Ride Reports and News

On a lovely spring evening, eight riders gathered in South Deerfield to prepare for the Deerfield Time Trial, and to gawk at the robot lawnmower methodically working its way around the fields of the UMass Turf Research Center. The wind felt pretty calm at the start line, but this was just an illusion, and once we were out on the course, it was blowing pretty steadily from the north. This made for a rough outbound leg, but the return trip felt very good.

Sam lapped the field with a winning time of 31:52, and Shawn was not far behind with a strong 32:34. Both of those times were PRs. Andy rounded out the podium a few seconds back at 32:50.

Full season series results available here.

Next week we'll wrap up the first half of our season (already!) with the Skinner Hillclimb on 6/9 at 5:30 PM. Come out and join us!

After all the wind and rain this weekend, we were happy to have a decent night for our second Monday intro ride of the season, with temperatures perhaps a bit on the chilly side, but not too bad. We had five riders, including newcomer Bowen, fresh off a big ride-every-road adventure in Shutesbury yesterday, and Shelby, fresh off her second triathlon of the season yesterday.

Our route took us on a loop around Northampton, a loop that I've done many times, but still struggled to correctly navigate. Fortunately, Jerome and Shelby have done it almost as many times as I have, and were ready to jump in to pick up the slack when I fumbled the route directions.

On our way back into town, we pulled off the bike path for a photo-op at the Florence history mural, where we had to rearrange a few recycling bins in order to get a clear shot. 

We wrapped up around 6:50 PM with 16.1 miles at a fairly brisk pace of 13.3 mph. Jerome and Shelby both notched a bunch of PRs, so I think we were moving pretty well.

Next week we'll be doing our Hatfield loop from Sheldon Field at 5:30 pm -- come and join us!

[EDIT: Charles texted me to mention that he found some keys on the route as he rode up after the group.  He dropped them off at the Northampton Police Department -- thanks Charles!]

It was a lovely evening for tonight's Westhampton hillclimb, with sunny skies and seasonable temperatures. A bit of a wind from the west kept the times on the slow side, with no PRs tonight. We had a group of eleven at the 5:30 start, with several riders having ridden in earlier in the day, and a couple riding a bit later.

Ryan took off from the gun and gapped the field right away, on his way to a wire-to-wire win by almost two minutes ahead of Garret. I settled in to a sizable group for the first half up to Outlook, but Andy pulled away, and a couple other riders dropped off, leaving Richard and me solo for most of the second half. I clung to his wheel but couldn't match his acceleration at the end.

Waiting at the top, we were treated to a low overhead flyby from a Great Blue Heron, and then on the descent had to dodge a Turkey Vulture peeling a squirrel off the road and flying away with it. Nature!

Joe texted me his time this evening from a ride earlier in the day, but it turns out he went to Williamsburg and did the wrong climb. I am going to give him a participation point for the effort.

Next week is the Deerfield Time Trial (note to Joe: just west of the Sunderland bridge, goes north on River Road :-).

Sorry to say that It looks like the rain is not going to abate till almost noon, so I'm cancelling the C ride starting at Keyes street for tomorrow morning.

Justine 

I apologize for posting the ride pretty late, and for not putting it on the NCC calendar.  It was listed on NCC's Ride with GPS event page, but not in a super timely fashion.  

In any event, the group met at Pulaski Park at 9:30, and rolled out with seven riders: me, professor Sleegers, Tim Cary, Elissa Foreman, Marilyn Nage, John Boltcutter, and Shawn Lakota.  We picked up Michael Bello in Leeds.  The weather was quite cool and overcast, and it didn't warm up much during the ride.  In fact, it was downright chilly up in Ashfield.  We did a fairly standard loop:  out to Leeds on Nonotuck, and Spring Sts., then up Audobon to South St into Burgy.  Then, up Ashfield Rd (no one took my offer to take Village Hill Road) to Ludwig.  The pace was pretty spicy, and I had to request a slight slow down.  From the top of Ludwig we hurtled down Brier Hill Rd, and then went up again on Creamery.  We came down Norris Hill Rd to the store formerly known as Elmer's.  Then, a beautiful descent (mostly) of Baptist Corner, and up again on South Shirkshire.  From there, we went down Shelbourn Rd back to Conway, and home on Whately Rd and Haydenville Rd to Burgy.  We took River Rd back to Leeds, and finished the loop on the rail trail.  

I had 50 miles and 3,335 feet of elevation, and an average speed of 15.2 mph.  We took a group photo, but I don't think I can include here.  I put it on my Strava.  Cheers!  Joe L.

Better late than never: Monday Morning ( May 18) C ride Report !

