We were riding without our fearless leader tonight, since Bob's fences dealers had just delivered a new batch of bikes that had fallen off the back of a truck he had ordered and he was busy sanding off the serial numbers entering them into inventory.

I hung out at the shop until 6:00 in case anybody showed up who needed to follow me to the Bookmill then headed out. I showed up at the Bookmill parking lot at 6:15 to find Mike S. and Matt waiting. By the time I got unloaded, packed up and ready to go nobody else had shown up so we headed out.

We're really making progress with the daylight situation. As we hit the road we could have ridden without our lights for at least the first 10-15 minutes. It was nice to take the first climb up the telephone trail at my own pace and not feel like I had to chase any faster riders (Well... Matt was certainly faster but he was playing nice and not getting too far ahead). Past the Firepit we hit the first of the many types of mud we would see (feel and taste) this evening. This particular variety was just the right mix of clay and sand that glued itself to our tires, adding an instant 10 pounds to the weight of our bikes. We headed over to the second first left trail, which was a mixture of more mud and some semi-frozen sections and made our way to the banked trail. Once out to the power lines, we had to avoid the road altogether, since it was a lake from edge to edge. We rode up on the bank all the way to the next intersection where we took a right to head toward Willis Hill. We could tell there had been a lot of standing water on the roads until recently, we had to avoid large mud flats and a few patches of ice still left over from the skating rinks we had had to deal with last time we did this route.

Matt was in front on the final section of road leading to the bottom of the hill. I'd forgotten to tell him to stick as far to the left as he could here, so watched from behind as he continued to try to ride up the middle of the sandy road only to get dragged to a stop by the thick wet sand. We stopped at the bottom of the climb to catch our breath before heading up. I knew that there was no way I'd make it to the top without hiking, but was determined to give it my best shot. Matt did great, only stopping when he hit a really tough section of ledge, while I gave up a bit before that when my legs just gave out. We all hiked a bit then hopped back on the bikes to finish the climb when things started to level out a bit.

The bog at the top of the climb was as wet as I expected it to be. I was thinking that we would just have to fight our way through the thick muck when I realized that there was still a pretty thick layer of ice on the water on the main trail. Walking carefully over that ice saved us time and probably quite a bit of aggravation. It wasn't very solid toward the end, though. The sand was saturated with water and the one section I tried to ride sucked my rear wheel down right up to the hub. I put my foot down on what appeared to be solid ground when I was sucked to a stop by the mud only to have my foot sink more than six inches into the quicksand.

That was the end of the wet stuff for a while. I explained that at this point we had a choice of 'short and steep' if we took our first right after entering the woods, or 'longer but less strenuous' if we headed to Kiabuckus then cut back to the top of Willis Hill on the I.H. trail. Mike was up for getting the climb over with early, so we took the short sharp climb up then started the nice drop down toward the Pine Forest trail. I was a bit ahead here but could still see Matt's lights behind me and hear Mikes brakes so kept the pace up all the way down the trail, through the little wet dip after the turn, through the field, then down another hundred yards to where we sometimes take a sharp left to climb back up the streambed. Matt was right behind me when I stopped to regroup. We talked for a few minutes before realizing that Mike had been right behind us and SHOULD have arrived no more than a few seconds after we did. We gave him another 30 seconds then started riding back up the trail to see what had become of him.

Matt definitely remembered seeing Mike's lights behind him when he was going through the clearing... and there were no turns or intersections of any kind on this trail. So we figured that he either had an accident or a mechanical and was on the side of the trail somewhere no more than a hundred yards behind us. Well, we rode all the way back to the turn shouting his name and listening for him with no luck. This was impossible.... you CAN'T get lost on this trail! I was thinking more about how to hook back up with Mike and not about what I was doing, so went over the bars when crossing back through the little wet dip and landed right in the stream. Now I was soaked head to foot with gloves that were soggy with muddy water, which limited the amount of time I really wanted to spend standing around looking for Mike since the temperature was now somewhere in the 20s.

