ABC Ride: Saturday, July 11 at 10: 30 a.m. from Habitat ReStore, Ashland

[ABC Riders]

Hi everyone.

The Ashland Bike Club’s next ride has been scheduled for this Saturday, July 11 at 10:30 a.m.

Saturday’s ride will begin at the Habitat Restore, 310 Pond St (aka Route 126) in Ashland.  There’s plenty of free parking available but please park in the perimeter of the lot as far from the stores as possible to allow room for their customers.

GPS Address:  310 Pond St (aka Route 126), Ashland, Ma

Route Name:  ABC – The Natick Darn

Ride Rating:
Distance:  Moderate (24.3)
Elevation: Moderate-Challenging (55)
Total Gain: 1334 feet
Steepest:  7.7%

Saturday’s Weather
The forecast for Saturday is calling for a partly cloudy day with intervals of sunshine and temps ranging between 77 and 81 degrees.

At this time, it looks like we might have to cancel next Wednesday’s ride (96 degrees!!) and even next weekend looks a little rainy.  All this could change, but, as we always say, ride while you can!! Stay tuned for updates …

The Ride
We’ve used most of the roads before but this is a brand-new route. The really good news is that we eliminated that awful hill we used to encounter just after the ride began.

Rumors have it that the historic Natick Dam on the Charles River in South Natick has been torn down. This route will give us a chance to check it out for ourselves. In addition to a rest stop at the ex-dam, now affectionately renamed to the Natick Darn, we’ll be travelling past the horse farms and estates in Sherborn with tons of great country scenery.

Our usual rest stop area at the darn “might” be closed due to the ongoing construction. If so, we hope to have access to another park directly across the river.

Distance-wise, the route comes in right around a typical ABC ride but, although there really aren’t any killer hills, overall this is a hilly route.

Here’s a link to a map of Saturday’s route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56046672

You can print our “official cue sheet” for the ride by clicking the link above, then click “More”, then click “Print Map and Cue PDF”, and finally click “Print Official”.

Emergency Contact Form
Have you provided ABC with your emergency contact information yet? It has come to our attention that a few of our regular riders and a few new riders have not.

If you haven’t or if your contact information has changed, please follow the instructions below. If there are no changes and you provided this information to us in the past, we still have your contact information so you’re all set.

The Ashland Bike Club has created an online “Emergency Contact Form” that offers our riders the opportunity to provide us with their contact information and also their emergency contact information.  Completion of the form is optional but recommended.  If you would like us to be able to contact someone in case of emergency, this is the information we’ll need. We recently needed to call one of our riders but didn’t have their phone number.

We bring an up-to-date list of everyone’s contact information on every ride.

The EMERGENCY CONTACT FORM can be reached by clicking here.

Off The Route

Ashland Bike Club Radio
Magic, Mystery, and Potions …
Fleetwood Mac – Hypnotized
Iris DeMent – Let the Mystery Be
The Searchers – Love Potion Number 9
The Lovin Spoonful – Do You Believe in Magic
The Dubs – Could This Be Magic

Flying E-Bikes?
My only comment on this is “no”. Just “no”. Not every new idea is a good idea!

Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlaoR5m4L80

Is half a bike better than none?
Well, this one is a little less insane.  It could have possibilities for those with very limited storage space and it seems like it should be safe enough if properly engineered.

Check it out:  https://www.core77.com/posts/144626/Strange-Mobility-The-Halfbike-Pro-a-Compact-Bicycle-with-No-Seat

Be sure to check your email after 9:00 a.m. on Saturday to make sure the ride was not cancelled or postponed.

See you soon and … don’t forget those helmets!

Joel