Here You will find the somewhat accurate reports of our exploits for the month of September 1999 . If you have a ride you want listed or want to submit a report of a ride you went on, please leave me a note. If you find the facts as reported here vary widely from actual experiences, leave me a detailed rebuttal report.

bikebob@crocker.com

Thursday 9/2: As our daylight time is now an issue, a group of eight riders left the shop a little early so that they would be able to ride the entire thirty mile loop. I waited for the main group to assemble and then we headed out for the Whately loop. I explained to the bunch that the length of the trip would be determined by the speed of each pack. I made the ride down to the Cheapside Bridge at an even pace that seemed to keep nearly everyone with us. After turning onto River Rd., I picked up the pace as we headed up the hill by the stone crusher. This separated the riders who would make the thirty mile trip from the rest of the group who would do the twenty-five miler. As the faster riders pulled away, I drifted back to the following group. I encountered Mike W. who was trying to close the gap and I told him that if he did not catch the front group before the first hill, that it was unlikely that he would be able to. Mike gave it a valiant try, but he was unable to catch up, so I suggested that we wait for the group just behind us. We were soon joined by "Big Al" Ross and Rob Lapointe and as we continued along I had everyone circle back before RT. 116 and soon we had the bulk of the group together. We rolled up to Sugarloaf St. and then out to North Main St. where we all got the benefit of the pace line. I rode to the front and made sure that everyone got across RT. 5&10 without incident. After everyone was heading down Mill Village Rd., I dropped to the back again, to give a hand to the riders in the rear of the pace line. I gave some tips on riding in someone's draft to the people at the end of the pace line. As we neared Old Deerfield, CTD began his usual charge to the finish. The speed picked up dramatically and soon Cheryl and few others were off. I rode with them as we neared the end of the trip. Some of the people were getting pretty tired and I told them to just slow down and ride easy back to the shop. Everyone made it back to the shop just as darkness was falling, and we decided to make the start for next week at 5:30. We enjoyed our usual refreshments provided by CTD and soon we had another ride into the record book.

Sunday 9/5: We joined today by Dave Yetter, who was to be our ride leader, for a trip up through the hills of Warwick, Mass. Joining Dave and I was Jack and Nancy, George, Joe, CTD and Larry Dean. We left the shop and headed up Bernardston Rd. at a 16 mph clip. When we got to the turn at RT. 10 however there was only six of us left. I had left instructions with Jack, for him and whoever was with him to ride at their own pace and that we would meet them in Wendell. Dave and our group headed off at a good clip and we made our way down the hill on RT. 10 towards Northfield. As we neared the river we waved at Lynn and Kris as they were heading out from their road. We continued on through Northfield and then up Warwick RD. As we rode up the hill Nancy and George drifted behind, as Dave Joe and I pressed on towards the top. As we neared the center of Warwick, we slowed our pace, so that George and Nancy who were just behind us, could catch up. Once we were all at the end of Warwick Rd we made a right turn up a short steep hill and then onto RT. 78. We rode down RT. 78 toward Orange, with Joe leading the way. After we turned onto RT. 2A we rode towards Orange Ma., and then we turned onto Mattawa Rd. we rode up the hill towards Wendell. I rode at the front with Joe and Dave, while George stayed back with Nancy. As we neared the top of the hill in Wendell I saw that Jack, and Cheryl were waiting for us and CTD and Larry were just coming into view. After a couple of minutes George, Dave, Joe and I headed off down towards Leverett, while Nancy joined Jack, CTD, Larry for a trip back through Millers Falls. Cheryl rode off on her own towards her camp at Lake Wyola . My group made good time until Joe got a flat on the corner near the camp. I stopped and helped Joe fix the flat and soon we were back on the road towards Montague. We rode across RT. 63 and then we headed through Montague Center at a good clip. After the center we headed down Turners Falls Rd. and then we turned onto Ferry Road. We rode through the center of Turners Falls and up the hill on Greenfield Rd. and then back to the shop. Everyone got back in good shape and after the usual refreshments we all headed for home.

