ABC Ride: SUNDAY, October 1 at 10:30 a.m. from 17 Medway Rd (Route 109), Milford

[Joel Arbeitman]

Ride moved to:  èèè  SUNDAY  ççç !!!

Hi everyone.

The Ashland Bike Club’s next ride has been scheduled for this SUNDAY, October 1 at 10:30 a.m. from the IHOP in Milford.

GPS Address:  17 Medway Rd (Route 109), Milford, Ma (park behind IHOP off Veterans Memorial Drive)

Route Name:  ABC – Milford, Hopedale, Mendon, Blackstone, Bellingham

Ride Rating:
Distance:  Moderate (24.7)
Elevation:  Challenging (61)
Total Gain: 1501 feet
Steepest:  7.7%

SUNDAY’s Weather
SUNDAY’s forecast promises a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the upper-60s to low-70s.  It looks like perfect riding weather!!

The Ride
ABC’s super-sweep John Connor discovered this great route while out riding on his own during the pandemic.  After a quick mile on a bike path, we’ll make our way on some semi-busy Milford roads for a couple of miles, but then we’ll explore some very rural backroads.

Although ABC has done rides with more climbing, this is one of the hilliest rides we do.  If you hope to get stronger on the hills, ride more hills.  This ride will make you work but it will also make you a better hill climber.

En route, we’ll pass through the Quisset Wildlife area although the only lions, tigers, and bears we’re likely to see will be escapees from the Southwick Zoo in Mendon where we have a brief rest stop scheduled.

We’ll also stop at a small bridge over the Charles River to take in some remarkably pristine wilderness.  Walking your bike across the bridge (there are no railings) is probably a good idea unless you’re planning to take a dip (or wash your bike) in the Charles!

Finally, after still more country roads, we’ll finish the last mile of our ride back on the Upper Charles Trail.

A post-ride lunch might be a possibility if you’re interested.

Here’s a link to a map of SUNDAY’s hilly route:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/37554388

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 that we think are worth sharing with the ABC cycling community.  Please let us know what you think.

Anti-E-Bike Protest
Yikes!!  It’s getting louder and louder and more and more frequent.  Some of the concerns are nonsense; some are not.  The e-bike industry, thus far, has remained silent. 

The stat mentioned in the article, although it wasn’t clear whether it included national or just local accidents, was that over roughly the last 3.5 years, there have been more than 2,500 e-bike crashes including 22 fatalities.

Clearly, there’s a problem that is not getting addressed.

Read the article:  https://www.fox5ny.com/news/new-yorkers-demanding-action-on-illegal-e-bikes

Be Careful What You Wish For?
This is a problem we can only dream about.  More bikes on the road usually translates to increased safety for bike riders.

In certain urban settings, though, bike commuters sometimes outnumber the car drivers on selected roads.  While overcrowded bike lanes, even just having bike lanes, seems like a nice problem to have, some cities are experiencing bicycle traffic jams.  Of course, maybe that’s just a sign that even more bike lanes are needed.  Are there too many bicycles or are there too few bike lanes?

Read the article:  https://apnews.com/article/paris-france-cycling-bike-lanes-traffic-olympics-6ab7931f04e435eb27dbd7494124b02e

Please remember to check your email after 9:00 a.m. on SUNDAY to make sure the ride was not cancelled or postponed due to weather or other reasons and … don’t forget those helmets. 

See you SUNDAY at 10:30 a.m. behind the IHOP in Milford.  Don’t miss this one … it should be great!

Joel