Ride Page
Here You will find the reports of our exploits for the month January 2001 more or less as they happened. If you have a ride you want listed or want to submit a report of a ride you went on, please leave me a note. bikebob@crocker.com
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)

Tuesday 1/2: It was another very cold evening and only Homer and Mark showed up for the ride. After everyone got dressed we were ready to head out into the 9 degree night. I led the ride over to Gill Road and a very slow pace. This allowed everyone to warm up gradually and it kept the wind chill factor from sending us back to the shop right away. We encountered a high snow bank when we tried to get across the highway, but after walking over it we found riding through the snow to be fairly easy. We rode across the highway and into the trails on the snowmobile tracks. At first it seemed that the snowmobiles had made the riding easier, but when we got a little further into the woods we found that riding on the tracks they made was impossible. The snow was too dry and the traction was more like riding on ball bearings. We rode a little and then walked a little up to the Mud Road where we made the decision to ride on the flatter trails rather than try to go up the Ridge Trail. I found that in order to ride for any distance, I needed to go off the trail and ride in the woods. Even that only worked for a little way, because there wasn't enough space on the side of the trail, and I was forced back onto the track.  After we got about half way down the Mud Road we decided to head back because we knew that the conditions would not be any better up ahead. We then rode over to the hardtop road and then down to the power lines. We turned onto the power lines and we rode on truck tire tracks back to the trail that take us to the highway. We had a good ride in spite of the snow conditions.

Sunday 1/7: I have not been keeping up with the rides due to the marginal snow conditions. We have a light powder snow cover and it is great for skiing but the water content is so low that the snow does compact well and therefore the trails are very soft. Homer and I decided that we didn't care what the conditions were, we were going to ride anyway. When I arrived at Montague Center I was greeted by Brian P., Penny, IP, Mark, and Mic. I got ready to ride and soon Homer drove up and we were off for the trails. This was IP's first snow ride, so she was looking forward to getting some experience on the frozen trails. When we got to the Telephone Pole Trail, I started up the hill near the front of the group, but soon I caught up with Mark and Brian who were forced to dismount due to the soft snow. We walked/ran/rode the rest of the way to the fire pit where we waited for the others to join us. As we were making our way up the hill Mark said that his seat was loose and he asked me if I had a tool to tighten it. I told him that I did and I would make the repair as soon as we got to the top of the hill. The bolt on Mark's saddle was pretty stripped, but I managed to get it sort of tight before the last rider joined us. After I did the repair on Mark's bike I decided to take a drink from my water carrier. As I picked the bag off the snow I noticed that there was a dark spot on the water hose, so I tried to brush it off. Well, that dark spot was not on the hose, but in the hose. It seems that after a few weeks of not cleaning the water bag, the hose grew some fairly ugly looking hair inside. I squeezed the tubing and removed the bite valve and this awful looking brownish/black looking goop came out the end of the tubing.  I was just going to use the water anyway, but IP offered to share her water with me and I did not refuse her generosity. After that disgusting episode, we decided to stay on the Telephone Pole Trail because the snow was not that well packed on the secondary trails. Brian, Mark and myself led the group on a slow and somewhat difficult ride out to the power lines. IP was the first to reach us at the road crossing and although she was tired she was pumped. Homer was behind IP and I could see that her tires were not working well in the snow. She was pedaling twice as hard as the rest of us and going not nearly as fast. I told Homer that I would get her some new tires so that she would be able to hook up in these conditions. We paused for a minute before continuing on the power lines, which were pretty well packed down. We rode about three quarters of the way to the next intersection and stopped to let everyone catch up. When Mark came along he said that his seat was loose again and Mick and I tried to fasten a repair from the box of bolts that Mick had with him. I got Marks seat reasonably secure as the rest of the riders arrived and soon we all headed off towards Hatchery Road. When everyone arrived at the road, Mark's saddle was loose again and he decided to take the short route back to his house. After Mark left we decided to take the Hatchery Road down to the paved road and head back to the center of town. Hatchery Road is normally a rutted Jeep road that we use in the summer, but in the winter the cars and trucks that use it pack the snow down pretty solidly, so that we can ride on a fairly smooth surface.  This was mostly the case, although some sections were pretty soft, we were able to ride all the way out to County Road. Once we all were on the hardtop, we rode slowly back to the center of town. It was good to be out riding, but I would have rather have the snow packed down more. I think everyone had a good time and I am looking forward to better snow conditions that we are expected to get next week.

