ABC Ride: Saturday, June 13 at 10:30 a.m. from Featherland Park in Sudbury
Joel Arbeitman
Major E-Bike Update – Be sure to read our “Off the Route” section below.
The Ashland Bike Club’s next ride is scheduled for this Saturday, June 13 at 10:30 a.m. from Featherland Park in Sudbury.
GPS Address: 491 Concord Rd, Sudbury, Ma
Note: if the lot is crowded, park right across the street at the Nixon School (472 Concord Rd, Sudbury)
Route Name: ABC – Lap Around Lincoln IV (get the right version)
Ride Rating:
Distance: Moderate (25.2)
Elevation: Moderate-Challenging (48)
Total Gain: 1200 feet
Steepest: 7.5%
The Weather
Saturday’s forecast calls for a very
sunny and
hot day with temps between 80 and 87 and moderate humidity. It should be just a little
less humid than Wednesday’s
(yesterday’s) ride. Be sure to drink plenty of water before,
during, and after
the ride. Start hydrating a day before the ride and keep
drinking after the
ride ends.
If the forecast had been calling for higher temps or higher humidity, we would have encouraged you to stay home and watch the ride on TV.
The
Ride
Our Saturday ABC ride is a brand-new route that,
nevertheless,
incorporates some of our favorite roads.
Most of the route takes us through Lincoln but the Sudbury sections are beautiful, too. Some of the best roads are: Newbridge Rd, Water Row, Old Sudbury Rd (including world-famous Ponyhenge), Tower Rd, and Sandy Pond Rd. We’ve also added an incredibly scenic new road, Baker Bridge Rd, instead of riding on the busy section of Lincoln Rd.
The route is just over 25 miles long and, although it constantly goes up and down, most of the hills land in the moderate category with just a couple that will make you work a bit.
We’ll be building in an extra rest stop or two due to the high temps.
We’re really excited about this new version of ABC’s Lincoln route!
Here’s a link to a map of Saturday’s route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/55606634
You can print our “official cue sheet” 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 tidbits we’ve come across that we
think are worth
sharing. Please let us
know what you
think.
Ashland
Bike Club Radio
Mama Cass – Dream a
Little Dream of Me
The Everly Brothers – All
I Have to Do is Dream
Roy Orbison – Dream
Baby
Bobby Darin – Dream
Lover
Toni Lindgren, Reina del Cid, Josh Turner – Sweet
Dreams are Made of
This
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Runnin’
Down a Dream
The Moody Blues – Your
Wildest Dreams
Major E-Bike Update
Sometimes ABC truly is “the mouse that roared”. There are
many
bike clubs in the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) network
that are much
larger than ABC. The League has more than 300,000 members and
one of them,
roughly six months ago, noticed that the League’s club
insurance policy did not
provide any coverage for Class 3 e-bikes. Those are the ones
that can reach 28
mph with battery assistance.
We contacted the League’s insurance provider, American Specialty, about this and were told they would look into it … at some point. Not good enough! We then contacted the League’s Executive Director and insisted that either they had to extend coverage for Class 3’s to their member clubs or they at least had to notify them that there was no coverage. Neither the League nor the clubs had been aware of the coverage deficiency.
It took a few months, too many months, but I just received the following email from American Specialty:
“Just letting you know we had a meeting last week with the League and our underwriting team. We have been in discussions all week and the language is currently in process to be changed showing the coverage for class 3 e-bikes.
I will be in touch to confirm once the language has been changed along with other concerns.”
What does this mean for ABC’s Class 3 e-bike riders? The bad news is that we can’t lift our Class 3 e-bike ban until we receive formal notification and a copy of the modified policy.
The great news is that it sounds like ABC should be able to welcome back our Class 3 friends very soon. Stay tuned for updates!!!
A
Thoughtful Invitation from our CRW friends
Many
ABC riders also ride with the Charles River Wheelers’ (CRW)
Thursday group.
CRW has purchased a memorial bench near Heart Pond in Chelmsford as a tribute to the late, great Eli Post. In addition to holding all kinds of key positions at CRW and playing a huge role in helping that club prosper, Eli was also a regular rider with ABC and a close friend as well.
If you’re interested in joining CRW for their tribute ride this Sunday, June 14, here are the details:
There will be 2 rides - 24 and 44 miles. The 24-mile ride will provide a choice of two paces: 12 mph and 15 mph.
Here is the link to the CRW Calendar. https://crw.org/event-6655321?CalendarViewType=1&SelectedDate=6/5/2026
People who are not CRW members can register for the ride as a "Guest". Note that you need to register in advance if you want to participate in the ride.
To recap this Saturday’s ABC ride, we’ll meet at 10:30 a.m. at Featherland Park at 491 Concord Rd in Sudbury.
Remember to check your email after 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to make sure we didn't cancel or postpone the ride due to weather or for other reasons and ... don't forget those helmets! And definitely don’t forget to stay well-hydrated!
See you soon.
Joel