Maybe it was the hot weather, maybe it was busy August schedules, or maybe nobody just likes doing the long TT, but we had very light turnout for tonight's race in Hatfield/Whately. Melissa, Shawn, and I were the only ones at the start. We rolled north with the benefit of a light tailwind, which felt like a bit of a stronger headwind after the turnaround. Melissa had to contend with a couple of strange vehicle interactions, and everyone reported feeling sapped on the return leg.

Despite the heat, Shawn managed to beat his previous best time by 13 seconds, and edged me out by a couple of seconds to take the win. Madeline and Tim rode earlier in the day, when it was even hotter, and Tim managed to turn in an impressive PR, taking 1:20 off his best time.

Despite being out of town and not racing tonight, Andy retains the men's lead in the overall series, and Madeline maintains a slight edge over Melissa on the women's side. I have somehow managed to sneak into the lead in the TT series, a situation that won't last long once Andy and Frank get back, and Madeline also leads Melissa in the women's TT standings.

Next week is the Route 66 hillclimb, going up to the Huntington town line. Hope to see you there!

Full series results are available here.

We had four riders turn up tonight, with Beth & James, another Beth, and Stephanie joining Ari and me for our Easthampton loop on a lovely evening. We rolled through the bike path to Easthampton, appreciating the brush-clearing effort that has beaten back most of the vegetation that has been threatening to engulf the path for the last few weeks.

After a quick climb on Glendale Rd, we also enjoyed the nice fresh pavement and gradual descent on Pomeroy Meadow Rd, before turning onto Park Hill Rd for the climb up to the orchard. Beth was struggling with the heat by that point, and we had to take a bit of a break. The folks at Park Hill were super-friendly, with water and offers to assist. Mike, one of the artists from Art in the Orchard, was also on hand with a pickup truck, offering a ride. Eventually we decided to take him up on his offer, so we loaded up Beth's and my bikes into the truck for the ride back down to NoHo, while Ari continued with the rest of the group.

We all arrived back at Sheldon Field at around the same time, with Beth feeling better by that point. We didn't manage to take a group photo, so I'll leave you with a lovely shot of Mike Perusse's installation at the 2023 Art in the Orchard, called "Bird Show". He has an installation at this year's show as well, so be sure to check it out -- the 2025 Art in the Orchard opens this weekend, and runs through Thanksgiving (more info here). Thanks for your help, Mike!

Joe Lellman designed and led this week's SMR B ride.  This new NCC website is a bit of a challenge to navigate, so I am posting Joe's report he sent out via email below, and I am adding a couple of photos I took along the way. (I loved the route and especially enjoyed the new climb up Bush Rd.)

We had glorious weather for this demanding Hilltown SMR loop. We began the ride at JFK, which worked out very well in general, and for me in particular, as I live just about 1 mile from there. Since we were heading west, we avoided downtown roads and traffic.

We had nine riders at the start, including: Wendy K., Tim C, Madelyn N., Michael B, John and Robert Whalen (in their flashy Sleepy Hollow kit), yours truly, Shawn L., and a guy named Luca, who left the group during the climb on 143 to Chesterfield.

We took South St to Burgy, then the 143 climb to Chesterfield. We continued down to the bottom of the Gorge, and up 143 to Worthington. We stopped at the General Store there to refuel, and where Shawn changed a flat tire. Then, continued north on 143 to Rte 9. Left in Cummington and eventually Bush Rd and West Rd, which was a nice, rolling climb with minimal car traffic and lots of shade. None of us had ever been on this road before, so I suggested re-naming it Lellman Lane. From there, we climbed up 116 to Plainfield, then down 116 to 112. The two Whalen triplets continued on 116 from there, and we took Steady Lane and Creamery in Ashfield, then Ashfield Rd back to Burgy. Home on South St and Audubon. I had 58.5 miles, and 4,648 feet of elevation, and a ride time of 3:52:14. It was good.

On a smoky, hazy night, ten of us gathered in the center of Pelham to tackle tonight's hillclimb. Ryan likened the atmosphere to a smoker's lounge, and with all the haze from the Canadian wildfires, it almost felt that way.

