Ride Page

Here You will find the reports of our exploits for the month February 2002 more or less as they happened. (Actually, I make all of this stuff up. We never do any rides and most of the people mentioned below are characters in a soon to be released Harry Potter novel.) If you can make up better stories than me, please leave me a note at bikebob@crocker.com and you too can get yourself published on the web. Do you need any more incentive that that?
Glossary of Names used in these reports: ME (MaryEllen) Ice Princess, IP (Lynn Black); Moose Boy, MB (Kris Black); Marcus P. Marcus, MPM (Marc Lombard); Black Beauty, BB (Marsha Martin); Timster, (Tim Fowler); Little Puke, LP (Matt Putnam); Jorge, (George Katzar); His Majesty Jack, HMJ (Jack Spanbauer); Queen Nancy, QN (Nancy Spanbauer); Donna the Hon, DTH (Donna Golec); Star, (Dave Walker); Crash Test Dummy, CTD (Ed Sokoloski); Georgie Boy. GB (George Bernegger); Little Bugger, LB (Casey Golec); JiT, Just-in-Time (Justin Golec); Homer (Michelle Hurley); Tywor (Tyler Golec); Service (Rod Perez); Rick² (Rick McCulloch and Rick Manson); P. J. Wabbit; PJW (Penny Abbott)

This month we have not had many rides due to the ice storm on the sixth. We have done a few low key rides but not the usual schedule. Below are the ride reports that I have.

Tuesday 2/5: I went out for a 20 mile ride down River Road. It was 37 degrees when I left the shop and it got really windy riding down to So. Deerfield. I kept a 16 mph average going down River Road and I got some what of a push going back, but the net result was a 18 mph average. Not too bad, but nothing to write home about.

Tuesday 2/12: It was another cool day today and I decided to take a spin with Jaybird. As you can see from the picture, he showed up with a pump and not much else. I had to repair his pump, pump up his tires, and get him dressed before we could leave on our ride. After the dear boy got ready he told me to keep it nice and mellow so that I would not tax his strength. I led the lad down to River Road and he and I took turns riding at the front. We rode down to So. Deerfield and crossed RT. 116 and rode down to Christian Lane, where we took a right and headed for Whatley. When we got to the center of town we took the back roads north to Deerfield and after riding through Old Deerfield we headed back to the shop. The whole trip took two hours and we did about 37 miles. It was great to go out and drag his sorry butt around the county, Maybe some day he will be a buff as me.

Saturday 2/23: Today we had a group of road riders assemble at the shop for a mid-winter ride. It was 37 degrees out when we left the shop with our group. I led the way down to Deerfield Street where we rode across the bridge and took a left onto River Road. I led the group up the first hill and onto the rough descent. As soon as we got onto smoother roadway I dropped to the back of the bunch. Curt, Mark and Chris Koh were riding at a slower pace and said that they would be fine riding on their own. Will and I led the riders up the climb to Pine Nook Road and when we got to the top we slowed up to let people catch back on. The remaining five of us headed down the hill past the power lines and just before we got to Hillside Road, Will got a flat. Wayne, Richard and I stopped to help out and as we began the repair we were passed by Mark, Chris and Curt. They along with John Bentley continued on while I finished up fixing the flat. After we got the flat repaired, we took off in pursuit of the rest of the group. I led for a good chunk of the way down to RT. 116 and after we crossed the highway, I took over again and we rocketed down towards Hatfield at 23 mph. We caught sight of the riders ahead as we crossed the line into Hatfield and we caught up with them just as they were climbing the hill on Brad Street. As we got to the top of the hill I told Chris that he might be better off taking Straights Road and meeting up with us in Old Deerfield. After Chris turned I rode to the front and we all rode up to Rt. 5&10 where we crossed over to Mountain Road, We rode up the hills into Whatley Center with Will and I trading pulls on the uphill sections. As we rolled through town we were down to five riders. Curt and Mark were following at their own pace. I rode at a steady pace down the hill into So. Deerfield where Wayne took over the work at the front. We all did short pulls as we made our way over to Old Deerfield at a 22 mph pace. We all made it out onto RT. 5&10 together and we pushed the pace somewhat as we headed back into Greenfield. I took the lead for the last leg into town and then Wayne took over until we got back onto Washington Street. The group sort of got strung out as we spun easily back to the shop. We ended the ride with a 19.5 mph average for the 37 miles. It was a great ride for late February, and this good weather should last for the next few days.
 