Thursday 1/11: I planned to do a ride tonight because I thought that the new snow we just received would be packed down by the snowmobiles. Along for the ride tonight was IP, Homer, Mark, MB, and Curt Golec. After everyone got their "woolies" on we headed out from the shop for a trip to the Coke Plant. I led the bunch as we made our way to the RT. 2 crossover and after we crossed the highway we headed into the trails. I followed MB, Curt, and Mark and the girls were behind me. We did not get very far on the trails before we had to dismount and walk. The snow was too soft for the most part and unless you were the first rider, the snow got pretty churned up and it was hard to hold your line. We made it to the truck turnout and then headed up the Mud Road. I was leading and I was able to ride up the whole route, but everyone else had to get off and walk. We re-grouped at Five Points and then continued down the Mud Road to Four Corners where Homer, IP and myself bailed. We decided to head for the hardtop road and catch up with the boys at the other end of the trail. When my trio got to the fire pit we waited for a couple of minutes for the boys to join us and then we all headed out to the hardtop again. Mark wanted to try to ride in the field near the Bete factory, and so we all headed over there to watch him give it a go. While we were waiting, we were entertained by Curt as he tried to ride over the snow banks. It was great fun seeing him do flips into the snow. When Mark was done with the "field trip", we all headed back to the power lines and then to the crossover. After everyone was safely across the highway we headed slowly down Gill Road and back to the shop. It is always fun to be out on the bike, but the snow conditions forced us to walk as much as ride. I hope we get some more really wet snow or some rain to pack the snow down in the next few days, or this winter will go down as one of the worst for trail riding. Anyway, we will try again on Sunday.

Hey Bob!
Is nothing sacred? There I was, minding my own business, getting ready for the start of the first snowshoe race of the season, when all of a sudden the crowd parted. You could hear the gasp of the crowd, I turned slowly around...and there he (it) was...JORGE!!!! Big grin and all...."hey" he says...I try to hide, too late. "Hello George" I say, mimicking Jerry Seinfeld's "hello Neuman" greeting. "What a surprise, gonna try some snow shoeing I see." "Yep" says George, "but I didn't have any snowshoes, so I just took the wheels off of my Redline, wrapped a little duct tape around my bike shoes and the spokes and 'voila!' ...snowshoes!" After talking him out of using his ski poles (like we need George out in the woods with two pointy sticks!!) we were all off and running. Rumor has it he's still out there, somewhere, muttering to himself, "damn that Bob, it's his fault I'm lost!"
  Seriously though, George did great, he's a hot ticket and I would love to see more of my bike pals out there on the trails as we all wait for the winter riding to improve! 
Marc A. Lombard
TrlFool@the-spa.com
"Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."

Sunday 1/14: I was somewhat unsure of what the conditions would be like today as the weather has not been very cooperative lately and our last ride was more of a hike than a ride. I arrived in the center of town and was soon joined by Brian Pierce, Homer, and IP. Brian told us that he had been out on the trails and although they were in good shape, he could not ride up the Telephone Pole Trail because the snow was so soft. With that information we decided to ride up the road to the power lines, rather than walk up the Telephone Pole Trail. When we got to the power lines we found that the snow was pretty firm with some soft spots. Brian and I rode ahead of the girls and we were able to ride most of the way on the power lines, but there were sections that were too soft even for us to ride through. The girls found that the trail was ridable but they too had to dismount and walk a couple of times. We continued on the power lines to the Hatchery Road where we turned right and headed east. We rode along on the road where the snowmobiles had ridden, but the snow was not the best and the riding was pretty tough. We rode and walked for another hour or so and when we finally got back to the road we all were pretty whipped but we decided to try to ride down the Telephone Pole Trail anyway. I rode at the front and I found the trail to be in great shape and I was able to ride all the way down to the hardtop without stopping. When I got to the road I waited for a few minutes before Brian showed up and he said that the girls were quite a ways behind him. Brian said that he had to get going so I turned and headed back up the trail to see if I could see IP and Homer. I only got a little way up the hill before I saw the girls comming down towards me. After they got to the bottom of the hill and rested for a minute, we headed back to the center of town and our cars. This was another one of those rides that make you sure that you are really dedicated to doing this.