Monday 9/6: It started to rain this morning at 6:00 and by 9:30 it was pouring out, so today's Labor Day ride and picnic was canceled due to the fact that Ken and CTD would likely melt. This left 50 or so disappointed people to look forward to the re-scheduled event. I will try to do it next Sunday, weather permitting.
Jen Spencer and I went to the fire house in Hawley at 10:30am and waited until 11:10am. We saw no-one so we figured the ride had been canceled. We got geared up and hit the trails at about 11:15am, neither of us having a clue as to where we were going or how to get back! We stuck mainly to the small dirt roads the permeate the Hawley State Forest but chanced some single track every now and again just to see where they went. I had a map with me but we found no trail markers and had to guess at every intersection. The rain had ended before 9am so although everything was wet, we still kept dry and relatively mud-less. We found one trail which we entitled "the evil" because it was straight up the side of a mountain and severely washed out (can you say hike?) We spotted several varieties of mushrooms and even noticed some "Blair witch" crosses in some of the trees!... freaky! After finding our way to the Hawley Pond we headed in the reverse direction hoping to find our way back to the fire house, and got lost yet again deep in the woods. It was at this time that we came across two identical girls, about 5 or 6 years old, that said nothing to us but were eerily out of place as they hiked down a trail past us far from civilization, murmuring something to the effect of "redrum, redrum" or at least that's what I heard. We found some paved road finally and determined we were in Plainfield, so we picked a road and traveled fast. A motorist stopped us and informed there was a bear up ahead in the road... that extra adrenaline combined with a Cliff Bar got us across the next 5 miles of road very quickly, and we soon found ourselves right back at the fire house. A 2 hour ride of guesses which turned out perfect in the end! And no flats or spills! And the beer at the Charlemont Inn tasted sooo good afterwards!
Ride on!
devilicious (Matt Fuller)

Thursday 9/9/99: Well we made it through the "day of doom" without a single computer failure. We were also blessed with great weather as well, so 30 riders decided to celebrate by coming out for our trip. Since the daylight is diminishing very quickly, I decided to take the bunch on the Montague 25 miler. We left the shop in a group and headed over to Turners Falls at a 15 mph pace. We all made it to the stop lights in a group, but as soon as we hit the Third Street hill, the group splintered. My group picked up the pace and soon we were at the top of the hill and headed down Millers Falls Rd, at a 24 mph clip. There were 12 of us in the bunch as we made our way towards Millers Falls, and everyone was doing their part to keep the pace line going. Mark Ziter, Malcolm Moore and Tim Coleman were the work horses for the group with others of pitching in as the felt able to. After we made the corner onto So. Lyman St we then turned onto RT. 63, and headed south towards Montague. Our pace was pretty high and I was impressed with Tom Silko's ability to keep us motivated. I used to think that everyone from Vermont wore "Wellies" and ate cheese. Not So! Tom showed us that "real" Vermonters are a lot more than cow tippers and that some of them can ride bicycles quite well. We made the turn onto RT. 47 and because of our swiftness, I decided to head the group down to Sunderland, which would tack on about 10 miles to the ride. I took the lead as we made our way up the hill towards Sunderland, and as we neared the town line, I led out Malcolm, who won the sprint. As we rolled up to the top of the hill, I noticed that Mark had dropped back a fair ways and I told, Malcolm to keep going and that I would drop back and wait for Mark. As soon as Mark caught up with me however, I saw that that pain in the ass, George Bernegger on the side of the road, chucking all kinds of stuff out of his pockets. Since there is a littering ordnance in the town, I decided to stop and see what the fuss was about. Well it seems that the dear boy broke a spoke and I offered to help him get going again, and also pick up all that stuff he was carrying. After a few adjustments to his spokes, George was ready to roll. I suggested that we head back through Montague, as this was the shortest rout back to the shop. We had a nice mellow ride through town and after crossing the White Bridge, we rolled up Greenfield Rd. and then back to the shop. We were greeted by a few of the regulars who managed to beat us back, and soon the rest of the riders joined us to enjoy stories of the night's adventure, and the usual refreshments.

