ABC Ride: Nashua River Rail Trail: Saturday (tomorrow), October 26 at 10:30 a.m. from Ayer-Shirley High School
Joel Arbeitman
Hi everyone.
This Saturday (tomorrow), October 26 at 10:30 a.m., the Ashland Bike Club will meet in Ayer in northern Massachusetts for a round-trip bike ride on the spectacular Nashua River Rail Trail.
Special Note: The regular parking lot we use for this trail is closed for the rest of 2019. Instead, we will meet at the Ayer-Shirley Regional High School in Ayer. Be sure NOT to park at the elementary school that is right next to (just west of) the high school. Please park as close to the road as possible.
GPS address: 141 Washington St, Ayer, Ma (Ayer-Shirley Regional High School)
Route Name: ABC – Nashua River Rail Trail II
Saturday’s (tomorrow’s)
Weather
The
weather forecast for
Saturday (tomorrow) promises a sunny day with high temps
climbing into the mid-
to upper-50s. We’ve
timed this ride for
peak foliage. Check out
this foliage
map.
The Ride
The Nashua River Rail Trail is one of the most scenic rail
trail rides we
do.
Nashua River Rail Trail during
foliage season
The Nashua River Rail Trail travels along a flat and scenic landscape with many opportunities to see wildlife. The trail passes wetlands, ponds, woods, swamps, and farmland where a variety of wildlife can be viewed, such as beavers, herons and swans. Ideal for casual and beginner cyclists, the trail was built on a former railroad right-of-way.
Because we’re starting at the Ayer High School instead of at the trailhead, our ride will be just under 2 miles longer (.9 miles each way) than our regular trail ride. The roads to the trailhead are mostly downhill; there’s a pretty tough (but short) uphill on the way back to the high school.
The paved path on the trail itself is level for nearly its entire 12-mile distance. The last mile of the trail crosses the border into New Hampshire so be sure to bring your passport. No, we’re not serious. You can read more about the Nashua River Rail Trail by clicking here.
Because this is a bike path, we’ll try to keep our pace down so that riders of all skill levels can be accommodated. The round-trip ride, including an additional out and back on the roads (.75 miles each way) to go to lunch, totals 27.5 miles.
We’re planning to have lunch at C&S Pizza (click for menu) in Pepperell which is a very popular lunch stop with the club.
Here’s a link to a map of the route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30124968
Total distance: 27.5 miles; Total elevation gain: 788 feet; Avg gain per mile: 29 feet; Maximum grade: 5.2%.
There
is no cue sheet
for this ride because almost the entire route follows the bike
path.
ABC at Wachusett
Reservoir – October 24, 2019
Upcoming Event
Concert: Southcoast Troubadours
Acoustic Folk, Blues, and more
When:
Saturday (tomorrow), October 26 at 7:30 pm
Where: 19 Carter
St, Berlin, Ma
Price: $10.
We don’t often recommend music venues but these guys are
great! ABC has had a
good turnout for these concerts
in the past. We’re
hoping to get a group
together to go see them this Saturday night.
For those interested, we’ll probably go out to dinner at the nearby Flat Penny Bar and Grill before the concert. Let’s meet there at 5:45 pm tomorrow to ensure we’ll have enough time to eat before the concert.
Flat Penny (click link for website): 263 West Street, Berlin, MA
Send me an email if you plan to go so we can make arrangements.
You can order tickets at the link below (no fees):
Off the Route
Our “Off the Route”
feature sometimes includes
interesting bicycling topics and, at other times, includes
non-cycling tidbits
we’ve come across that we think are worth sharing. Please let us know what
you think.
Cyclist Arrested
for Refusing to Give ID to
Officer
The incident at the
link below took place in Oregon
but do you know what the laws are in Massachusetts? In Massachusetts, you
must provide your
correct name and address but no mention is made of providing
ID (such as a
driver’s license). Here’s
a
link to the law.
Here’s the article (and video): https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/23/us/oregon-state-police-arrest/
Wait … What?
E-Bikes are NOT Allowed on Bike Paths in
Massachusetts
According to this article on
MassBike’s website,
e-bikes are subject to the following laws in Massachusetts:
E-bike
riders must carry a driver’s license and are subject to
registration
requirements.
No one under 16 years of age can use an e-bike.
E-bikes are prohibited from all bike paths, as well as all
sidewalks,
regardless of local context.
While the ABC is not in a position to encourage anyone to ignore this law as it relates to bike paths, that’s exactly what I would do if I were an e-bike owner. It makes absolutely no sense to ban e-bikes from bike paths just because they could potentially be ridden too fast. Regular bicycles can be ridden faster than e-bikes by some riders but they are not banned. Cars can be driven way over the speed limit on any road but they are not banned.
We should not ban the technology; we should simply enforce safe driving and riding regulations. Enforce the speed limit; don’t ban the bikes.
To recap this Saturday’s (tomorrow’s) Nashua River Rail Trail ride, we’ll meet at the Ayer-Shirley Regional High School in Ayer at 10:30 a.m.
Be sure to check your email after 9:00 a.m. on Saturday (tomorrow) to make sure we didn’t cancel or postpone the ride and … don’t forget those helmets.
See you soon.
Joel