Tuesday 1/17: It was a fairly warm evening and Homer stopped at the shop where we waited to see if anyone else would be joining us for the trip to the Montague Plains. At 6:00 when no one showed, Homer and I loaded the van and headed for the Book Mill parking lot. I wondered out loud whether or not Penny was going to ride tonight and I said that it might be just Mark, Homer and me for the ride. Well we were pleasantly surprised when we got to the Book Mill, because there was Penny, standing next to her car putting on her riding garb. After Homer and I got ready, we discussed the route for tonight with Mark and Penny. We decided to forgo the Telephone Pole Trail since Mark said that it was pretty soft when he checked it a few minutes earlier and we instead took the Old Northfield Road route. We rode at an easy pace up the road to the power lines where we turned onto the snowmobile trails. I was amazed at how good the traction was and the fact that we were able to ride along without difficulty. Mark and I rode ahead of Penny and Homer and we waited at the turn for the banked trail. When the girls arrived, they said that they were getting pretty warm, so they shed their balaclava's and jackets. It was really quite nice out and Mark and I invited the girls to take the lead on the next section of trail. Big mistake! It seems that the women do not weigh as much as we do and they were able to ride along on top of the snow, whilst Mark and myself were getting hammered trying to keep up, due to the fact that we kept breaking through the crust and we had to slog through the powder. By the half way point on the trail Mark and I couldn't even see Homer and Penny because they got so far ahead. Mark and I rode slowly out to the end of the trail where the girls were waiting for us, and I commented on the fact that they did really well compared to us. After a brief rest we decided to try to ride out to Willis Hill. All of us were pleased at how well we did and how nice it was to be out on the trails on such a beautiful evening. This was the best snow ride of the year, and it sure made up for last Thursday's debacle. We had a great time riding on the trails and when we got to Willis Hill we made the turn onto a trail that we use to cut out the hill. This trail was not as heavily used and we all had to work much harder to ride this section, but it is fairly short and after we got back to the power lines we then hooked up onto Hatchery Road. This was a blast. We rode along the hard packed snow and soon we were back to the main power lines again. Mark decided to head home so that Trina (his wife) could get over to the gym. We said good-bye to Mark and the three of us then headed back down the power lines to Old Northfield Road. Homer led us onto the trails and I rode behind Penny. As we got going I noticed that Homer was pulling away from the now tiring Penny. As Penny and I slowed a little to let her recover some, Homer was in rocket mode. She flew down that trail and in short order she was out of sight. Penny and I rode at a good pace and we finally caught up with Homer as she was riding in circles waiting for us on Old Northfield Road. We rode three abreast all the way back to the hardtop and we had a nice conversation as we glided along. After we got on the hardtop again we quickly made our way back to the Book Mill where we loaded the bikes into our vehicles and headed for home. It was a great ride, and I commented on the fact that after a few "not so good" rides, we really appreciated this one!

Tuesday 1/23: After a three day bout with a cold I decided to try an outdoor ride. I have been getting some much needed rest and so I felt a ride would be in order. I did not send a notice of the ride because I wasn't sure that the trails would be in good enough shape to ride on. But after a quick trip to the plains in the afternoon I found the snow to be perfect, so the ride was on. Unfortunately most of the riders were not aware of the ride so only Penny and Mark joined me for the trip. We left the Book Mill parking lot and rode up to Old Northfield Road which we followed to the power lines. For some reason my previously invincible neoprene gloves failed me and when I got to the power lines my fingers were frozen. I switched to my Pearl Izumi lobster gloves and soon I was on my way with nice toasty fingers. I followed Penny and Mark as we made a loop out to Willis Hill on the same route that we used last week. The difference was that this week we were able to cover the same distance in about half the time. We rode on hard packed snowmobile trails and we did not have to walk at any point. We stopped a couple of times to rest but we were able to pedal the entire route without difficulty. It was 23 degrees out but it seemed to be much colder than that, and after we had ridden for about an hour we were all getting chilled so we decided to head back to the cars. We rode back to the power lines and then we turned left and headed down the main trail. We found that the trail had been pretty chewed up by trucks and four wheelers, so we hopped over to the side trail and we were able to ride without any difficulty. We soon were back on the road and Penny and I rode easily back to the hardtop and Mark rode back to his house. The conditions were just about as good as they get for this time of year and I look forward to the ride on Thursday.

