Arcadia, RI

Riders:  John Stockford, Andy M., Glenn, Michael, Jill

Started out on the normal route, trail conditions were great, stream conditions were fast and high.  Ended up taking an old route that I didn’t really remember that was super techy, muddy, and loose.  Ended up being a great time on this trail after everyone resigned themselves to wet feet and shoes.  Definitely some super hero riding tonight, we all pulled out our best riding skills to get through this trail, most excellent fun!  No lights so back on the fire road to the parking lot.  Surprisingly wet but thoroughly fun ride.  – Jill

Winding Trails MTB Race

Race Results

Nerac Road Ride

Riders:  John Sattar, John Stockford, Doug, Skip, Kevin, Keith, Dave B., Michael

50 mile route, plenty of hills, plenty of pain, and plenty of fun to go around.  I hear this was a fun and challenging ride, maybe someone will write a firsthand experience as I opted out of this one… – Jill

Mystic Velo Ride

Riders: Mike, Paul, Steve, Jay?, Andy M., John Stockford, Skip, Michael, Jill

This was a great ride! Even better than last week. Even though I know I shouldn’t have I rode 17 miles at lunch and did a 4 mile trail run the day before. Usually I like to rest my legs on Wednesday so they can be fresh for the Thursday ride. The first few pedal strokes were tough and I thought about turning back then all of a sudden my heavy legs turned into climbing legs and I was actually able to ride with the group for 90% of the ride. So exciting!!! Andy and John rode really well, this was pretty much Andy’s first road ride of the season and John was fighting a sinus infection. Michael was putting some hurt on the other riders sprinting up the hills. And we had more than a few kicker hills tonight. Skip gave me some good advice about tucking my arms in on the descents so I can get more speed and stay with the group. I think Paul feels bad about saying my bike was a relic because every ride now he makes a point of mentioning what a “classic” my bike is. It’s ok Paul, I guess it is kind of old. Heard some great stories from Steve about the road races he’s done lately and Mike T. was quiet as usual, just those legs of steel spinning those pedals over and over. – Jill

Bike Rodeo at Parker School in Tolland

Dave and Nancy Barrow from Tolland Bicyle, John Sattar and myself volunteered at a bike rodeo at Parker Middle School in Tolland on April 23rd. John and I performed helmet inspections and adjustments. I realized after a while that almost every child was wearing their helmet incorrectly, or it was too small, or too loose. We were kept quite busy educating the children and parents about the importance of a proper fitting helmet. There were some great pamphlets provided by the state police on bicycle helmet fit and bike safety as well as t-shirts, water bottles, and goodie bags to give each child after they completed the rodeo.

Dave and Nancy checked all the kid’s bikes, brakes, air pressure, and general health of the bikes. Other volunteers also directed a bike safety course teaching the kids how to signal left, right, and how to stop.

This was a great event put on by Ande Bloom, the Health Education Program Coordinator from the Eastern Highlands Health District. It was a pleasure to be able to work with Ande, her enthusiasm is contagious! – Jill

Nerac Lunch Road Ride

Riders: John Sattar, Leo, Natasha, Dave F., Jill

I rarely write about our lunch rides but we had a decent group this time so here is just a little blurb. Natasha was trying to get some miles in for her upcoming triathlon’s, Dave, Leo, and I were looking for a relaxed recovery type of ride, and John was just happy to have so many people to ride with. Natasha is fairly new to biking so we all tried to give her some advice and probably ended up overloading her with what to do, what not to do, etc. It was just one of those rides when the weather is perfect and you could easily just keep on riding vs. heading back to work. Ended up with 17 miles total. – Jill

Soapstone Ride

Riders: Andy M., Michael, Jill

I really, really, really wanted to ride at Soapstone. About 30 minutes into the ride I really, really, really wanted it to be over. Michael was stuck in traffic so Andy and I did the loop across from the Gulf Rd. parking lot then met up with Michael who had a “different” loop in mind. His loop consisted of riding the ridge trail backwards which consisted of quite a bit of hike a bike and climbing. Andy had a great night, I think he made every climb. I’d like to say they had a better ride because they both had big bikes and were able to ride over all the rocky techy stuff but I do have 5 inches of suspension in the front and back so I’ll chalk it up to just having a crappy day. I did enjoy the 2nd half of the ride (after we got off the ridge!). – Jill

Vernon Cycle Road Ride

Riders:  Keith, Matt, Dave, Will, Reva, Michael, Jill
This ride started off pretty good then 5 miles in my chain junked up.  Dave stopped to give me a hand and I realized I didn’t have a chain tool so he rode back to the group to see if anyone else did.  Of course Keith did!  And a quick link but it didn’t fit my bike even though Keith and Michael tried everything to get it to work.  I got seriously razzed because my chain was so dirty, we were all covered in grease.  Then Matt came to the rescue and fixed the chain but I lost several links and couldn’t use my big ring.  It worked out ok though, great mellow route, not too hilly for this time of year and got to meet 3 new riders. – Jill

Winsted Woods MTB Race

Race Results

Middlesex Fells Nemba Ride

Riders:  Andy M., Michael, Jill
This ride was ok.  I’d give it maybe a B- or C+.  It was in Medford, just north of Boston and our ride leader was Howie.  Howie had a lot to say.  Apparently there are a lot of politics going on with this park and many trails are restricted to mountain bikers.  And apparently there are a lot of undesirable behaviors going on in the park.  Let’s just say I wouldn’t ride there by myself.  To be fair the couple stretches of single track they had was pretty good, one part in particular was extra challenging and the group was surprised that all 3 of us cleaned it the first time through.  So I don’t think we’ll be heading back to the Fells to ride again but on a brighter note lunch was great! – Jill