ABC Ride: Saturday, March 15 at 10:30 a.m. across from 27 Park Rd, Ashland
Joel Arbeitman
Hi everyone.
The Ashland Bike Club is scheduling its next “spring warmup” ride for this Saturday, March 15 at 10:30 a.m.
The ride will begin and end at Stone Park in Ashland opposite 27 Park Road. There’s plenty of parking along the park.
GPS address: across from 27 Park Rd, Ashland, Ma. (aka Stone Park)
Route Name: ABC – Spring Warmup 3 (version III) (get the right version)
Ride Rating:
Distance: Easy (14.5)
Elevation: Moderate-Challenging (55)
Total Gain: 803 feet
Steepest: 6.0%
Saturday’s Weather
The
forecast for Saturday is calling for a
somewhat cool day with temps between 48 and 55 under mostly
cloudy skies. While
the forecast
can always change, it looks like we’ll be able to schedule
another ride for
next Wednesday.
The Ride
As with all our early season rides, we plan
to keep
the pace down to give everyone a chance to get back into shape
after the
winter.
This is a really short route at just 14.5 miles but there are plenty of moderate hills (and even one or two tough ones) to help get you into riding shape for the season. The route includes a roll along the scenic Trolley Brook Trail in Ashland, a mostly uphill roll through Hopkinton State Park, and a screaming downhill on the appropriately named Breakneck Hill Road in Southborough on the way back.
Here’s
a link to a map of Saturday’s route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42356204.
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”.
Note on downloading: Even if you already have the route on your phone from a prior ride, it’s always a good idea to ensure you have the latest copy of the route by downloading it again.
ABC 2025 Memberships
Please
note that all memberships from last year expired on January 31. Although our insurance
premium increased
again for 2025 (what else is new), we’re going to keep the same
$10 per year
dues we’ve always had. Riders
who are or
will turn 80 or more this year get a free membership!
If you want to join the club for 2025, dues should be paid any time before your second ride of this season. Our insurance automatically covers all riders for their first ride with the club each year; you will not be covered for subsequent rides until you pay your dues. Memberships can only be paid for with cash; we have no way to accept checks or credit cards. We often are unable to make change; please try to pay with a $10 bill. Thanks!!
Emergency Contact Form
Have you
provided ABC with your emergency contact information yet?
If
you haven’t or if your contact information has changed, please
follow the
instructions below. If you’ve provided your information in a
previous year, we
still have it!
The Ashland Bike Club has created an “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’ll try to 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
From
ABC Radio: The Allman Brothers Band
– Pony
Boy
Bike
Path Funding Is Being Threatened!!!
Bicyclists and bike
trail
advocates (like me!!) could be facing severe funding cuts!!
Please be sure to read the attached document and, more importantly, please take action!!
The
Most Common Bike Repair
Flat tires don’t
happen
often on our rides but they do occur from time to time. Knowing how to fix your
flats is an essential
skill. Some tires are
really easy to
change; some are almost impossible.
Learning a few “tricks” can save you a lot of pain and suffering … and time.
Take a few minutes to read the article.
https://bikerumor.com/tips-from-biketiresdirect-how-to-mount-maintain-bicycle-tires/
What’s
all this Lunacy???
Tomorrow is “pi day”. Saturday is the Ides of
March.
But, tonight, there’s going to be a TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE. The moon is supposed to turn a bright red. Check out the picture in the article below.
To see this amazing event, though, is going to require you to sacrifice a little (or a lot?) of sleep.
Here’s
the schedule for tonight’s eclipse:
Eclipse begins: 11:57
p.m. EDT
Totality: 2:26 a.m.
EDT
Eclipse ends: 6:00
a.m. EDT
If we scheduled bike rides for eclipses, shooting stars, and northern lights, would anyone show up?
Check out the article and the way-cool pic: https://mashable.com/article/total-lunar-eclipse-2025-when
See you this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. across from 27 Park Rd in Ashland.
Remember to check your email after 9:00 a.m. on Saturday to make sure we didn’t postpone or cancel the ride due to weather or other reasons and … don’t forget those helmets!
Joel