Today was my first road bike ride of the year. Bob had sent out an email about a 1:00 ride from the shop, so I showed up at 12:30 ready to go. I layered on every bit of biking clothing I had including a wool hat, thinking I would rather stop to strip layers off than get caught out in the cold. As it was, I was glad for every bit of it. The only part of me that wasn't warm at the end of my ride was my toes. I'll need to get some booties if the weather doesn't warm up soon. There were 8 of us ready to go at 1:00 (with a good showing of us 'Beermonters'). It was discouraging to see that the rest of the group was made up of skinny guys that would be leaving me behind on the first hill, but I was determined to make the best of it anyway. We planned to ride South down River Road all the way into Hatfield, cross the highway to Whately, then head back through Old Deerfield. A trip I'd done several times the past summer. As soon as we got to the hills on River Road, my heart rate tried to set a new high. I pushed on, but was a little disconcerted about the rate. I kept up with the main group until just short of the final climb when I decided to stop pushing so hard. As I reached the high point on River Road, I pulled over for a short break and to let Chris (the only rider still behind me) catch up. Chris and I rode together for a few miles before passing Bob and three others stopped to change a flat. We rode on by. A few miles further, just above the rte 116 intersection we came upon the final two riders who were unsure of the route so had waited up for anyone from behind. The four of us continued South and were still out in front when it came time to turn West. Just as we took the turn, I spied the 4 riders behind us coming into view. About halfway through the Western part of our trip, the group came back together. Bob sent Chris North on a shortcut but I decided to stick with the full route even if I wasn't able to stay with the group. I rode with one other rider through Whately as the 5 faster riders pulled away from us on the way home. When we got the farmland just south of Old Deerfield, we caught up to Chris and added him to our group. We rode with him until he dropped off as we pulled back onto Rte 5. The ride back from there was uneventful. I noted that the final few hills climbing back into town hurt a little in a way that they only can for the first few rides of the year.

Sunday 2/24: Today I got over to the shop for our last MTB ride before the trip to AZ. I was joined by MPM, Gary, Kip and Rich Flye. We left the shop and headed over to the Coke Plant at 1:15 under sunny skies and fairly warm (40 degrees) temperatures. We rode down Gill Road and crossed RT. 2 and started riding up the trails. There was no snow and a little ice on the first sections of trails that we rode and we found that the mud was more of an issue than the ice. When we got up to the truck turnout we decided to take the race course route out to Five Points and since the trails were in good shape we continued on up the Ridge Trail. After I got to the top of the ridge, I stopped to wait up for Gary and when he got up to me I followed him to the bottom of Luke. When Gary got over the first rock he said that he needed to slow up so I took off and caught up with Rich and we rode to the water tank together. When we got to the tank I took a shot of Gary as he caught up with us. After a few minutes we all headed off to the power lines. We rode down the hill to Red Rock and after a brief discussion we headed down the Chute Trail to Deer Run. As I got to the bottom of the hill I got my front wheel caught up in a rut which sent me over the bars and caused Gary and Kip to spill as well. After I got back on the bike We headed off for the Messed Up Trail. Kip and Rich took a wrong turn on their way over to the Messed UP Trail but they got back on track after I hollered to them as I passed by. When I got to the bottom of the hill MPM was waiting for me and I sent him off to the Hill of Doom while I waited to direct the rest of the crew onto the trail. For the first time in quite a while I rode all the way up the Hill of Doom, while some of the others suffered a slip near the top. It was just a perfect day to be out in the woods and I was glad that I was able to capitalize on the great conditions. After I got up to the other riders we all headed out for the Orchard Trail. Our path was blocked at the end of the trail by a downed tree and we had to walk around it. We all rode over to Double Dip  and from there we headed over to the Streambed Trail. I rode at the back of the group all the way up the hill and I made it to the last steep section before my rear wheel slipped out on a hidden root. We all regrouped at the top of the Secret Trail and from there we headed down the hill to the Ridge Trail. We rode back to Five Points and from there we took the Wall Trail over to the Lillian Street Trails. We paused at the end of the Wall Trail and I told everyone to be careful of the ice on the next corner. That said we headed off and MPM and Kip promptly hit the ice and fell. They slid for a ways and soon were back up muttering something about ice on the trail. After they got going we all rode back to RT. 2 where I took some pictures of the group coming out of the woods.