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.
