where x is temperature in degrees Celsius).

So Wing was appointed de facto sweep and the arrowing was flawless, which is to say non-existent. It was pretty cold and windy at the start and the first half of the ride was mainly into the wind. Wing took the lead now and again, hence the shared billing above.

We did not have a Wisteria Lane sighting as advertised. I was beginning to think I had imagined it, but thanks to Google, I found it off of Byam Road just around mile 16. OK, it's "Wisteria Road" not "Wisteria Lane," but close enough.

I wasn't able to manage the standard 13 mph pace, much less the "spirited" one, so I'm in jeopardy of being fired from WW leadership. We didn't stop anywhere and the group photo was a group selfie at the end.

Report by Jack Donohue.

Through the Woods and Over the River - Blue Hills and Neponset - November 17, 2021

 RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 17 November 2021, Through the Woods and Over the River - Blue Hills and Neponset
Ride Leaders: David Wean and Ron Beland
25 or 27 miles, 10:00 am start from Canton, MA

First, a public (dis)service announcement: For no-drop rides such as Wednesday Wheelers, we often try to accommodate folks who may find themselves a couple minutes late. This morning we waited in 30-ish degree weather for four people who had registered but did not show, at least by 10:15.When registering, the confirmation email says "If you need to cancel, contact the ride leader..." One rider canceled the night before, but none of the other four made any contact, though they had the ride leaders' phone numbers and emails from the announcement. 'Nuff said.

Riders - (9 minus 2 plus 1): David, Ron, Everett Briggs, Frank Aronson, Gerry Sheetoo, Greg Tobin, Julia Zhogina, Stuart Kaufman, Tom Allen, and Wing Chow.

Beginning with a rocky start (one rider showing up at last week's ride start, one with a non-fixable mechanical issue just as we began, and a third who decided after the wait and a half mile that they were just too cold to continue), we had a lovely romp through Canton, Quincy, Dorchester, Mattapan and Milton.

We warmed up with a climb to the overlook on Chickatawbut Road, speeding down the back side into Quincy. We cruised along Wollaston Beach, followed by a brief detour around Moswetuset Hummock (which detour exemplified the dictum that "if you get ahead of the ride leader, you're on your own"). On to Marina Bay for a water view and restroom stop, where we were joined by the rider who'd driven to the wrong ride start. Before riding along runway 14/32 of the former airfield at Squantum Point Park we caught a great view of the remaining gas tank, UMass, and the JFK Library, as well as (again) the Boston skyline. We crossed back on the Neponset Bridge, and viewed the estuary from the paths around Pope John Paul II Park. The Neponset Trail took us back along the "high speed trolley" line (the operators of the '40s era cars still ring the bell when you gesture up and down as they pass!) to Mattapan Square, from which we found our way back to the Blue Hills Reservation. Four of the eight remaining riders chose to climb the recently repaved access road to the top of Great Blue Hill, and lunch at Hillside Pub was enjoyed by the ride leaders and two riders.

 

Report by David Wean.

Blue Moon - November 10 , 2021

RIDE REPORT

Blue Moon - November 10, 2021

Ride Leaders: Linda Nelson & Betsy Harper

33 or 40 miles, 10:00 am starts from Medfield, MA

Riders - 33 mi (8): Linda, Barry Nelson, Francie Sparks, Gary Williams, John Kitchen, Susan Broome, Susan Sabin, and first-timer Michael Lepie.

Riders - 40 mi (9): Betsy, Frank Aronson, Gerry Sheetoo, Joel Bauman, John Ho, Lindy King, Rochelle Holman, Ted Finch, and Wing Chow.

Eight riders opted for the 33-mile ride at the usual moderate WW pace. The warm weather was welcome, but it did become a bit windy towards the end of the ride. Many thanks to Gary and John Kitchen for taking more than half of the arrow positions during the ride, and thanks to Barry for being the sweep. The group kept discussing the yummy baked goods that awaited them at the Blue Moon bakery and, sure enough, there were plenty left when we arrived.

Report by Linda Nelson.

Nine riders opted for a 40-mile ride at a spirited pace. Betsy was nominally the group leader, but several others moved forward to lead and break the wind. We primarily rode together, which made for some nice group interactions. The day was gorgeous and the route was one of the nicest we've cycled this fall. Foliage colors have faded, but a warm 60 degrees and sunshine were welcoming.

Report by Betsy Harper.

Rides from Concord - November 3. 2021

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 3 November 2021, Rides from Concord

Ride Leaders:  Alan Cantor, Ted Finch & Tom Allen

46 or 31 miles, 9:30 & 10:00 am starts from Concord, MA

Riders - 46 mi (6):  Alan, Frank Aronson, Gary Williams, Rochelle Holman, Tami Kellog, and Wing Chow.

Riders - 31 mi (14):  Ted, Tom, Barry Nelson, Beth Rosenzweig, Butch Pemstein, Don Mannes, Hugh Folsom, Jim Pearl, Kaz Zelny, Linda Nelson, Marc Baskin, Peggy Gelin, Selig Saltzman, and Susan Sabin.

A wonderful route with fantastic weather and the best riding partners anyone could ask for!

Report by Alan Cantor.

A group of (13 riders) left the Concord Visitor Center on a 31-mile ride, without its scheduled ride leader!  When the ride leader failed to appear at the ride start, Ted stepped up and offered a plan.  After a few miles, we stopped and saw a natural split in average speeds.  The faster group (five riders) stayed perfectly together without the need for human arrows.  It was a 40 degree, crisp, clear fall day enjoyed by this fun group. 

Report by Ted Finch.

After waiting in the Concord Visitor Center parking lot for about fifteen minutes after the designated start time for the 31-mile shorter ride option, the ride leader was declared MIA.  We decided to follow the route on our own as a number of us had the GPS route loaded.  After some indecision on the direction of the first turn out of the parking lot, we set out towards Lincoln for a designated rendezvous.

At that point, it became evident that we had two different pace preferences, so a faster group, led by Ted, set out ahead.  I led the group of nine that chose the standard WW pace.  The route was simple to follow once those of us with the RideWithGPS App learned to ignore the (seemingly random) voice directions that occasionally told us to take a sharp turn onto the road we were already on and then turn around.  [Tip:  always check your automatically generated cues.]

Weather was brisk and bright and everyone seemed to be adequately dressed, with the possible exception of one rider in shorts (see photo of our group at Sherman's Bridge).  Our group split at lunch, with some of us stopping at Verrill Farm for a sandwich and others heading directly back to Concord center.

Thanks to Kaz for sweeping, and to Jimmy White for an enjoyable route.  Sorry you missed it.

Report by Tom Allen.

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.