by Jonathan O’Keeffe » Sat Oct 29, 2011 10:40 pm
I admit it — I looked out the window this morning hoping to see snowflakes and wet roads, giving me couple more hours in bed. Instead, what I got was gray skies, dry roads, a temperature around 34°, and no viable excuses for not doing the ride. So I saddled up and headed over to NoHo, hoping I wasn’t going to be the only one there.
My fears were misplaced, as we had a hardy crew of seven to scoff at the nor’easter bearing down on us, including Jonathan B, Don, Roberto, Elissa, Chris, and Rich (back in action after a month off the bike). The weather reports were calling for ugly stuff rolling in around mid-day, so we opted for familiar roads close to home. We headed up North Farms Road, past the Mountain Street Reservoir, and over the newly-opened bridge on Haydenville Road. Jonathan leapt to the front of the pack on the subsequent climb and set a blistering pace as we headed into Whately.
We headed north towards 116, with Roberto and Chris duking it out on an endless sprint for the Deerfield town line (Chris snuck ahead at the finish). Across 116, up through Old Deerfield, up 5/10, and then looping down on River Road. Don made the mistake of dishing out some trash-talk with Jonathan near the beginning of River Road segment, and paid the price for it — Jonathan surged to the front again, with Chris and Roberto, leaving Don (and me) in the dust. We regrouped at Rt. 116, crossed the bridge, and headed south on Rt. 47 through Sunderland and Hadley, enjoying a nice tailwind. Chris, Roberto, and I split off at Rocky Hill Road to head east toward home.
Despite the dire weather forecast, we stayed dry through the whole ride (it started snowing about an hour after I got home). From NoHo to the split at Rocky Hill Rd, I had 38 miles @ 18.6 mph, 2,000′ of climbing.
