by Tim_Cary » Sat Jun 15, 2013 5:12 pm
On a beautiful, clear & sunny morning at about 68 degrees, we had a large turnout at the Academy for the start- 25 people- about 17 for the B, and the rest for the C. We planned planned it so the C’s could roll out with the B’s. We had two guests for the B ride- JR and his Iron Man training buddy Seffan(?).
We headed up to Conway center, and then over to the classic Barwell’s and Cosby climbs. Proceeding to Zach Fiske Road I caused a bit of confusion (sorry) as my GPS was having a bad day.
After a few more fun climbs, we had our first fuel stop at the top of the hill on Greenfield Rd. After rolling out of here, there was the nice descent, but I was unaware of how close we were to the short/long ride split at Rte 112. Thankfully Jonathan was on top of that and had warned everyone at our rest stop.
At the Rte 112 split, seven of us- Zach, Roberto, Peter, Chris, JR and his buddy, and myself continued north to Vermont, the rest headed back south.
We had a large gap after we got back over the border- the beautiful Adamsville Rd, there were some strong leaders, and we hoped they’d wait up at the 8A/112 split, but were nowhere to be found, and we never caught them. That left just four- Roberto, myself, JR and his buddy.
We cut out part of the boring Rte 112 with beautiful Call Rd that Jonathan B suggested, and it was worth it.
A quick break with some cold spring water as we climbed out of Shelbune Falls was welcome before we headed up the always beautiful Baptist Corner Rd.
We returned to town on the reverse Thursday Night route, circumventing a bit of Rte 116 by using Creamery Rd.
I had around 87 miles and 6300′ of climbing back in Northampton.
by Roberto Ludovico » Sun Jun 16, 2013 9:06 am
It was a great ride, Tim. Perhaps one of the hardest ever for me, not only for distance and elevation, but also for the devilish pace constantly imposed by an assembly of unusually strong riders. Thank you for leading it. My only regret and disappointment is for those riders in the group I was leading up 8A, whom I invited to stop and regroup at the 112 intersection to Colrain or Shelburne, but went straight past me, at the junction. As it happens, they went in the wrong direction and we never saw them again. Not exactly the kind of behavior we encourage on club rides. They will never know what they missed on that last stretch from Colrain, through Shelburne and Ashfield to Noho we got to ride with our two impressively strong guests from PA and ME. I am glad we honored their visit with one of the best routs ever, showing them what NCC rides about.
by JR_Ryland » Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:26 pm
Thanks to all the NCC group on the ride, with special thanks to Tim and Roberto for getting us back home again. Savas and I had a great time enjoying the challenging climbs and sometimes hair raising decents. Thanks a ton for allowing us to tag along for an epic summer ride, along some truly magnificent roads, with some great people. If time permits, I will certainly try and ride with you all whenever I make it into town.
Thanks,
JR & Savas
