July 2006 Ride Report Page          
Here you will find the reports of our exploits for the month July 2006 more or less as they happened. Please note that the ride reports are the results experienced by the writer and not necessarily a reflection of all the rides that went out on that particular day. We have rides for all abilities but I only publish the reports that I receive. This means that if no one from the beginner rides send me a report, then you will not see that ride listed here. I will publish any ride reports or digital photos that I receive. Editors notes are in pink. Please send them to  bikebob@crocker.com and you too can get yourself published on the web! Go to the Ride Schedule link; You will find information about ride schedules and how the rides are run.
I have changed the format for the reports. You will now find the latest report on the top of the page instead of scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

Monday 7/31: We have had a very good month of riding this July, even with the few rides that got rained on, we have had a lot of fun on the roads and trails. Tonight was our "beginner" ride and I am thinking of a new name for this ride. Although most of the riders are new, they are not really beginners in the true sense of the word. Maybe I call it the "Newbie" ride instead. Anyway, we had a group of 31 riders show up for the ride. I did not ride with Grasshopper tonight so there will not be an edition of The Grasshopper Chronicles in this report. Since we had such a large group, I split the pack into three. I sent Grasshopper off in a pack of 15 riders while MaryEllen took 8 with her ride. My group included Karen M., Doc Holiday, Eric, Mary Lightner, Jack Dunbar and Maryann Morris and we headed out for a loop out to Leyden and Barton Roads. We left the shop and the group stayed pretty much together down Silver Street and then the riders started to get strung out on the hills of Leyden Road. I kept riding from the front to the back of the group, coaching the riders as I did. We stopped once on Leyden Road before heading for Barton Road and the steep hill. Everyone did great on the hill, with most of the group making it up with no difficulty. The heat did not seem to bother the group too much and after the stop at the end of Country Club Road the riders voted to head over to Severance Street instead of going back on Country Club Road. After heading down the hill on Barton Road we made the turn onto Severance Street where the pace slowed measurably. Jack and Linda were the first to the top of the hill and I soon joined them having ridden up from the back of the group. I had Jack and Linda slow down a bit until the rest of the group caught up and then we headed over to 5&10 to begin the ride back to the shop. The group got strung out on the hill back into town and I rode back to the shop with Karen. Our group was the first to arrive back at the shop but we were soon joined by the other groups. Everyone had a great ride on a warm summer evening.

Monday night ride report

Tonight Bob picked out our route and sent us on our way.  We did almost the same route as last Monday night but in reverse.  We headed out to Adams road, the pace was a bit fast for me as I wasn’t warmed up yet, (takes me a few miles).  I knew right away that the lead group was going to leave me (and others) in the dust, but I didn’t care.  We made it up the hill and the lead group (Tom, Kim, Grasshopper, Keith, can’t remember the other names because I am old now) were waiting at the top of the hill for us slower folks. We rode off to Streeter's Store where the faster group was waiting for us again and almost as soon as we arrived off the lead group went again.  We turned right at the store and headed down Rt. 10 to Rt. 63.  Bob, what is up with that spot on Rt10, looks like am going down hill but I working hard like I am going uphill, it’s just not right!  I was riding behind (yeah way behind) Bob S and Brian, Brian was having some shifting problems but was able to work it out and by the time we made it to Rt. 63 everyone was waiting for us.  That was pretty much the last time we saw the lead group, they were off and gone.  Left in our group were Patrick, Brian, Cathy and Mark (tandem) Bob Shepherd and another name I forget) and me.  We were riding together for the most part…yeah Bob we still need work on our pace line, we kind of got strung out a couple of times, which as you know made us all work way too hard.   Cathy and Mark were pulling us for awhile and then they were kind enough to let me pull for awhile, I brought the group through Millers Falls (yes Tom, I made the left hand turn without any trouble tonight!) and then up that tough little hill and made it almost to the airport when, I pooped out.  Cathy and Mark pulled ahead with Patrick on their tails and I was left in the dust, I just couldn’t keep up.  Brian caught up to me and we headed down 3^rd street and up Esleeck hill and back to the shop.  Bob and the other guy came in behind us.  It was a good ride and I averaged about 17 mph.  Did I say how much fun I am having?

Sunday 7/30: Today I had planned a 50 mile ride for 9:00 from the shop. I had a new route that I wanted to try out before doing it on a weeknight ride. There was also a ride for the beginners that was led by Tom Graney. Tom had Heather, Karen, Patrick, Kathy, Paul and Christina in his group and they went out for a 40 mile jaunt. My group included Chris, Mike S., Jamie, Bruce and Doug Favreau. We left the shop and headed west on Silver Street. At the end of Silver Street we traveled down past the swimming pool and then took a right at the end of Nash's Mill Road. From there we took Colrain Road over to the Brook Road to begin the climb up the hill to Shelburne. Brook Road has been washed out for several years and the repairs have just been finished so I though we would give it a go. The roadway at the bottom of the hill was all new as was two of the bridges that got washed out. We rode along at a good clip on the early part of the hill but the pace proved too much for Mike and he dropped off the back of our group. Chris, Doug and Bruce set the pace up the hill with Jamie and myself just behind them. When we got to the end of Brook Road we took a right onto Greenfield Road to head for Colrain. At this point Wendy King joined our group and we all headed down the steep hill to Colrain Center. At the bottom of the hill we took a left turn onto RT. 112 and headed for Shelburne Falls. This is a really nice road that is mostly downhill and we made great time on the way to Shelburne Falls. Instead of going into the village, we took a left turn that put us briefly out onto RT. 2. We rode the short distance to the turn onto 112 and then headed for Ashfield. I have been pretty tired lately so I did not contribute much to the work on the front of the group. That duty was done mostly by Chris, with Doug and Bruce doing their share of work. There was a pretty strong headwind as we headed up 112 so I stayed at the back of the group with Jamie. When we got to the climb up Ashfield Mountain, Jamie and I took up the anchor position and we rode at a steady 8 mph up the 2 1/2 mile hill. At the top of the hill Wendy turned around and headed back home while the rest of us continued on. After a brief stop at the mini-market in Ashfield we headed for Bug Hill. Bruce suggested that we take this road to avoid the construction on 116. That was a great choice as the road was smooth and there was little traffic on it. We rode down Baptist Corner Road to the end of Wilder Hill Road where we took a right to head into Conway. We rode down the hill on Shelburne Falls Road to the center of Conway and then took a left to head to Deerfield via RT. 116. After riding down the hill into Deerfield we took a left onto Lee Road. As we got to the intersection of Stillwater Road we saw a group of riders ahead of us. We caught up with them and it was Ann and Doug Pratt out on a ride with John Strong and a couple of others. They joined our group and we all headed down the hill to Mill Village Road. Doug and Ann dropped off our group before we made it to Old Deerfield. Our pack cruised through town and after I nearly killed myself on the pot holes which are on the inside of the corner at the end of Old Main Street, we rode out to 5&10. We took the usual route back to the shop and were pleased to find that Deerfield Street has a newly paved surface. We arrived back at the shop at 12:20 having done 50 miles at a 18 mph pace. This will be a new route for our Tuesday rides. I think the group will like it.

Saturday 7/29: The Monson race was a nice course but there was quite a bit of bad pavement. One long hill with several rollers after the summit. Not too steep but over a mile of climbing. I hung with the lead group the first lap. Was in a perfect position at the bottom of the hill but a group of about 15 riders got away over the top. I was able to close a 200 yd. gap with the chase group. We rode together for the second lap. Had a nice pace line going all the way. Picked up several 45+ riders on the second lap. I was a bit off the front the second time up the long hill to the finish. I did pace my final climb well and passed 4 riders before the finish. A very satisfying ride. It was a treat to ride Cat 4. A much steadier for me and I even finished 24th.
John Bentley

Saturday 7/29: I got a call this morning from Jamie. He and Curt were doing a 60 mile ride and they wanted me to join them for the last leg of the journey. The plan was to go out for a 15 mile ride down to Hatfield, then we would BBQ at his house afterwards. Betsey and MaryEllen were going to join us at Jamie's house. Michelle wanted to do a short ride today so she was also going to ride down with the three of us. At 6:00 I got ready and the four of us headed south on High Street. As we neared the hospital we saw that there were some pretty dark clouds ahead of us. As we rode along there were several impressive lightning strikes off to the south of us. I took a detour down to Federal Street so that if the storm worsened we would be able to catch a ride with MaryEllen, who was driving the van to Jamie's house. Well, we did not get too much further before the rain started in earnest. We pulled over to the side of the road on Deerfield Street and waited for MaryEllen to arrive. She picked us up and drove us through the rainstorm to Jamie's house where we feasted on chicken and corn as well as tater salad.

Thursday night ride 7/27:   It was iffy as to whether we would get a ride in; there were severe thunderstorm warnings just as ride time was approaching.  Since we are a cautious group and nervous about the impending storm, we all decided we could get a ride in before it hit.  A group went out at 5:30 and Bob’s group went at 6.  Since I had done my goal of a 50 mile ride yesterday, I decided to take it easy today and not kill myself on the Noho ride.  Also it was my birthday and we were having cake after the ride so I wanted to be able to get back before all the big guys came in and ate it all.   In our group we had Kathy, Mary Ellen, Paul, Bob S and Patrick, we went up to Silver Street, to Country Club road, to Bernardston (I sure wish they would pave the roads in Bernardston) , Patrick and Bob S rode to Turners Falls Road.  Paul took Kathy Mary Ellen and me to Gill Road (I think that was the name).  Paul wanted us to see the nice little neighborhood they have and the nice houses, they were nice, Paul.   We rode to Turners and everyone went up Esleeck Hill back to the shop, I decided to ride through Turners, out to Abercrombie field in Greenfield to see how my son’s baseball team was doing.  They won!!  Then it started raining so hubby drove me back to the shop so I could eat some of my Birthday cake.  It was a great night.  Thank you everyone for celebrating my birthday with me.
Karen Dowd

Wednesday 7/26; Wendell MTB ride: It's been a while since I last typed up a ride report--but I think I'm due. Tonight we met at Wendell SF at 6:20 for a pleasant jaunt around the trails (and trials). Many of you may wonder about how our trails have fared since the double Tornado attack of a few weeks ago--Well, I'm glad to say that every trail we normally ride is in perfect shape--really. However, If you get a chance go have a look at Wickett Pond and it's surrounding trails-it looks like a gigantic foot stomped every tree to the ground--completely destroyed-so terribly destructive yet eerily localized (the way Tornadoes are). I might add that the only trails in the whole park with NO BIKES ALLOWED signs were also the only ones destroyed by the tornadoes--conclusion-God doesn't like "NO-BIKING" trails.

