Tuesday 8/11 Charlie Ride Report

I think I called in sick for this one, or maybe this was the one that I sucked so bad on I decided not to write a report.
Anyway, here's Charlie's report (used without permission).

Partly cloudy last night, with very little wind. About 86F at the start, very humid which made for a heat index of 93F.

Once again another great turnout, with 40-50 riders for the intermediate ride and maybe 8 or so riders for the “A” ride.

For last night’s fun filled evening, Daren decided on the loop around the Wachusetts reservoir. I was in the back at the start and a small group of us did not make the very first light at Route 12. We did not make the second one either so the chase to catch back up was on. I was in the big ring before we went by Leominster Hospital and it was pretty much full gas going up Washington Street and we caught back up at the end of Washington at the West street intersection. From here it was pretty much a steady tempo all the way up Pleasant street except for the harder effort required up to the farm at the top.

We regrouped at North Row road and you could really feel the heat and by this time I was dripping wet. Daren indicated that the next re-grouping point would be near the old stone church in West Boylston. So a fast decent to Route 12 then a nice fast tempo all the way to the second re-grouping point. I did pause for a moment of contemplation when we crossed over the railroad bridge on which I had crashed a few weeks back. The pothole is still there and I was riding well away from it as we blasted past.

Short stop at the store at the intersection of route 12 and route 140, then onward on Route 140 to the next turn onto route 70 in Boylston. I thought things might turn up a notch on the climb up to Boylston center but no raging hormones were in evidence from the young guns which was a good thing. From here it was pretty much a steady tempo all the way to Clinton. Just before we started down the Clinton dam hill I could see dark clouds to the North and rain which looked like we were headed for.

Re-grouped in Clinton and headed for home. As we approached route 70 in Lancaster it kept getting darker and darker. As usual the hammer dropped as soon as we got on route 70 and very shortly after that the rain and wind came soaking everyone. The last 4-5 miles back to the shop were not a lot of fun.

The temperature had dropped to 73F when we finished at 8am. It was very dark but that was due to the storm I think. Were losing 2 minutes of daylight each day now. So 14 minutes less daylight next Tuesday night.

When I arrived at my house in West Townsend it was bone dry, no rain at all last night.


COVAC in 32 days, Sunday Sept 13th.