We figured that, illogical as it sounded, the ONLY thing Mike could have done was to turn around, go back to the intersection to continue down the part of the trail that we never rode. I don't know WHY he would do this, but it was the only reason we could think of that we couldn't find him. Matt and I rode down that trail until it split, then stopped to figure out what our next move should be. Just as I was telling him that I really couldn't be out here much longer, being as wet as I was, he spied a moving light in the distance way way down the hill from us. We yelled a few times and finally heard Mike reply. We waited for a few minutes as he hiked his way up to us. We hopped back onto our bikes and continued on the ride. As we rode along, Mike filled us in on his version of what had happened. All I remember is that it involved alien ships, bright lights and the kind of medical procedures you don't want to think too much about before they dropped him off at the bottom of the hill. He might have a different story now, but I think they brain wiped him when they were through (or used one of those flashy things like in 'Men in Black').

We made our way back through the sand pit (the only part of the ride at which I had to guess about a few turns, trying at the same time to project confidence in my trailblazing ability while wondering if I was getting us lost) before we, quite by chance, found ourselves back at the power lines. We set an easy pace down to Brushy Way where I pointed out the trailhead to Matt BEFORE he passed it (Bob) and we headed for the toilet bowl trail. I even found the hidden trail that cuts over to Northfield Road without first riding past it three times (Yay me!)

Somewhere in here, Matt's lights decided that two hours was long enough and gave out, so we stuck him in the middle of the group as we headed out. We took it easy down the telephone pole trail and were back at the road and the parking lot in no time.

Sunday 3/19: It was a bitterly cold and blustery day with temperatures in the lower thirties and the wind was blowing at 25 mph from the northwest. We had a group of 11 riders show up at 1:00 and after the usual last minute repairs and late arrivals we left the shop at 1:15. I led the group on the usual route down to Deerfield Street. We headed south to River Road and began the climb up the first of the hills. The group kept a pretty reasonable pace over the first few miles, but as soon as we hit the bigger hills the pace quickened. Steve Power went to the front and headed up the hill with me and David Simpson right behind him. After riding down the other side we charged up the next hill and then re-grouped. Matt B., and Curt were a little behind so I dropped back to pace them onto the group. Steve and the rest of the leading group waited up for us to arrive before we all continued on to the Sunderland Bridge. Matt B., was having a really hard time with the pace so I tried to give him some tips on how to ride in a pace line to help him stay in the group. After crossing RT. 116 we continued on River Road. We pedaled along at 22 to 23 mph down to the schoolhouse but the pace proved too much for Matt and a couple other riders. I slowed the pace a bit to let Matt get back on, but at this point, he seemed cooked. I told Matt to take the next right turn and meet us over on Chestnut Plain Road in Whatley. After speaking with Matt, I headed back to the pack and took my turn at the front. The group stayed together as we cruised through Hatfield center. We (meaning I) yelled hello to Melissa as we passed Hammerhead's house, even though she wasn't at home. The winds which were a cross/tail wind coming down the valley were blowing right at us when we turned west onto Elm Street. The pace slowed to 17 mph and we had to work pretty hard at keeping that going. Harold led the group over the highway overpass and then north on 5&10. I followed Harold at 18 mph all the way to Chestnut Street where he pulled off. I then took over and pulled the group over to Pantry Road where most of us took a left. (Terri missed the turn) After Terri got back on track, he took the lead and promptly split the group in two. I went back to pull Hammerhead and Curt back on, but I was only able to get within a dozen yards of the pack. Michelle tried to haul us back, but with every acceleration the boys behind me fell off so we just settled in to ride tempo. After Terri pulled off the front at Mountain Road, the pace slowed and everyone was able to get back in the pack. We stuck together until the hills into Whatley, where Steve, David, Terri, Michelle and I pulled away from Curt and Harold. I dropped back to wait for those two and while soft-pedaling along I came upon Tom Graney who was heading through town. Tom told me that he had stopped to help Matt, whose pedal had fallen off his bike. Tom gave Matt his cell phone and Matt called his wife to come get him. (Turns out that Matt got a ride back to the shop from someone who rides with us.) After passing Tom; Curt, Harold and I caught up with the group on North Street. We were now riding into the teeth of a fairly strong gale and the pace slackened quite a bit. Terri got onto the front of the group as we passed the farms on North Street. As he sped along we shelled Curt and Harold off the back. I wondered to myself if Terri realized that there was a sharp little uphill coming, since the speed was more than what we would normally do here. Turns out that Terri got a little bit of a shock when he rounded the corner and found himself over geared on the hill. Terri muscled it over the top but that kind of hurt! At the top of the hill I waited for Harold and Curt and when they got back on wheel, I hammered at 23 mph to try to catch the group. We rode all the way to the Deerfield town line before we caught Michelle and we only caught up with the rest of the group when Terri missed the left turn onto So. Mill River Road. The group re-formed and we rode in a double line over to RT. 116. After crossing the road we sprinted up the steep hill and rode over to Lee Road. At the end of Lee Road we turned left onto Mill Village Road. At the bottom of the hill the speed was 30 mph and the group got split up again. I dropped back with Curt and Harold after we passed Tom's house and the three of us paced ourselves down to Old Deerfield where we caught up with the rest of the group. The crossing of RT. 5&10 was somewhat difficult due to the heavy traffic. I managed to squeeze across a brief opening in the traffic, while the rest of the crew got trapped at the intersection. I pedaled north at a modest pace to Woolman Hill where I pulled off onto the turn off and waited for the group to arrive. I jumped in and rode the rest of the way back to Washington Street in the pack. As we rolled along Washington Street, Harold mentioned that Curt had fallen off the back soon after they crossed the road in Old Deerfield. Michelle offered to go back an ride with him while the rest of us continued on back to the shop. When we arrived at the shop, Michael Sz., and Big Al were waiting for us. They had done the Christian Lane route and had gotten back a few minutes earlier. Soon after we arrived, Curt Michelle and then Tom pulled into the parking lot. Matt got dropped off shortly thereafter and then we all hung out for a short while. It was a pretty tough ride with the strong winds and the 30 degree temps, but everyone seemed to have had a good time.