Anyway-a sizable group met at the Park Headquarters as usual and suited up for the ride. Joining us tonight was of course-our fearless leader Bob "Lord Shackleton" Perry, the lovely Jan, the new and improved (or maybe just a return to the original) Mark Newton, Hammerhead Harold Green, Steve Ellis, ED, Dan and Marshall from the greater Shelburne area, and Lazlo AKA: Jimbo. The plan: Two groups, with Bob taking the budding intermediates on a pleasant journey around Wendell on what is hence forth known as "Bob's Classic Wendell Route". Basically he leads his charges down to the Pine Tree Trail, back onto Wickett Pond Road, up the switchbacks of the lower Hannah Swarton (The Bob is Fat Trail), and wisely down Baker Road to the Nipmuck. From the bottom of the Nipmuck he leads the charge up the hill to Wickett Pond Road. Until the Wickett Pond Trail is repaired, he takes Wickett Pond Road back to the Pine Tree Trail, other wise the group would take Dirth Road to the Carlton-Dirth Trail and then back to the cars.

It's a great route for it's intended purpose-it avoids the white knuckled pleasures of the upper Hannah Swarton, and allows developing riders to face technically challenging trails in an uphill and less intimidating way-while also eliminating the grueling grind of Baker Rd in the uphill direction--and it showcases a good deal Wendell's special flavor. Three riders set off with Bob on his Classic route.

I lead the remaining troops ( a gang of six) on the "Liam's Evening Wendell Loop" route. This has become my go to 1.5 hour-mixed group way to ride Wendell. We set out on the XC ski trail that parallels Montague Road to New Carrolton Road. When we hit the road, we discovered that two different riders had rear flats. However, only one rider was prepared to deal with the situation (Marshall). Another rider, fessed up that he had no tools, patches, tubes, or air supply (man did that band suck!) Ahem-let me get my soap box out--climb up on top...okay. On any ride, but especially a time pressed group ride-everyone needs to be prepared to fix at least one flat (that'd be tubes, air, levers and know how). Flats are common (even if you've gone tubeless--bring a tube!). Also, I believe with the advent of the 'quick link and pocket chain tools--everyone ought to be able to fix a chain--or at least have the gear necessary (Or have Bob with you, see story below.). For 30 bucks you can stuff your pack with everything you need to handle both situations. Mechanicals happen to us all, no one is exempt, and we're all committed to being helpful and patient; But remember Scout: Be Prepared!!! Not saying ya need to be MacGyver, just be ready to handle the basic flats and chain breaks. OK, let me hop off this soap box and get back to the report.

Harold -quickly sported a tube, levers and a pump and both riders were soon on their way. We then turned left onto the Ruggles Pond Trail...yeah, there was some grousing and grumbling--not everyone loves this trail the way I do--so rocky, rooty, slippery and challenging without being death-defying. But, the two new guys were busting out some fine 'parking lot' bike skills so I figured they'd get a kick out of Ruggles pond. BTW-cleared it end to end--I'm about 50/50 on the rock garden at the end trail. Next we headed up Wickett Pond Road to the Maple Leaf Trail and then rode the entire Maple Leaf trail to the Nipmuck trailhead. I've grown to like the Maple Leaf Trail. (Jason's constant trail enhancement on this trail has helped a bundle!)--but it can be a taxing grind to the Nipmuck trailhead. I assured Dan and Marshall that what followed would be quite a reward for grinding it out to this point. Soon we were all blasting, hopping hard turning (love the berm, Jason!), and swooping down the twists and chutes of the Nipmuck trail. Near the bottom we encountered Lord Shackelton's crew--in a bit of a state I'm afraid. Jan had mis-stepped coming up the Nipmuck and twisted/torqued her foot. Bob was valiantly helping his group up the trail--we picked up Steve Ellis from Bob's group at this point.

A word about Bob-most of you know-Bob loves riding with beginners and improving intermediates-he picks good routes for them and displays a glacial patience in helping them along--he's gotten a lot of "never-evers" to a fair degree of off-road competency--I don't know how he does it-but, he really has a way to make his shop rides truly all-abilities--and he never loses people along the way--a skill I haven't mastered yet while leading rides (I know, I know).

As the group rejoined at the bottom of Baker Rd-Dan and Marshall seemed pleased with the down hill fun of the Nipmuck trail-remarking that it was one of the longest sustained downhill trails they've ridden in the region. I smiled but had to fess up that we were all about to pay for our 'sustained downhill' largesse. Ah, the Baker Road climb--you know it's gotten easier as all the riding has packed it down--but on these hot, humid nights, it's still, at best, a grueling slog (but not too long). Everyone made the climb in good order and we set off down the Lower Hannah Swarton--yee ha! I love this trail most of all-if you ride it end to end (Baker Road to Davis Road)-you've ridden one of the most challenging trails in the region. Anyway-at the Whale's Head junction I stopped to wait for the guys, Mark Newton on the descent caught his wheel on a stump, crashing as his wheel was forcibly pulled from his bike--I thought the wheel would be toast--not so, however, as upon further inspection it turned out to only be an annoyingly bent derailleur hanger--with some fidgeting he was good to go. As the rest of the gang rolled in there was talk of a mechanical---I thought they meant Mark and I said "nope it's been fixed": and rode off---but, no-there was actually another mechanical--Dan's rear hub was toast and Harold directed him and Marshall out the Whale's Head Trail. Ed, knowing the way back to the start, also opted to ride with them. Once again, I was returning short handed--dang! I'll get it right one of these times. At the Bridge, the remaining group (me Steve, Mark, Harold) decided to call it a night and head out to Damon Camp Road and then high-tail it back to the cars---this was cutting short "Liam's Classic Night Loop" which would normally go all the way to Davis Rd on the Hannah Swarton, back up Damon Camp and then down the "Bob is Fat Trail" and out--but we let wisdom be the better part of valor and set off for the cars.

Back at the cars we found the rest of the group (Bob's group arriving shortly after)--Jan's foot had healed up enough for her to soldier through the ride--and everyone appeared to have enjoyed another hot summer night at Wendell.

Liam

Tuesday 7/25: Tonight was another foray into Wendell. This has been a favorite route since many of the other routes have been put aside due to road construction or bad pavement. It was a warm and somewhat humid day today with not much wind and sunny skies. The shop has been pretty busy lately and I have had a hard time keeping up with all the work, so I was not aware that it was 5:00 until some of the riders for the 5:30 group started to arrive. There were 10 riders that left with Roger but I barely saw them before the group headed out. After Roger's bunch left, I started to get myself ready to ride. I have been having some trouble with my shifting due to an overly worn out drivetrain. I have been waiting for a replacement cogset to arrive but it is beginning to look like that is not going to happen any time soon, so I just put up with the gear grinding for now. There were 18 riders in my group and 10 riders in Bad Bob's bunch. My pack left the shop and headed over to Turners Falls via the Third Street route. I kept the group pretty much intact until the hill stretched the pack into a long line going up the hill. At the top of the hill we all managed to get back into a paceline and we headed off towards Millers Falls. We cruised along at 24 mph and that pace proved too much for Adrianne who dropped off the back and did her own ride. The rest of us continued on together until we got onto the climb to Wendell. At that point the group split into three and I ended up riding in the middle bunch. I set an even pace up the hill and when I got to the turn at the common in Wendell there was five of us left in my group. We did a loop around the common to see if there were any riders coming up behind us and sure enough we saw Gary riding the last part of the hill into town. Gary then joined Bruce Rogers (Nervous Doctor), Don, Michelle H., Mini Bell and me for the ride down to Lake Wyola. I pulled the group down the hill using the few gears that I had that weren't skipping. As we neared the beach crossing a car had stopped to let a family cross the street. I put my hand out to signal a stop and then put on the brakes. The next thing I heard was the sound of brakes squealing and the thud of a rider hitting the deck. Mini Bell wasn't paying attention and when we stopped he slammed into the back wheel of Bruce's bike. I asked if everyone was OK and then I yelled over to Mini Bell and told him to get back on his bike. Bell was a little shaken but otherwise OK. As Bell was getting back on his bike, Michelle Lombardo came along and she joined our group. After that bit of excitement we rode down the hill to Cave Hill Road where Michelle L. left us to head home and we made the left turn to ride up the hill. We all pretty much stayed together on the hill and soon we were making the left turn at the bottom of the hill. I was at the front of the pack setting a modest pace toward Leverett Center until I pulled off near the police station. Everyone in the group worked together and we rode down to Sunderland via Bull Hill Road. I did a long pull into Sunderland center at 27 mph before giving up the lead in the center of town. We rode though So Dee via North Main Street and we then took 5&10 back to Greenfield. We made it back to the shop just before dark with a 19 mph average for the 44 miles.