Sunday 9/12: I spent most of this morning getting ready for our re-scheduled Labor Day picnic, and at 9:30 I headed over to the shop. Once there, I had a couple of repairs to do and I also had a few last minute items to load into the van. Some of the people had left for Hawley a little earlier with CTD leading the way. MaryEllen and I left the shop at 10:15 with four cars following us, but in my usual forgetful fashion, I remembered that I needed a part for the Allycat, just as I got onto the highway. I realized that I could not turn around, so I drove to the rotary and I sent the rest of the caravan up to Charlemont to wait for me. I made it back to the shop in short order and soon I was crossing the bridge in Charlemont. All of this took about twenty minutes and I am sure that I did not speed. When I got to the Fire house in Hawley, I was greeted by about 50 people who were getting ready for the ride. I got the groups set up and got everyone going on their routes. This was one of the nicest days we've had in a week and the riders were determined to enjoy it. At the last minute I decided to stay behind and help Edie and MaryEllen get set up for the Bar-B-Que. I drove the van over to the kiln and with the help of Edie and MaryEllen we got everything ready just as the first riders started to arrive. I fired up the grills and then Ken and I did the tag team grilling routine, with me doing the first grill and then Ken finished off the cooking. We ate and generally hung out for about two hours and then most of us headed home. I am hoping that some of the riders will submit a report of their trip and I will publish them all when I receive them.

Tuesday 9/14: Tonight I was joined by Cathy, Tommy, Mick, and Scott for a trip over to the Coke Plant. I had already ridden this afternoon with the kids from Bement School so I was not looking to ride hard. We left the shop with Tommy leading the way over to the trails behind Stop&Shop. From there we rode  to the Coke Plant and then we rode through the swamp, which still is not that muddy, over to Five Points. We stopped briefly at Five Points and then we headed up Luke Skywalker to the water tower, where we rested for a couple minutes. We rode over to the power lines and then down to Red Rock where we paused briefly before heading down the road to the Messed-up Trail. We rode over to the Hill of Doom and then Tommy took us over to the Streambed Trail. After riding up the Streambed Trail, Tommy then  guided us past Double Death and back to Five Points. We rode the trails near Lillian St. over to the RT. 2 crossover and then we took Gill Rd. back to the shop.

The rides for Wednesday and Thursday were canceled because of hurricane Floyd. Friday night's ride was canceled as well. We will ride again on Sunday.

Sunday 9/19: The morning road ride was comprised of just four riders. I was joined by Wayne, Cheryl, and Amanda. We left the shop and headed over to Montague where we rode down Ave. A towards Montague City. We turned onto Sherman Dr. and then headed up Greenfield Road into Montague Center. We rode at a 14 mph pace as we passed through the center of town. As we rolled out of town and started to head towards Sunderland, Wayne turned onto RT. 63 and headed for Amherst. He wanted to ride at a higher pace and the rest of us were content to ride at our pace, so we said good-bye to Wayne and the three of us headed into Sunderland. Cheryl led our trio as we turned onto RT. 116 and headed up the hill to Sugarloaf Street. We rode up to No. Main St. and then over to Mill Village Road. After turning onto Stillwater Rd. we turned right across the bridge and up the hill on Upper Road. The ride was going great and we were making the turn for home onto Wisdom Way in Greenfield when we came within inches of disaster. Just as Cheryl completed her turn onto Wisdom Way a car with a "snowball" at the wheel, turned the corner and ran right into her. It was fortunate that Cheryl was where she was, because if she was a few feet back, she would have been seriously hurt. After the usual "I didn't see you" excuse, we let grandma go ahead of us. so we could keep an eye on her. It's one of the hazards of riding on Sunday morning, you have to beware of all the elderly drivers, who for the most part, should have stopped driving 20 years ago. After that scare, we headed for the shop with a wary eye for errant drivers. All in all, it was a great ride on a beautiful day.
   After this mornings excitement I needed a calm ride in the woods to finish the day. I left the shop at 5:00 and headed over to Montague Center where I was met by Donna "the Hon", Curt, Lynn, Kris, Donnie, Matt, John, Shamus, Mick and Shawn. This is first ride on the plains since the hurricane and I was a little apprehensive about the trail conditions. Once we got up to the top of the Telephone Pole Trail, I was relived to see that there was little damage to the forest and except for a few fallen branches the trails were in muddy but good shape. We rode out to the Toilet Bowl Trail and from there we rode out to the power lines where the group split up. Curt and Kris took the younger kids and headed for the Red Rock Trail, while I led the rest of the group out to the Middle Trail. As we got up the trail a bit, we encountered a section of mud as well as a few substantial puddles. We were able to ride around most of them but there were several places where we had to ride through the water and soon everyone was covered in mud. We rode out to the base of Willis Hill and then down to the crossover trail and then over to the cement tiles, where we regrouped. We headed from there down to the banked trails and then back to the power lines. After everyone was accounted for we turned and headed down the Telephone Pole Trail and then back to the cars. It was a good ride and we will do it again next week.