Tuesday 3/21: Tonight I had planned a ride to the Coke Plant and Ridge. This is a good loop for most of us because it gives us a chance to warm up before tackling the bigger hills on the ridge. Joining me for the ride tonight was the 4M's; Mark N., Mike Sz, Matt Ballard and Mike Stamm. It was a mild (40 degree) evening and there was enough daylight for us to ride over to the trails without our lights on. On the way over to Gill road I noticed a loud clicking sound coming from my bike. I tried to figure it out as I rode along and I concluded that it was either the pedal or bottom bracket. I thought that it was a minor thing so I decided to continue. We crossed the highway and headed into the trails via the power lines. I wanted to do the route we did last week from the other direction so we rode over to Jack's pond and started up the hill. My first hint of trouble came after I got onto the power line trail. My gears jammed when I put pressure on the pedals going uphill. I got off and walked up the hill to where the boys were waiting for me. I looked over the bike, but I couldn't see anything that looked out of place so I decided to continue. We headed up Red Rock Road and I put my chain on the little ring and began the climb up the hill. I was able to ride up most of the hill in the smaller gears, but when I got near the top I had to push hard and the chain skipped off the rear sprocket. At that point I decided to take Mike Sz. and head over to the top of Luke via the Crossover Trail, while the Mark, Matt and Doc headed up the power lines. I walked up the steep hill near Red Rock and then rode over to Luke with Mike Sz. where we waited for the rest of the group to come along. It was fairly nice out and I was a little overdressed for the conditions. After the boys came down from the water tank we headed down the Secret Trail and from there we took the Lillian Street Trails back over to RT. 2. The trails were a little soft, but for the most part in great condition. We did not do the swamp loop today because it would be pretty muddy. After we got back onto Gill Road we headed for the ridge. The clicking sound that had been coming from my bike had stopped and I was able to ride. I followed the group over to Canada Hill and was able to ride up all the hills without any mechanical difficulties. I did notice that my front derailleur was not shifting all the way to the big ring and I was then able to conclude that the problem that I had earlier was from the crank arm and not the bottom bracket. It seems that the crank had loosened and shifted outward, which made it impossible to shift to the larger chainring. With that knowledge I just figured that I would poke along behind the group until we got back to the shop. We rode out of the trails behind Stop&Shop and then headed over to Rocky Ridge. We did a loop down the Red Dot Trail which leads us to the gate at Poet's Seat. I was unaware that Doc had difficulties with heights and this trail had some pretty sketchy off camber spots that make everyone a little nervous. When we got to the gate we decided to take the Blue Dot Trail back to the trailhead. From there we headed back to the shop. It was a good ride for me considering the mechanical difficulties.

