March 2004 Ride Report Page    
Here you will find the reports of our exploits for the month March 2004 more or less as they happened. I will publish any ride reports or digital photo's that I receive.  Please send them to  bikebob@crocker.com and you too can get yourself published on the web! There are several links on the homepage that will give you information about ride schedules and how the rides are run.

Tuesday, Mar 2nd Distance - 24.46 Average - 16.3 Temp - ~45°

I was planning on taking a spin up Rte 30 today but got delayed. When I was finally free to ride, it was close to 2:00. I knew that Michelle got free at 3:00, so I arranged to hook up with her for a ride then killed a bit of time before showing up at her place. Something must have scrambled my routine, since once there I realized that I had forgotten my helmet AND my booties. She had a spare that I managed to stretch out to fit my head. Riding without one would have been tempting fate, since I have never fallen on a road ride and this would have certainly been the first time if I went without noggin protection.

By the time we got on the road, the clear skies and 50 degree temps were a thing of the past. We started off in some light sprinkles, then rode towards Bernardston in off and on rain, passing through some pockets of really chilly air. Our plan was to head over to 5 then go North just a bit before cutting back over to Huckle Hill. I wasn't warmed up yet as we reached the bottom of the hill, so suffered a bit on the initial steep climb. Luck was with us, though, and the wind that was picking up was at our backs giving us a bit of a boost up the hill.

I was feeling better and better the further I got into the climb. Once over the top, I was feeling really good but took it easy on the descent due to all the leftover dirt and mud on the pavement. No land speed record breaking today!

We had a nice roll down 142 that took no time at all, then detoured onto some side roads South of 10 to add a few more mile onto the ride. For the last 10 minutes of the ride, we rolled along in picture perfect golden light from the sunset behind us. Another ride that I'm glad I didn't miss.

Sunday 3/7: We have not been able to ride in the woods for this last week so road riding is the game. I was not able to get out for last week due to a busy workload and not having good weather on the days that I could ride. So today was it. I had planned on a forty mile ride and the weather was perfect for our trip. It was sunny and 45 degrees and although there was a wind it wasn't too bad. I arrived at the shop and waiting for me was Curt, Harold, and PJW. I went into the shop and started to get ready and as I was getting ready Jack, Samantha, Norm, Cindy her husband and their son, Brendan, Tom Martyn and Chris Koh. We got going after a few repairs and adjustments to some of the riders bikes. ME, Penny, Cindy her husband and child in a trailer left before I got out to the parking lot to do a 25 mile loop to the south. I left the shop at 1:30 with a group of 8 riders following me. I rode over to Bernardston Road and turned to the right. I kept the speed at 16 mph for most of the ride up the hill on Bernardston Road, but when I neared the top, Curt called up to me to say the there were only four of us. Oops! I thought that everyone was with me so I slowed the pace and dropped back to pace everyone back on. I managed to get everyone except for Sam and Jack back into the group so I decided to continue on. I added a loop up RT. 5 that gave Sam a chance to catch up, but we never did get Jack back into the group. After getting Sam back into the peloton we headed over to Northfield at a moderate pace. As this was my first ride on the new Kestrel, I was doing some sprints and some hard efforts on the hills to get a sense of how the bike was handling. The bike seems to be very responsive to hard accelerations although I notices a little twitchiness when I rode on the top of the handlebars. Curt caught me off guard at the Gill town line and he rode off uncontested. I just let the bike roll down the hill without pedaling to see how it tracked and I was pleased to find it to be very stable. After I got across the Bennett Meadow Bridge I kept the speed up to 27 mph and pushed hard up the hill to RT. 63. As I got to the top of the hill I slowed up and dropped back to ride with Chris and Sam. As we headed down hill on RT. 63, Chris said that he wouldn't mind slowing the pace a bit and riding back with Sam. I made sure that they knew the route and then I took off to catch up with the rest of the crew, who were now out of sight. I pushed pretty hard into the headwind and managed to keep a 21 mph pace until I caught up with the group just as we began the hilly section going into Erving. I stayed in the middle of the group until we got to the Northeast Utilities recreation area. I told Brendan and Curt that there was a town line approaching and then I took off for a very long lead out. I kept the speed up to about 28 mph for most of the way, but when I saw a shadow coming up on my left, I put my head down and hammered to the line just ahead of Curt. After the sprint I rolled up the next hill and soft pedaled until everyone got back into the group. At this point Tom Martyn had to pull off due to time constraints, so when we got to Erving center he went straight up the hill towards Turners Falls while the rest of us went left on RT. 63. The group which originally had 9 members was now down to 4 riders. We kept a fairly high tempo down route 63, with each of us taking pulls at the front. We turned onto RT.47 in Montague and headed for Sunderland. I led the way up the hill and pushed pretty hard to the Sunderland town line. As I neared the line I saw that the group was a ways back so I sat up at the line. Just as I was about to coast across the line, I was passed by Brendan's last minute charge and he nipped me right at the line. After the sprint I rolled over the hill and we re-grouped on the descent. Curt was a little winded so he sat in on the cruise into the center of Sunderland. I was leading the group as we rounded the corner onto RT. 116, so I decided to accelerate and see if anyone would challenge me for the Deerfield town line. As I neared the line I could hear someone coming up from behind, so I pushed a little harder, and when I heard gears slipping I sprinted a little harder and narrowly nipped Brendan at the line.  Brendan had missed a shift and was in too high a gear to turn it over, and I was lucky enough to have a little energy left to hold him off. After crossing into Deerfield we headed through South Deerfield, taking a right onto North Main Street, and then up to Mill Village Road. We all took turns at the front as we made our way to Old Main Street in Old Deerfield where Brendan dropped off at his house. After Brendan left we rode out to RT.5&10 where we took a left and headed back to Greenfield. I rode at the front from the turn up to the Wok Restaurant where I intended to sprint for the town line. However, when we got to the Wok Restaurant there was a large pothole in the road ahead as well as lots of traffic. I decided not to sprint and I soft-pedaled over the bridge. We rode up Deerfield Street and then back to the shop where we were greeted by Penny and ME. We waited for a little while before Sam and Chris Koh returned and then we all headed for home. I was glad to get out on such a nice day to ride my new bike. The bike worked pretty well, although I have to do some minor adjustments, but all in all it was great.

While MaryEllen and I didn't go quite as far as the other group, I'll bet we enjoyed ourselves just as much if not more (I was there after all, and we all know how much fun I am!). We headed down High St towards Main, then cut down Hope St to Rtes 5 &10. Going through Old Deerfield was much nicer this week due to much less traffic (last week there was some 1700's touristy stuff going on). Once we go to the end of Mill Village Rd, we decided that we'd extend our ride a little by going back down Blue Meadow Rd through Montague. What a great route that is! We opted not to tackle Esleeck hill and were going to come back Deerfield St. BUT once we got to the bottom of Greenfield Rd, we decided "heck, we're animals!" so we headed up Mountain Rd to Poet Seat!! We ended up doing about 25 miles and had a good time together (as we always do).