The Grasshopper Chronicles: We live in a group or we die alone!!
Monday 7/24: Tonight was one of the largest groups we have ever had for a "beginner" ride. In all we had 30 riders that we split into three groups. I went out with a group that included Grasshopper, Karen, Mark and Kathy on the tandem, Gary Cole, Bob Shepherd, Kim not Kate, Clyde, Tom Graney, Linda Chandler, Brian McCabe, Ann Pratt, Patrick and Matt Stinchfield. Our route was the Northfield 25 miler via Millers Falls. We left the shop to head over to Turners Falls in a long line that stretched out for quite a ways. Grasshopper was at the front of the pack and I was spinning somewhere in the middle as we rolled up to the traffic light at Ave A in Turners Falls. After crossing Ave. A, we headed up the Third Street Hill which strung out the pack in a long line. We regrouped at the top of the hill near Scotty's Store and then began the journey over to Millers Falls. I kept watch on the group from the middle to the back of the pack. I kept everyone in the pace line by giving the "Hand of Bob" to anyone who dropped off the pace. When we got to the bottom of the hill in Millers Falls we made the left turn to head to Northfield. The state is fixing the bridge over the Millers River and they installed a traffic light on the one way bridge. We all made it through the traffic light on the green light and then we began the climb up to Erving. The ride up the hill on RT. 63 was difficult for some of the riders and a small pack of five riders got off the front. After everyone got over the top of the hill I gathered our pack of 10 back together. We continued on in a nice line several hundred yards behind the five riders ahead of us. My group kept a nice steady pace as we rolled down the other side of the hill into Northfield. When we got to the Northfield Mountain facility I sprinted off the front to ride up to the lead pack. As I climbed the hill after Northfield Mountain I could see that Grasshopper had fallen off the back of the front group. I caught and passed Grasshopper and on my way by him I mentioned that I was going to turn around and ride back to the others after I talked with the lead group. After passing Grasshopper, I went on to catch up with Tom, Kim, Linda and Clyde. I told them to continue on and not to wait up for me or my group. After that I turned around and headed back to my group. I looked at Grasshopper when I passed him and I could see that he was determined to catch those ahead of him. Poor Grasshopper!! He should have taken my cue and joined me with the others behind him. But no, Grasshopper pushed on and I rode back to the group behind him. I went to the back of the group and helped Bob get back onto the last rider in the pack. As we headed down the hill to the Northfield Farms section the road widens and there is a wide breakdown lane. At this point I went to the front and started to pull Bob and Ann along behind me. Soon we started to catch other riders and by the time we got to the turn onto RT. 10, I had gathered all but three of our group into a pace line. Mark, Kathy and Gary were waiting for us after we made the turn onto RT. 10. They were waiting on the bridge over the train tracks  and we stopped briefly to get water. After our stop we all headed out to begin the climb up the hill into Gill. Not five seconds after we started to roll, Karen shifted her chain off her front chainring. Despite my efforts to coach her (Meaning: Bob screaming in your ear: Shift up on the left side ya dope!) she wasn't able to re-rail the chain so we stopped to manually put it back on the ring. After getting her going Brian, who had stopped to help out, Karen and I set off to catch up with our group. We at a steady pace up the hill and we caught up with Bob and then Ann and then Matt and then the rest of our group. We were all together at the turn at Streeter's Store and our group headed off to ride over the hill on Cross Street. We cruised over the top of the hill and then down the other side to RT. 5&10. We made a left turn across the highway to start the return trip to Greenfield. I was near the back of the group as we headed south. Suddenly I spied a large red object pedaling down the road just ahead of us. Grasshopper!! Yes indeed, there he was right ahead of us. I could not resist and I sprinted off on the sidewalk to catch my prey. I raced up behind Grasshopper and yelled BOO in his ear. This nearly scared the wits out of poor old Grasshopper as he was nearly spent, having ridden most of this ride chasing the leaders. (lesson: Never ride alone when there is a group to ride with.) After I caught up with Grasshopper we slowed the pace a bit and the rest of the pack came along to join us. We rode over to Barton Road and shortly after we made the turn I yelled out to Grasshopper "Town Line sprint!!". He took the bait and began to accelerate towards the line. I pedaled just hard enough to stay next to him and then I sped up just in time to nip him at the line. Grasshopper never learn!! (lesson: Always know where the finish line is). The group came back together after the sprint and we headed for Country Club Road. I was near the back of the group on the hill down to Severance Street, when I saw that Grasshopper had gotten a gap on the group as we neared the hill just before the turn. I shot out of the pack and sprinted up the hill past Grasshopper and again I shouted BOO as I passed him. Once again, poor old Grasshopper was surprised by me. Grasshopper never, ever learn!! (lesson: Always know if there is someone coming from behind you if you are attacking on a hill). After the group caught back up to Grasshopper and I, we all headed back to the shop via Country Club Road and Silver Street. I spent the rest of the ride at the back of the pack doing "sweep" duties. I got back at the shop just before 8:00 and then did a short clinic on re-railing a dropped chain. It was a really fun ride and everyone seemed to enjoy the outing. My group finished the ride with an 18 mph average for 26 miles.

Thursday 7/20: I had planned the Shelburne-Conway-Whatley ride for tonight and we had a very large group show up for the trip. In all we had 42 riders going out in three groups. I was in a pack of 21 riders that left the shop shortly after 6:00. I led the pack down Silver Street to Nash's Mill Road . At the end of the road I pulled off the pace and learned that Curt had gotten a flat tire back on Silver Street. Jamie offered to go back and help him out and I continued on. I rode over to the turn onto Old Greenfield Road near the front of the pack and soon I was pedaling up the early part of the climb at 18 mph. All was going well and I shifted down to get into a comfortable spin for the climb ahead. Soon after I shifted, however, my gears started to chatter and I could feel that all was not well with my chain. I decided to stay with the group and ride to the top of the hill where I could check out the problem when we re-grouped. Well, that did not work out so well. I had drifted to the back of the group as the chain chatter got worse. Finally, when I got to the steeper part of the hill, I had to shift down one more cog and when I did the chain broke. Fortunately I was at the back and not standing when it happened and I pulled over to the side of the road. When Socks passed me he offered to help but I told him to head on up the hill and tell the group that they should continue without me. Soon after Socks passed me, Bob Croake came along. He had broken his shift cable and was spinning along in the little ring. Bob also offered to help but I told him that he too should continue on and not wait. After getting off my bike and seeing that I had a broken link in the chain I was able to fix the problem and get back on the bike to head up the hill. My hope was that I would catch some of the riders from the 5:30 group or maybe a rider or two from the front group that may have had a flat or some other problem. I rode at a slow but steady pace to the turn onto Zera Fisk Road and began the descent. I continued riding the route and soon I was at the hill on Bardwell Ferry Road. At the Bardwell Ferry Bridge I had not seen any riders  so I crossed the Deerfield River and headed into Conway. After I got to Conway center I realized that I would not be catching any riders, so I headed back to the shop via RT. 116. I finished my 25 mile route with a 18 mph average.

Wednesday 7/19: Tonight was a scheduled ride to the ridge here in Greenfield. I was pretty beat from work today so I decided to ride sweep. We had 8 riders show up and we left the shop shortly after 6:00. Joining me tonight was Shea (Billy), Jan, two new riders, Parrott, Chris, Marshall and Harold. We rode up the hill from the hardtop to the Blue Dot Trail. The group got pretty strung out on this trail and I rode with Jan to the parking lot at the tower. At this point, Jan and I were joined by the two new riders. The main group took a longer loop while my three riders headed for Temple Woods. We rode the Blue Dot Trail out to the turn before Sachem's Head and from there we took the Yellow Dot Trail down to Bear's Den Road. We did a loop down to the power lines and over to the Green Dot Trail by MPM house at a pretty steady pace. Everyone seemed to enjoy not having to keep up with the faster group and soon we were back on the Red Dot Trail. We took the Red Dot Trail back to the parking lot at Poet's Seat and then re-joined the Red Dot Trail for the trip back to the starting point. All in all we rode for 1-1/2 hours on a beautiful summer evening.

Tuesday 7/18 "The Cursed Ride": It has been pretty hot and humid for the last few days so I decided to take a less stressful route for tonight's ride. The plan was to do the Guilford loop with several shorter options offered for those who wanted that. We had 30 riders tonight with 15 of them starting in my group. I led the pack over to Adams Road where the group did a moderate pace up the hill. At the top of the rise we had everyone in the pack and we all descended together. As we neared Hoe Shop Road we came upon Tom and Nice Kate who were on their ride to Guilford. As we passed Kate and Tom, Kate suddenly ended up in the ditch, off the pavement. She screamed as she rode in the ditch, but she kept her composure and was able to safely get back on the pavement. Whew!! After that bit of excitement we continued on to Bernardston. The group got split up near Streeter's Store and half the riders were ahead of me going over the RT. 91 overpass on RT. 10. I sprinted to the front group and asked Steve Power to dial it back for a couple of minutes so that I could get the group back together. By the time we got to Crumpkin Fox, everyone was back in the paceline and we steamed on towards RT. 142. Just before the turn onto 142, Chris Williams and Parrott went flying off the front to contest the town line sprint which is just a few yards after the turn. Chris won that and the group got strung out again. At this point I went up to the back of the lead pack to slow the pace down, but that wasn't necessary as the sprinters were going so slowly that the entire group behind them nearly crashed into them. After the peloton got organized again we headed for our next bit of excitement, which is the state line sprint into Vermont. As we neared the line I told Chris to get up to the front and prepare for the sprint, which was just after the car repair place. Well Chris thought that the line was just ahead and he started the sprint about a half a mile too soon! He got beat by Silko and Jim H., who had jumped on his wheel when he came by. After the sprint we headed for Pond Road and the pack did a nice job of keeping together on the hill to the Vernon Rec. We rode to the end of Pond Road and made the left turn back onto 142. We rode down the hill to Gov. Hunt Road, which we usually take. But today Parrot was on the front and half the group went straight and half of us took the right turn onto Gov. Hunt. I was in the latter group with Jamie, Walters, Socks, Mark Newton and Chris. As we rode over to Tyler Hill we saw the other riders who took the "shortcut" as they passed us on 142. The continued on ahead of us as we neared the merge with 142. My group started the climb up Tyler Hill several hundred yards behind the front group. I rode at a steady pace and managed to catch up with Curt and a couple of others as they rode up the steeper part of the hill. At the crest of the hill I dialed back my pace and waited for Jamie and Walters to come along and we then rode to the top of the hill where the rest of the riders were waiting for us. At some point on this hill Socks and Steve Power dropped off the group because they were going to head back home via RT. 5. The rest of the riders then headed down the hill and took the right turn at the bottom to head for Guilford. As we neared the town line Curt, Silko and Jimbo sprinted for the line, with Silko easily taking the sprint. After that we cruised down the hill to Guilford Center Road where we made the left turn. I felt pretty good up to this point in the ride, but I wasn't feeling as sharp as I would have liked, so I continued to stay off the front and kept mostly in the middle of the pack. We passed Ant Penny and Joe's house with me making the usual salutations as we rode by. After we made the turn onto Weatherhead Hollow Road the pace quickened a bit and the group eventually got split in half before we got to the Ice Pond. I was present in the lead group, but I wasn't able to contribute much. Most of the work on the front was done by Chris, Jimbo and Mark Newton. Our group consisted of those three as well as me, Hammerhead, Curt, and Tom Silko. We rode at a pretty steady pace over to the state line sprint which was won by Jim. After the sprint we rode over the last few hills and began the descent back to Greenfield. Curt struggled to keep up on the climbs but when we got near the descent down Greenfield Road, he lit up the pavement with a scorching rip down the hill and smoked everyone to the bottom. Our group rode back to the shop via Leyden Road and Silver Street. We ended the ride with a 21 mph pace for the 37 miles. It was a great ride on a beautiful summer evening.