3-23 Wendell OK I'll fess up-I haven't been riding well. I only dabbled in the occasional bike ride this winter, went polar bear and put on 10 pounds of insulation (hey, all the other mammal are doing it!), and frankly, to keep my midriff company my general biking psyche is a little soft so far-I've been unwilling to 'suffer' and dig in when the situation calls for it. I've gotten out to ride a bunch over the last week-a couple of long rides up and down North Sugarloaf/ Stairmaster (I've failed to clean the climbs as of yet this season--yep.), a few rock and roll (mostly roll unfortunately) rides around bachelor st, and a few trips to Wendell--ah Wendell, still loves me as I am-slower, paunchier and less focused. I guess I'll have to resign myself to a slower start this season-But I think that's ok-hard charging is fine, but I could use a year of more slow-paced adventure riding, good company, pretty views and small accomplishments-that's going to be my goal this season (until my fitness comes back, of course) Last night's Wendell ride was the nicest of the season for me so far-good company, nice steady pace, great conditions--I felt good top to bottom on this one.

So For tonight's ride we had a stellar crew, there was me (Liam), Bob (of course or as we call him now in reference to his high-watt lights 'The Night Train"), Marcus P. Marcus (who's back in the saddle in a big way--we've missed him!), Mark Newton, Matt Ballard, Racing Jason Duncan, John Parrot (of cross biking fame), Curt, and Steve Powers (activate!). We began with the obligatory photo-op in the parking lot and quickly set out on the XC trails that parallel (roughly) Montague-Wendell RD. Always a good warm up on ever narrowing-but relatively flat singletrack. Originally Bob had thought we'd need a fast group and slow group division-but I figured we were all going to do the same route and this was a pretty fast group top to bottom, so we decided to stick together--which was great. We (ok, mostly I) then opted to continue along the trail to Dirth Road (I wanted to sample Jason's new Bridge work--excellent job J!) and then we cruised along the gravel road to the Old Wickett Pond Trail. This has become a favorite of mine--a little muddy in spots-but all in all a fine grind along a rough but rewarding tread surface (with lovely view of the Pond)-we turned out at the Fire Pit and decided to ride the Maple Leaf Trail from the Berm, up through the laurel to the Nipmuck trail.

