Ride Reports and News

For this year's winter Zwift season on Thursday nights, we are trying a new format, and participating in the WTRL Team Time Trial. This is one of the largest racing series on Zwift, with hundreds of teams competing every week, on a variety of courses.

Teams consist of between three and eight riders, and can be mixed-gender, with mixed ability levels. We can enter multiple teams if we have more than eight riders interested in participating in a given week. All riders on the team ride together, alternating pulls, with a goal of achieving the fastest possible time. Races are on Thursday nights at 7PM Eastern, and usually last between 30 and 45 minutes.

To participate, you need to take the one-time step of creating a free account at WTRL. Once your account is set up, there will be a sign-up link posted each week, which you will click in order to register for that week's event. Then you just show up in Zwift and enter the event as usual, and you will be placed on the starting line with other riders on the team. We use Discord for voice communication during the race, which is super-important in a TTT to coordinate pulls and race strategy. You can access our Discord channel here (https://is.gd/nccdiscord).

Our first week's race will be on Thursday October 23 at 7PM Eastern, on the Greater London 8 course in London. This is a challenging 15-mile course, featuring a downtown loop, a climb up Box Hill, a descent, and a finish back on the flat roads downtown. The sign-up link is here. (https://www.wtrl.racing/RacePass/Yk1lckh1Z2RZSFpkRWROdVZqSEZaeWNtVFkxTElCWVF6UmJWR012dE50ST0=)

If you have any questions about participating, feel free to post here or email me at jonathan.okeeffe@gmail.com.

(As told by Joe Lellman via e-mail)

We had five congenial, committed, consummate cyclists for today's SMR.  I apologize for the lateness of my organizing of this event, and I'm sorry that Jaime, Frank, and Madeline (finally spelled it correctly!) weren't able to participate, for various reasons.  We met at Pulaski Park at 10, and found Mayor Sciarra and a group of volunteers there, picking up trash.  We had Tim Pitkin, Brent A., Shawn L., Wendy K., and me.  We rolled out from the Park at 10:08, and headed through town to pick up the rail trail and cross over the river.  We picked up Bay Rd and took it to Hulst Rd.  Ultimately, we made the biggest climb of the day on Gulf Rd.  Very scenic, with minimal traffic.  Then, down to Rte 202, where we headed north and paused at the Pelham overlook (see enclosed photo).  Traffic on 202 wasn't great with fast moving cars and a lot of drivers who hadn't gotten the memo about the Vulnerable Road Users Law.  From there, we continued north and turned left on Prescott Rd, which was the second hill of the day.  Gradients up to 12.5%, and quite a bit of 9 and 10 %.  Then, down to Lake Wyola and down North Leverett Rd to Cave Hill Rd, which was our third hill.  The pace was pretty steady throughout and the group worked well together.  We made a quick pit stop at Cushman Market, then came home on Pine St, Knightly, and Rte 47.  It was a really solid ride, and everyone seemed to like the route.  I had 56.5 miles and just shy of 3,000 feet of elevation, and a little less than 3 and a half hours, from my home in Florence.  

I really wanted to ride up to Greylock this Saturday. It has been sort of a tradition each fall to enjoy(?) an epic ride to, up and back down the highest elevation in Massachusetts. I had been “promoting” it for weeks and had many riders “very interested”. Well, when it came down to this past week trying to get some commitments, there were just not enough. Normally I just plan and post rides, and enjoy it no mater the number of riders that show up. But, with an epic route like Greylock- you really do need more than just two riders.

On Friday I decided to trash my route idea and attempt to rally riders into a very scenic, half the climbing and mileage, route up to Vermont. That worked.

I kept it a remote start from Shelburne Falls but moved up the start time to 9 AM since, well, it is warmer then, and we were not riding 100 miles.

