ABC Ride: Saturday, November 2 at 10:30 a.m. from Jefferson Elementary School, Franklin, Ma

[Joel Arbeitman]

The next Ashland Bike Club ride will be held this Saturday, November 2 at 10:30 a.m.  starting from Jefferson Elementary School in Franklin. 

GPS Address:  648 Washington St, Franklin, Ma (aka Jefferson Elementary School, Franklin)

Directions (see map below for roads inside the school complex): 
1.  From Route 495 South, use exit 41 to King St. 
2.  Turn right onto King St (which becomes Washington St) and go 1 mile to Lord Way. 
3.  Turn left onto Lord Way. 
4.  At the t-intersection, turn right and follow the school road until you are just past the school keeping the school on your left.
5.  Turn left when you reach the playing field just before the road curves to the right 
The parking lot we’ll meet in will be on your left. If you are not geographically challenged, the lot is on the west side (i.e. the right side) of the school.  As a gauge, the drive from Ashland should take just about 35 minutes.

Route Name:  ABC – Nancy’s Franklin Ramble

Ride Rating:
Distance:  Moderate (25.1)
Elevation: Moderate (46)  Note: the ride includes one very steep hill
Total Gain: 1152 feet
Steepest:  9.6%

Saturday’s Weather

After two days with record-setting temps, Saturday will bring much cooler weather with temps ranging between 52 and 55 degrees under partly cloudy skies.

 

Does this signal the end of ABC’s warm weather rides?  Nope, the current forecast for Wednesday is calling for 75 degrees.

Saturday’s Ride
As we get later and later into the riding season, it’s always nice to find routes we haven’t done to add some variety to our ride calendar.  With help from ABC’s Nancy and Mike Collette, Saturday’s ride offers not just variety, but some beautiful country roads, some great water views, and even a brand-new ice cream stop.

 

While the route has very typical ups and downs, it also has a really tough uphill at the 21.7-mile mark.  We hope to have a few Ubers standing by for those who need a lift up the hill.

 

We’re really excited about this new route.  We hope you can join us!!

Here's a link to a map of Saturday’s route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48860542

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

 

How much tech is too much tech?
Everyone knows there are tens of thousands, usually around 40,000, traffic fatalities a year.  A new program might be about to introduce speed limit controllers into government vehicles.  Will our cars be far behind?  These “pilot” programs have a way of expanding.

 

Is this just a little bit too intrusive for you? Who gets to decide on issues like these?  Saving lives is great but don’t we need to draw the line somewhere? 

Would you support this “pilot” program?

Read the article:  https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/advocates-urge-biden-to-curb-speeding-crisis-with-intelligent-speed-assistance-in-government-vehicles

 

How much data are too much data?
There are all kinds of bike riders.  Some are “metric junkies”.  I used to be one but, finally, I was cured.

 

It’s great knowing how many miles you’ve gone or your average speed or how far it is to the next turn.  And I don’t begrudge those who are training and want to measure every little thing like their heart rate or their power output or their VO2 max.

 

For me, though, I would rather enjoy the beautiful countryside with its autumn foliage, its glistening lakes, and the sound of the wind.  I leave all that metric stuff to the bean counters.  I’m not a competitive cyclist.  I don’t measure my rides by what a spreadsheet tells me.  Give me great company, great scenery, a little bit of exercise, and maybe even some food, and I am one happy camper.  Truthfully, I find all that metric stuff kind of depressing.

 

What about you?  Do you record every little detail when you ride?

 

Here’s an article on the subject:  https://cyclingmagazine.ca/mtb/is-overdosing-on-data-destroying-your-ride/

 

To recap this Saturday’s ride, we’ll meet at Jefferson Elementary School in Franklin at 10:30 a.m.

 

As always, check your email after 9:00 a.m. on ride days to make sure we didn’t postpone or cancel the ride and … don’t forget those helmets!

 

See you soon.

 

Joel