I decided on a route to pile on the miles, but keep the climbing at bay. A route to a “fun” climb in Northfield, which I discovered way back in 2013.

Seven other riders meet me at Pulaski Park in Northampton for a 9 AM start. The sky was cloudy and the temperature in the low 50’s.

The route out of town was quite standard, like an NCC Wednesday Night Ride- however, Hatfield is in the process of milling Main St- thanks to Madeline’s intel– we sped passed the usual Elm St overpass turn, and continued on Rte 5 to Chestnut St- which dumped us back onto River Rd past the construction.

We had a strong group of riders- including Mike Y and Frank S who both took long pulls. I was appreciative even though the wind had not yet kicked up.

Once we crossed Rte 116 to the north leg of River Rd, porta-potties were more plentiful than I have ever seen on a ride! Like, about every 3 miles.

From there, it was a relaxed, social pace along the Turners Falls canal.

Relaxation was short lived. We popped out at the bridge crossing the river, and headed up the climb to Gill Center.  Gill has a cute center, but the scenery is epic. Northfield Mt. Hermon school is on the left, but on the right is the South Mountain Ridge (and others) just over the Connecticut River.  Unfortunately, Elissa turned back here due to time constraints.

After Gill center Main road eventually hits Rte 10, where we navigated by the single lane construction of the bridge over the CT. River into Northfield Center. Here, we stopped at Mims’s store to refuel. Joe noted that we had as many bike brands as riders.

Now that we added weight, the “feature” of the day was just across the street. That would be the climb up Gulf. This one is hard. We were saying it is easier than Greylock. Not sure if my legs agree. Depending on where you want to put the segment… 2 miles and 7.5% average grade. I saw 18% on my computer. Unfortunately, there was a lot of traffic on this road, it appears it was a detour route for parts of Rte 2 or Rte 10/63. This thing just keeps going and going up. A very healthy climb.

We regrouped at the parking lot for the Brush Mountain trails and I was able to get a group photo.

There are rewards for the pain. From here, there was a wonderful descent into Irving center. On previous rides this area, we had stopped at the store at the bottom- the intersection with Rte 2. But, I noted it had changed hands into a restaurant, so that is why we fueled up in Northfield center.

A couple miles on the very busy Rte 2, we took a left over the Millers Falls River- with a kind of questionable bridge.

After a safe crossing, there is a little climb… this is Farley Rd. I love this area because there are few cars and it is parallel to the Millers River for a while. I don’t love that it is quite an ascent to Wendell.

In the center of Wendell I routed us down Montague Rd and then West St for a change. West St was freshly paved and proved to be a very fun and fast roll.

We passed Lake Wyola and continued down, down, and down N. Leverett Rd. Frank took the head on this stretch for a long time. I had forgotten how nice, and long, of a descent this was. We held a petty good clip down this, despite my Garmin telling me I was doing 10 MPH (tree cover, I guess).

Crossing Rte 63, and 47, I put us on lovely Montague back roads to hook us back onto the familiar Falls Rd and eventually Rte 47 in Sunderland.

I was cooked at this point and dreading the ride back on Rte 47. The wind had changed to “unfavorable for us suckers”, but wow. Mike Y and Frank S took some massive, long pulls to drag my tired butt back to Hadley. I put in all I could to hang on to their wheels. Once we turned onto Cemetery Rd I gave up and sat up.

We all split off to our various homeward trails along the bike path. I arrived in Northampton about 2:15. 17.3 MPH for the route- impressive and amazing group!

And about homeward trails... the sky had looked a bit threatening as we were rolling into Northampton. I got completely soaked on my ride back home to Easthampton in what amounted to a "very isolated 15 minute downpour".