The Grasshopper Chronicles: The Road Avenger strikes!!
Monday 7/17: I was really busy at the shop today and I was just finishing up my last repair of the day at 5:55 pm. I was fortunate enough to have Jamie and Grasshopper help me out by getting my tires pumped up to pressure and helping with some of the other riders. It was a hot (96 degrees) and humid evening and I told the group that we would take a mellow ride and stop for water if necessary. I had a group of 9 riders with me as I left the parking lot at 6:10 to head for Turners Falls. I led the group down the hill and across the canal where we took a right to head for the L Street Hill. Christina was heavy on the brakes as she rode down the hill to the canal and it was her fault that we had to wait at the traffic lights. After the light turned green we headed up 7th Street and I pulled off the front. At this point Jamie and Grasshopper took the lead and I headed to the back of the bunch to lend "The Hand of Bob" to any of the riders who got dropped on the L Street Hill. I helped Bob Shepherd get back on and then I went to the front again. Jamie and Grasshopper were doing just fine and so I drifted to the back of the group again. As we rode along down Turners Falls Road, I noticed that Christina was on the front of the group while Grasshopper and Jamie were several hundred yards ahead of her. We were cruising along at 22 mph and I decided to give the dear girl a break, so I went to the front and pulled the group over to Ferry Road. We all came back together on the ride down the Ferry Road Hill and after making the turn onto Meadow Road I again went to the back of the bunch. We were riding in a double pace line and I made sure that everyone was doing OK in the paceline and that they all were drinking enough fluids. I rode at the back for a little while, but Jamie was looking to get off the front so I rode up along side of Brian, just behind Jamie and Grasshopper. After Jamie and Grasshopper dropped off the front of the group, I mentioned to Brian that there was a town line up ahead and I was pretty sure that Grasshopper was going back to rest up so that he could snooker me for the sprint. Well, as it turns out I was right!! Just after the Smiarowski's farm, Grasshopper came flying down the road on my left. I made the jump onto his wheel and he picked the pace up to 28 mph as he sprinted for quite a ways, Unfortunately, Grasshopper had no idea of where the town line was and as soon as he hit the little rise in the road just before the line, he went backwards. Poor old Grasshopper, will he ever learn? As I approached the line I slowed up just enough to let Grasshopper catch up and then I pushed just hard enough to beat him across. After the sprint I ended up on the front for a little while before heading back to harass.. err I mean, help the riders in the back. We rode down to Sunderland and made the right turn onto 116 where I took a jump off the front to take that town line before Grasshopper could do me wrong. We rode into So Dee and took the usual route over to Mill Village Road. Bob S., got tailed off on the ride up No. Main Street so Jamie went back to get him. After crossing 5&10 I turned around to go help Jamie get Bob back on. I pulled Jamie and Bob along Mill Village road until we caught up with the group at Tom's house. I deposited Bob in the middle of the pack and then went to see what was going on in front. To my amazement, Grasshopper was drafting Karen, who was pulling the pack at 23 mph!! I rode along side of Grasshopper and asked him if he had no shame. He looked at me and said, "Bob, I got nothing"! At this point I caved and sent both him and Karen to the back to get some rest. (Beware of the Grasshopper when he says he is all done!) We rode through Old Deerfield at a pretty good clip and at the end of Old Main Street we got back out onto 5&10. At this point Linda was at the front and Grasshopper was right behind her. Hmmm... Could the dear boy be cooking up some sinister plot to make a jump on me? Naw, he was just trying to stay alive in the group. I took pity on the Grasshopper and went to the front to pull all the way to the Wok Restaurant. Imagine my surprise when, just as I started to pull the group across the bridge, Grasshopper strikes!! He came flying around me with Jamie on his wheel and the two of them handily beat me to the line, with Jamie in first and Grasshopper just on his wheel. Snookered again!! After the sprint we all headed back to the shop via the Hope Street route. I tried to goad Christina into sprinting with Grasshopper for the finish, but she wouldn't do it, so I snapped the legs off him and took the finish sprint. We ended our ride with a 18.6 mph average for the 26 miles. Not too bad for "beginners"!!

Monday 7/17: I checked the email last night to see if there would be a ride for tonight (Monday) and it said “It will be a very hot afternoon so we will do a modest pace for our ride”.  When I got out of work I couldn’t believe how hot it was, but I went home and got ready for the ride, the family thinking I was crazy.  Just standing around the shop waiting for the ride to begin, we were all sweating.  It was decided we would do the Sunderland Sweep at a “modest pace”.  Bob said to make sure we had enough water and if we needed more to let him know because he knew where we could stop for more.  Our group consisted of me, Bob, Patrick, Grasshopper, Jamie, Bob S, Brian, Kristina, Linda, Ann. We left the shop and headed to Turners and up 7^th street and up L Street, whew, gotta love those hills.  We took the right at the fire station and headed towards Montague, turned right at Ferry Road and then on to meadow street.  The pace wasn’t too bad, we hall were bunched up and having a good ride.  Then something happened…maybe someone’s GU kicked in or maybe they had something good in their water bottle???  We were off and flying by the time we hit Rt. 47, Bob was yelling turn right, don’t stop, keep going, and get a fast cadence going up the hill.  I think he might have had a whip because no one stopped, we just kept moving.  Brian dropped his water bottle after we went through S. Deerfield, I didn’t know if he would catch up, but when we crossed 5 & 10, Bob said we should slow down the pace so Brian could catch up.  We were going pretty steady through Mill Village; did I ever say I like to go fast down that hill?  Well I shifted into a better gear and started picking up speed so I could breakaway and fly down the hill.  I think I hit about 32 mph, not my top speed but Bob pushed us pretty hard so I was a little tired and didn’t push as hard as usual.  Eventually the peloton caught up to me and we pushed on through Old Deerfield, now most everyone who rides with me knows I like to speed through Old Deerfield (speed limit 20) but I didn’t have to do my sprint today because we were already moving about 25 mph!  We had a good pace up Deerfield Street and back to the shop.  I think we did about 26 miles and had an average speed of 18.1.  So much for the modest pace!!    But what a great ride, thanks everyone.  (PS. Hey everyone feel free to add something I missed, we were going so fast I am sure I missed something.) Karen Dowd

Sunday 7/16: With the temps predicted to get into the upper nineties this afternoon, Dougie Favreau had asked on Thursday that I consider starting the ride at 8:00 this morning. I thought that this would be a wise choice, so that was the plan. Jamie and I had arranged to meet for breakfast this morning at Denny's Pantry. MaryEllen and I rode over to the restaurant at 7:00 where Jamie was waiting for us. Becky soon joined us and we got our day going with a hearty breakfast. After we finished breakfast, Jamie, MaryEllen and I went over to the shop to get ready for the ride. In all we had 18 riders, 9 of whom went on my ride with the remaining eight split between Keith's bunch and MaryEllen's ride. In my group was Chris Williams, Bruce Rogers, Don McCool, Jamie, Michelle, Steve Power, Silko, Miss Mary, Dougie and me. We left the shop and headed out for what was to be a 65 mile ride through the east county hills. We took the Adams Road route up to RT. 10 and the pace was even enough for everyone to stay in the pack. Once out on RT. 10 the pace picked up a bit but all of us were able to keep in the group. Chris, Steve, Dougie and Michelle did the lion's share of the work and soon we were in Northfield  center, making the turn onto Warwick Road. After we got a little ways down Warwick Road the "Boys of Bladderboro" pulled off to the side of the road to do their thing. The rest of us, not wanting to share in the spectacle, continued on. I decided to stay at the back and ride with whomever was getting dropped on the hill. We rode up the hill to Grasshopper's house where Jamie and I tried to roust the dear boy, but he was not to be moved. Soon after passing Grasshopper's house, Dougie and Silko came along and soon passed us. At this point it was Jamie, Miss Mary, Don and myself guarding the back of the pack. After a while, Jamie and I were a distance off the back and we settled in to grind it out up to the top of the climb. When we got to the turn onto Moore's Pond Road, the group was filling their waterbottles at the spring. We all took the opportunity to refill our bottles (I had brought three of them and I had already drank 1-1/2 of those!) From the spring we rode down the hill and over to Wendell Depot to begin the climb. I started the hill at the back of the group but as the hill steepened I found myself near the middle of the group. I caught up with Doug Pratt and John Strong about half way up the hill and I then spied their "leader" off in the distance. I just kept my nice even tempo up the hill and soon I caught up with Keith "The Slacker" Olsen as he pedaled along, daydreaming about beating me to the top of this climb! Well, I would have none of that and I half-wheeled him all the way to the top of the climb (pointing out all the poor cycling practices that he used as we rode along). As we neared the town common I challenged him to a sprint, but the dear boy declined and I cruised across the line as the victor! At the top of the hill I met up with Steve, Chris, Doug and Michelle who were awaiting the arrival of the rest of our gang. Doug and John arrived and they joined Keith to begin their return trip to the shop via Millers Falls. After waiting for a few minutes, Jamie, Tom and Miss Mary were still not with us, so we rode back down the hill to find out what happened. It seems that Miss Mary had flatted and Tom was just finishing up the repair when we arrived. I topped off her tire with my CO2 and then we all headed off to the last hill on this route. We rode the usual route down to Lake Wyola and turned left to head for Shutesbury. I rode up the hill with Don and Jamie and we noticed how bad the roadway was on the lower part of the hill. There were huge chunks of pavement missing and if anyone were to hit that on the 50 mph descent from the other direction, it would be curtains for sure. Jamie, Don and I caught up with Miss Mary, Doug and Tom on the last pitch before the center of town. We all then rode to the center of town where we were joined by the lead group to begin the descent. We ripped down the hill to Leverett Center where we took the right to begin the return to the shop through Montague. As we rode along Montague Road, some of the riders were starting to fade. Tom, Don and Mary were out of water while Jamie was.... well, just out!! When we got to the turn onto RT. 63 I rode up to the front of the group to tell Chris and Co. that I was going to drop off with Tom, Mary, Don and Jamie and that they should not wait for us. Well, just at that moment, Jamie suddenly came alive. When the lead pack shot off, Jamie was right there with them. I couldn't believe my eyes!! There he was just a few minutes earlier, in the throes of death, and suddenly he was sprinting off with the lead pack. Unfortunately we do not have the ability to test, but it was that or maybe he was sandbagging it on the hills. We may never know!! Anyway, after the pack pulled off in the distance, I rode with Silko, Miss Mary and Don over to the Fairview Farms roadside stand at the end of Swamp Road. There we were met by Paul Voiland who was kind enough to get a garden hose out to refill our bottles with water. After thanking Paul, we road off to finish the ride through Turners Falls. We got back to the shop at just a few minutes before noon and the ride ended with 60 miles on the odometer and a 18 mph average for my group.