Given the poor air quality, we made a consensus decision to just ride easy up the hill, and then have a sprint finish at the top.

Just kidding. Instead, Shawn decided to launch an attack right off the starting line, and opened up a big gap on the group. Which suprised me, because normally Ryan would chase down an attack like that, but he had a lot of trouble clipping in, and was still pedaling with one leg about thirty seconds into the race. Which surprised me, because normally Andy is the one who has trouble clipping in, but he seemed to do OK with it tonight.

Anyway, Ryan eventually managed to get his pedals straightened out (I guess -- or maybe he just rode the whole thing with one leg), and disappeared up the road ahead of me. Most of the rest of the group managed to catch Shawn on the early part of the climb, only to have him go rocketing by again on the flatter middle section. There were some close finishes up near the front of the group, but I didn't see any of it, as I was trying to cling to Melissa's wheel and failing to come around past her at the finish.

We crossed paths with Andy R near the bottom of the hill, he must have just missed the start, and rode up solo, which is always challenging. Tim also did a solo run earlier in the day, hopefully the air quality was better for him.

Garret had the night's only PR, by eight seconds. Sam remains in the lead in the men's hillclimb series, while Melissa clings to a narrow lead over Madeline on the women's side. In the overall series, Andy remains on top of the men's standings, and it's Madeline who is just slightly ahead of Melissa for the women.

Tonight's results:

Full series results are available here.

We had a great group of ten tonight for our Hatfield loop -- Susan, Sheri, Clarisa, Carl, Adam and Steve joined newcomers Stephanie and Beth, along with me and Ari. Steve had a bit of trouble with his seatpost at the north end of Industrial Drive, but Carl and Clarisa once again came to the rescue with the tools he needed. After that it was smooth sailing through the backroads of Hatfield, although the smoky haze from the Canadian wildfires obscured the views a bit. We rolled back into Sheldon Field around 7:15 PM with 17 miles at an average pace of around 12 mph.

Our Monday Night Intro Ride series will continue for three more weeks, through the end of August. Next week we'll do the Easthampton loop -- hope you'll join us!

For a third week in a row, I volunteered to lead the SMR B as Austin has been recovering from an injury.  

I was thrilled to see that Saturday’s weather was finally going to be a break from the 100 degree temperatures and saturating humidity. I chose a route heading north up to Bernardston and Lyden, with the main event climbing the Eden Trail, which I have ridden and lead rides up there several times.

At home, as I was kitting up, it was 51 degrees (F) at 7:30 AM. It felt cold! I tried not to complain, given the aforementioned 100 degrees. I was fussing over putting on arm warmers or a windbreaker. I settled with a windbreaker- which I think was the right choice for the ride into Northampton. Once I arrived at Pulaski Park, the air had warmed, and so had I. It was a bit of a pain to carry the windbreaker with me all day. Sort of wished I had toughed it out from home.

Nine riders gathered to take on my route. It was sunny, clear, and definitely a top 10 weather day for the cycling season. About half the group were regulars this season, but the other half, I have not seen in quite some time, so it was great to have this mix in the group.

We had a good steady paceline on River Rd until we crossed over in Sunderland, where it broke up a bit with the risers and drops.

The Deerfield end of the bikepath led us by the Turners Falls canal and up to the Connecticut river. A short climb into Gill found us on some nice side roads, including Hoe Shop Rd- which has a short dirt section- very well maintained.

Once in Bernardston, we turned onto the main feature of the day, the Eden Trail Climb.  This is about 3.5 miles over 750 feet in elevation. Takes you by beautiful farms and views into Lyden.  When we thought we were done, nope, a left turn took us up one more sharp climb- Frizzle Hill, with a beautiful view at the top.

The descent down Frizzle, was a bit "frizzling" for me, at least.  Cross winds and deep dish aero wheels are not a great combo.  At the bottom we met up with Eric W, who intended to ride with us, but did the route in the other direction.  We debated which direction was better and parted ways. (my vote gets Eden Up, Frizze down!)