On my way up to Shelburne Falls, I got a call from Madeline. Her car was dead. I was in the perfect place on I-91 to detour over to Hatfield center to pick her and her bike up. I am so glad this worked out so easily- I know that if I was not able to make it to a ride it sure would turn into a sad Saturday for me!

We arrived in Shelburne Falls a tad bit late, needing warm warmers for a little but for would turn to be clear skies and up to 80’s(F). It turns out that we were not the latest to arrive. When we got to McCusker’s, Wendy and Elissa were there….and Wendy had thought she was late! I had been expecting two others so we waited a bit, and at about 9:15 Frank drove up, he had missed the turn. So we waited for him, and it was well after 9:30 before we rolled out. Luckily, nobody had time constraints. A great group of five.

I made a decision to change the route slightly based on the bad *** riders that showed up. From our adventures riding this route counter-clockwise in July, I knew that there was a bridge replacement in Charlemont. My original route had us avoiding that by going 12 miles on Rte 2 to our turn up Zoar. I decided that I did not want to have all that traffic on Rte 2, and to have us hike around the bridge instead. Of course, it added the “Buckland Bumps” into the mix, which certainly woke up our climbing legs right away.

This was a good choice. Much quieter. We crossed Rte 2, bringing us to Zoar, and the start of the long climb into Rowe. This segment is nothing to sneeze at. It is a 7.44 mile, 1461′ gain to the Vermont border.There is not a lot to say here… it is quiet, beautiful (runs by Pelham Brook)- just amazing.

From there it was a slog up to the State Line- but certainly not hard on the eyes. I don’t think I had a single car pass me. The views to the east, west, and even north were incredible. The state line did not have a marker, except for perhaps a granite stone. I only knew we were in Vermont because my bike computer said so. This is my kind of riding.

It was not all down hill from the state line. There were some awesome descents, but some work do to on climbs. Again, the scenery did not hurt! The route purposely took us by Sadawaga Lake. But, Wendy, Frank & Madeline did not make the turn (ahem- two of the three had the route in their bike computers..). Well, Elissa and I enjoyed the lake view and huffed it up Town Hill Rd to the”top”… the rest of the crew eventually did pop out at the same place, via Poverty Row. At the top we took the usual group photo.

We enjoyed the fast (and again, beautiful) descent to VT 100 and the Jacksonville Country Store. 

The County Store was way less stocked up than in July. Very little to choose from- but the baked goods were popular and sandwiches to order. We filled our bottles and bellies- by this time is was HOT. Like July all over again.

Downhill all the way home now? Um no- not on my rides. It was a very enjoyable pedal for a bit over a mile on a seemingly downward Rte 112. But wait- a ride I design is not done without some final pain. We turned up Rte 8A. Did I say UP? Yeah. At this point we were discussing that the mileage is low for a Saturday ride and that some don’t understand the effort in all the climbs. So– more miles or more elevation? What is your preference?

And then all that was left is the fast and fun descent down 8A to Adamsville Rd. I knew I had not done this in a long time, if at all. Turns out I did ride down this way back in 2013 on a much longer ride. Today, Frank was on the front a lot, and despite the head wind, he kept us moving and I really enjoyed sailing down this stretch of road. There was one small gravel section where the road was under construction, I was a bit concerned how fast Frank flew over it with his dry-rotted (!) front tire… but all was well.

Wendy turned off for home at Rte 112, and the remaining four of us pedaled back into Shelburne Falls. But that was not enough miles or climbing for me.

I proposed a loop up to Conway center to grab a metric century for the day. Frank and Elissa had enough of my crazy ideas, but Madeline was in, and so we headed up to Conway. Although I was feeling good- I did say ‘up’… that was fine. But, a section of the road was all gravel heading into the center of Conway. Amazingly in this section of horrible tar smell and gravel, we passed at least four other cyclists. One, with a flat. I almost called and audible and turned around… I really did not want a flat tire at this stage. I guess the amazingly part here is we did not get a flat. As we approached the center, there was a “detour”, which turned out to be an antique car show….it was pretty cool. We looped back to endure the hill again, and the awful road. The reward was a mostly “down” back to Shelburne Falls.

