September 2003 Ride Report Page    

Here you will find the reports of our exploits for the month September 2003 more or less as they happened. I will publish any ride reports that I receive. Please send them to  bikebob@crocker.com and you too can get yourself published on the web!

Monday 9/1: Whoopee!! I get a day off. To celebrate the occasion I decided to do a 50 mile ride. I got to the shop and at the appointed hour I was joined by Jamie, Jack Dunphy and Curt. It looked like it might rain at any moment but we decided to head out at anyway. We left the shop at 1:15 and headed over to Bernardston Road. I led the way up the hill at a moderate pace and kept at the front until we got past Newell Pond, where I dropped to the back. I noticed that Jack wasn't with us and Curt said that he had dropped off early on the hill. Curt said that Jack indicated that he was OK and would just continue on his own. As we entered Bernardston I did not see any attempt by the other two to sprint so we coasted across the line and headed for Northfield. It started to rain a little as we rode along and I gave some thought to turning onto RT. 63 and cutting the ride short, but soon the rain stopped and the skies brightened. I rode down RT. 10 in the lead and when we got to the hill, I dropped to the back and Jamie took over. We traded the lead all the way to the turn onto RT. 63 and then I ended up pulling all the way to Warwick Road. We headed up Warwick Road at a steady pace and soon we were at the town line. Curt said that this was the spot where he usually gets dropped by the other Beermonters, so I took this to mean that he was going to dump on me. I went to the front to protect myself from the attacks, but neither of my companions would come around me today. I got to the top of the steep section of the hill still in the front and when I looked back I could see Jamie and Curt closing the small gap. After we got back together we headed up to the turn onto Wendell Road. We pretty much stayed together all the way to Wendell Depot, where we stopped so that Curt could fix his shoes. When Curt was ready we started the climb up to Wendell Center. We all worked hard but the hill took it's toll on each of us. When we got to the top, I dropped back to put my jacket on, but I struggled to get the zipper working. Soon after I started fiddling with the jacket, Jamie and Curt pulled out of sight. I eventually had to stop to get the damn thing zippered and when I started again I could see that Jamie and Curt had turned around to come and get me. I rejoined my mates and we then rode down the hill and past the lake. I was getting a little chilly on the way down so I went to the front to do a long pull. That warmed me up a bit, but I also was getting a little tired as well. I rode to the bottom of the hill where we then decided to head back at this point. We rode through Montague Center to Turners Falls. We rode at a fairly steady pace back to Greenfield where we ended the ride at the shop. We did a total of 50 miles at a 20 mph pace, which for me was a good outing.

Thursday 9/4: It was a nice sunny day, warm with no wind and we had a small group show up for a ride down to Sunderland. We left the shop at 6:00 and headed over to Turners Falls. I rode at the front across the canal where we made a right turn to ride out to Ave. A. After turning right I led the group down to Greenfield Road where I took my turn at the back. I stayed at the back fooling around with Jamie and Curt while we rode up the hill on Greenfield Road. The group rode at a 19 mph pace over to RT. 47 where we picked up the pace considerably. We rode all the way down to Sunderland at nearly 28 mph with most of us taking short pulls at the front. When we got to the center of town it was getting dark and we decided to head back to Greenfield through South Deerfield. The group held together for most of the ride into town although it got strung out on the rip up 5&10. It was a nice ride.

Sunday 9/7: We had a small group show up for the trip to the plains today. It was a really nice day for a ride and I was joined by Gary, Harold and Matthew