 7 of us ( Kent, Pamela, Sima, Tim, Rob, Sarah and me)rode the Meandering Monday Ride, 36 miles, 2,000 feet of climbing, averaging 13.6 mph.  We started at 9 am to beat the heat, and the weather was lovely. We were back by 12:30.  We rested and refueled at Outlook Farm.

There were more potholes than I remember having been there last season, ( the last time I rode that ride).  Sima's rearview mirror popped off after she hit a pothole, but no other mishaps!

The first week of our Monday Night Intro Ride season kicked off tonight with a group of four tackling the Hadley loop, on a gorgeous evening that felt more like July than May. Ari, Jerome, newcomer Anna and I cruised northbound on Route 47 with a big tailwind, feeling like superheroes. Then we made the turn into the crosswind on Comins Rd, and then into the headwind on Meadow St -- ouch! We climbed the short-but-steep on Breckenridge and then rolled back into Sheldon Field at around 7:00 with 17.3 miles at a brisk pace of 14.6 mph.

We'll take next week off due to the Memorial Day holiday, and then be back in action on June 1 on the Northampton loop. Come and join us!

This past Sunday, a group of NCC racers headed out to Charlemont for the Thunder Mountain Race Day XC event. Thunder Mountain is usually known for its downhill riding, but for one day it was full of racers in lycra grinding their way uphill instead.

Four of us arrived early for a pre-ride lap, and the course was running great. After some twisty singletrack through the woods at the base, the course climbed up a steep flow trail before dropping into a fast jump line and a rock garden that looked a lot more intimidating than it actually rode. From there, riders faced a long drag of a climb up the other side of the mountain before descending Wilderness Trail, which was easily the most technical section of the course.

We had four racers spread across four different categories in the 8:45 start wave, and everyone put together strong rides.

Charlie earned his best finish of the series so far with 7th place in the men’s novice division. Looking at the lap splits, his final lap was actually his fastest of the day. Nice ride Charlie!

Jeremy also had a strong race in the novice 40+ division, finishing just over a minute off 4th after battling with the same group for most of the race.

Blake put his climbing legs and technical skills on display and landed on the podium with 3rd place in the sport 40+ category.

I also had a solid race and was able to hold position for 3rd in the sport men’s category. I'd like to see some proof that the devo rider who left me in his dust is actually 19+...

Sam was the lone wolf representing NCC in the 12:30 heat and put together an impressively steady race in the midday heat, holding even splits across nearly two hours of racing. Strong work, Sam.

Overall, this group had a blast pre-riding and racing together at Thunder. If you’re interested in joining us don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re planning to have a group of racers heading down to Norbrook Farm XC on June 13th. Come join!

We had a dozen riders show up tonight on a lovely sunny spring evening for the Pelham hillclimb. The field split up quite quickly, led by Beau, who sprinted from the get-go and was never seen again. Patrick's ride summary said "I don’t think I’ve ever been dropped before the left turn on this one before", and you can be sure Patrick was moving pretty quickly.

After the rabbits got away, we had a solid group of four or five up the opening stretches of Buffam Rd, before Andy's pace-setting started to take its toll. I clung to his wheel with grim determination, and eventually looked around and noticed there was nobody else with us. I barely managed to get over the first big rise with Andy, and shamelessly sat behind him for most of the flatter middle section. We stayed together up and over the wall, and then I managed to pip him at the end, which made me feel just a tiny bit guilty.

Martin and Madeline came in right behind us in a pretty intense sprint, and Shawn and Melissa had a close finish also. Up in the front, Beau managed to stay ahead of Patrick and Ryan to secure the win, along with an overall #2 time on this climb (behind Owen's phenomenal 16:24 from a few years ago). Several others rode earlier, giving us a total of 15 for the day.

Next week we're back in Hatfield for the Long Time Trial -- come join us!

Full series results are available here.

7 riders started at Keyes street, ( Bill L, Kent, new rider, Rob, Sarah, Sima, Tim, and Myself.  Sarah had a pre-planned split off in Deerfield, so 6 finished the 38 mile 1900 ft climbing loop to Conway, and back. We averaged 13.4 mph. We originally  planned to go to South Deerfield, but Whately road ( a planned detour to avoid the closed bridge on North Main street in South Deerfield) , was completely closed so we pivoted again. and continued south from South Mill Valley road to Whately road/North street and Chestnut Plain road in Whately, crossing 91 and West street to Depot road, and then home through Hatfield.  Sima flatted while we were negotiating the washboard/torn up pavement on Whately road, and it was a group effort to get her back on the road--Thanks Rob! The joke is: 'how many cyclists does it take to change a tire?' --6!

The weather was lovely, and the ride was Lots of fun!