We were rained out again this week on Tuesday and Wednesday so we will try to ride on Thursday.

Thursday 9/23: I rode this afternoon with the kids from Bement School at the Coke Plant. we did a couple of laps around the race course as well as a trip up the "Hill of Doom". After the kids were back at school, I raced back to the shop to try to make the road ride, but I was a little late and I let the crew go off without me. If I get a report from any of the riders, I will post it here.
    The night ride went off at 7:30 as planned and we left the shop for a trip over to the Coke Plant. It was a small group that included Kris, Lynn, Scott, Matt C., Alex and me. We rode a steady pace over to the trails behind Stop&Shop and then over to the Coke Plant. I sent the boys through the swamp and then Lynn and I headed in on the trail behind the large logs. We all met at Five Points and then we headed off to Luke Skywalker and then to the water tank. As we were climbing the hill I noticed that Lynn did not use her largest cogs and I mentioned that she was really a much stronger rider than earlier this summer. She turned to me and said that she would love to use the last two cogs, but she could not get the chain to on the cog. It seems that Lynn's derailleur wouldn't shift so she just held her thumb on the lever to get the gear she wanted. Ouch! Now that girl is tough! When we got to the water tank I had her stop and I adjusted her derailleur so that she could use the last two cogs. After the repair we all headed off for the power lines and we regrouped at the Red Rock. Some of the riders rode down the chute, while Lynn and I headed down Red Rock Road to the Messed Up Trail and then over to the Hill of Doom, where we all got together again. We rode down the hill and over to the Streambed Trail and from there we rode past Double Death and back to Five Points. As we headed back to the shop we all enjoyed the view of the full moon rising over the ridge into a cloudless sky. Autumn in New England is very hard to beat!

