4/27 through 5/9 Lots of trail work and a bit more riding

Rides - Wednesday April 29 - I led the moderate pace weekly PV NEMBA ride out of Bikes-Unlimited in Greenfield. Tonight we met the group at Wendell State Forest and took 'the road less traveled'. I let the bunch around the pond loop, out to the Maple Leaf Trail and up the Bob-is-Fat Trail. From there, we darted a short distance down Baker Rd and took the fearsome left onto the Mormon Hollow Return Trail (only we rode in the out to not return from direction). This trail is relatively new, and for most of its existance it has been unrideable (or at least unenjoyable) for most riders. For some reason this winter was kind to it and it is riding like the gem we hoped it would be when we built it. It still proved quite the workout, so we opted to take the fireroads back to Park HQ after a short section of the Hannah Swarton's Remove.

Total Distance 6.45 - Climbing 1002 ft average HR 143 Max 181.

Monday May 4 - Matt and I returned to Wendell, he after Winding Trails on Sunday and me after the wining and dining of Parent's weekend with Jeff. We went down the M&M from Ruggles Pond, crossed the Mt Grace land and then took Jerusalem Rd all the way to the Mormon Hollow Return. Return we did, finding the trail climbed just as nicely as it descended on Wednesday. But that wasn't the end of things today. We dropped down Bob-is-Fat and wound through the swamp to the Nipmuck. One of the favorite trails in Wendell, some of the youngsters have deemed it necessary to build some 'wicked cool berms' on some of the corners. Problem is they haven't a clue what makes a berm work, nor how to make a good berm. All they ended up with was piles of mushy dirt just off the natural tread of the trail. Makes you wonder...

Back up Baker Rd, out to Moosetrax and down the Lookout Trail. Really nice day.


Total Distance 10.55 - Climbing 1937 ft average HR 157 Max 182

Wednesday May 6 - NEMBA BU Ride again, this time from Eaglebrook. A very large turnout that we managed to keep together except for one kid who was clearly over his head. We hit Mud-Mile to Blueberry, then the Road to Crystal Cave, Back up to the Friend's trail, Keets Rd out to the gate, The XC Trail to Eric's. Unamed to the XC Trail and out to the vertical climb up to the Pocumtuck Ridge. From there along the ridge to the Powerlines, down the lines and back on the road.

Total Distance 9.73 Climbing 1335 ft average HR 150 Max 189

Saturday - Race #3 - UMass Cycling Club's Orchard Assault. It was raining lightly, on a promised partly cloudy morning as I prepared to hit the line. The rain stopped just before the whistle blew as 30 some odd Cat 2s headed up the fireroad for the start-finish line. The course winds up and down a 200' hill on the Amherst campus. Plenty of Mud, plenty of downhills and plenty of climbing. This was an open race, so no age buffer in the finish positions - nice for the plethora of Collegiate As that don't have USA Cycling licenses and have to race as 2s - not so nice for 50+ guys. I managed 21st, about 20 minutes off the fastest.

Total Distance 9.76 Climbing 1911ft aver HR 173 Max 188

Interspersed with the riding, was another bunch of trail work days. Twice in Hawley both weeks, and once each week in Wendell - another 20+hours buffing our best Single Track. At this point Wendell is just about clean of the ice storm debris. Hawley is approaching 50-60%, but there was a session up there while I was racing at UMass, hopefully we get to 70-80% by next weekend. I will say, once we get finished up there, the riding will be world class - most of these trails have needed the face slappers and derailleur biters cleared for a long while. Everything we are hitting now is getting a hard rake and heavy lop in addition to the clearing of the ice storm devestation.