Sunday, March 7th  Distance - 41.22   Average - 19.4   Temp - ~45° 

There was a pretty good showing for today's ride. Temps. were a bit cooler than I was expecting and forecast to fall in the afternoon, but we had very little wind. The roads were nice and dry, so Bob decided to take his new bike out for its first ride.

The group had a wide range riders across all ability levels, so things started pulling apart quickly as we headed North on rte 5 out of Greenfield. As we topped the hill I looked back to see that the four of us that were in front were alone, so we all soft-pedaled over the top. Bob went back to pull some lagging riders back to the front.

To be honest I didn't look back much today's ride, so I don't really know how things went behind me after that. I know we made one more effort to bring the group together as we headed East on 10 but once we got to the drop down to 63 the group was definitely ready to split into 3 or more smaller groups based on ability. I went out for the Northfield town line on 10 and took in uncontested. It was fun anyway and felt good to stretch my legs out for the sprint.

After we turned onto 63 South Tom Martyn and another rider (I haven't caught his name yet) took the front and set a pretty high pace South. I tucked in behind Tom (my favorite wind screen) and did my best to hang on. The next big effort came on a short hill about a mile after the shoulders went away. I made it over the top still with the group, but this climb really separated us from anyone behind. For the rest of the ride it was down to five riders: Bob, Tom, Norm, Myself and ?? (The guy whose name I didn't get).

As we rolled onto the flat by Northfield Mountain, Bob mentioned that he was going to go for the sprint just to check out his bike but I should not feel obligated to follow. I couldn't resist anyway and went for his wheel as he passed me.

I never got onto his wheel as much as I would have liked, so had to keep pushing all the way to the line. As we came up to the line, I came out to try to go around him, but my energy was really starting to flag and I just didn't have the final push I needed to get by him. We crossed the line side-by-side, but he had about a half-wheel advantage on me.

This sprint really did me in, especially since there is a long climb right after the line. The group passed me on the hill as I tried to recover, but I wasn't able to catch my breath and keep them in sight at the same time, so I kept pushing. I never managed to catch the group's wheel again until the railroad crossing just before the village of Millers Falls. I finally got back on the group's wheel so I could relax a bit, but I still wasn't recovered.

Tom had a time constraint and had to get back to the shop, so he turned Right out of the village to head back while the four of us continued South on 63. I was still feeling completely toasted as we started on the rollers of 63 South, so I downed my Gu and plenty of water while trying to hang on to the group AND continue breathing. It wasn't a very easy task, given the way I was feeling.

I finally started to feel human again a few miles further South. We turned onto 47, heading for Sunderland. There was some climbing here, but nothing too bad. I knew that once I put the effort in on this one last section I would be home free for the rest of the ride. Once over the top, I had a long descent to recover on. By the time we hit Sunderland I was really feeling human again.

Bob and the other rider went out for the sprint at the bridge in Sunderland. I didn't catch who got it, but Norm and I passed them and picked them up as they recovered on the other side. We rolled in a nice paceline up past Sugarloaf, across 5 then onto Mill Village rd.

We didn't set an especially high pace on the farmlands South of Deerfield, but after the ride so far today it felt like a racing pace to me. We all took our turns on the front, but mine were nice and short at a reasonable 20mph, while some of the other riders would bump it up a bit higher than that. Somewhere in this area, I heard a familiar 'ping' in my front wheel and guessed I had popped another spoke.

The other rider left us in the village of Old Deerfield to ride home, leaving Bob, Norm and I to finish the ride. Bob led us the remaining miles into Greenfield (Norm took the sprint over the Cheapside bridge uncontested... there was a lot of traffic passing us at the time so I didn't pull out to challenge him. I probably didn't have it in my legs to follow anyway).

At the turn off of rte 5 I had a ride average of 19.8 for 39 miles. Not bad from the first week in March! We spun slowly back to the shop to cool down where I ended up with the average posted above. Once I got off the bike I noticed that I did indeed have a broken spoke, so left the wheel with Bob for repair before the next ride.

Tuesday, March 9th

When all else fails (and it is snowing outside)... trainer time. My heartrate monitor is working again for the first time in over a year. I wore it on the trainer and was a bit surprised at the rate. It was lower than I expected it to be for the amount of work I was doing, about 140 after I was warmed up.

Now I really want to use it again on the road and compare some of the readings with my bikelog of previous rides of the same routes 2 years ago. It has also been a few years since I really have known what my max heartrate is. I probably would have found out on Sunday's ride while sprinting with Bob if I had had it on then!

Tuesday, March 11th
Distance - 33.6
Average - 19.0
Temp - ~45°
Average H.R. - 171
Ending Mileage - 263.0

Bob was planning on having the first 'Road Masters' meeting tonight, but I wanted to get a ride in first since it was such a nice day. He's had my wheel since the last ride, so my only option was to go down there and do a ride from the shop (otherwise I'd have done something easy on Rte. 30, closer to home).

He sent out an email letting everyone else know about my plans to ride at 3:00, but Peter Bell was the only other rider to show up. Bob wanted to ride but was just a bit to busy to sneak out of the shop.

Peter and I headed over to Turners then down toward Montague on the standard 'Plumtree Road' loop (except we usually do it the other way around). I would usually never have a chance to keep up with Peter, but he had just been on a hilly 40 mile ride the day before which leveled the playing field a little. This loop is probably one of the least hilly rides you can do in the area. We even avoided the River Road hills by coming back through Old Deerfield. I shut off the speed display on my computer and paid attention only to my cadence and heart rate, but I could tell by my high average rate that I was still putting quite a bit of effort into the ride. Even so, I was surprised when we got back to Greenfield with an average of 19.4, which dropped to 19.0 after we cooled down on the final few miles back to the shop.

Thursday, March 11, 2004.  Last Sunday I wasn’t able to join in the road ride because I had already made a commitment to baby-sit my friend’s 14-month-old daughter.  It was perhaps the longest day of my life…but I won’t get into that now.  Anyways, by the middle of the week, I was itching to get out and ride.  So, I decided to give Pete Vangel from the Batchelor Street crew a ring.  I was very curious about the condition of the trails in Granby…and I expected the worst, knowing that last fall was muddy until the very end.  When I finally got a hold of Pete, he told me that Scooter had been up on Wednesday, and that the trails were perfect.  I was skeptical.  But, on Thursday morning, I called Chad at work and we worked out plans to go riding after work.  Finally, yearbook is done at school, so that after-school commitment will no longer be eating up my time. 

