ABC Ride: Saturday, August 30 at 10:30 a.m. from Ashland Community Center
Joel Arbeitman
The Ashland Bike Club’s next ride has been scheduled for Saturday, August 30 at 10:30 a.m. from the Ashland Community Center in Ashland.
GPS Address: 162 W. Union St (aka Route 135), Ashland, Ma (please park in the rear lot)
Route Name: ABC – The AHHA Route
Ride
Rating:
Distance: Easy (20.9)
Elevation:
Moderate-Challenging
(50)
Total Gain: 1055 feet
Steepest: 7.8%
Saturday’s
Weather
Saturday’s
forecast calls
for a very sunny day with temps between 66 and 71.
The
Ride
Why
did we call this the AHHA route?
Because
it starts in Ashland, then goes to Hopkinton, then to Holliston,
and then back
to Ashland. The route
travels on quiet,
scenic, country roads with lots of farms and natural settings. It’s just
our second time doing this exact route although most of the
roads will be
familiar.
The ride is very “roller coasterish” with lots of ups and downs. Most of the hills are fairly easy but there are a few tough ones on the route as well. Overall, we’ve rated the ride distance as “easy” and the hills as “moderate-challenging”.
An optional post-ride lunch at Mexico City, which is just up the street on Route 135 from the Ashland Community Center, is a possibility.
Here’s a link to a map of Saturday’s route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49079310
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”.
Off the
Route
Our “Off the Route” feature
includes interesting
topics that we think are worth sharing with the ABC cycling
community. Please let
us know what you think.
Ashland Bike Club Radio
Graham Nash & David Crosby – Southbound
Train
Twenty is plenty?
In ABC’s last “Off the Route”, we talked about the US
experiencing
40,000 roadway deaths every single year. We raised, for
discussion, the
possibility of adding technology to cars and trucks to limit
their top speed to
whatever the speed limit sign says.
Without massive cultural change and lots and lots of public education, the reaction to this would likely be strong objections because it violates our individual freedoms.
But, think about it. Should we be free to drive too fast and cause 40,000 deaths a year? Liberty shouldn’t mean that we are free to do whatever we like. If we don’t like a given speed limit, there should be a process to change it. That process should not include, however, letting everyone go at any speed they like.
But how do most speed limits get set in the first place?
This article has the details: https://www.carscoops.com/2025/08/why-the-formula-behind-americas-speed-limits-could-be-making-roads-more-dangerous/
Would you support any technology that would limit your top speed to the speed limit? Would you support it if It were shown to save lives?
Or … Perhaps just a warning?
The forced speed restriction is likely to be a very, very
tough sell. But,
California is looking at a different approach that would
require new cars to
issue a warning when you exceed more than 10 mph over the
local speed limit.
Would you sign up for that?
Read the article: https://apnews.com/article/california-speed-limits-legislature-beep-a3929fb17849ee93827b8575610dca12
Be sure to check your email after 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning to make sure we didn’t cancel or postpone the ride and … don’t forget those helmets.
Hope to see you soon.
Joel