Thursday 7/13: After the rain of yesterday washed out the MTB ride, today we were faced with the prediction for thunderstorms in the afternoon and I wasn't sure if we would ride. We got a storm in the early afternoon which quickly left and at ride time there was bright sunshine and blue skies. We had a group of 30 riders for tonight and I ended up taking a group of 15 out on a loop down the valley while the rest of the riders went out on shorter rides. I took my group down to Deerfield via Hope Street and after I got the group into Deerfield, I pulled off to head into the pack. We rode along at a good clip through town and then we headed out onto Mill Village Road. We were motoring onto the climb at 23 mph when suddenly I saw Jeremy Colman pull out of the pack and turn around. It seems that he dropped something and went back to get it. I asked the group soft pedal at the top of the hill so that Jeremy could catch back on and I went to the back of the pack to keep an eye out for him. After cresting the top of the hill we rode to the end of Mill Village Road where we crossed 5&10 over to North Main Street. I rode at the back of the pack so I could see if Jeremy was coming along. As I neared the railroad bridge I saw Jeremy making his way back to the group, so I asked the group to wait up for me and I went back to get Jeremy. Bob Croake joined me and soon we had Jeremy on our wheels and we ramped up the speed to get back on the pack before the high school. We rode down to the end of Sugarloaf Street where we took a left at the lights and headed for Sunderland. Chris Williams took the town line sprint from Mark Newton and me and we rolled into the center of town. After taking the right turn onto RT. 47 the group settled in to ride a nice tempo pace line over to Plumtree Road. We took the left onto Plumtree and rode to the end where we turned left onto RT. 116. I sort of made a mistake with the directions I gave to Mike McCusker and instead of taking the first right turn like I had said, we took the second right onto Bull Hill Road. The group got pretty strung out on the climb and I ended up waiting for a small bunch to crest the hill. After getting everyone into my group, we headed off to catch up with the front pack. Well, to tell the truth, we had really no chance of catching them so we relied on Bob Croake to slow the pace. My group made the turn onto 63 and then the right turn onto Depot Street. We could see the group ahead of us and I pushed the pace to close the gap.  Eventually we got back on with the main group at the top of the hill and we all then headed off to Leverett center. We did a nice tempo pace on the roads that lead to Cave Hill and everyone was in the group at the bottom of the hill. We rode up a little way and I could see that there would be a gap in the group so I told Bob, David Bradford, Mark and Chris to take their bunch over the top and that I would collect all the dropped riders and head back to the shop with them. As the climb steepened Curt, Bruce Rogers, Paul Voiland and Don McCool came off the back. I rode tempo with Bruce and to the top of the hill and the rest of the riders soon joined us. We all were together and we then began the descent. At this point I figured that I would be leading this group back to the shop alone. But when we got to the bottom of the hill we were surprised to see that the other riders had waited for us. My group then joined the leaders and we all set off to ride to the bottom of the hill. We took the Swamp Road route over to Turners Falls Road and once we got going again we all stayed together all the way back to the shop. It was a really nice ride, although it was pretty short. We ended the 37 mile trip with a 21 mph average.

Tuesday 7/11: It was an interesting weather day today. The day started out with sunshine and warm temps and then at 2:00 or so we had a line of thunderstorms come through with heavy rain and some wind, but it was a very quick storm and by 3:30 it had passed. By 5:00 the sun was shining and the roads were dry, so with no storms on the radar, the ride was set to go. We left the shop at 6:05 under sunny skies and a nice breeze to head over to Turners Falls. Our route today was to take us over to Leverett and then up to Shutesbury center and then over to Wendell before returning to the shop.  I kept the pace mellow for the trip up the Seventh Street route with the speed staying at 10 mph or so all the way up the hill. At the top of the hill we had 15 riders and we got the group going on the trip over to Swamp Road. I stayed in the middle of the pack because I knew that I would not make it up the hill if I did too much (any?) work too early in the ride. We made the turn onto Swamp Road where we passed the William's Estate on our way to RT. 63. After making our way out to RT. 63 we headed down towards Leverett in a long pace line. I was near the front for the first part of the trip and did not see that Jamie and a couple of other riders had come off on the hill into Sunderland. By the time I got to the back of the group I could see Jamie riding along about 300 yards behind us. As we headed down the hill past Toby Dell I drifted to the back and told Walters and Paul Voiland that I would drop back a get Jamie. Walters then said that he would probably like mellower pace for the hill and he offered to drop back. Paul then decided to join him and they soon were dropping off the back of the group. Curt was still with the pack and he said that he would be joining Walters and Jamie after the turn onto Depot Street. After talking with Curt I got back into the middle of the pack and rode over to the hill on Depot Street. The group got a little strung out on the hill but we were all "Grouppo compacto" when we got to the climb into Shutesbury. I stayed in the pack and we powered up the first hills at 19 mph. This proved to be a little more than I could manage and when we got to the steeper part of the hill I was dangling off the back. Dusty tried to keep me in the pack but I told him that I needed to set my own pace and soon Dusty was sprinting off to the front of the pack. I hung on for the climb up the hill and when the terrain flattened a little I was able to catch Bruce Rogers (Nervous Doctor) and Paul Cyr-Mutt. The three of us then rode to the top of the hill in Shutesbury where the rest of the group was waiting. After I got to the top of the hill we all (except for Tom "pee-pee" Silko who had unbeknownst to me had gone into the bushes for his relief) headed down the hill for Lake Wyola. The pace was fast on the newly paved road and we soon were on the final descent to the lake. The last part of the hill had not been paved yet and we had to slow down for the potholes. At the bottom of the hill we took a right to head up into Wendell. The ride up the hill was a hard one for me and I, along with Paul and Bruce, got tailed off on the last hill. The three of us continued on into Wendell center and I noticed that there was a lot of people and cars on the road. As we neared the town common I noticed that both sides of the road were lined with parked cars and people were walking to and from the common. I saw a lot of fire and police vehicles and I thought that we stumbled into some kind of Wendell town party/festival. Well as we rode closer to the center of town we could see that the activity was not a party but rather a response to some kind of disaster. I was shocked to see that most of the trees in the center of town were blown down and there was some visible damage done to some of the buildings there. As we rode slowly through the destruction we heard that a tornado had come through and we could see that lots of the roads were clogged with downed trees and branches. At this point all of the riders in our group were together except for Silko, and it was here that I found out that he had not been with us for quite a while. I assumed that since he was at the front of the group on the hills, that he had just ridden off at his own pace. After a brief discussion we left the center of town to head down the hill to Millers Falls. As we rode along we observed more damaged trees and then when we got past the ranger station at Wendell State Forest we saw a huge swath of flattened forest. It was unbelievable what power a storm like that can do. After descending the rest of the way into Millers Falls we headed up the hill to Millers Falls Road. As we neared the airport, poor old Dusty came up with a cramp. Dusty had done lots of work on the ride, getting people pulled back into the group and in general helping keep the pack together. I had the group slow down and we waited for him to work out the cramp and then we all headed over to Turners Falls. The group stayed pretty much together all the way back to the shop where we waited only a couple of minutes for Curt and company to return. All in all it was a great ride although it was sad to see the folks in Wendell suffering from the tornado damage.

The Grasshopper Chronicles: The Eye of the Storm
            On Tuesday July 11, 2006 a tornado or at least severe windstorm ravaged the Wicket Pond area of Wendell State Forest.  Grasshopper and I; Racin' J,  witnessed the carnage first hand on our ride.
             It all began when Grasshopper arrived at my house and I told him that WMECO trucks and fire trucks had gone up Wendell Road earlier and a steady stream of cars had gone up by my house only to return a few minutes later headed downhill.  I suspected that the road was closed and we were going to have to find an alternate route, likely the power lines, climb up to WSF.  Grasshopper immediately suggested climbing the power lines before I even had the chance to mention it so obviously we were going to have a good ride.  Instead, we cranked up the old Dry Hill road extension, past the cemetery and then stopped to ponder our next move.  The Dry Hill trails heading to RT. 63 were tempting, but we decided to head to WSF instead.  After a brief climb, I tried to keep Grasshopper in sight as we bombed back toward Chestnut Hill Road and into WSF.  We took the super technical lower Ruggles Pond/M&M trail over to Brook Road.  The rocks and bridges were super slippery.
            Once we hit Brook Road we decided to climb up Carlton Road and out to Dirth Road (or the other way around, I forget which of those fire roads is which).  We came back on the Carlton-Dirth single track.  We stopped to solidify the bridge that some folks thought was too wobbly, even though it was riding fine.  We also cleared back a few ferns so things are more easily viewed.  If you haven’t conquered this obstacle yet, give it a shot.  As Liam has pointed out, riding this trail east is the way to do it. Once we finished up with the bridge, it was nothing but downhill back to the Ruggles Pond trail  and out to the Pine Tree Trail.  For those of you who attended last week’s Wendell ride, there were no derailleur incidents this time around.
            When we got to the top of the Pine Tree Trail the damage from the storm began to be apparent.  Where the paved section come up from pond meets dirt, there’s a huge tree down.  We rode out to Baker road noticing some limbs here and there, but nothing else. We took the Hannah Swarton back to the “Bob is Fat” tree (seriously, who did that?), and the headed left on the Maple Leaf.  We dumped out at the first bearm and headed toward Wicket Pond, thinking that we might see some more downed trees.  Sure enough, a big tree was across Wicket Pond Road and we could see several down across Brook Road.  Unfortunately, we suspect that parts of the Maple Leaf Trail after the 2^nd bearm and maybe some of the Nipmuck might need major chainsaw action.  A trail day before NEMBA Fest may be in order.  Volunteerism is highly encouraged.
            Anyway, once we got to Wicket Pond itself the real impact of the storm was very obvious.  We could not get out to the boat launch because most of the hemlock and oak trees along the left side of the road had blown down.  We crawled over them and then saw that there was a swath of trees down along the banks of both sides of the pond and it was clear that the water level at one point today was way too high for what it should have been (tsunami?).  Needless to say, anyone hoping to ride or hike around Wicket Pond should plan on either bringing a chainsaw, making a cool boardwalk type trail, or humping it over probably a hundred downed trees at least. 
            We ran into some guys removing trees at the top of Wicket Pond Road and they said that some folks in Wendell may not have power for a couple of days.  Looking down the east leg of Wicket Pond road, and the stand of forest to the left side as well, it was clear that this was the path the twister took.  Grasshopper and I headed back to the Carlton-Dirth single track and rode the bridge to make sure it was sturdy.  We made it back to the HQ and then ripped down the Dry Hill climb we started with.  All told, it was a 14 mile jaunt.  Grasshopper and I were psyched, as somehow it seemed like the ride contained quite a few fast downhill's. 