Everyone made that somewhat difficult leg in good order. We then set off up and then down, down, down (yee ha!) the Nipmuck trail. As I looked back I saw a stream of lights whizzing and coasting elegantly along it's curves, berm's and jumps I knew everyone was having a good time. Of note: Curt Arrived at the bottom (On Baker Rd) with his chain in his hand (bike chain that is!)--it seems he was able to ride the whole thing without a chain (and he wasn't the last one down either, Bob was!!!). Because he had a quick link-he and bob quickly fixed the problem and we all spun easily up Baker Road. Matt Ballard commented to me that the climb seemed a lot easier at night--in fact that was a common thought amongst all the riders that these trails seemed to be better at night--CAVEAT-we didn't ride the Upper Hannah Swarton's Remove--'cause I don't think that would ride better at night. Anyway, atop Baker Road we went left down the lower Hannah Swarton-eating up rocks and switchbacks-then we went right and rode the Maple Leaf trail all the way to Damon Camp Road. From here Bob suggested we finish on the rather pleasant Pine Tree Trail (good call Bob) so we all spun away laughing and gabbing back to the cars--It was a beautiful if cool early spring night. I had a great time and it's been great that a lot of folks are coming out on the mountain rides again. Everyone rode really well and I think (hope) they all enjoyed themselves. NOTE TO SELF__BRING BEER TO THESE RIDES!

March 25^th 2006: Hello, I just purchased a Felt F3C LE from Bob and thought I would let you know how it is going down here.  It was the local early spring ride, called the Tour de Ranch through Vernon and Wassau Fl. There are 3 routes to choose from, 25, 65, or 100.  I picked the 65 because it always seems to be the most race oriented.  The weather was beautiful, 55 degrees and slightly overcast.  I decided to go with my long sleeve shirt and bib shorts, which turned out to be the right choice.  We started off hot and heavy with the group of approx. 45 hitting the first hill at about 23 mph.  No warm up just hit it hard.  I went to shift into the lower chain ring and missed the shift losing my chain in the process.  I managed to save the chain by shifting back to the big chain ring but by then I was 15 meters behind.  I caught up with Danny Rogers and the two of us rode for about 15 miles before being caught by a chasing group of 8.  The terrain was rather hilly for Florida, since we are in the North West corner of the state.  The wind was blowing about 15-17 mph and it felt like we were riding into a head wind all day.  After topping off the water bottles and grabbing some Hammer Gel we headed back out for the last 30 miles.  At about 15 miles out I once again got the chain dropping blues and had to ride the last 15 miles by myself.  The local shop mechanic met me at finish and adjusted my front derailleur and I haven’t had the problem again.  I have since ridden around 150 miles on the bike, alternating between my new bike and my Tri bike, I want to put more miles on it but I have the Gulf Coast Tri coming up so I need to put the miles on the tri bike until after May 13^th.  Bob is a real find, I had a front Derailleur break on my first ride back in early March and he was great, making sure I got a new derailleur and generally being a big help.  Any time you are down around Panama City, Fl.  Look me up and lets go riding.

Dave Shaw

Thursday, March 24th Wendell: I've got to say tonight's ride was one of those time when, if asked before the ride, I would have said "I don't have it tonight. I'm just going to plod along". The funny thing is you can never tell ahead of time how you are going to feel once you get warmed up. Tonight, I was pleasantly surprised to feel fine once I got warmed up. Everything clicked tonight (the bike was working well, I had plenty of energy, the trails were perfect). In short, I felt 'on', making my way through the technical sections with a minimum of dabs.

But let me start at the beginning. It was a great day today, with temps up in the high 40s in VT and the mid 50s in Western Mass. I was torn between riding with the shop tonight, or getting out for a road ride closer to home. I called Jamie to see if he was up for a ride, but he couldn't get free. I finally procrastinated enough that a night ride was the only option I had left. I threw everything in the car and headed South.

I stopped at the shop to get a lift the rest of the way in the bus with Bob. We showed up in Wendell to find Liam, Mark Newton, Marcus P, Chris Williams, Parrott, Steve Powers, Matt Ballard and one other rider I can't remember the name of for ten riders total. Bob's plan was to let the group split naturally once we started riding, but this never happened. While not well matched in ability, the group mainly stayed together since Liam would stop for regroups pretty much every time we started a new trail. I'm sure they had some wait times for us stragglers to come up to them every time they stopped, but riding in such a large group at night is quite a bit of fun since you can see the lights strung out ahead of and behind you in the dark woods. The only real problems with riding tonight was when things were NOT spread out enough. We had some train wrecks when riders were too close together. When one rider got held up on a tricky section, everybody behind had to stop as well.

