Bicycles Unlimited - 2010 Chili Ride-Wendell State Forest

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2010 Chili Ride-Wendell State Forest

Written by Bob Perry

Monday, 08 November 2010

Yesterday was the NEMBA Chili Ride at Wendell State Forest and I showed up at the ranger station at 10:15 to find Knoepfchen setting up the registration table. I was asked to do parking duties and so I headed for the end of the driveway to steer folks to the lower parking lot. After a short while there were a large number of riders pedaling around the parking lot so I headed for the van to get myself ready to ride. After getting my gear together I rode over for the group photo and then I got in line for the start. There were four groups heading out to the trails. The first group was led by Matt Green and was a race pace group. Next was an Advanced Intermediate ride led by Hammerhead. Curt was leading the Intermediate group which was similar to the Advanced Intermediate ride but just not a fast a pace. I was supposed to be riding with the Beginner group along with Knoepfchen but there were only a few riders in that group so I went with the larger group. Everyone headed out on the same route and pretty quickly there were some jam-ups on the trail as riders stopped for one reason or another. The riders behind the stopped rider had to wait a minute or two get going again because of the narrow trail, but we generally moved along at a good pace. Once we got out onto Brook Road the riders got better organized and the ride started to flow a lot smoother. I was riding near the back of Curt’s group as we got onto the Carlton-Dirth Trail and I hollered up Curt at the front of the line that we should re-group at the end of the Carlton-Dirth. I continued along with the group until we got to the bridge. Some of the riders had stopped ahead of me and then a big gap opened up. By the time everyone got to the end of the trail the big group of riders was already heading down the road. I managed to catch up to the group before they got to the Hiatus but some of the riders were still behind me, so I waited up for them. I rode with about 5 or 6 people and when we popped out onto Dirth Road we found that the group was waiting for us. The next trail we were to tackle was the Wicket Pond Escape and it is a tough climb and a bit of a technical challenge for even the best riders. So I offered to take a group down the fire roads to the end of the Escape. Well I got 6 riders who took me up on the offer and we then took off down the fire road. My riders kept a good pace and we ended up getting to the trailhead just before the last of Hammerhead’s riders came out of the woods. When Curt came along he said that Judy had bent her disc rotor and I went over and did some custom bending so that she could ride. After all the riders were accounted for Hammerhead took the majority of them onto the Wickett Pond Loop and then to the Maple Leaf and eventually onto the Nipmuck. My group of riders waited for Hammerhead to depart before we set off to ride directly to the Nipmuck via Saxons Bridge Road. Bill Gabriel and I led the way and when I got to the turn onto the Nipmuck I posted up there until all the riders could see the turn. I ended up leading and then following Lynn, Judy and Gail down to Baker road where we met up with some riders from Matt’s group. We all headed up Baker road to the Bob is Fat where we met up with Todd, Mooseboy and a few other riders. We waited for a few minutes until a rider came along to tell us that Hammerhead had taken his bunch down the Mormon Hollow Escape. He said that all the riders went that way so we then headed off down Bob is Fat. I followed Mooseboy and Todd down the trail and actually was able to ride most of it. I did have to dismount on the slippery rock near the bottom as well as the hairpin turn, but otherwise it was a clean ride. After we got out onto Wickett Pond Road only Mooseboy, Judy, Todd and Tom took the Maple Leaf. The rest of us stayed on the road and met up at Damon Camp Road with the trail riders. We then took off to finish the trip on the Pond Loop. When we got to the parking area Knoepfchen said the some of the riders wanted to do another loop so I volunteered to lead. We headed over the Ruggles Pond dam and then took the X-C trail back over to the Carlton Dirth. We had 7 riders in our group at the start but Mike A., decided to bail at Brood Road so we had 6 riders when we crossed the road to Hemmingway Road. I led the riders down the trail to Curt’s Way and we ended up out on the fire road. We all rode back to the parking area together and after stowing our gear we headed down to Bill Gabriel’s house where we were treated to a magnificent chili feast. I mean there was enough food there to feed the entire village of Wendell for at least a couple of days. There were lots of chili dishes along with salads, pies, cakes, and breads of all sorts. I sampled several of the breads and salads and one of the chili dishes. The food was fantastic and Bill was a most gracious host. I stayed at the party and chatted with lots of folks before heading back to Greenfield. It was a marvelous day and I want to thank both Knoepfchen and Bill Gabriel for putting on the event.

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