The temperatures were in the high 40s or low 50s when we headed up to Batchelor Street.  We arrived and were only the 2^nd car in the lot.  I didn’t see the vehicle of anyone that I knew, but it was cool because we figured we’d have the whole mountain to ourselves.  We headed up Main Access briefly until we go to Rollercoaster, which I figured would be a good warm up with its rolling hills.  It felt so good to be out on familiar trails, and with the snow gone, there was plenty of challenge to be had.  I reflected on this past winter and all the snow rides that we did at Walter’s and at the Plains.  These rides were invaluable because while not very technical, I got the chance to really know my bike and to try to improve my endurance.   

So, as we got to the steep rollers of Rollercoaster, I was feeling pumped…that is, until I could barely make it up the first hill, and then the second, and then the third.  Chad bounced on ahead, stopping to wait for me.  I was out of breath and struggling.  “My god,” I thought, “I suck”.  I thought riding during the winter was supposed to help me?!?  Then, I remembered that the indicator for my front derailleur has been broken for a few months, permanently stuck in “1”.  I had been riding my middle chain ring the entire time, and trust me, those short steep climbs are next to impossible.  I smacked myself in the head, shifted down, and all was well for the rest of the ride.  Of course, I had to take it easy until we got to Jacob’s Ladder, because I had really been fighting hard against the hills and I didn’t have a whole lot of energy at the time.  

 We went along, shocked at the good condition of the trails, and made our way to Jacob’s Ladder…aka “The Widow-maker”…well, that’s my own personal name for it.  I had only ridden JL 2 times last fall, and that was it, so you know what they say…third time’s the charm.  I did very well on the trail, sticking a lot of sections that I didn’t have the skills or the guts to do in the fall.  There were only a few areas where I had to dismount and walk it.  Chad, in usual form, did well, too.  We made it to the last, VERY steep section of the trail and fought it for a majority of the way, and then ended up walking it up.  From here, we headed down to the ponds and then down the un-named trail back to the cars.  As we flew back down the hill back to the parking lot, I saw a group of people hanging out and figured it must be a group going out to do an evening ride…until I noticed that none of them had bikes and all of them were wearing camo.  It turned out to be a local ROTC group who was doing some GPS or orienteering training.  The last words of their commander was to beware of ice, blow down, animals, and bikers.  I got a chuckle.  Sunday, we’re riding the Batch again, and I can’t wait.  It was a great ride to kick off the season.  

Sunday 3/14: Today I had planned two rides. The first ride was at 11:00 and I was going to lead a 40 mile ride, while ME was planning on doing a 20 mile ride at 12:00. It was a cold and blustery day when I got up and although the weather forecasters had said that it was going to be warm and in the 50's I knew that we were in for a cold one. I went over to the shop and got a few things done before the riders started to arrive. I got my gear ready and then helped out a few riders with last minute repairs and adjustments. We had 13 riders in total and I headed out to the parking lot to make sure that the riders were ready. After everyone was set I gave the route directions to the riders. The plan was to ride down to MT. Warner in Hadley and then head up RT. 63 to Montague and return to the shop. I instructed the riders as to what the route and pace would be and then we headed out to ride down to Main Street. Norm and I led the group at a 16 mph pace until we got to Deerfield Street. After we crossed the Cheapside Bridge we headed down River Road. The group got pretty strung out on the hills and by the time we got to the end of River Road there was only 8 of us left. We made the decision to continue rather than wait as there were not any riders in sight when we got to the Sunderland Bridge. There was a nice little sprint over the bridge to the town line and Curt got that one. We rolled over to RT. 47 and headed south into a stiff headwind. We all took pulls at the front and we kept the pace at 19 mph for most of the way to Hadley. As we neared the town line I took the lead and we picked the pace up a bit. After a short while we lost Wendy off the back and I went back to get her. After she got back on we were soon on the hill to MT. Warner and the group got strung out again. As we headed down the hill I went to the front to make sure that the coast was clear at the tricky intersection near the bottom of the descent. I stayed near the front over to the turn onto Maple Street and after the group got through I warned them about the possibility of rough road ahead. I stayed near the back of the group until we crossed RT. 116, where I again went to the front to lead the riders through the next intersections. Once we got onto RT. 63 I drifted to the middle of the group and we began the climb up the hill past the Cherry Hill Golf Course. Ben and the new guy got the pace up and when we got near the top I tried to come around and take the town line sprint, but Ben had too much for me and I blew up before the top of the hill. All this had the effect to spit Wendy out the back and Norm was nice enough to stay with her while the rest of us continued on. Our group kept the speed up a bit and soon we lost Tom Martyn on the next hill. We did a couple more town line sprints and I did not fare that well. In fact Curt took most of them and so I decided that sprinting wasn't any fun and I did not do that any more. We rolled into Montague Center at a 25 mph speed and soon after we were flying down the road towards Turners Falls. I rode at the front of the group from Plains Road to Hillside Road and then I hopped in behind Curt. We all rode together back to the shop. It was a great ride and we ended up with a 18.9 mph average for the 41 miles.

Sunday, March 14, 2004.  Since today was forecast to be another pleasant day, I decided to plan another ride up at Batchelor Street.  Initially, I planned to meet up with Pete and Scooter.  Chad had to work, so he was out.  Then, I mentioned my plans to Bob and he said that Liam would probably be interested, so he put out an email about my plan.  Liam quickly emailed me back and said he was game, so we met up at the parking lot at Batchelor Street around 10 am.  Pete and Scooter’s trucks were there, but Pete’s bike was still on the back, so I quickly reasoned that he was out finishing up the trail building on the brand new Missing Persons Trail.   

So, Liam and I planned a route and off we went.  It was hard to know what to wear for clothing, since the temperatures were supposed to warm up quite a bit.  When we began, it was about 35 degrees, and by the time we ended, it was over 45.  I settled on a thermal long sleeve shirt and short-sleeved jersey, along with my winter tights, gator socks, and thinner winter gloves.  A skullcap completed the outfit.  Liam was dressed similarly, except he went for shorts…Brrrr!  Soon into the ride, I had to ditch the winter gloves and skullcap…it was just too warm.   

We started out on Far East, a nice warm up trail, and I quickly felt pretty good, clearing some rocky sections that I had never been able to do last year.  We went to Lost and Found, then down Twister—the whole trail I made it down without dabbing or stopping.  I even did the jump over the huge downed pine tree at the end.  We took stock of what we wanted to do, and decided to head up Main Access so that we could enjoy the other trails.  Main Access definitely keeps you honest, and it’s funny how you forget how long it actually is, with 3 major climbs.  The trail was very dry, though, which made the going easier.  Actually, all the trails were dry for the most part, except a small section of Rollercoaster.  Right as we were about to enter Technical Trail, Liam’s chain was having issues.  Recalling the knowledge I learned in the winter bike clinics, I quickly zeroed in on the problem…a pin in the link right after the master link had worked its way out, preventing the link from bending, and neither of us had a chain tool…oops.  Liam debated about what to do…scrap the rest of the ride or continue without using the small ring in the front.  He chose the latter, and luckily for me, this gave him a handicap that allowed me to follow more closely behind him on some of the sections.   