I ended the day with 65.8 miles and 4974′ of elevation.  Great group, fun riding and best of the season scenery.

Over the many years I have been leading NCC Saturday rides, a trip to Peru, MA has been sort of a tradition. I first led the NCC up to Peru ten years ago, and maybe even before that. There are many ways to get there and I have ridden many different routes to the center of Peru. This year, my fitness is pretty low, (aka, I am lazy/busy with other things) but I decided to lead the ride anyway, as several members asked if I’d be doing the Peru loop.

The weather has continued to be good to us- a beautiful Saturday morning in the upper 50’s (F), that was humid and warmed up to near 80 at the end with humidity like it is August. I admit that I did have my arm warmers on during my ride to Northampton.

Four other riders met me at the start- Madeline, Mike Y, Tim P, and Christian. A bit less than I had expected considering all the interest I had previous weeks. But this time of year is so busy filled with fall events, and that cyclo-cross thing!

My route choice this time was fairly simple, but hard to avoid those “numbered roads”. Previous trips to Peru have included dirt sections and some beautiful side roads.

Out of downtown Northampton it was all Rte 66— up, up, up more. We all stayed together for a little while, but as the grade increased, we spaced out, and regrouped at Outlook Farm. From there, there is a bit of a descent, but, not a lot of relief- up and up and up. We regrouped again at Allen Coit Rd- which is “the top”. From here, we enjoyed a fun and curvy descent down to Rte 112 in Huntington, where Christian left us to head back to Northampton. Now were four.

In Huntington, we stopped at the local variety store to top off liquids since the next opportunity would be well over two hours away.

And, just like that, it was time to climb the Skyline Trail. It starts off very hard. And really does not have any easy parts. I am not able to find any official history on how it got the name, but it is certainly an appropriate name because on both sides of the road in many places, you can see, well, the skyline!

The Skyline Trail has many Strava Segments. This one is mostly the whole thing, up to where we turn off for Peru (skipping Hinsdale). That is 15.31 miles, 2191 feet of ascent over an hour or so! My excuse for worst personal time is that the group stopped a couple of times to wait up (and thanks for that you strong riders!) for me. Usually we are all together or just regroup at the turn to Peru.

Our turn off of the Skyline Trail onto South St looped us around Peru State Forrest and up a final, very punishing climb into the center of Peru. Fun fact that I always mention: Peru is the highest incorporated town center in all of Massachusetts. From Wikipedia: Peru has the highest mean altitude in Massachusetts and, along with neighboring Windsor, is one of only two municipalities in the state with a mean elevation above 2,000 feet.

As aways, we took the obligatory Peru group photo.

To think is is all down hill from Peru to Northampton is silly. At least it feels good for a while. Heading east on Rte 143 was beautiful. Nice, smooth, fast.  Until it wasn’t. I was a bad ride leader and did not check for construction.

Apparently, Rte 143 is undergoing a $16M improvement project- widening the road and improving drainage from the Peru line to Cold St in Worthington. The dirt section was wet and took out more watts from me than I expected. But, it could have been worse.

We stopped at the Four Corners Grocery in Worthington to top off bottles. And from there it was a lovely, fast descent east to West Chesterfield, where the fun abruptly ended, having to climb the wall after crossing the Westfield River. It was sunny and hot, and not too pleasant.

The rest of the crew waited patiently at the center of Chesterfield for me. Then we were off to our final climb of the day – up East St. Just before this starts to descend into Westhampton, we regrouped one last time, we said our goodbyes, as we all were going to scatter different routes at the bottom.

When I got home I had chalked up 75 miles and nearly 6000′ over five hours of moving time. Another awesome trip to Peru in the books.

A ride to Greylock is still on my mind for next weekend, starting in Shelburne Falls. However, I have not had too many solid “takers” on it. If you are more than a 50% please do comment below, or contact me directly so I get an idea of how many might come along to suffer.