One thing I've come to appreciate already about this great trail system is that it allows you to have a nice gentle warm-up. The trails start off by dropping into the valley, so we got 10-15 minutes of easy riding before we got to anything that required any real effort. By the time I got to the trail along the pond, I was warmed up and feeling great. I had a great time working my way through the bare rocks and roots of the trail. It was even more fun than this same trail had been in daylight, because your lights focus all of your attention to that spot of trail 8-10 feet in front of your bike to the exclusion of the rest of the world. It it weren't for the occasional glimpse of lights ahead, or the sounds of riders around me as they cleaned tough sections (or grumbled and groaned when they ground to a halt) I could have been alone in the world.

Since this was only my 2nd time on these trails, I still only had a vague idea where we were at any time. I remembered doing the Nipmuck trail last time, but this time we did it in the opposite direction. After riding it for a while we stopped to regroup then continued on and up a short climb. Just as I finished the uphill section, I made the boneheaded move of trying to shift at the same time I was putting a lot of pressure on my pedals and heard the dreaded *snap* of my chain popping apart. I stopped to pick it up, then noticed that the next few hundred feet (at least) of trail was downhill so decided to just roll along for a while. I had no idea how much longer this trail was so figured there was a chance I would be able to roll up to the next regroup stop before repairing the chain.

I tried to stuff the chain in my rear pocket a few times but it kept snagging on gloves, backpack straps, and the pocket itself, so I finally gave up and just wrapped it around my left hand several times before rolling down the trail. It is funny that even though I KNEW I had no chain, I still automatically tried to pedal whenever I started slowing down. I finally got to a short uphill, but saw that there was more downhill beyond it so ran the bike for a few feet before jumping back on for another coasting session. There were still a few riders behind me and they weren't really catching up, so I knew I had to be making decent time even without a functioning bike!

The trail was definitely longer than I thought it would be. I must have gone 1/2 mile at least with no chain (about 2/3 of the total trail length) pushing myself along with one foot or getting off to run for a few feet when I slowed down before I finally saw riders stopped ahead of me. I rolled out to them and dug a repair link out of my pack and Bob began threading my chain back through the derailleur. (Sidebar: This was a real nature night as well. Bob and I drove past a flock of turkeys on the way to the ride, we heard a nice barred owl no more than 100' away while we fixed my chain, and we passed a deer on the side of the road as we drove away after the ride!)

As soon as the chain was fixed, it was time to pay for our nice downhill ride by climbing the long fire road before turning into another new trail. This one had some of the tightest twists and turns of any so far, with some rocky sections and narrow passages between trees thrown in just to keep you on your toes. Once we got through this, we had one more bony section that really tested my balance and control before we hit the Pine Tree(?) trail back to the paved road and up to the parking lot.

I think it was agreed at the parking lot by all riders that rides just don't get much better than this. Good trails, good riders and the promise of Spring in the air.

Thursday 3/23: Wendell Ride: Tonight we had a ride on the trails over in Wendell State Forest. I left the shop promptly at 6:00 and headed over to the ranger station with Curt. It was a fairly warm day today with temps in the 50's and not much wind. Mark Newton and MPM followed me over to the start and when we got there we were met by El Presidenté, Racing J, Matt Ballard, Steve Power, Parrott and Chris Williams. I have had a cold for most of this week so I was not up for a rip. I suggested that we do two groups, but everyone else wanted to stay together. We left the parking lot and took the trails that paralell the road. I was leading the group until we got past the lower parking lot and onto the trail. I dropped back to the back of the line and I rode along, coughing and wheezing as the last few riders pulled out of sight. I tried to keep an even pace for the most part and was the last to arrive at all the re-grouping spots. I managed to stay reasonably in contact for most of the ride but I have to say that I suffered for most of the trip.