by jonathanbrody » Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:26 pm
Great ride yesterday! 13 of us (Miles, Mike H., Roberto, myself, Peter C., Kevin, Clayton, Chris, David, Jonathan, Rich, Andrew, and Zach P.) decided on a modified TNR that split off to Ludwig Rd. (where Miles and Mike split-off) to Creamery to Ashfield (where Peter and Rich split-off) and then from their we modified it to include a jaunt down Baptist Corner, to Shelburne Rd., to 116 in Conway over to Deerfield and then splitting the group with one set to Amherst and the other (Clayton, Kevin, Roberto and myself) through Whately, with another split of Clayton and Kevin up Mt. Rd. and Roberto and I through the flats of Hatfield as my legs were done at that point. All-in-all we had about 60 miles with 3,500 ft of elevation gain at about 16.5mph. The weather held, the hills were long, descents fast and just plain ole fun! Special recognition to Miles being 13 and riding with a group for the first time, and David who is new to the area — welcome to the both of you!
Post by Jonathan O’Keeffe » Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:29 pm
A day late and a dollar short, here’s a quick recap from yesterday’s SMR. Temps were a bit cooler than the somewhat-bizarre 70°s and 80°s we had been seeing all week, but still pretty comfortable at the start. We started with a group of a dozen-plus, including Jonathan B and I, Kevin, Roberto, Andrew, Peter, Zak, Chris O, Rich, Clayton, Mike H, David, and a first-time appearance by 13-year-old Miles, looking sharp in full kit and riding strong.
We’re keeping the routes simple early in the season, so we headed up the Thursday night route, passing Main Poland Road and continuing on to turn left on Ludwig Road to take us to West Rd and Creamery Rd. It was a bit cloudy at the summit of West Rd, which usually affords great views, but we enjoyed a screaming descent led by Clayton and Chris on somewhat sketchy and sandy roads leading down to Creamery Rd.
In Ashfield, we took the always-scenic Baptist Corner Rd descent to Shelburne Falls Rd, climbed back towards Conway, and then descended 116 into Deerfield. I split off at that point with the Amherst-based folks to head back home via 116, while the NoHo group continued on through Whately back to the start.
To the split in South Deerfield, I ended up with 37.7 miles @ 17.0 mph, with 3,200′ of climbing.
Post by Jonathan O’Keeffe » Sun Mar 25, 2012 9:33 pm
Sorry for the double-post, but in an odd twist of timing, both Jonathan and I were apparently feeling bad tonight for not having a ride report from yesterday’s ride, and ended up posting our reports about two minutes apart.