Tuesday 9/16: Curt, Jamie, Nancy and I did our ride this afternoon, and well, it seemed to warrant a ride report.... Curt is correct in his hunch that he will never live today down. I won't let him. And, if I do, Jamie won't. Nancy on the other hand is a very nice, easygoing person and would never inflict any of the grief that Jamie and I dish out so easily. It all started at Bennett Meadow in the bright, warm sun. How many more days like this are we going to get? Not many, so we thought we would take advantage of the opportunity to go for a nice long, not at a killer pace ride. Now, when I initially made the suggestion, I had envisioned 40 - 45ish miles. OK, that said, as we went to ride up to route 10 and begin our journey to Brattleboro with a little side trip up Warwick Road to Winchester and Hinsdale, Curt noticed that his tube was sticking out through a hole in his front tire. Rather than take it off and try and put something in the tire to patch it, we opted to ride to my apartment which was only a mile away and I would loan Curt my front Nucleon. So, away we went. Curt made a comment about the fact that I would have to live at the top of a hill.... I let it go, saving it for later. Anyway, we got Curt hooked up and rode over to Warwick Road. We decided the beginning of Warwick Road as you turn off of Main Street really needs to be repaved so we submitted a request for new pavement to HMJ via QN. There was a town meeting tonight so we are hopeful. We took our time going up the hill for the most part, it got a little spirited in parts and Curt went for the town line on the hill. I tried to answer it, and although it was close, I think Curt took that one. We continued along to the top and turned left. We cruised towards Winchester where I went for the town line but Curt did not go for it. I crossed the town line onto brand new pavement which went just about all the way to the stop light at Route 10. (Jamie apparently called ahead last week and arranged for this new pavement) We continued on some not so nice pavement to Hinsdale where the drainage grates can swallow a bike whole and up the hill towards Brattleboro. When we arrive in Beermont, we pulled into a parking lot and discussed our options. We thought about going down 142 but Curt suggested (much to his dismay later in the ride) that we continue on Route 5 and go over to Guilford and down by this really nice pond that I can't remember the name of and end up somehow at Barton Road. Well, after a round of GU for all, we continued on Route 5 and eventually turned right towards Guilford Center and eventually we took a left and just kept going uphill. It didn't stop. Curt said that he didn't even think about the uphill because he usually comes from the other direction and it doesn't seem like that big a downhill - he just feels strong on this road. OK, in the other direction, anyone could feel like Superman. So, this road of course gave me lots to bitch about. Just as I was getting tired of giving Curt grief about the hills, the road turned to dirt and a little further up we saw a sign that said "Road Closed to Thru Traffic - Detour." Well, that road went towards Route 5 and Curt wasn't too excited by that prospect so we continued on to determine if the road was closed to Bicycling Thru Traffic. Well, yes, it would seem that it was - there was this little thing of a bridge missing. Just as I was getting ready to turn around and dish some grief, Curt assured us that the stream is "only a trickle" and we can get across it easily. So, we got off our bikes, walked through a field of sorts out to the not so big dig and down to the stream. Somehow this seemed normal to Curt. He says that people from Massachusetts can't handle riding in Vermont. I think we just prefer to ride our ROAD bikes on actual roads. Curt and Nancy made it across without any incident as did Jamie, except for the fact that he got his brand new shoes all mucked up with mud. Then it was my turn - me and my short inseam and Look cleats had a little trouble. I was too short to just step across to the other side but with some advice from Jamie and a little luck, I made it through without getting wet. Our wheels were all muddy and Jamie said that if Curt had been using his own wheel, he wouldn't have been so eager to do a stream crossing. So, when we got to the other side and started on our bikes again, a chicken crossed the road, but alas we still don't know quite why it decided to cross the road. Eventually the road became paved once again and we continued on our way past the really very pretty pond. I mean, it wasn't as nice as looking at the Nuke Plant, but you have to take what you can get. I couldn't figure out why we were going uphill to Massachusetts. That still seems strange to me. Eventually we made it down to somewhere and made a left turn onto Barton Road. By this time we were moving at a pretty good clip, (downhill's are fun) I think that the realization of just how long we had been out there was starting to hit us and the lack of food for some of us was also becoming an issue as we had not planned to do a 50+ mile ride and had not eaten well enough during the day. Anyway, Curt went for the next town line a bit early but it seems that Nancy was strategically boxing me in so that Curt could get away. I gave chase but misjudged it and Curt rode away easily with that town line. Alas. We turned left onto 5 and 10 and then right on 10 back to Bennett Meadow. We got back there about 3 hours after we had left. In all we did 55 miles. It was a great time and we all agreed to do it again next Tuesday but do a little shorter ride and maybe head south. Oh, and Curt doesn't get to pick the route next time.