Monday 7/10 Ice Cream Social Ride: What an awesome night we had tonight, thank you Bob and Mary Ellen!   Our group, included Tom, Me, Deb, Patrick, Linda, Roger,Jan Wholey, Brian McCabe, Kim and Peter Abell. Our group did the Sunderland Sweep. We went up 3^rd street, that was a 1^st for me, Deb and I took our time and we made it, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be!  We went by the Turners Falls fire station and then out to Ferry Road, where some of the group waited for us stragglers.  We then crossed to meadow road and we were moving along pretty fast, kind of had a nice pace line going.  Tom won the town line sprint!!!  Hooray Tom.  We rode to RT. 47, Deb was a little winded about that time so I pulled ahead of her and pulled her along till we got to the store at 116 where Tom was waiting for us. After everyone had arrived we then headed over the bridge and took the left to River Road.  Another thing I hate besides hills (oh I forgot, I really do love hills) is left hand turns. It takes me a little longer than everyone else to get across, but I did it and then caught up with Tom and Deb. After I caught back on, it was off to Pasiecnik Farm Stand!.  Lots of people were already there and getting their ice creams and sundaes so we parked our bikes along the building and headed for the line.  In no time we ordered and I got my HUGE Strawberry short cake, and yes I ate all of it, yum soo good. They really handled our “rowdy biker” crowd well and after everyone had eaten, we were on our way again.  Our group went to Christian Lane and went through Whatley, we turned right at the milk bottle and ended up on Mill Village in Deerfield and headed back to the shop.  Tom, I hope you send Bob the pictures you took…(but only the good ones!)  I had a great time.  Thanks again
Karen Dowd

Sunday 7/9: I went over to the shop at 8:30 to get ready for the ride and I was shocked to see Curt getting his bike off the car. Curt is not known to be an early riser so this was a rare treat for the group. As the start time approached we had a total of 17 riders. MaryEllen and Tom Graney each took a few riders on trips to Whatley and Guilford respectively. I had 7 riders in my group and we headed off to Turners Falls to begin a trip to Mt. Warner. I led the group over to the Seventh Street Hill and I paced the group up L Street at a 10 mph pace. At the top of the hill I dropped back to make sure everyone was in the group, and after all the riders were back on, I went to the front. We took the usual route over to Montague Center but instead of riding through town on the rough road, we took the Swamp Road route over to RT. 63. After we got out on 63, Brian said that he was done and then he dropped off the back. The group which now included Jamie, Curt, Michelle, Stan, Steve P., and myself then headed for Leverett. We rode together at a good pace and I kept the pack together on the climb up to the Sunderland town line. After we got to the top of the hill we re-grouped and then headed for Amherst. We all took pulls, of varying lengths, at the front of the pack and we soon were in North Amherst. After we got to the traffic lights I took the lead and had the group do a loop through the center of Amherst to avoid the road and bridge construction in the area. We actually had a pretty good ride through town and soon we were out on the back roads heading for Hadley. We made the turn onto RT. 47 and headed north. We had a cross/tail wind and we managed to keep a 25 to 27 mph pace for most of the way to Sunderland center. After we made the left turn at the lights in Sunderland center, we headed for Deerfield. We took the Sugarloaf Street route over to Mill Village Road and headed back through Old Deerfield to 5&10. I led the pack from Old Main Street all the way to the Greenfield town line where Curt, Steve and Stan sprinted for the line. I did not contest the sprint and rolled onto the back of the group on Deerfield Street. We did the Hope Street cool down and got back to the shop with a 20.2 mph average for the 45 miles.

Thursday 7/6: I completed the border to border (Canada through Vermont) ride today. Cathy and I spent a couple of days at The Balsams Resort in Dixville Notch, NH., where I bulked up very well on their splendid culinary delights. After that we headed to Canada for a one night stay. We got up early this morning to leave from the Canadian border. The Border Patrol officers thought I was in Canada stealing bike stuff when they saw all the bike stuff we had with us.  I had brought my MTB tandem and road bike with us because the Balsams has  great mountain biking trails that I enjoy. Cathy bounces along nicely on the back of the tandem as we ride the trails. Cathy really appreciates the softer ride on the back rather than piloting her own MTB. The Border Patrol officers thought I must be crazy to ride all the way back to Mass after they learned of my plans. The ride went pretty well other than one 70 mile stretch where I really should have taken in more food and not pushed the pace quite as hard. I left from the Norton, VT border and took route 114 down to St Johnsbury where I picked up RT. 5 for the remainder of the trip to Brattleboro. In Brattleboro I opted for the RT. 142 route down through Vernon and then back to the Mass state line. At 122 miles into the trip I had an average of 19.5 going so I knew I needed to slow this down a little if I was going to make the end. I completed the trip with no mishaps at all, and a perfect weather day with temps in the mid 70's most of the day, other than the 50 degree start in Canada. My numbers at the end of the trip were 191.86 miles in 10 hours and 28 minutes for an average speed of 18.34. All in all a great day on the bike and a sore butt tonight. Mark

Thursday 7/6: I have been so busy at the shop that I barely noticed that there were riders showing up to start the 5:30 ride. I changed my focus and began to get ready for the 6:00 ride. I have been having some difficulties with my bike lately but I haven't had a chance to look at it so I decided to just go with it the way it is. At 6:00 we closed the shop and I got ready to ride. The plan was to do the NoHo loop and I led the group out of the parking lot and down High Street. We took the usual route over to River Road and I dropped to the middle of the pack to rest up for the hills ahead. We had 14 riders in my bunch and we made good time as we rode to the only hills on this ride. I had planned on keeping the group together for the ride over the hills so that everyone could have a reasonable chance of staying in the pack for the flatter part of the ride. As we headed up the first hill the group got strung out quite a bit so I rode to the front and had Jim H., and Bob C,. soft pedal over the top. On the next hill, Bob went flying off the front and I chased him up the hill. I was going to grab his saddle and hang on for a tow, but he sensed that I was nearby and pulled up near the top of the hill. Bentley was in the middle of the group and I asked him to keep the pace down until I could gather all the riders back into the pack. I then dropped back and pulled a group of riders back onto the leading bunch. As we rode along I worked my way to the front of the group and as we neared Hillside Road, I spied my sister riding her bike just up the road ahead of us. I slowed the group down so that I could introduce everyone to Patty. After saying hello we then headed off towards RT. 116. Bob Croake was having a problem with his computer so he sprinted off the front to go make the repair. I had the group soft pedal for a bit and after we got across 116, Bob re-joined our pack. After everyone was back in the pack, we set off on River Road in Whatley for the rip down to Hatfield. We picked the pace up to about 25 MPH after Christian Lane and we held that pace for the entire way down to NoHo. After we made the turn onto RT. 5&10 we had a tailwind and the speed stayed right up there around 27 mph or so. There was a little argy-bargy at the Pantry Road intersection with some of the riders trying to make a last minute turn. I had the group go straight and I later explained why we did that. (The reason we went straight is: In a pace line group, you need to indicate a turn at least 300 meters or so before the turn. That way the riders in the back of the line will have sufficient notice of the turn or slowing of the pace. This will prevent the back of the group from piling into the front of the pack.) After the slowdown we lost a few riders off the back but most of the group was intact as we headed north into Whatley. We made a smooth ride through the traffic lights in So Dee and then we headed straight back to Greenfield on 5&10. The group did a town line sprint in Greenfield, but with my gears not working properly, I did not contest the event. We did our usual cool down ride up Hope Street and then back to the shop. We ended the 46 mile ride with a 22.7 mph average, which was pretty good considering how many times we did a soft pedal.

Tuesday, July 4th TdV (Tour De Valleys) ride and BBQ 61 miles:

I kept an eye on the weather web pages a lot in the last few days up to this ride. They went from 'rain' to 'showers' to 'Thunderstorms and possible hail' by the time Monday came around. I was half expecting to wake up to the sound of rain on the roof but, though it was grey and overcast, it looked like we might just get a ride in after all.

Betsy and I showed up at the town hall at 9:40 thinking we'd be the first ones there only to find most of the parking spaces already taken. About 1/2 the riders were already there getting ready and others continued to trickle in right up until 10:00. Doug pulled in a few minutes before 10:00 and said that he had met with some riders at the West Hill shop who had been about to head out on a ride, so he invited them to join us. I had figured ahead of time that this ride would go one of two ways. Either it wouldn't really come together and it would be Bob, Jamie, Walter and me alone, or it go the other way and we'd end up with more riders than we ever expected. Well, it was looking like we got the latter. Along with the dozen or so riders that RSVP'd via Bob's form, we picked up the extra West Hill riders and at least another 8-10 last minute additions. I never got a complete count of all the riders, but I'd say we ended up with around 20 on the TdV loop and 6-8 on the 25 miler plus another half dozen hikers.

