ABC Ride: Wednesday, October 15 at 10:30 a.m. from Davis Field, Sudbury

[Joel Arbeitman]

This Wednesday, October 15 at 10:30 a.m., the Ashland Bike Club has scheduled one of our newest ABC routes. We’ll meet in the Davis Field lot in Sudbury, Ma.

GPS Address:  Davis Field parking lot (195 North Rd – aka Route 117), Sudbury

Route Name:  ABC – Three Bike Paths and Lake Boon

Ride Rating:
Distance:   Moderate (25.0)
Elevation:  Easy (37)
Total Gain: 933 feet
Steepest:    7.9%

The Weather
The forecast for Wednesday is calling for a partly cloudy, cool day with temps starting out around 58 degrees but then soaring up to, well, around 60. It could be a bit breezy so be sure to dress accordingly.

Saturday is looking good for ABC’s visit to the Nashua River Rail Trail.

Wednesday’s Ride
We used to love visiting scenic Lake Boon but we hated having to ride on Hudson Rd in Sudbury to get there because there is so much traffic. Well, problem solved!

Wednesday’s route takes advantage of all the new bike trails in Metrowest to get us to the lake a much safer way.

Our modified route gives us multiple chances to ride on the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (BFRT), the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT), and even a very short section of the Assabet River Trail (ART) in Hudson. Although there are a couple of hills on the route, overall, using all the bike paths gets us a very flat route.

The 25-mile distance is very typical for an ABC ride and the elevation should be a piece of cake for our riders.

Here’s a link to a map of the route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/51622874

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 often includes tidbits we’ve come across that we think are worth sharing.  Please let us know what you think.

Ashland Bike Club Radio
The Moody Blues – I Know You’re Out There Somewhere

Going Around in Circles
Go online into Reddit’s Massachusetts forum and rarely a day goes by where someone isn’t going on and on about those Massachusetts drivers.  Inevitably, the discussion comes around to blaming cyclists and even pedestrians.

Some of the criticism is obviously well-deserved.

But some questionable on-road behavior is being caused by the infrastructure we drive on, ride on, and walk on.

Especially with regard to cycling, it is painful to watch how far behind many other countries the US has fallen.

On ABC rides, we often ride past our left turn, make a right, a u-turn, and a left, and then turn right where we could have just turned left in the first place. Some think what we do is kind of nutty. We do this because taking a left off a busy road, especially with a long string of riders, can be dangerous.

Well, apparently some roadway engineers agree with us.

Check out this article about the end of roundabouts and a new design called RCUT that eliminates left turns at certain busy intersections:  https://www.philaplace.org/cities/farewell-to-roundabouts-how-a-smarter-intersection-design-is-changing-american-roads-forever-48792/

Green Lights Only
A city in the UK is testing a system that would turn most traffic lights green when cyclists approach an intersection. How cool would that be? Innovation and experimentation seem more common in Europe but perhaps, someday, we might see this in the US.

Read the article:  https://www.fastcompany.com/91413423/these-traffic-lights-use-ai-to-always-turn-green-for-cyclists

To recap, Wednesday’s ABC ride will meet at 10:30 a.m. in the Davis Field parking lot (195 North Rd - Route 117) Sudbury, Ma. 

Check your email on Wednesday morning after 9:00 a.m. to make sure we didn’t postpone or cancel the ride and … don’t forget those helmets!!

See you soon.

Joel