Tuesday, September 16th; Bennet Meadow loop; Distance - 57.30; Average - 17.7
Ending Mileage - 2542.3

Since the 'regular' Tuesday rides are over for the year, a few of us who are able to get away in the afternoon are going to try to ride regularly on Tuesday afternoons for as long as the weather holds out. Today Michelle, Jamie and Nancy met me at Bennet Meadow in Northfield at 2:30 for a long ride. We started off having to ride back up to Michelle's to pick up a wheel for me to borrow, as my front tire had a small slice in it and the tube was already extruding out through the 1mm hole. After swapping the wheel, we headed out towards Northfield then turned up the climb to Warwick. This hill feels better to me every time we do it. By the time we reached the top, I was feeling really strong and couldn't help racing ahead to the stop sign. A mile or so later we were racing down the other side toward Winchester and onto the long freshly paved flats leading to Rte. 119 West. We had fun on the rollers heading into Hinsdale, then had to fight a pretty strong headwind between Hinsdale and Brattleboro. I convinced everyone to take the longer route back through Guilford instead of turning down 142, so we climbed up Rte 5 past the hospital and continued South into Algiers before turning right then left to head toward Weatherhead Hollow Pond. I was hoping the bridge work by the state line would be completed. It was, but they had now torn up ANOTHER section just beyond it. So as we passed the pond we were met by 'Road closed to through traffic' signs. We rolled through them to see if there was any chance of getting our bikes through the construction area. The only alternative would be to turn Left and drop down to Rte 5. which wouldn't be as fun OR as long. The certainly wasn't going to be a way across the non-existent bridge, but I went off-road and investigated a footpath through the field. If we were to walk our bikes through the field, we could easily step over the tiny stream then climb the bank on the other side back to the road. We did so amongst much whining and complaining from the spoiled MA. riders. You'd think they had never seen mud, grass or water before! So with a delay of only about 5 minutes, we were back on the road and enjoyed the rest of the ride to Barton Road, North to Bernardston, then East on 10 back to the starting point. We got back to the cars around 6:15. Only 2 hours past the time I had told Betsy (who was waiting for us) that I would be returning. I had completed the entire 55 mile ride on only two water bottles, so was pretty dehydrated at the end but other than that I felt great.

Sunday 9/14: It was only fitting that my only race this year would happen on a rainy day. I got up early for the long ride to the Berkshire's with rain falling outside. MaryEllen and I got the bus loaded and we headed out for Great Barrington. My goodness it seemed that the closer to the start we got the harder it rained. I was still misting out when I pulled into the parking lot and soon after I arrived it stopped raining. I got ready to ride and warmed up with Steve Shattuck and it looked like the rain was over when we lined up. I got to chat with several local riders as we waited for the starting gun to go off. The road was still wet when the signal was given and although I was in fairly good position to start with, the surge from the outside squeezed me into the middle of the pack. It was here that I was destined to spend the rest of the race. There were numerous crashes right from the start and I was caught behind one on the first climb of the race. Soon after we crested the hill it started to rain pretty hard and that caused some more crashes in the field. The rest of the race was spent trying to catch the front group and dodging the crashes, which at times was a real challenge. I managed to keep the bike upright and I finished the race 6 minutes down on the leaders. I was disappointed in my finish, but I was glad that made it through the carnage unscathed.

Tuesday 9/16: Tonight was our first MTB ride for the fall riding season. We decided to do a ride over to the Coke Plant instead of riding the ridge due to the recent rains. It was a fairly nice night with the sun shining and cool temperatures when we assembled in the parking lot.  Joining me tonight was Mark Newton, Doug Linell and Gary.  Our quartet left the shop and headed down Gill Road to the highway crossover, which is getting a little overgrown due to the lack of use recently. We rode over to the trails and decided to take the loop over to the cellar hole. Mark was leading and I was bringing the rear. After getting through the first muddy section Mark headed up the hill with Gary right behind him. As Gary started up the hill, he slipped on a root and stepped off his bike. Well, when he stepped off the bike, he stepped right onto a bee's nest and the bee's came downhill and were stinging Doug and me. Gary was standing on top of the nest, which was in the middle of the trail, so we could not get by. I started yelling to Gary to get going and he was looking at me like "what's the rush?". Well the "rush" was that Doug and I were getting stung while he was not. Gary hopped back onto his bike and started to ride up the hill with Doug and myself right behind him. When we got up to where Mark was we explained to Gary what had happened and we checked out our stings. I only got one, but Doug got stung several times, but other than the pain from the stings we were alright. We continued on over to Five Points