From there it was mostly downhill- we turned off to cross the covered bridge over the Green river and paused for a photo op.

From here, it was off to a quick stop at Harper's store to refuel, and then "the home stretch".  Except, the road was closed on my planned return leg in Greenfield.  So I used my brain (no electronics) to get us back on track- no choice but having to weave in rotary traffic, and ended up taking Upper Rd instead of Lower Rd.

As you may know, I don't take the easy way home!  Instead of heading through Deerfield and the "flats"- we went home via Whatley and the climbs into Haydenville, complete with the final climb up N. Farms Road to make it an honest day on the bike.

We rolled into Florence a bit later than I planned (1 PM), with 67 miles, 3383' and 16.3 MPH average for the route. 

With the temperature hovering at around a million degrees, we had six hardy souls who showed up for the start of the Short TT this evening. While we huddled in the shade of the one tree on Sugarloaf St at the start, we got to hear about Madeline's exploits this past weekend, whereby she set a *16 minute* PR in the grueling Sea to Summit Triathlon. She swam 1.6 miles on the Maine coast, rode her bike 95 miles to Mount Washington (with 6,000' of climbing along the way), and then hiked/ran another five miles to the summit (gaining another 4,300'). "It was OK", she said, with her characteristic modesty, not mentioning the fact that she finished second in her age group and seventh female overall. (Another shout-out to fellow NCC triathlete Alicia Wendowloski, who also scored a top-ten AG finish).

(Also, after racing across Maine and New Hampshire and climbing the highest mountain in New England, Madeline sprained her ankle this morning while walking her dog, and still managed to show up for tonight's race. How was your ankle, she was asked after the race. "It was OK".)

In the "managing adversity" category, Shawn also gets a shout-out. He started 30 seconds behind me, and I kept wondering why he hadn't passed me yet. Turns out he flatted in downtown Hatfield, his second TT incident in the past few weeks, after crashing in Deerfield in June. He patched it up and managed to finish though, big kudos.

The biggest kudos of the night, though, go to Tim, who rode the TT earlier at probably the hottest point of the day. "I was feeling a bit dizzy" afterward, he said, due to the heat, and so he decided to show up at the group ride finish with a cooler full of ice-cold drinks. The cold water and ice packs felt like manna from heaven on this steamy night. Thanks Tim, you win this year's Nobel Refreshment Prize!

Tonight's results:

Place	Name	Time	Points
1	Charles Mathers	20:20	8
2	Patrick Sullivan	21:08	7
3	Jonathan O'Keeffe	22:30	6
4	Andy MacDonald	22:36	5
5	Madeline Nagy	23:52	4
6	Joe Lellman	25:22	3
7	Tim Pitkin	25:45	2
8	Shawn Lakota	26:45	1

Full season results are here: https://www.nohobikeclub.org/Time-Trial/Hill-Climb-Series

We scored another beautiful night tonight for the second week in a row, perhaps the first time this season that we've managed to string together two weeks of good weather. Adam, Beth, Sheri, Susan, and Carl & Clarisa joined Ari and me for our Northampton loop. This route is 16.5 miles, featuring a decent-sized initial climb on Burt's Pit Rd, followed by some rollers on Sylvester Rd, and then a long gradual descent on the bike path to the finish. Susan was celebrating her birthday, and Mark & Sheri brought a dozen fabulous cupcakes to share with the group at the finish -- a great way to wrap up the ride!

I stepped up to lead another Northampton Cycling Club Saturday B ride this weekend. The usual leader is recovering from an injury and I was in town, so why not! A benefit of being a ride leader is choosing a course to fit your own wishes. I chose a route with less climbing and mileage than typical for SMR B’s- but one with plenty of short climbs and scenery. 

We were lucky enough to have another Saturday free from rain, and a break from the oppressive humidity. Ten riders met me as the usual spot in downtown Northampton under hazy skies due to new Canadian wildfires.

We rolled out eastbound on Main St and across the Coolidge Bridge, hanging a right on to Bay Rd. And it was all Bay Rd for quite some time. As many locals know, Bay Rd varies between flat, a punchy climb, and a section of horrible pavement to welcome you to Amherst. The group stayed mostly together. Some gaps on the small risers, but quick regroups.