After a few group photos, we hit the road at 10:15, just about what I had figured given an announced '10:00' start. Bob spread the word that we were planning on setting an easy pace down to Brattleboro to give everybody a good chance to warm up. Once we hit Rte 30, the starting gun would fire for anybody who wanted to race.

We rolled down Rte 5 to Brattleboro and bunched up as we hit the roundabout so we could go trough it safely as a group (which really confused one driver who stopped dead right in the middle of the circle when she saw the peloton coming toward her). Minutes later we were at the common, where wet detoured onto the grass to avoid the Northern terminus of the Fourth of July parade. Soon after that we dropped onto Rte 30 and the pace picked up. Within a few minutes, the group started to split as the riders who were up for a faster pace worked their way forward. In no time, they vanished off the front with another smaller chase group stuck somewhere in the middle while my group (myself, Doug F, Jamie, Water, Brian, Nick, George B, Mary, Tom Silko, Michael Beh) kept our easy pace as we worked our way West. We made our first stop at the market East of Townshend where we topped off our water in case the Grafton Country Store was closed. The day was hot enough that it was sucking the water out of our bodies and we did NOT want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to drink! When we stopped, George rolled on ahead to 'get a start on the hill', never to be seen again.

After a 10 minute break, we were on the road again heading for Turkey MTN. We got pretty stretched out on the climb, but regrouped on the top for a nice run into Grafton. I had to work pretty hard for a few miles after taking a pull then going to the back just as a gap appeared in the group (Nick had been sick recently and slowed a bit). Walter jumped the forming gap while it was still small, but I was just coming off my pull and couldn't bridge it. I struggled for 2-3 miles just 100' off the group's wheel before making contact again just before the center of town. All along this section we passed fully loaded touring bikes crawling along in twos and threes. I hope they had had good gearing on Turkey MTN, some of them looked like they were packing 100lbs!

We had a shorter stop at the Grafton store then headed out toward Saxton's River. We tried to dump Tom at the store (Mary told us it was OK), but he sprinted up to us before we could get too far down the road. The road from Cambridgeport to Saxton's River looks like it is finally finished except for the bridge in Cambridgeport, which is still a one-way temporary structure. This section has now gone from one of the worst roads in VT. to one of the nicest, with a gentle downhill slope and wide sweeping turns. The only thing I would have asked for, since the did dig it down and rebuild it from scratch, would have been the addition of some wide shoulders for bike traffic. Instead, they rebuilt it with the same old 12" (if that) of pavement to the right of the white line. We did hit some rain showers here (the only wet part of the ride) but it was so warm and humid a few sprinkles were welcome.

We got to Saxton's river while some kind of festivities were still going on main street. Though the road was closed to vehicles, we slowed to a walking pace and rolled through, taking to the sidewalk at one point to avoid a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. After a bit more of flat riding after the village, we hit the first climb in miles, the nameless little thing at the top end of Back Westminster road. This woke our legs up a bit and reminded us that we still had some climbing ahead. Several miles later (and after a pee break for all of the riders in the yellow, red and black jerseys) we were at the bottom of the Stairway to Heaven climb. Michael decided that he wasn't up for the climb, so left us to head back via Rte 5 and River Rd. Nick was also talking at this point about not feeling up to the climb (which resulted in some confusion later in the ride).

As we settled into the hill, our remaining group split into two groups of about 4 with me dangling 50' off the back of the rear group. I knew the climb and was trying to ration my remaining energy. Sure enough, about 2/3 of the way up I started to make ground up on the riders ahead of me. By the time we were in the final mile, I slowly inched my way past the rear group and started making up ground on the front riders. I finished climb somewhere in the middle, then we all took a short break before rolling down the other side, trying to keep our momentum up to roll us up the short climb on the other side. It didn't work (it never does) so I ended up dropping right into my granny gear to get over the top. I THOUGHT we were mostly together when we hit Westminster Rd, so we kept on then up the final climb by the Bittner farm. As Jamie and I rolled over the top, I looked back and saw one rider off the back, but he was wearing a blue jersey and I was only expecting one rider behind us, so we kept going.

The problem, as it turns out, was that both Nick AND Brian were wearing blue jerseys, and they were both behind me. While I thought Nick had turned off with Michael, he had continued on with us. The person we were seeing off the back was Nick, which meant that Brian, who did NOT know the route, was even further back and now out of sight.

Oblivious to this, we continued on. Once we all came together we set up a nice paceline and really blazed back into town, only losing gas in the last mile as we climbed the little rise before dropping to Main Street. Back at the cars, we noticed two things. 1) No Brian (Doug eventually drove the route backward and met up with him, he had taken a wrong turn but was now back on course. Sorry Brian!!) and; 2) Not enough cars left to lug all of our bikes back to the house! Walter set out to ride the 4 miles to the house. I was going to do the same with Bob and Tom, but the A/C in Jamie's van, which now had room without Walter, was just too tempting.

The day ended with beer, BBQ (with chef Jamie. BAM!) and tons of snack food at our house. As the crowd started the thin, the remaining partiers settled down to watch the day's TDF stage (in 2x time and no commercials you can watch a three hour broadcast in just under 45 minutes thanks to the DVR!)

Thank you to everybody that came and made it a great day. I'm already looking forward to doing it again next year.

Let’s start off by saying Thank you to Curt and Betsey for hosting the picnic at their house.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.  We met at the shop and the caravan left at 9 a.m. sharp as planned, or was it 9:10?  Anyway, right on time.  I had Helen in the car with me and we chatted the whole way and we made it to Putney in a flash it seemed.  Once in Putney we started getting ready for our ride.  Changing our clothes, pumping up our tires, making sure we had enough water and Gu’s and getting the directions.  Once we had all gathered and were ready we headed out.  In our group we had Tom, Patrick, Kathy, Deb, me (Karen) and two gentlemen from Vermont.  We headed out up the hill to Saxton's River.  I thought I heard Curt say the ride started out on a four mile hill, I think it was more like 100 miles, no I mean I think it was about 7 miles till we got a break and could go down hill!  It was a beautiful ride, Tom and I saw a Pleated Woodpecker, who flew along and then crossed in front of us.  So Cool.  When we got to Saxton’s River, they had a town celebration going on and there were lots of people in the center of town.  They were playing some sort of game using water hoses to push a ball around, kind of like soccer.  They had different booths set up and music playing and dancing, but we had to pull ourselves away from it and push on.  After walking our bikes through the crowd we headed back towards Putney.  It was a hot, humid day and we were all sweating buckets, at least I was.  The two guys from Vermont suggested we change the route a little and ride into New Hampshire and so of course we said ok and followed.  I think it was getting more humid as we rode back and it started to sprinkle a bit and I actually wished (dare I say this) that it would down pour and cool us off!  The Vermonters also suggested we do River Road because although it was a dirt road and longer it would be an easier ride than going up the “killer” hill on Route 5 into Putney.  Well, I’ll tell you I did not like riding on that dirt road, I was scared to death when we started picking up speed, I thought for sure I would slide right off and I would be found on sprawled out on the side of the road.  Also the road was soo bumpy I am surprised we still have all our teeth.  We made it to pavement still in one piece after a few more hills and a tough one getting back to RT. 5, we headed down RT. 5 back to the Putney Town Hall.  Whew, what a ride, what a workout.  A ton of hills and my mantra of I love hills, hills love me only worked so much, the rest of the time I said, NO, not another hill!  We had no flat tires and none of the predicted thunderstorms.  It was a lot of fun and I was glad I came for the ride and picnic.  Thanks for a great day everyone. Karen Dowd

Sunday 7/2: I went over to the shop for the 9:00 ride and there was a large crowd for MaryEllen's ride waiting in the parking lot. I went into the shop to get ready for my ride. When the time came I was joined by Steve Power and Bob Croake. MaryEllen had 7 riders in her group and she headed out for a ride over to Cave Hill while the three of us headed out for our trip to Ashfield. If there had been more riders I had a plan to do a longer loop, but with my schedule lately I was not up for a long slug fest so I shortened the loop by 15 miles. My group rode down through Deerfield and up Lee Road to RT. 116 where we began the climb. I kind of knew what was going to happen on the climb since I was already struggling on the Lee Road climb. Sure enough, when we got to the first pitch, Bob and Steve pedaled out of sight and I was alone to slug it out at 14 mph. The boys were waiting for me at the grammar school and we finished the hill together. After screaming down the hill into Conway, we headed out of town towards Ashfield. I managed to stay on Bob's wheel for most of the climb, but I came off as we neared the top of the hill at Poland Road. After I crested the hill I hammered back onto Steve's wheel and we continued up the climb. I paused to shout hello to Grandma Thibault before we headed up the road to Bug Hill. As expected, I fell off the pace on Bug Hill and rejoined the boys in Ashfield center. We continued out to RT.112 where we made the right turn to the top of Ashfield Mountain. We flew down the hill to upper Buckland where we pedaled along for a while at 28 mph. We encountered a couple of red traffic lights at the bridge work being done, which slowed us down quite a bit. I found it somewhat difficult getting going again but I managed to stay with the boys out to RT. 2. The ride on route 2 was not an easy one for me and I got dropped on both the K-K Home Mart hill as well as the climb up the hill near Dragon condo's. After struggling up the last climb, I rejoined my two companions, who had waited at the top of the hill, and we all began the last leg (mercifully, all down hill) of our trip. We cruised down Greenfield Mountain and rode around the rotary and after I plodded my way up the hill to Main Street, we finished the ride back at the shop around 11;30 or so. We covered the 42 miles at a 19.5 mph pace, which was appreciably slower than what my companions would have done if not for waiting for me.