Sunday 9/21: Hey Bob, Well, Tim and I showed up today. At Sugarloaf we ran into Patty Pitchko from Southampton Bikes, so the 3 of us rode from there through your interesting 50 mile course. Patty did Mt Washington last month and was thereby able to appreciate the few hills you sprinkled along our path. Tim enjoyed it all as a good day's recreation. I enjoyed the fact that they waited for me at the tops of several modest inclines. I enjoyed more that I was still able to cruise above 20 miles an hour down 47 to Sunderland. Riding at moderate constant speeds takes some getting used to on such gorgeous days filled with passion promoting scenes and the all-too-sweet air of late Summer afternoons. At McCusker's we ran into friends from West Hill, Freewheelers A team, and the NoHo Blueberries (remember Dave). A great day to ride and to visit for a few moments with old pelotonians some of us are more "sprung" than "Spring" as far as chickens go. Patty said she got to watch you at the Tri last week. She smirked as she described it. Don' know why. Anyway, Tim thought Monday would be a day to ride this week. Early, yes, early, for those who can be ready to leave at about 5:15 while there is still weather and daylight. If you can let a few likeliest know what we are up to, we'll reward you appropriately. Tom finally got his spokes last night with hope that they are the correct ones. All is good in our world now. Thanks again for all your support and encouragement. Roger
The above was sent in by Roger Katz.

Thursday, Sept. 26; Distance - 10 miles; Ending Mileage - 10 Mountain Bike miles

OK, after years of complaining about the road biking season ending so early and swearing to find some way to extend things, I finally did something about it. For the first time since the era of Don and the Brat. bike shop night rides, I broke the mountain bike out of storage, dusted it off and headed to Bob's with it for a Thursday night ride. My lights have passed away (dead battery pack AND one of the elements burnt out) so until I decide what to do I'll have to borrow lighting from Bob or someone else. When I got to the shop, I found out that Penny (who was doing a road ride tonight) had been nice enough to loan me her helmet light. Bob put some Velcro on my helmet, I stuck the battery pack in my shirt pocket and I was ready to roll. The battery pack on that set is pretty weighty. It was stretching my shirt almost down to the saddle as I bounced along. But the single helmet mounted light was plenty to see by. I think I prefer to riding with handlebar lights though. The advantage is that the two beams give you a better lighting pattern (wide angle AND a spot for the distance). You also wouldn't have to worry about the battery cable dangling down from your helmet, or the light itself snagging thing from low lying branches as you ride. I was also having a problem with the light shifting around as my helmet shifted on the technical parts of the trail. There were five of us on the ride (Bob, Gary, Michelle, Soap and myself). Jamie was with us in spirit, but he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up with us so stayed home to save face. Ben & Jerry also came along, but they stayed in the car and pouted when they realize that Jamie was standing them up. I think that in honor of the ride, we should assign nicknames based on Ben and Jerry ice cream flavors. I don't think there would be any objection to Jamie from this date forward being known as 'Chunky Monkey'. I'm glad Bob selected an 'easy' trail for my first ride of the season. We started off on nice packed open trails along the power lines, then some smooth single-track with a few obstacles as the light began to fade. Just as twilight faded to blackness we switched on our lights and headed down a flat section before a decent climb. The flat section was deceptive, as it was made up of deep fine sand that sucked my wheels down and glued me in place. Once I stopped the first time, I couldn't get enough speed going to ride on top of the sand again, so ended up riding all the way to the hill a few feet at a time. I was actually glad to finally reach the start of the climb, and the trail surface changed to hard packed gravel. I dropped into my small chainring to spin up the hill, stopping only once when Soap put a foot down ahead of me. I could have tried to ride around him, but it was as good excuse as any to take a break. Michelle passed me as I was resting, then I mounted back up and passed Soap to join Bob and Michelle at the top. The hardest climb behind us, we enjoyed a lot of rolling, sweeping trails through the woods. There were plenty of mud holes and puddles to avoid from the recent rains, as well as lots of shrubbery grabbing at our wheels and delicate bike parts. The only close call I had was when I was climbing a section by the power lines that had some exposed slick rock which was now wet with rain. I didn't know that the 'good' line was up the left, so was riding up the center when I had to put a foot down right on the slippery surface. My foot slipped out from under me and I went down on my elbow and knee. That rock is hard! It drew a little blood and stung for a while, but it could have been much worse. The ride ended up getting more and more wet and we raced back to the road through nice singletrack. We went through a few more sections of quick sand. I learned that if you fall below a minimum speed the stuff sucks you down and never lets you go. I basically had to walk a short section until I got to some harder packed sand and could once again get up to speed. All in all, I think things went well for my first MB outing in a while. I have to re-learn a lot of the skills I haven't used in years and I don't think I'd be very comfortable on anything more technical than tonight's ride for a while, but once I get back into it I can see doing this a lot for the next few months.