We went up Tech to Serpentine (or Serpent God…I always confuse them), the rocky sections of which I rode the whole way…another improvement over last year.  We came to a fork in the trail, and decided not to do the bottom of Serpentine, since it would probably be very wet.  So, we went the rest of the trail up to Raptor, and then to Jacob’s Ladder.  It proved a challenge in the opposite direction, and it was here that I was first starting to feel tired.  I also whomped my knee, and took a minute or two to catch my breath.  We rode out to Rollercoaster, and zipped our way along the rolling hills…that is, until I got a laurel branched entwined in my rear derailleur and spokes.  Luckily, I caught it in time.  

 I met Liam at the bottom of the trail, where we debated what to do next.  It was already nearly two hours into the ride, and I was feeling pretty sapped, but Liam convinced me to go with him and go UP Twister.  I obliged, and followed him like the lemming that I really am.  Near the top, it became obvious that while my legs were still okay, I was starting to lose my balance and my focus from being tired, but I kept on going.  We exited to Red Barn via Lost and Found, and it was here the Liam heard the new Missing Persons trail beckoning to him…actually it was Pete and Scooter right over the ridge finishing the trail work, and the buzz of the chain saw was irresistible to Liam.   

So, we rode down to the trail head, and went for it.  I was amazed, again, at how much of the entrance I actually cleared, right up the steep rocks. I had to stop, though, when I realized my front wheel was coming loose, and it was a quick fix.  I should’ve known better, because I know how the long the trail is, since I helped flag it in the fall.  I wish I had been fresh, because it would’ve been a lot more fun, but I plugged along slowly.  Losing my balance and stepping down became frequent, but I kept going, hearing the chain saw very close by.  Finally, I came upon Pete and Scooter, who were almost done clearing the trail.  Only a few hundred feet or so, and the trail will be complete.  Liam and I chatted with the boys, and then hiked out onto Red Barn.  We took Far East back, a nice easy return.  After we arrived in the parking lot, I realized that we had been riding for over 3 hours!!!  We definitely hit all the great trails, and I can’t wait until we have our romp up at the Batch again! (Submitted by Stephanie)

Sunday, March 14th Distance - 40.95 Average - 19.3 Temp - ~35°

On Friday, the weather forecast was for 50's on Sunday. By Saturday, they had dropped Sunday's forecast temps to the 40s. When the riders finally started to assemble, the thermometer was reading in the low 30s. So much for a warm sunny Spring ride!

I didn't get a real count of how many riders finally rolled out of the parking lot, probably around 10 of us. We did our usual easy warm-up through Main Street then down the back roads to Rte. 5. We were just starting to get warmed up when we hit the bottom of River Road. I was feeling pretty chilly and wanted to generate some more heat, so I went to the front and pushed a bit on the first climb. The pace picked up as the riders started to warm up, but then the group got splintered as we hit the first real hills on River Road. A lot of it came back together once we got to 116, but I think we lost a few riders off the back who never made it back into the group.

After waiting for some traffic, we all rolled over the bridge into Sunderland together. I was in the front with Tom and I kept glancing over to him to see if he was thinking of going out for the town line at the end of the bridge. He wasn't looking like he was getting ready to sprint, but on one glance left I caught Bob and Michelle coming up the outside of the group already racing to the line. I was in the right gear and still had several feet of advantage on them, so I dug in and accelerated toward the line. The fact that the final run to the sign was downhill helped me keep my lead across the line.

We turned South on 47 at the Sunderland lights, then spent the next 8 miles fighting a headwind from the Southwest. Bob made sure that people took short pulls then moved to the back of the group before getting too beat up. Towards the end of this section, we dropped a rider so slowed the pace down a bit so we could all come back together and get a short break before turning East for the climb up Mt. Warner.

I have never ridden in this area before, so had no idea what to expect for a climb. I allowed myself to drop off the back of the group at the bottom, then slowly started to make up distance as I found the right gear for the slope. It turned out that 'Mount' Warner wasn't much in the way of a mountain. We were soon over the top with no major grades. After rolling down the other side, we turned North to head home, with the wind now at our backs where it belongs.

I started to feel a little weak on the first few hills of 63, so downed another Gu and drank a lot of water, hoping that I would recover after sitting in the back for a few minutes. It must have worked, since by the time we hit the real climbs on 63 I was feeling much better and was able to push up and over them without too much effort.

I was behind Ben when we came to the Sunderland town line, the first of two lines within a mile or so. Ben kept looking over his shoulder, which I took for him keeping an eye out for sprinters. I took him up on it and pulled past him for the line but he didn't follow me. After a short break, Bob came to the front. At first I thought he was just taking a turn at the front of the group, but once he got there he just kept accelerating. It was tough to stick to his wheel, but I managed to hang on. I couldn't believe he was going for the town line this early, since it was still a few hundred yards down the road but I was happy to let him do all the work as I sat on his wheel.

As we approached the sign, I shifted to pull out around him. I was feeling burnt just from the energy it took to hold on, but I guess he must have been feeling even worse. He tried to match my sprint, but he had spent all his energy on the long run up to the sign and didn't have anything left for the final 50'.

Shortly after that we turned off of 63 and headed for Montague. Bob set a very high pace with the wind at our backs, but I had to take it down several MPH when I took my turn in the front. We all took our turns for the rest of the way North to Turners Falls. On the final climb over the ridge to Greenfield I was feeling pretty 'done' so allowed myself to drop off the back and watch Michelle and Ben pull away from me with Bob right behind them. About halfway up the hill, I got a second wind and managed to close the gap down a bit, then pushed just a bit harder on the final mile back to the shop so I pulled into the parking lot just seconds behind Ben and Michelle.

Addendum: 30 minutes after the ride ends, Betsy and I are driving home. My legs are starting to feel recovered and I'm generally feeling great. As we pull off of the highway and start driving North toward our house, we pass a group of 6 or so riders speeding along the narrow shoulder of Route 5 in a nice paceline. This upsets me, but it takes me a minute to realize why. Finally it hits me. I want to be out there with them and am upset that I am driving a car while they are enjoying a nice ride. I get home, unload the car, throw my bike clothes into the wash... then start wondering if I could sneak another ride in before the day is over.