Sunday 9/26: Our morning ride group consisted of Amanda, David, Jack, Nancy, The Timster, and me. It was a crisp Fall morning as we left the shop for a ride down the valley. We rode down RT.5&10 in a group for about five miles, but Amanda started to fall off, so Jack dropped back to ride with her. I continued to ride with the rest of the group, as we made our way towards So. Deerfield. David started to fall back, so I slowed down and when he caught me, I gave him a push at 25mph until we caught Nancy and Tim. We all stayed together as we passed through Whately and headed into Hatfield, but as we neared Bradstreet, I noticed that David had again fallen back. I waited for him and got him back on the group, but as soon as we got to the center of town, he decided to ride back to the shop at his own pace. We said goodbye to David and soon the three of us were speeding along towards So. Deerfield. I did a lot of the pulling although I had to ask for Tim and Nancy to spell me as we rode into a north wind. We made the turn onto river road and I once again set the pace for the short distance to the hills. I let Tim and Nancy ride the hills at their own pace and I did my own thing . I am testing out a new set of Rolf wheels for a customer from Pennsylvania and I wanted to see if there was any deflection caused by frame flex, so I hit the hills pretty hard. I did find that the wheels will rub the brakes if I really honked on them, but for the most part they are really stiff. After we climbed up the hill by McClleand Farm Rd. I dropped back and rode with Nancy until we got to the stone crusher and then I whipped up the hill to finish just in front of Tim. We rolled down the other side and then we rode back to the shop. Jack arrived back about five minutes behind us and he told us that he had gotten two flats. He also said that he hadn't seen Amanda since the first flat. David, then arrived about ten minutes after Jack, and we all spent a few minutes talking about the ride. Amanda was still not back yet so David decided to go looking for her and we all headed out for our homes.
P.S. David called me today and said that he "found" Amanda less than a mile from the shop, and she was OK.
Our "Family Ride" ride met at the center of Montague as usual at 5:15 PM. I have been trying to make it to the start on time as we are getting less time before darkness sets in, and I want to have everyone ride as long as they can before needing a light. Along for tonight's fun fest was CTD, Kris, Curt, "Donna The Hon", Greg Spencer, Scotty, Mick, Cathy, Ken, Tommy, Patrick, Matt C., Suzanne, Billy (Rip), Pete (N'Hammer), Matt S.,and me. We left the center of town and headed up the Telephone Pole Trail, where we regrouped at the top. Patrick, Kris, Curt, and Matt S., headed out to ride Willis Hill, while Matt and Suzanne rode out to the power lines by themselves. I took Rip along with the rest of the riders and the headed out to the power lines on the trails near the Toilet Bowl Trail. Scott and Rip fell behind after they stopped to make a repair to Rip's bike and then they took a wrong turn and ended up on the Toilet Bowl Trail. After a few minutes wait, I sent the group ahead while I went out to the end of the TB trail to await our errant duo. I brought them out to the end of the long trail where we joined the rest of the bunch and we all rode out to East Hatchery Road. We rested for a minute and then we headed down the sandy road that connects to the Middle Trail. As we rode along I serenaded the group with my cowboy songs, but just after the turn onto Middle Trail I was knocked down by CTD, obviously overcome by my beautiful voice. After crashing into our hero, it took me a couple of seconds to get my composure and get going again. I made my way to the junction of the Red Rock Trail and then continued up the rest of the Middle Trail. I passed most of the bunch as I climbed and I was waiting at the big puddle as the group arrived. I tried to get some of the riders to ride through the water but most of them are wary enough not to necessarily follow my lead. We all fought our way across the mud flats to the base of Willis Hill. Some of us tried to ride up the hill but only myself and Ken were able to ride up on the first try. After my ascent, I rode back down to watch as others made their try, and everyone was treated to a rap song by Greg as Matt tried to ride up the hill. Everyone cheered as "Sweetie" made his try, and we all enjoyed his embarrassment, as Suzanne continued to call out his new moniker. At this point we were joined by the rest of the riders and we all headed down the hill towards the banked trails. We rode the usual route back to the power lines and then out to the Telephone Pole Trail. We all mad it down the trail as darkness began to fall and the few of us that had lights, used them to light the way to the cars. We enjoyed the usual refreshments and soon we were all heading for home.

Tuesday 9/28: It was another beautiful day here in Pleasantville, and so as night started to fall we decided to don our evening apparel and our lights and head for the woods. Along for the trip to the Coke plant was Lynn, Kris, Cathy, Tommy, Patrick, Scotty and me. We rode the trails out behind Stop&Shop and we took the lower trail to the ridge just because we haven't ridden it in quite a while. After we made it to the top of the ridge, we descended down to the other side and then we headed out for the road. I made it up the gnarly trail today, which is a good sign for my skill rebuilding efforts. Once everyone was gathered on the roadway, we then all rode over to the Coke Plant together. As soon as we got to the trailhead we again split up with Cathy and Lynn joining me for a ride up the race route, while the rest went in through the swamp. As my riders entered the woods we had to turn on our lights due to the darkness. It is odd that there is plenty of light for riding out on the road, but it is so dark in the forest. Patrick's group caught up with us on the Ridge Trail and soon we were all climbing up Luke Skywalker heading for the water tank. After a brief stop at the water tank we headed out to the power lines and then down to Red Rock. Most of us continued on Red Rock Road, down to the Hill of Doom, but Patrick and Kris rode down the chute and joined us at the hill. We all then rode the trails that led us past Double Death and then back down the Ridge Trail to Five Points. Everyone then rode out of the woods through the swamp. Then we crossed RT.2 and headed back to the shop, down Gill Road. I really enjoy this time of year as it is neither too hot or too cold for an enjoyable ride.

Thursday 9/30: I was busy at the shop today so I let Matt P., lead the ride. Along for the trip was John Friends, Miss May, Scotty and Frank. May tells me that she had a good ride and that the guy's were very helpful.