I did a quick hydration check with everyone before the turn off Bay Rd- as the next stop would be at mile 38- quite a bit longer. All good, so we turned up Allen Rd- which is a sharp climb and really not pleasant! The road crosses Rte 9 and then Rte 202, at that point much quieter.

Now we enter the core = the best part of the ride!

I’ve ridden this route before, but most often the other way. I intentionally routed us “backwards” this time. It is so much fun to experience a route the other way around. I don’t get over to this part of Western Mass very often- being it “on the other side of the river”. These roads were quiet and stunningly beautiful. Farms, fields, epic views.

After a quick jaunt on Rte 9, past Windsor Dam of the Quabbin, we turned on to River Rd. Yet another beautiful country road.

I guess I enjoyed these roads so much, I keep saying how nice they are.

A bunch of turns eventually got us to the “main event”, which is the climb up Rockrimmon. I’ve ridden both sides of this. Today’s ascent (this side) is much easier (IMO!) than the other side. It is a gentler climb. But that did not mean I wasn’t getting dropped by the strong riders!

The reward for this fun (?) climb was the epic/fun/screaming descent back down. Clean pavement, clear sight lines, soft corners… perfect. It was enjoyed by all.

We stopped at Cumberland in Granby for fuel and hydration. It was nice to go in the Air Conditioning for a bit.

The way home was through the Mt. Holyoke College campus, South Hadley. My original route had us going down Pearl St (another great road!)- but, big thanks to Johnathan O’ giving me a heads up that the bridge is out on that road. I considered having us do a hike-a-bike across (I have a reputation for bridge out routes)- but given last week we had one- I decided to route us through South Hadley center and Rte 47 back home.

Rte 47 is not all downhill home. There is a climb up out of Bachelor Brook, and again at the town line. We had some breaks in the paceline, but it was pretty rapid once we got past the Skinner State Park entrance road. We did regroup and headed across Rte 9 and scattered our separate ways at the bike path.

For the route, I logged 52 miles, 16.7 MPH as I arrived in Northampton about 11:30.

It was a much deserved perfect weather night for a change. We had 13 riders at the 5:30 start and 2 others that had done the hillclimb earlier in the day. 

There were 3 newcomers (Nicolas, Owen and Jeremy) and one sort-of newcomer (Ellen) who came out to race this evening. Perhaps it was the lure of food and beverages that awaited us at the top courtesy of the Chesterfield General Store (thanks folks - this is a first!).

The only PR tonight was Sam by 13 seconds. He remains atop the hillclimb men's leaderboard while Melissa stands on the women's top step. Overall men's leader is Andy while Melissa is also the women's overall leader.

Here are today's results:

1. Nicolas Amato; Time: 20:01; 17.69 mph; 15 points

2. Sam Veggeberg; Time: 21:19; 16.61 mph; 14 points

3. Owen Ryerson; Time: 21:45; 16.28 mph; 13 points

4. Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin; Time: 22:30; 15.73 mph; 12 points

5. Thom Barry; Time: 23:27; 15.1 mph; 11 points

6. Andy MacDonald; Time: 23:52; 14.83 mph; 10 points

7. Jonathan O'Keeffe; Time: 24:40; 14.35 mph; 9 points

8. Melissa Warwick; Time: 24:58; 14.18 mph; 8 points

9. Madeline Nagy; Time: 25:19; 13.98 mph; 7 points

10. Shawn Lakota; Time: 25:29; 13.89 mph; 6 points

11. David Goodwin; Time: 26:13; 13.5 mph; 5 points

12. Tim Pitkin; Time: 27:55; 12.68 mph; 4 points

13. Joe Lellman; Time: 28:41; 12.34 mph; 3 points

14. Cindy White; Time: 28:58; 12.22 mph; 2 points

15. Ellen Noble; Time: 32:44; 10.81 mph; 1 points

Next week is the short time trial. I will miss the next 3 weeks so please report any times to Jonathan (if you send it to me, I will make sure that he gets it).