Hello, my name is Curt and I am a Cycloholic. My last ride was 1 hour ago...

Thursday, March 19th  Will bike for money...

I wasn't really expecting tonight to be the best bike ride of the season, and I wasn't disappointed. Michelle and I decided that ANY ride beat the heck out of doing serious brain numbing time on the trainer, so she made a short trip earlier in the day to check out trail conditions on the plains. the verdict was 'rideable -- barely'. That was good enough for me, so we planned on meeting at Bob's then heading over for a ride.

I was surprised as I drove South just how much daylight we've recovered already this Spring. 5:15 and the sun was still well above the horizon. Even around 6:00 there was still a hint of light in the sky. Michelle and I stopped at the shop to pester Norm and Bob for a while, but couldn't convince either of them to ride with us. Just as we were heading out Jack showed up but he didn't have his biking gear with him so the two of us headed for the plains by ourselves.

We were wondering if the ride was going to be worth while as we headed into the trails. Someone up there heard our despair and answered us with money. Yup, the trail heading off Old Northfield road toward the telephone pole trail was littered with dollar bills. Well... two dollars. Michelle found the first dollar laying in the middle of the trail and I told her 'the next one is mine'. Sure enough, 10 feet further down the trail we found a second dollar. So now I can tell people that I make money as a mountain bike rider (there goes my amateur status!)

The trails were.... interesting. Though some snowmobiles have been on them since the last storm, they hadn't been completely packed. It was a very slow ride up the telephone pole trail and then the power lines, fighting against the soft snow pushing our wheels back and forth. We took a short trip out the 'second first left' trail, but none of the trails off of it had been packed at all, so we did an out and back riding in the narrow tire tracks of a truck that had used the road.

Once back at the power lines we headed North, staying on them for quite a while until we came to two sets of power lines crossing over the trail. Neither of us were 100% sure about where we were, but headed right to explore a trail that looked vaguely familiar. The trail got less and less traveled until we were struggling to stay on our bikes. We finally stopped at the bottom of a wash before deciding it was time to turn back. Later, looking at my Topo maps, I decided that we had been at the bottom of the West side of Red Rock. It just didn't look familiar for some reason, being virtually un-traveled in this new snow.

We turned to head back, setting a blistering pace of 3-4MPH all the way back out to the telephone pole trail then out the 'money trail'. Despite the relatively short distance of the ride, we ended up being on the trails for over 2 hours. It was a great workout and a good ride after all, though not one that would have been enjoyed by many. I'm sure that two hours of low-cadence pushing on the cranks helped build some muscle that will come in handy on hill-climbs later in the season.

Sunday, March 21st Distance - 36.76 Average - 17.9 Temp - ~45°
 

Once again, the weather was unpredictable enough that Bob didn't really make a final decision about today's ride until we were gathering at the shop. While the temps were decent, the wind was gusty and coming from all directions. Some of the weather pages I checked before heading down were predicting winds gusting up to 25MPH. We started off by heading over to Turners, then up Hatchery road and into Montague.

The pace was kind of ragged today, with moments of pushing to hang on followed by needing to hit the brakes or ride up beside another rider's wheel. I think it was mostly caused by some new riders not yet used to the way this group works, or just early season riding which will hopefully settle down as people get miles back on their legs.

As soon as we turned South on 63, we were hit with a long gentle climb. Nothing really bad, but enough to separate some of the faster riders from people who were already beat up by the pace so far. As the group strung out, I hear Jamie say he was going to drop off for a more mellow pace, since he was already feeling a little burnt.

I took a minute or two to think about the options while I topped the hill. Keeping up the faster pace and having a fast ride that wouldn't really do me much good. Alternatively I could drop back, keep Jamie company and have a more mellow ride that would probably be a lot better for me this early in the season. I finally decided, and told Michelle as she passed me that I was going to drop off.

Jamie and I hooked up and rode just 50 yards or so off the back of the group almost all the way to Bull Hill road. We pushed a few times to close the gap, but never really got back on the group and decided to let them go. I noticed Bob looking back a lot to see if he should come back and give us a hand, but I waved him on to signal that we were fine back here by ourselves. It is hard being that close and NOT racing to catch back on the group's wheel! As we rolled up one of the last hills on 63, we decided to really let them pull ahead a bit so we would no longer be tempted to give chase.

When we got to Bull Hill road, we decided to opt for the longer route instead of cutting off several miles by turning West. Most of the rest of the trip to Amherst was on a gently decline, making us feel pretty damn strong as we rolled along at 25MPH.

As soon as we crossed 116 and headed for 47 North, we started to pay the price. For the next 8 miles we battled a headwind that sapped our strength and beat us back to as low as 12MPH in some spots. The wind was swirling from several directions, but mostly crossing from our front left quarter. It was strong enough that I could feel it pushing my bike out from under me. Finally, we came out of the tobacco fields, crossed the river in Sunderland and headed North on River Road (we later learned that the front group skipped the hilly River Rd. route opting for the flatter, faster Mill River Rd. route home).

We kept fighting the same headwind on River Rd, but were a little more sheltered from the brunt of it. As we started coming up to the last climb, we spied a few bikers ahead of us. It turned out to be Gary and Chris Koh, who had cut across Bull Hill road to get ahead of us. At the top of the last climb, we all came together and set up a small paceline for the final few miles back to Greenfield.

I wasn't expecting anyone to come past me for the Greenfield town line, but I glanced back just in time to see Chris pull around Gary and head for the line. I couldn't let him get away with it that easily, so I shifted down and dug in to give him a run for his money. He pulled past me, but I shifted one more time and was able to take the lead back, rolling over the line with plenty of room to spare.

That was basically the final blow to my legs. We spun back to the shop at an easy pace for the finish of a nice Spring ride.