Saturday 7/1: It was a really busy day at the shop and when Jamie called at 10:30 in the morning, I was only half listening to him on the phone while doing a million other things at the same time. Jamie was calling to ask me if I wanted to go for a ride with him and Curt at 6:00, with the added benefit of ending the ride at his house and having dinner afterwards. I must have had hunger pangs at that point because it seems that the dinner part was the only thing I was thinking about when I agreed to join them. Well as the day wore on (and I wore out), Grasshopper became aware of the plan and he also wanted to join us. So now I had a crew for this ride. Grasshopper and I closed the shop at 6:00 and got ready to ride. As we were getting ready to go, Jamie, Curt and Walters arrived. Jamie and Curt were at the 40 mile point of their 55 mile ride and the plan was for me and Grasshopper to pull them the last 15 or so miles back to Jamie's house. Our group of five left the shop at 6:15 and headed south on High Street. We took the usual Hope Street route down to Deerfield Street where I took the lead. I pedaled down to Deerfield at a steady 18 mph with Grasshopper right on my wheel. I gradually brought the speed up until I noticed a gap opening between me and Grasshopper at 24 mph. I slowed the pace a bit until Grasshopper was once again on my wheel. Although it was a bright sunny evening with temps in the 80's and low humidity, there was a stiff wind blowing from the south, and this significantly increased the effort required to keep the pace high. I pulled the group down to the Savage's Market where I pulled off and Grasshopper took over. Soon after I pulled off Walters rode along side of me and said that he was going to head home. Walters took the next right turn to head back to his house while the rest of us continued on. After Walters left, Grasshopper did great job pulling the group! He pulled the group all the way to the hill before the butterfly museum, where I took the lead again. I picked the pace up but Grasshopper was a little off the back so I slowed down at the top of the hill. When the group was back together, I then led the pack down to Channing Bete where Curt took a short pull. I re-took to lead at Yankee Candle and pulled the pack along at 23 mph until we got to the Whatley General Store, where Grasshopper took over again. I was on the back of the group and noticed a significant drop in speed as we started up the rise over RT.91 near LaSalle's Greenhouse. I sprinted to the front and gave Grasshopper "the hand of Bob". With that little help, Grasshopper was able to make it over the hill and soon was cruising down the other side at 26 mph. I took over the lead at the hot dog stand and with Jamie right behind me we rode the rest of the way into Hatfield. Once in North Hatfield, Jamie took over and he led us over to his house, where Betsey and Becky were getting the feast ready. Soon after we got there, MaryEllen arrived in the van with a fresh change of clothes for me. We all went into Jamie's screened in patio to await our feast. In addition to eating lots of deviled eggs we also ate all his pasta and drank most of Jamie's beer. After Grasshopper and I were satisfied that there was no more food or drink left, we loaded our gear in the van and along with MaryEllen we headed back to the shop.

The following report is from Harold Green. I got it today and although it occurred in June I included it here. I put the photos on the photo page

June 20th Trip to Whistler:
Matt and I took the 5:30 flight from Bradley to Vancouver Monday night and then drove the 2 Hours north to Whistler, arriving at about 1:15AM Local time. Somehow we managed to wake up at a reasonable hour - about 7:30. I had shipped a bike, but Matt plans to rent a DH bike for most of the time we are here, so we didn't bring a bike for him. The IMBA World Mountain Bike Summit starts in earnest on Wednesday morning so Tuesday was to be our big XC day, because of that we had to find a rental shop for an XC bike. We rented him a nice new Giant Trance for the day and headed out onto the trails in the Lost Lake area. Lost Lake lies on the Eastern Side of the Village. We rode the Lost Lake area for nearly 3 hours on mostly intermediate marked (but despite the marking - some expert single track) trails with some of the coolest names we had ever seen. Some favorites are the Frank Zappa based 'Dinah Moe Humm' which connects to 'Peaches & Regalia'. Later two of Matt's favorites were 'Gee I Like Your Pants' and 'Son of Mr. Green Genes'. Most of the trails in the area we were able to loop around and ride in both directions. There are quite a few of 'structures' on the trails, some purpose built to avoid swampy or wet areas, and others just for fun. Including the structures (which surprisingly yours truly never once fell off!) the trails here were really a delight. Lots of really grippy dry rock and well-compacted soils make traction amazing.

PM Ride

The kind folk of the WORCA (Whistler Off Road Cyclists Assn) have offered to give guided rides to the IMBA delegates. Tonight's intermediate/advanced ride went over to the 'West Side' Trails. We rode for about a mile and a half on paved bike paths 'The River Trail' around the golf course and then up a road for about a ¼ mile. From there it was about a ½ mile fire road climb before we reached the single track. The single track trails on this side of the valley are a lot less traveled than the Lost Lake trails, but just as much fun. No built features to speak of, but some pretty nice swoopy steep trails reminding me a lot of Earl's Trails at Mt Holyoke State Park. Tonight's ride covered probably 8 miles or so and lasted about 1 ½ hours. By the end of the ride both Matt and I were pretty wiped having ridden for nearly 5 hours after only about that much sleep.

June 21

I had meetings all day today, so Matt got to fulfill his dream - a day on the Lift Accessed trails at Whistler. We rented him a Whistler custom Kona Stab Garbonzo weighing in at close to 50 lbs. He got in over a dozen runs by the time we met up at about 6:00.

Tonight's feature 'entertainment' was the famous WORCA Loonie Race. The Loonie Race earned its name from the Canadian 1 dollar coin - with a loon on the obverse. The cost to enter is now not one but two loonies, however the name remains. For the race tonight, due to the crowd of IMBA folk in town, the starting lineup was over 400 riders. The race-course started with a climb - about 2 miles - reminiscent of the Toby Road, but with a more consistent pitch. The course then went down 'B Line', one of the intermediate DH trails, before heading back up about a 200 yard 20% pitch (later riders in the pack got to view a family of Black Bears at the top of this climb) and heading down a beginner DH trail before heading into the Lost Lake trails we rode yesterday. I rode pretty well finishing in the first hundred or so riders about 10 minutes off the leaders, but poor Matt was stuck on the DH bike (with no little ring, an extremely short top tube, and about 6" of pedal bob) he had for the day. Needless to say, his time was quite a bit poorer than the Old Man's.

June 22

Day three in Whistler, I could get used to this! Meetings again for most of the day while Matt hit the DH trails again. Turns out about mid afternoon, he took this opportunity to hit the trails pretty hard! On the shoulder and elbow as a matter of fact. The boy decided to try to get a bit more air than he or the bike were quite ready for, landed the jump - but crashed spectacularly when the front wheel washed out. The kid he was riding with said it looked real good until it looked real bad!

He was pretty much done for the day after his crash, so he handed his bike and park pass off to me for a guided riding opportunity at the Park. The rest of the NEMBA gang in attendance, much more 'big bike' comfortable than this XC/Roadie, and I were four of only a few IMBA reps that signed on for WORCA's guided ride in the park. They tagged along with one rep to check out the Jump Park and some of the more aggressive lines while I asked for a mellower introduction to what it is that puts Whistler on the Map. We started out with a few practice banked turns at the top to get me familiar with how a big bike handles, 50 pounds and over 8 inches of travel front and back is way more than the NRS and Azure I have spent my time on of late. I managed to shake some 'bad' XC habits so Steve led me down to B-Line - the primary intermediate trail on the Mountain. I did OK, much faster than the night before in the Loonie Race that descended the same run - and most importantly - my feet didn't hurt at the bottom. We stopped at the intermediate skills area and practiced a few drops before returning to the top with the intention to try something a bit more technical. I managed to forget many of Steve's tips and take the root-drops a bit slower than I should have, which caused an extremely rough trip and shook my confidence a bit, but no substantial harm was done to rider or bike. The third trip to the top, we again took B-Line, which now felt much more comfortable and also again much faster. Regretfully, that was the end of the DH runs for us and I returned the bike to the shop and made my way back to the condo to prepare for the night's banquet.

June 23

Many of you will not be surprised by the events of this afternoon, especially if you have spent much time either riding with Matthew and I, or if you have raised teenagers! Communication: it is such a simple word. I told Matt to meet me with my bike at the conference center at 3:45. This was when the conference would be wrapping up. We would then head over to the rental shop and get him an XC bike for our last 2 days in Whistler. 3:45, no boy. 4:00, no boy. 4:15, I figure he must have fallen asleep - so walk over to the rental shop to get the bike from where I will head to the condo and give him some grief for being a lazy bum. Girl in the shop, pleased to see me runs my credit card and tells me Matt left with the bike 20 minutes ago. OK now where is he - it is now 4:45. I walk to the condo - no boy and no bikes - 5:00 WORCA ride leaves at 5:00 guess we missed that for tonight. Finally on my way back up to the conference center my cell phone rings - he is now back at the shop wondering where I am... Must be my fault!

We are both a bit frazzled from running around the village - he pushing 2 bikes - me carrying shoes, helmet and camelback. We headed over to Lost Lake to try and find one of the expert epic trails 'Comfortably Numb'. We managed to find it, but knowing it is a 5-6 hour ride and due to the sign indicating the preferred direction is 'the other direction' we decided to ride out no more than an hour before turning back and having dinner. We didn't get that far. About 15 minutes into the ride I caught the end of my handlebar on a small tree while negotiating over a pretty narrow pile of logs. The result was painful. I missed the logs while stepping down to try and prevent a fall. My left knee bent in directions not intended or wise and I ended in a pile - unable to extricate myself from the bike, logs and tree. Matt came to my assistance and managed to get my right foot unclipped and get the bike off me. It took a while, but the pain subsided and I was again able to pretty comfortably walk and ride, but the rotation to unclip caused spasms of pain. Since this was a Whistler expert trail, there were many structures and skinnies that I was uncomfortable riding knowing I couldn't easily dab with my left foot, we stuck it out for another mile or so, but I eventually told Matt we would have to abort and head to some easier terrain. I was too gun shy at this point and the knee wasn't getting any better so we road the Lost Lake loop without incident and put off the epic ride to tomorrow.

June 24

Last day in Whistler and my knee was only slightly less painful. Bending any more than was required to spin the pedals hurt like hell, but we had time to ride and hadn't yet ridden 'A River Runs Through It'. I knew I was in for a slow painful day, but wanted the experience of seeing this classic trail. Lots of structures, skinnies, log rides and stunts - mostly bypassed by me but more than a few attempted by the boy. Absolutely no climbing which makes it purely a skills ride, not one of a typical east coast riders strong points. I took some pictures of Matthew on a teeter and one of him inspecting a Rube Goldberg stunt, both representative of the construction common on this trail. We survived the ride in one piece and road back to the village with time for one final loop through Lost Lake before returning his bike and packing mine up for the trip back to Vancouver and home.