(As told by Joe Lellman via e-mail)

I sent an email about leading an SMR at the last minute, and Tim posted the ride to RWGPS. We met at 9:30 at JFK, with 6 total riders including me, Elissa F, Eric W, Mike Y, Mike H, and Noah, who is the boyfriend of Mike H's daughter Emma. I had a little time constraint, so planned a simple Cosby loop. The weather was perfect, as it has been the past few weeks.

Noah had some mechanical issues with Mike H's old bike which required a couple of unscheduled stops, but we made it into Shelburne Falls in pretty good time. At that point, several small factions formed: one that wanted to go longer by riding into Ashfield (Mike Y and Eric W), a faction that wanted to look at the flowers on the Bridge of Flowers (Mike H. and Noah), and Elissa and me, who wanted to get home lickety-split. Therefore, I can't report on the other riders from then on, but I can report on Elissa's and my ride home from Shelburne Falls.

Because Elissa knew that I needed to get home ASAP (to drive to Putney to watch Charlotte race the West Hill Cross), she went right to the front and DRILLED IT!! The only time she sat up was to take a gel, and as soon as she finished it she went right back to the front and towed me all the way home with an impressive turn of speed the entire time. I had a little difficulty holding her wheel, and Strava said that I PR'd one of the segments there. It was impressive. I ended up with 47.7 miles, 3 hours, and 3,110 feet of elevation. It was a very enjoyable morning.

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".

Join us for pizza and drinks to celebrate another fabulous group ride season. While this may mark the end of some outdoor club rides, keep an eye on the calendar for rides that will continue through the fall! When: Wednesday, September 17th from 7:15-9pm Where: Northampton Bicycle (319 Pleasant St) Hopefully many members will hop on a club ride prior to gathering, but it's certainly not required. Come as you are, whether that's spandex, business casual, socks and sandals, or perhaps a tux. RSVP here for pizza and drinks!

We wrapped up the 2025 time trial and hillclimb series tonight and it was quite a finale! After having to yell at a stupid driver at the start who felt that getting around 9 riders waiting to start the time trial with almost 2 car widths to maneuver by us might have been a gross inconvenience, we all settled into a nice peddling rhythm against a mildish headwind.

No PRs tonight but here are the results:

1. Sam Veggeberg; Time: 21:54; 25.21 mph; 10 points

2. Frank Sleegers; Time: 22:49; 24.19 mph; 9 points

3. Andy MacDonald; Time: 23:32; 23.46 mph; 8 points

4. Jonathan O'Keeffe; Time: 23:41; 23.31 mph; 7 points

5. Joe Lellman; Time: 24:01; 22.98 mph; 6 points

6. Melissa Warwick; Time: 24:40; 22.38 mph; 5 points

7. Tim Pitkin; Time: 25:10; 21.93 mph; 4 points

8. David Goodwin; Time: 25:37; 21.55 mph; 3 points

9. Madeline Nagy; Time: 25:43; 21.46 mph; 2 points

10. Shawn Lakota; Time: 30:00; 18.4 mph; 1 points

Shawn flatted about a mile from the finish and asked that I give him a DNF but I instead just gave him a slow time. Hope you'll be okay with this, Shawn!

So the TT men's final standings could not have been any closer. Frank, in spite of spending the summer in Germany, took 1st with 60 points. 2nd was Andy with 59 points and 3rd was Jonathan with 58. WOW!

The TT women's final standings were a little more spread out. 1st was Madeline with 45 points, 2nd was Melissa with 39 points and 3rd was Alicia with 9 points.

The Overall men's top three were Andy in 1st with 155, Sam in 2nd with 136 and Jonathan in 3rd with 135.

The Overall women's top three were Madeline in 1st with 104, Melissa in 2nd with 95 and Phoebe in 3rd with 37.