Sunday 3/21: It was a blustery cool day when I showed up at the shop for our ride. The plan was to do a 35 to 40 mile ride or whatever the group will sustain. There were 11 riders who came out for the trip down to Amherst and back. I got my 'cross bike ready and I was out the door a few minutes after 1:00. I told the group what the ride route would be and then I headed out of the parking lot with the troops right behind me. We rode over to Turners Falls on wet and sandy streets which got everyone damp and tended to string out the line. We regrouped on the ride down Montague City Road and we were all together when we got to the hill on Greenfield Road. After riding up the hill on Greenfield Road we were again strung out. At this point Gary and Chris dropped off the pace to ride at a slower speed while we pressed on. We rode a pretty good tempo down Turners Falls Road but the group was being buffeted by strong winds which caused the front to slow down unexpectedly and the line got strung out again. The pace line was having trouble with the winds again when we got out to the open section of Leverett Road and I personally had difficulty staying up to speed for very long. We all swung out onto RT. 63 and headed up the hill to the Sunderland town line sprint. I wasn't geared for the sprint so I stayed in line while Jeff VonDauber and Baby Bell contested it. This was the first of many sprints and most of them were won by Jeff. After the sprint (which is at the top of the hill) the group split up again and I went back to try to bring back some of the riders. Ahead of me was Tom Martyn, Baby Bell and Jeff, while behind was Michelle, Rol and several others. As I drifted off the back I saw Curt waving me on so I assumed that he and the group behind were going to do their own thing. I hurried back onto the back of the pace line as they headed towards Amherst. We all took turns at the front for the ride through North Amherst and after a few dicey moments at the traffic lights we were soon out on the open farmlands of North Hadley. This is where we really got hit with the winds. We were trying to keep a 19 mph pace but it was pretty tough to do. At one point when I was on the front I saw my speed drop from 19 to 15 mph when I got hit by a gust of wind. The group got split up with Jeff, me and Baby Bell pulling away from the rest of the group. Those unlucky enough to get off the wheel in front were soon spit out the back and we had to go back a pull Rol back when he got off. We all pushed hard to get to the center of Sunderland but things got a little strung out when I jumped the light and started the sprint for the Deerfield town line. We all came back together on Sugarloaf Street (we also picked up John Klem who caught up with our group) and we cruised through the center of town and out to Mill Village Road. The group was again hit by high winds on Mill Village and this was the last straw for a few riders. When we got to Old Deerfield everyone was feeling the effects of a hard effort. At this point the group was down to five riders having lost John and Rol. I led the bunch on the ride up 5&10 at 23 mph and I managed to hold the pace until the sprint went off. At this point I was pretty cooked myself and I stayed behind the group until I got to Washington Street where I slowed down to spin back to the shop. I was glad to get back to the shop and I ended up the ride with a 19 mph average for 36 miles.

Tuesday, March 23rd Distance - 48.52 Average - 16.8
Temp - Starting @ 45°, Ending in low 30's
Episode I: In which Michelle pulls Curt and Jamie back home.

The plan today was to do an easy ride South on 63 from Michelle's, drop a bit further south of Bull Hill road to Plumtree road, then take 47 North to Sunderland, Mill Village road to Greenfield, and finally Gill road back to the NMH campus after stopping to visit Bob for a few minutes.

I'm still trying to figure out what didn't 'click' for me on today's ride. I never reached that plateau once I warm up where I feel like I can ride forever. Every hill today was a little bit of a struggle and having a headwind for the entire Southern portion of the trip didn't help. I had plenty of excuses ready by the time the ride ended, ranging from not being recovered after Sundays ride to dehydration and/or not having eaten right today.

When we finally turned North on 47, the wind gave us a little help but by that time Jamie was cooked and I was just interested in having an easy spin on the way home. We kept it fairly mellow over to Mill Village road, where we had to stop briefly while I secured another) broken spoke on my front wheel.

After this stop my power went down another level. We took it easy North to Bob's shop where we got all nice and cooled down while Bob did a quick replacement of my broken spoke. By the time we left the shop we were cold, wet from the earlier part of the ride, and the outside temperatures had dropped at least 10 degrees as the sun started to set.

The drop over the ridge to Turners Falls was absolutely frigid. I was much colder on this section of road than I had been on any of our subzero mountain bike rides over the Winter. As I rolled down the hill my whole body was shivering so hard my handlebars were shaking.

I was looking forward to the climb after crossing Route 2 since it would help me generate some body heat. It worked and I got a little warmer, but I just didn't have ANY push left in my legs by this time. We crawled up the hill, turned left at the top and continued our slow pace up the remaining gentler ascent. At this point, I think Jamie and I were just wanting the ride to end, but Michelle had plenty of power left. She stayed in front and basically pulled our sorry asses back to the campus, where we had one last climb through the campus to where we were parked.

After the ride I noticed that I had drunk virtually nothing on the ride, so drank two bottles of water while downing a Clif Bar, Power Bar and some Power Bar 'Bites'. I then drove back to Bob's (driving through some snow showers on the way!) to talk about options for replacement wheels. On my ride home an hour or so later, I hit major snow squalls at the state line and was driving on snow-slicked roads by the time I got back to Putney. So much for a Spring ride!
Submitted by Curt

Wednesday 3/24: I decided to do a ride tonight as I have been too busy to get out during the day. It was a fairly warm day today so when Liam came in to the shop I suggested that we try to do a MTB ride on the ridge. He said that he was game and he asked Chris Koh to join us. We left the shop at 6:15 and headed for the trails. I rode to the trails behind Liam but as soon as my front wheel hit the mud, my handlebars twisted. Liam continued to ride on ahead, unaware of my dilemma, but Chris stopped to lend me his tool kit. It seems that when I put my bike together this afternoon, I forgot to tighten my stem bolts. I quickly made the repair and Chris and I headed off to catch up with Liam. The trails were very muddy and there was also quite a bit of snow and ice left on them as well. I found the mud to be very difficult to ride through and I did a lot of hiking on the way up to Poet's Seat. Chris was able to ride through most of the trail, whilst I hoofed it through the slop. I arrived at the tower to find Chris and Liam waiting for me. (It's a good thing they did, because if they didn't I might have turned around right there and headed back to the shop.) After a brief stop at the tower we headed down the road to the park entrance. It was fairly warm as we headed down the hill and I was hoping that the trails in Temple Woods were going to be drier. After we crossed the road we headed up the trail and instantly we were back in the mud. It was a pretty sloppy ride up to the turn and I was pretty whipped when I got to where Chris and Liam were waiting for me. After a brief pause we headed down to Bears Den Road, which was pretty icy and snow covered, and then we turned to head over to the power lines. I showed Liam and Chris a shortcut trail that left out the steep climb on the power lines. It was a good thing we did that because the power lines were really muddy and I doubt that we could have made it up the hill on our bikes. I rode behind Liam as we headed to Five Points, but he had a mechanical and had to stop. Chris and I waited at the top of the hill and when he came along I followed him down the hill past Five Points. The trails were much drier here and we were moving along at a pretty good clip when Chris went flying by us on the wider section of trail. I hollered to him that there was a turn ahead, but Chris kept right on going. He sailed past the turn and Liam and I yelled to him as we headed down the Green Trail. Chris heard us and he stopped and turned around. Liam and I rode on ahead and as we passed MPM house we could see that he was having a BBQ in the back yard. We hollered over to him and he called out in return. We whooped it up with him until we passed his house and then we headed for the serious mud that awaits us even in the "dry" season. Liam hit the roots at the edge of the stream and he was soon off the bike and walking through the muck. I opted to not even try as I was sure that the mire would such my wheel in up to the axle. After we got across the stream we found the trail was too muddy to ride. We walked up the hill a little way and then remounted. We did this on and off until we got back to Bears Den Road. We decided to take the trails that we came out on, back to the parking lot, and this was probably the best choice. We rode up the Yellow trail to the steep section and then we hiked our bikes back up the hill to the Blue Trail. I did a repeat of the hike-n-bike thing all the way back to the parking lot. When I got to the parking lot we all decided to try the White dot trail. This turned out to be the best part of the ride. Although the trail was muddy in places and we had to walk up the steeper hills, it was for the most part rideable for the entire length. I followed Chris and Liam back to the Blue Trail and we all headed back to the shop. It was a nice spring evening and I enjoyed being out. I think that in a week or so we will be able to do the ride up there without the mud.