Thursday 1/25: I scheduled the ride for 6:15 tonight to give me enough time to close the shop and to get over to the Book Mill. As I was closing up GB wheeled into the parking lot and then breezed through the door and said "Am I too late?". No, I replied. GB then said that he needed to change his clothes and I told him that I would wait for as long as it took him. After a quick change, GB followed me over to the Book Mill where we were greeted by Curt, Mark, Wayne Holden and Homer. After we all got our equipment adjusted and our gear put on, we headed out of the parking lot to ride to Old Northfield Road. I had Mark take the lead and I said "Just take it easy until we get to the power lines." , but by the time Wayne, Homer and I got to the end of  the parking lot the rest of the group was out of sight. We rode took off in pursuit of the others and we kept up a pretty good pace in so doing. After a few minutes Homer turned to me and said "I can't imagine what would have happened if you told them to go fast". I agreed that the others were going a lot faster than I would have liked, but I knew that they would be waiting for us at the power lines so I just told Homer to ride at her pace and we would do OK. When we all got to the Power Lines, we discussed the route and we decided to take the same route that we did on Tuesday. We found the trails to be in excellent condition, firm with excellent traction and the group headed toward the first turn. I rode at the back with Wayne, who was having a hard time riding on snow for the first time this season. The group waited for Wayne and me at the trailhead and after Wayne caught his breath, we headed out for the power lines on the other side of the plains. Wayne was having a hard time so I passed him and I caught up with Homer and GB and I told them to not to wait up for us. I dropped back and waited for Wayne to catch me and we headed out for the power lines. I noticed that Wayne was really spinning at a high rate and I asked him what ring he was in. He said he was in his "granny", so I suggested that maybe he should use his middle ring. Well that did it! Wayne suddenly got on top of his gear and we soon caught up to the other riders. GB and Homer stayed in front as we made our way to the bottom of Willis Hill and we all watched as Mark and Curt tried to ride up the hill, but the snow was too soft and by the time we got to the hill they were on the way down. We rode from Willis Hill through the woods to the power lines where I got a little over the top about the fact that none of the riders were under the pine tree, but rather they were standing out on the trail. It seems that there was a snowmobile waiting and I didn't see that before I started talking. Anyway, we soon were heading out for Red Rock, with Curt and Mark in the lead and the rest of us trying to keep up. When we got to the brook we waited for everyone to catch up before we tried to climb the hill. It was pretty difficult to ride up the steeper sections, but we all managed to get some riding on the trip up. Once we made it across the top we found the trip down the other side to be a blast. The trail was fairly smooth and we were able to get a good head of steam going. We all re-grouped at the bottom of Red Rock before heading back to the power lines. I rode at the back with Wayne as we made our way back down the power lines to the road. We ended up on the road and then decided to try riding down the Telephone Pole Trail. I led the rip down the hill and I waited at the bottom for Wayne before heading back to the Book Mill. It was a fun ride and we ended the evening at the Peoples Pint with some burgers and beer.

Sunday 1/28: It was a beautiful sunny day and I arrived at the center of Montague early, so that I would be ready for 2:00. Joining me for the ride today was Homer, Brian, and Penny. We rode from the center of town to Old Northfield Road and the girls headed for the power lines while Brian and I took a trail out to the Telephone Pole Trail. Brian and I road at a pretty good clip and we managed to get out to the road soon after Homer and Penny arrived. We then rode on the power lines to the first trailhead, and we turned right. I followed Brian and the girls all the way out to the nest intersection and from there we turned right and headed for the Five Mile Trail. The snow conditions were perfect for riding and we all made great time on our way out to Willis Hill. When we got to the bottom of Willis Hill, Brian and I decided to try to ride up. Homer and Penny took the cross-over trail that leads to the big pine tree where they were going to wait for us. I followed Brian and soon we were half way up the hill on what turned out to be a perfect trail conditions. I rode a little further up the hill than Brian before the steepness of the trail forced me to dismount. Brian and I walked the short distance to the top where we jumped back on the bikes and rode to Craggy Hill. It was great fun to come ripping down the rock that is now covered with snow. After we re-joined the girls we headed out to the Brook Trail which we took to circumvent Red Rock. We then rode back to the sand pit and from there we headed for the power lines again. We rode down the power lines together and when we got back to Old Northfield Road, we decided to take the Telephone Pole Trail back to the hardtop road. After we got to the sofa's Penny and Brian decided to take another trail back and so Homer and I continued on and we all met up at the road. We rode together back to the center of town where we all jumped into our cars and got warmed up before heading for home.