Today was the last of my “Two-Fer” days for this year. A “Two-Fer” is a day that I both ski and bike. Last week was a bust due to my getting ill on Sunday and again on Monday so I did not get to ski for the last two weeks, although I did ride.I arrived at Berkshire East at 9:00 and quickly got my boots on and then I headed up the hill on the triple chair left with Ed Ralicki. We got off the lift at the top of the hill and then headed for a warm-up rip down the Outback Trail. After that we headed for the more challenging trails on the east side of the mountain. The snow cover on the trails was adequate but there were lots of icy spots and bare ground which I was able avoid with my limited skiing skills. Ed and I had a great time over the next two hours and we covered a lot of terrain but by the time I had to leave the trails were pretty slushy. After leaving the slopes I headed down to Greenfield to get ready for the afternoon bike ride
After I got home and changed out of my ski cliothing, I headed over to the shop to get ready for the ride. Soon after I arrived at the shop the parking lot started to fill up with riders for today’s ride. It was a pretty brisk 45 degrees but with the stiff north wind the effective air temperature was well below freezing. When I got done with the last minute repair to Chris Williams’s bike computer I headed out the door and got the ride under way. Today I had planned on doing a shorter 32 mile ride for the “B” group, while the “A” group would be heading out for a 40 to 50 mile jaunt. I led the group of twenty riders out of the parking lot at 1:40 and we rode down to Deerfield Street at a modest 17 mph pace. Once we got onto Deerfield Street I picked the pace up to 19 mph and headed across the Cheapside Bridge where I then pulled off the front and headed for the back of the line (with my usual poking, pinching and prodding the riders as they past me going forward). I got onto the back of the paceline and rode there all the way out to Mill Village Road. When we got out onto Mill Village Road the line got split into several groups as we sped down to the hill with a nice tailwind. I was in a group of five riders that included Michelle H., Curt, Bill H., and Ceil Antes as we rode several hundred yards behind the main pack. We rode up the hill at a steady pace and when we got to the top we picked up John Marcy and Dougie. We crossed 5&10 and were about to pick the pace up when I turned around to check on the riders behind me. When I looked down the road I saw Bill and Ceil stopped at the side of the road so I hollered ahead to Dougie and Curt to tell then that I was going back to see what happened. I turned around and went back to find that Bill had flatted. He was about to perform a patch job to the tube when I interceded. I told Bill that “We don’t do no stinkin’ patchin’ on the road!” and with the help of Curt and Dougie I began a pretty quick repair. (Liam stopped as he passed us in his car to offer help but none was needed so he headed off.) Bill had mucked up the speed by putting two springs on one side of his QR and because I did not have my glasses on I did not spy the error for a minute or so. After squaring the problem skewer away, I then finished the job and we soon were on our way. Dougie did a yeoman’s job of pulling the group down through So. Dee and soon we were out on RT. 116 with me in the lead. I stayed on the front of the line as we crossed the Blue Bridge and turned right onto RT. 47. I pulled off the lead just before we got to the police/fire station and headed for the back of the line. We rode down to Plumtree Road and took a left which somehow left me on the front again. We rode down to 116 where we took a left to head down to North Silver Lane. The pace slowed measurably as we now were heading into the pretty fierce headwind. We rode over to RT. 47 and headed north into the head/crosswind. We passed Mike S., on the way over to Falls Road and I said hello as we sped past him. The next few miles were spent battling the headwind and our speed dropped to 14 mph as the gale really buffeted our group. We fought through the wind as we made our way over to the Third Street Hill. Usually the ride down the Third Street Hill is a 35 mph coast but today I had to pedal pretty hard just to keep a 26 mph pace. The group crossed Ave A and the river to the Esleeck Hill to finish the ride. I fell to the back of the line as we pedaled up the hill and I finished the ride just a little ahead of Curt who also did a “cool down” spin up the hill. The 32 miles was covered in just a smidge less than two hours and all in all was a pretty nice outing.
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