Sunday 3/28: Today we had three rides planned, so that all riders would have something for them. It was a nice spring day with temperatures in the middle fifties and bright sunshine. There was a bit of a wind, but nothing like last week. I led the Intermediates, while ME and HMJ led the Leisure Group and Chris Koh was the leader of the Advanced Beginners. I led the group down High Street and onto RT. 5&10. I stayed at the front until we got onto River Road  and then I drifted to the back. Rich, Ben and Tom Martyn were keeping the pace high so I just settled in to the back of the bunch. I was feeling a little tired from a long day yesterday at the shop, so I decided to stay off the front for the first part of River Road, but after we got to the hills I knew that I would need to just stay in the group, let alone lead it. The group of 16 riders had dropped to 8 by the time we got to RT. 116 and I thought that we would all stay together on River Road in Whatley, but when we got to the town line, the pace went right up to 25 mph. This put me into a little difficulty and I decided to stay at the back of the group until we got to the big climb. After we turned onto Christian Lane, Curt came off the back and I dropped to see if he was OK. He said that he too was having trouble with the pace and that he would slow down and do his own ride. At this point the group was pulling away and I decided not to try to chase them. I took up the lead for a distance on Christian Lane and when we got to the Castaways the group was just crossing the highway and they slowed down for us to catch back on. This lasted for only a short way and before we got to the Whatley Inn, Curt and I were by ourselves. I climbed Haydenville Road with Curt and we headed down the hill together, not far behind the rest of the crew. When we got to Webber Road however, we were all alone. We rode at a steady pace all the way to the reservoir where we were joined by Will Kraham who turned around to join us. The three of us stayed together for the ride back to the shop. We did a pretty steady pace for the most part and when we got back we had a 19.2 average for the 38 miles. I had a good ride and I can tell you that I was really riding on the rivet for the first half of the ride. I doubt that I would have stayed with Rich and the others even if I wanted to, but there is always next week.

Sunday, March 28, 2004.  With the predictions of nice weather for the weekend, it seemed inevitable that there would be no better way to spend a Sunday than taking a rip around the trails at Batchelor Street.  It was Cheetah’s last weekend in MA (he boarded the plane for AZ Monday morning and never looked back…well, okay, he looked back once or twice), and he almost rode with us, but despite Jack’s generosity, Cheetah decided that he would bow out gracefully from the ride.  He did, however, take a ride up and say some good-bye’s to the friends he’s made over the last several months.  It was a bittersweet moment, but there’s no doubt that he’ll be riding these trails again when we come back to visit.   

There was a rag-tag bunch that assembled for the ride today: representin’ for Bikes Unlimited was Jack, Liam, and myself.  Highland bike shop in Holyoke was represented by Dan and his friend (sorry…I don’t remember your name)!.  Then, there were the Comp Edge folks…Pete, Peter (Pedro), Ana, and a few other guys who I don’t know.  All in all, we had a group of about 10 people heading out.  We did an almost 3 hour ride, but stopped many times to fix some minor mechanicals…Ana’s finicky rear derailleur, Jack’s uncooperative front derailleur, etc.  And, wonder of wonders, my incredible shrinking seat post has reared its ugly head once more.  Definitely a new quick release is in my future.   

I felt pretty strong today, and managed to ride the middle of the pack, mostly with Dan, Jack, and Dan’s friend.  Liam, Pete, and a few of the others blew us out of the water, and cruised along like the trails were nothing.  Ana and Pedro picked up sweep, as it was one of their first outings of the season.  By the end of it, we were all feeling a little burnt!  I had tightened up my fork a little before going out, but this proved to be a mistake…some of the sketchy rock work on a few of the new trails didn’t take too nicely to my stiffened suspension, and I had some trouble in spots that I has previously cleared with ease.  For those familiar with the trails, we basically did an outer loop of the area, starting with IMBA Access to Pond Trail.  Then, it was time to test our mettle on Jacob’s Ladder (in the fun direction…sorry Liam!), and then to T-Rex.  From there, we hopped down Em’s Gem to Serpentine, which proved to be a heck of a climb right about the halfway point.  We took a short linking trail back to Upper Access, and then began to head toward the new trail.  We did Twister to Lost & Found, and then did the new Missing Persons trail.  I cleared 95% of the steep, tricky final descent, but got my front wheel stuck.  Luckily, I stepped off just in time to watch my bike go mostly-endo without me on it! 

Missing Persons was the nail in the coffin for a majority of the group.  People were starting to bonk left and right, and I handed over my Gu to Pedro…he was in dire straits.  (Plus, it was a good deed that is just one Gu closer to repaying the debt I have to anyone who’s ever spared me a Gu!)  At this point, Dan, his friend, Pedro, Ana, and two others in the group were looking for the easiest way out of the woods.  I still felt pretty good, nowhere near the bonk I had last Wednesday (when it felt like I hadn’t ridden in months), but faced with the prospect of ending on Entrance Exam, I quickly decided to take Far East back to the lot.  It was a fun way to exit, as usual, and we were back before we knew it.  Meanwhile, Liam, Pete, and some other crazy folk tortured themselves by doing EE, and they quickly met us back in the lot.  All in all, it was a fun ride at a pace that wasn’t break-neck.  Can’t wait to do it again! (Submitted by Miss Caspergomaway…aka Steph)

Sunday, March 28th  Distance - 38.03  Average - 18.9

Lots of riders showed for Bob's 1:00 ride today. There must have been close to 20 riders in the parking lot a bit before 1:00. By 1:00 'Bob Time' (1:20 to you and I) we were ready to roll. I was feeling just a bit of tightness in my legs from Thursday's ride and wasn't sure if it was going to go away as I warmed up or cause problems when I hit the hills.

The pace was fine down to River Road, just a bit higher than I was expecting it to be for a March ride. Once we got rolling the pace kicked up a bit more and I was starting to wonder if I was going to be able to hang on the two hills just ahead. I dropped off the back on each of the two climbs, but had no problem catching back on once we rolled down the backside of each hill. The pace continued to rise as we continued South to 116 until I was working pretty hard just to hang on in the middle of the group. Michelle told me later that the group's average speed was close to 22MPH at this point.