Congrats to everyone who participated in any event this year. A special thanks to Jonathan for all his awesome background data machinations and for filling in during the three weeks that I was away.

In the final hillclimb of our 2025 series, we had 11 riders tackle this beautiful climb on an absolutely beautiful evening. There were 9 riders for the 5:30 mass start and 2 riders at another time. Surprisingly, the fastest time of the night was from someone who has done a few of these this year, but never reported his time to me. Beau Guenther posted a Strava time of 8:42 which put him in first over our winner Ryan by almost a minute. YIKES!

Today's official results are as follows:

1. Ryan Davis; Time: 9:35; 11.83 mph; 12 points

2. Garret Theberg; Time: 10:27; 10.85 mph; 11 points

3. Sam Veggeberg; Time: 10:59; 10.32 mph; 10 points

4. Nick Davis; Time: 12:13; 9.28 mph; 9 points

5. Andy MacDonald; Time: 12:23; 9.16 mph; 8 points

6. David Goodwin; Time: 13:08; 8.63 mph; 7 points

7. Shawn Lakota; Time: 13:40; 8.3 mph; 6 points

8. Madeline Nagy; Time: 13:49; 8.21 mph; 5 points

9. Jonathan O'Keeffe; Time: 14:05; 8.05 mph; 4 points

10. Tim Pitkin; Time: 14:17; 7.94 mph; 3 points

11. Frank Sleegers; Time: 15:38; 7.25 mph; 2 points

12. Joe Lellman; Time: 16:08; 7.03 mph; 1 points

There were two PRs tonight - Shawn by 1:05 and Garret by 0:31.

The final Hillclimb podium looks like this:

Men - Sam with 115 points, Ryan with 114 (!!!) and Andy with 96.

Women - Madeline with 59 points, Melissa with 56 and Phoebe with 37.

Thanks to all who participated this year. 

Next week is the Short Time Trial and is the last race of the series.

Except for one (okay, maybe 2) outlier(s), times for the "Race of Truth" tonight were unusually tight, only 2 minutes separated 2nd from 10th. We had a pretty respectable tailwind heading north to the McClellan Farm Road turnaround point (and one fairly slow moving tractor that all of us needed to get around). The headwind on the way back was as expected.

However, Chas Mathers did the TT at some other time today and, as he has in the past, blew the time standard deviation out the window. Frank S, just back from basking in Germany all summer, returned to clock a great time for second. Madeline and I traded attacks on the return trip and passed each other more times than I can accurately remember.

No PRs tonight. However, the men's TT leaderboard sees a three way tie between Frank, Jonathan and Andy (51 points) and will be decided in two weeks at the short TT. The women's leaderboard is pretty much wrapped up with Madeline amassing 43 points to Melissa's 34.

In the Overall men's race, Andy has a decent lock on first with 139 points with Jonathan a distant 124. In the women's race, Madeline also is sitting pretty with 97 points to Melissa's 90.

Here are today's results:

1. Charles Mathers; Time: 30:03; 25.16 mph; 11 points

2. Frank Sleegers; Time: 33:10; 22.79 mph; 10 points

3. Andy MacDonald; Time: 33:22; 22.66 mph; 9 points

4. Shawn Lakota; Time: 33:59; 22.25 mph; 8 points

5. Jonathan O'Keeffe; Time: 34:05; 22.18 mph; 7 points

6. Madeline Nagy; Time: 34:43; 21.78 mph; 6 points

7. Richard McWalter; Time: 34:45; 21.76 mph; 5 points

8. Melissa Warwick; Time: 34:57; 21.63 mph; 4 points

9. Joe Lellman; Time: 35:12; 21.48 mph; 3 points

10. David Goodwin; Time: 35:23; 21.37 mph; 2 points

11. Roberto Ludovico; Time: 38:42; 19.53 mph; 1 points

Next week is the last hillclimb of the series and is the short but sweet Skinner Mountain climb.