ABC Ride: Wednesday, June 4 at 10:30 a.m. from the Exchange St lot in downtown Holliston
Joel Arbeitman
This Wednesday, June 4 at 10:30 a.m., the Ashland Bike Club has scheduled its very scenic Tour de Holliston ride (now version VI). We’ll meet in the Exchange Street lot in downtown Holliston, Ma.
GPS Address: parking lot opposite 49 Exchange St, Holliston, Ma
Route Name: ABC – Tour de Holliston VI (get the right version)
Ride
Rating:
Distance: Moderate (26.3)
Elevation: Moderate (45)
Total Gain: 1176 feet
Steepest: 8.2%
The Weather
The
forecast for Wednesday is calling for a very warm day. Temps should range between
78 and 85 degrees under
partly cloudy skies. The
good news is that
the humidity should remain low. As the hot weather finally
arrives, be sure to
hydrate BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER the ride. And, for you
sunscreeners, the UV
index on Wednesday will be right around a 9 out of 10. That’s
very high!
Wednesday’s Ride
We’ve created a
route that goes up
and down and all around many different sections of Holliston
with brief visits
to Sherborn and Medway. The scenery throughout this ride is
excellent and it
even includes a couple of runs on the Holliston section of the
Upper Charles
Trail. A post-ride lunch
in downtown
Holliston is a possibility.
Here’s a link to a map of the route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/51054821
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
Chris Isaak – Blue
Spanish Sky (live)
Cell
Phone Plan – 2 lines
- $8 a Month???
Six weeks ago, I dropped my
$90/month, 2-line
T-Mobile Plan for a $30/month, 2-line Mint Mobile plan. That’s
$30 total and
not $30 for each line. I was sure I would see a loss in
quality but I thought
if it wasn’t too bad, it might still be worth it. It’s not
clear we’re seeing
any drop in quality at all. Mint has been excellent and making
the switch
couldn’t have been easier.
Then, someone told me to check out US Mobile. It’s better and cheaper than Mint, they said. Cheaper than $30 a month? Really? How could that be?
Today, I checked it out. I have not made the switch, yet, because I’ve prepaid Mint for six more weeks.
If I’m understanding the terms correctly, US Mobile, which gets great reviews, charges $2 per line and $2 for each gigabyte of mobile data. I checked how much data we’ve been using (and you should, too) on our two lines over the last year or so. Almost all our on-phone internet activity goes through our internet service at home and not through our cell plan provider. We’ve been averaging just .5 (that’s point five) gigabytes per month. We were paying for much, much more data than we actually were using. Chances are you are, too. And, for a whopping $2 a month per gigabyte, we can always buy a little more from US Mobile if we ever went over our limit.
So, what is US Mobile’s price for two lines that includes unlimited talk and text and all the data we need? Yup, it looks like it will cost us just $8 a month. They also do not charge for taxes or fees.
Plus, unlike Mint, you get a choice of using either T-Mobile towers or Verizon towers. They even recommend checking out both companys’ towers to see which works better for you. And you can change towers any time you change your mind.
Too many people, especially older people, believe they would be taking a big risk going with one of those cheapo companies. When I compare $8 a month to the $90 a month I was paying T-Mobile, I could be saving almost $1,000 a year. That money could be staying in our pockets instead of funding one of the cell phone mega-companies.
Still nervous? If this all goes as expected, I’ll be switching to US Mobile sometime during July. If you haven’t switched by then, ask me how it’s working out. Imagine saving $1,000 a year due to the efforts of your bike club! It would almost make these ride notices worth reading 😊
AMC 50th
Anniversary Ride and Party
on Sunday, June 8
Some ABC’ers ride or hike with the
Appalachian Mountain
Club, AMC, which turns 50 this month. We ran into a group of
AMC’er (figuratively!!)
before starting our ride on the Nashua River Rail Trail. They
couldn’t have
been more welcoming and they invited us to attend their bike
ride event followed
by a food, drink, and prizes bash next Sunday, June 8.
With rain forecast for Saturday (they can’t be serious!!!), ABC will likely schedule our weekend ride for the same day as the AMC ride so you’ll be able to choose whichever ride works best for you.
Here’s the information I was sent about the AMC event:
“The 45th AMC Boston Chapter Bike Rally will take place SUNDAY, JUNE 8 in Lexington. Ride and celebrate the AMC Boston Chapter 50th Anniversary with us. This ever popular event always sells out because it is an opportunity for all riders to enjoy biking through beautiful country with rolling hills and paved roads. Participants will also enjoy a fabulous after party featuring plenty of food and refreshments and a raffle of three gift certificates to area bike shops. Two are worth $50 and one is for $75. New riders will enjoy a 20-mile route (903 feet of elevation gain - moderate hills) while more experienced riders will embark upon a 30 miler (1,030 feet of elevation gain - easy hills) or a 50-miler (2,127 feet of elevation gain - moderate hills).
This is the link to register and to learn more. Come and join us!!”
To recap Wednesday’s ABC ride, we will meet at 10:30 a.m. in the Exchange St parking lot opposite 49 Exchange St, Holliston, 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!!
And please remember to drink lots and lots of water before (even the day before), during, and after the ride!! It’s warming up out there.
See you soon.
Joel