After we crossed 116, things got bumped up again. I ended up behind Michelle (after pulling out of a place further up in the group so I wouldn't end up in front) and began to really struggle to keep up. My heartrate monitor was telling me that I was riding @ 90-95% of my max. Time to think about my alternatives!

As we turned West onto Christian Lane, I decided that I would have a much better ride at my own pace, since I would soon be getting dropped as we hit the real climbs anyway. I dropped off the back and Bob was nice enough to drop back to ride with me. It took me a few minutes to recover, then I was able to pick the pace up a bit again and start rolling towards Whately. Bob and I actually caught the group's wheel again on the short climb after crossing Rte. 5, but that was short lived. By the time we turned West at the Inn I could still see the riders ahead but they continued to slowly pull away.

Bob and I set our own pace on the next several miles of climbing. I felt like I was moving at a snail's pace on some of the steeper bits and was really glad that I wasn't trying to hold somebody's wheel. As we approached the final climb past the reservoir we met with Will who was rolling back in our direction. He joined us for the remainder of the ride.

The three of us made good time to Conway, then down the long descent on 116 to Lee Rd. and Mill Village Rd. Before we knew it, we were back on the side roads heading back to the shop. My computer showed an average of 19.2MPH as we slowed to cool down at the end of the ride.
Submitted by Curt

Tuesday, March 30th  Distance - 39.91  Average - 16.8

Today's ride was just what the Doctor ordered... a nice long 'low impact' ride. The faster paced rides are fun, but I'm not going to get any better if I continue to push myself so hard on every ride. Michelle's training schedule had her down for a 2.5 hour low heartrate ride, so if I was going to tag along I had to play nice.

I drove to Michelle's at noon. We were planning on doing the Tri-State loop, adding on some mileage by going through Winchester. As I drove South, I noticed that all the flags on 142 were pointing North, so we decided to do the loop in a clockwise direction instead of having to fight the wind on 142 over the final 15 miles.

We rolled North to Brattleboro side-by-side, never pushing hard enough to make it worth drafting. As we hit Brattleboro and turned West, my average heartrate was only 142, but we had an average speed of over 18MPH. We hit a bit of a headwind as we started to head South into Hinsdale. Because we weren't in a hurry we just backed our speed off a bit instead of fighting it. Once past Hinsdale, the rollers heading toward Winchester slowed us down and started inching my average HR up. I was really trying to keep things as mellow as possible, so dropped right into an easier gear whenever I hit any kind of climb.

As soon as we hit 10 South, we were faced with quite a climb, one of those hills that looks like a vertical wall ahead of you. It started off steep, but wasn't really as bad as it looked from the bottom since the grade got easier and easier the closer to the top we got. The payoff was a nice long descent into Northfield. We ended the trip with the climb up 10 back to the campus. After 40 miles at this pace, I really felt like I could have ridden another few hours without a problem.
Submitted by Curt

Tuesday 3/30: A tale of Two Pioneer Valleys:

On Sunday, I rode at the Batch' with a bunch of friendly, enthusiastic mid valley riders and a few Franklin county hard-cores (me, Stephanie and Jack). Since then I've thought quite a bit about different biking cultures that develop even within a small riding area (the Pioneer Valley). Those mid-valley NEMBA guys and gals are fine riders, great trail builders and fairly friendly-positive riders. They dig the fancy and the latest techie bike stuff (I'm not putting them down-just an observation). And they ride in big, chatty groups. Us northern Franklin riders tend to be a little curmudgeonly by comparison, more apt to make the most of any situation (regardless of weather, terrain, and available riding buddies). Batchelor ST.. is a great place to ride, technical, clever, ripping...but, it lacks some of the gritty toughness and ruggedness often sought out by the bikes-unlimited gang of riders. To me, it seems the Batchelor ST.. gang represents the polish of the regional biking scene, while us northern folk embody its grit (everyone who soldiered through the sub-zero night tights, up and over the snow covered dry-hill, or the mud plagued coke plant of late fall knows what I'm talking about). Both cultures are necessary and do a lot towards making western Mass mountain biking the great thing that it is! Perhaps no trail in our regular riding milieu more exemplifies the Northern Pioneer valley aesthetic than the Greenfield ridge. Rocky, steep, relentless, precarious cliffs, no stunts or fancy trail work, but a lot of dogged grind-it-out terrain that adds up to one of the most fulfilling hour and 10 minute bike rides in western mass. Stephanie and I lit out from the shop (sans Bob who is in the midst of the spring rush) under starry, starry skies and high-tailed it over to the cliff trail up to poet's seat. What a difference a week makes-whereas last week the ridge was an unpleasant stew of relentless mud and clawing snow, tonight the trails were almost dry, grippy but not sticky, fun. We hammered up to poet's seat with Stephanie right on my tail. After three tries, I was able to smoothly ascend the rocky outcropping just below the tower (it's given me fits lately!), and again, Stephanie came chugging right behind. We proceeded from the tower down the switch back trail-Stephanie did a nice job of negotiating the steep, loose turns and we regrouped at the parking lot/entrance of Poet's seat. We crossed the road and began climbing the Blue trail up to Sachem's head. I love this trail, the heart and soul of Franklin county biking (in either direction); an inviting series of steep, rock-ridden, root strewn undulations that require a constant mix of determined, muscle-bound spinning followed be white-knuckle, point and shoot down turns (no finagling here, straight at the rocks or fall on your butt!). AS always by the time I reached the turn off onto the yellow trail, I was pleasantly worn and tired. Not to my surprise Stephanie was right behind me (she is after all, in spite of her many hours of riding the batch, a 14 below snow, ice and viscous mud-tested Franklin county rider). After a brief break we flew down the yellow trail, rode up Bear's Den Rode, cut onto the white trail, rode up the final power line climb to 'Joe's Hill", rode this fun little rocky trail, then avoided the green trail instead opting to loop back onto Bear's den road. No climb up to platform tonight, oh well---though I must admit, I feel a little like a cheater when we don't climb (and here I literally mean "climb") to the platform, take in the view and descend the very-bony uppermost portion of the blue trail. Next time! Instead we dropped down to the second trail on the left and climbed up to the blue trail and rode back out to the road. Back on the Poet's Seat side we ripped up the white trail-another Franklin county gem- to the other side. For some reason, my guiding skills disappeared an we were unable to find the cliff trail to return to the shop, after some poking around it finally became apparent and we zipped down and back to the shop and some laughs with Bob, Mary Ellen, and Eddie. A great ride, and a wonderfully different compliment to the Sunday Batchelor ST. ride for two Franklin county riders. Submitted by Liam