ABC Ride: Saturday, August 23 at 10:30 a.m. from the Exchange St parking lot, Holliston

[Joel Arbeitman]

The Ashland Bike Club’s next ride has been scheduled for this SATURDAY, August 23 at 10:30 a.m. from the Exchange St parking lot in Holliston.

GPS Address:  opposite 49 Exchange St, Holliston

Route Name:  it’s a mystery! (no map or route name provided)

Ride Rating:
Distance:  Moderate
Elevation: Moderate

SATURDAY’s Weather
SATURDAY’s forecast calls for sunny skies with temperatures between 76 and 82.    

The Ride
We haven’t held this special event since 2023.  If you’ve attended this event in prior years, ssssshhhhhhh … please don’t spoil the mystery for other riders!!

This is a beautiful, scenic route (aren’t they all?) that includes a brief stop overlooking a horse farm and another in a small park overlooking Louisa Lake in Milford.  The ride includes a combination of on-road sections as well as a substantial bike path run.  Lunch is available after the ride at Coffee Haven in downtown Holliston.

By the way, the event is FREE but bring a little cash for lunch / ice cream, and … mystery merch.

Note that there is no link to download the route because … it’s a mystery!  Just show up and follow the crowd.

For inspiration while you read this ride notice, click here.

“Roll up, roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour

Step right this way

Roll up (that’s an invitation)

Roll up for the Mystery Tour

Roll up (to make a reservation)

Roll up for the Mystery Tour

The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away

Waiting to take you away”

 

So, roll up with the Ashland Bike Club for this not-to-be-missed event!

 

Update on our Oscar’s Burritos ride
I was hoping to schedule this ride for next Wednesday, August 27, but the Flying Burrito Brothers won’t be back from vacation until September 5. What ride will we do next Wednesday instead of Oscar’s? Vote early and often …

 

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.

 

A Great Cause – Bikes to Botswana
The program is great but we need your help. We’ve had a second request, this one far more urgent, to ask our riders to lend a hand for a couple of hours. If you have time Tuesday afternoon (8/26) or possibly even on Wednesday, we need a few volunteers to help load bikes onto a truck and then off again in the Sudbury area.

 

Please give this some serious consideration.  It’s important!

 

If you can lend a hand, please email Gretchen who is orchestrating this event at:  findlay...@gmail.com

 

Drop me an email as well so we can get an approximate headcount. Thanks!!!

 

Chill out, dude!!
If you are a regular reader of the many social media cycling forums, you get a steady diet of Strava stats, power meter discussions, KOMs, and what you might call the “I’m in it for the metrics” crowd.  The Ashland Bike Club, since its inception, has always aspired to the antithesis of that type of competitive bicycle culture.

 

ABC is a little bit zen and a little bit stop and smell the flowers. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Spending time riding past rivers and lakes, woodlands and farm fields, and eating lunch with friends both old and new, can heal what ails us. There is so much more to bike riding than a bunch of stats.

 

ABC’s club motto, “social, scenic, and slow” gives us time on our rides to do some really important things that go way beyond just riding a bicycle.

 

Is it healthy?

 

Check out this article:  https://momentummag.com/the-rise-of-slow-biking-culture-in-a-world-obsessed-with-speed/

 

This is way cool
When people are asked what their gut feeling is about cyclists, the responses are, no doubt, all over the map.

 

Is it mostly the cool kids out there riding along with their bike club or are we seen as a bunch of lycra-clad geeks?

 

Well, ask no more.  The results are in, the guessing is over, and the public has spoken. I can’t say I’m at all surprised by the results.

 

Check it out for yourself:  https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cycling/cyclists-are-more-intelligent-charitable-and-cool-than-the-average-person-says-study-9051434.html

 

See you this SATURDAY at 10:30 a.m. at the Exchange St lot in Holliston for ABC’s magical mystery tour.

 

Be sure to check your email after 9:00 a.m. on SATURDAY to make sure we didn’t postpone the ride due to weather or other factors.  Oh, and … don’t forget those helmets!

Joel