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Ware's the Quabbin 300k / Mimi's 200k in Review
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Jake Kassen
May 11, 2025, 7:59:24 AMMay 11
to NERds
Hey NERds. Congrats to everyone who came out to the two rides yesterday, Sat 10th.
No one can say they weren't warned about the weather, forecasted to be cold and heavy rain. There were flood warnings in effect for much of central and western MA on account of how much precipitation had occurred in the days leading up to the ride plus what was to come. (See also, Emily's pre-ride report from Thursday.)
It was raining lightly at the 5am start which gave me slight hope that maybe the storm was ending early as I checked in the 14 300k riders who came to the start. (The event normally gets 25-30.) For the 200k which starts an hour later, the rain was still light but only 4 people started, just 25% of those registered.
My hope for mild rain was dashed not five minutes after the 200k riders departed when the skies really opened up. For the next several hours, the water was relentless -- heavy and cold with temps getting down to the mid-40s. If there's any upside, it was that there were some impressive waterfalls and lakes along the route.
I drove to Tweedo's to meet volunteer Bill who had kindly offered to have water and some snacks for riders as the C-Store now opens too late for us at 10am. He had set up a tent over the bed of his pickup and the porch at Tweedos at least gives riders a shelter for a few minutes. Thanks Bill! If you're a rider, seeing a volunteer also getting drenched to offer support is a moral booster.
From there I drove to Mimi's in Hardwick following the route. The store was open and I got a sandwich but all was not well in Hardwick. The coffee shop was out of... water. As they explained, the town pumping station had lost power in the storm. There was enough residual pressure to stay open for a bit but by 10am the tap had gone dry.
In Massachusetts it's unlawful to operate a restaurant without running water so they had no choice but to close for the day. (They were pissed too as the store had been busy and they'd lose a good Saturday of sales.) As the saying goes, shit happens. Part of being a randonneur (and organizer) is dealing with the unexpected. Detours, mechanicals, impromptu rivers, and closed stores -- that's the risk you take when you start a brevet. :)
I stuck around in Hardwick for as long as I could giving out water and snacks to riders but I needed to make it to the Holland control so I left a jug and some pop-tarts on the porch of Mimi's and departed.
I made it to Holland around 1pm, just a few minutes before the first rider arrived. The weather was finally starting to turn for the better. People were tired at mile 120 but everyone was in good spirits. Emily had warned of relentless mosquitoes but thankfully they ignored me or got blown away in the wind. Around 5pm the last group departed and I headed back to Concord.
At the finish was longtime rider/volunteer Jeff who has helped support this ride for many years. Joining him was Emily who rode out to Concord after work to assist. We had a nice sunset as the roads had mostly dried out and the moon was full. I was still cold but warmer than in the morning.
The last rider arrived shortly before midnight and thus ended another successful event. Just one rider DNF'd, haven gotten a bit too cold early in the day and opting for the train home. Big, big thanks to Bill, Jeff, and Emily for their help on the ride!
The results have been submitted to RUSA and should appear on https://results.ner.bike in the next few days once processed
Jake
No one can say they weren't warned about the weather, forecasted to be cold and heavy rain. There were flood warnings in effect for much of central and western MA on account of how much precipitation had occurred in the days leading up to the ride plus what was to come. (See also, Emily's pre-ride report from Thursday.)
It was raining lightly at the 5am start which gave me slight hope that maybe the storm was ending early as I checked in the 14 300k riders who came to the start. (The event normally gets 25-30.) For the 200k which starts an hour later, the rain was still light but only 4 people started, just 25% of those registered.
My hope for mild rain was dashed not five minutes after the 200k riders departed when the skies really opened up. For the next several hours, the water was relentless -- heavy and cold with temps getting down to the mid-40s. If there's any upside, it was that there were some impressive waterfalls and lakes along the route.
I drove to Tweedo's to meet volunteer Bill who had kindly offered to have water and some snacks for riders as the C-Store now opens too late for us at 10am. He had set up a tent over the bed of his pickup and the porch at Tweedos at least gives riders a shelter for a few minutes. Thanks Bill! If you're a rider, seeing a volunteer also getting drenched to offer support is a moral booster.
From there I drove to Mimi's in Hardwick following the route. The store was open and I got a sandwich but all was not well in Hardwick. The coffee shop was out of... water. As they explained, the town pumping station had lost power in the storm. There was enough residual pressure to stay open for a bit but by 10am the tap had gone dry.
In Massachusetts it's unlawful to operate a restaurant without running water so they had no choice but to close for the day. (They were pissed too as the store had been busy and they'd lose a good Saturday of sales.) As the saying goes, shit happens. Part of being a randonneur (and organizer) is dealing with the unexpected. Detours, mechanicals, impromptu rivers, and closed stores -- that's the risk you take when you start a brevet. :)
I stuck around in Hardwick for as long as I could giving out water and snacks to riders but I needed to make it to the Holland control so I left a jug and some pop-tarts on the porch of Mimi's and departed.
I made it to Holland around 1pm, just a few minutes before the first rider arrived. The weather was finally starting to turn for the better. People were tired at mile 120 but everyone was in good spirits. Emily had warned of relentless mosquitoes but thankfully they ignored me or got blown away in the wind. Around 5pm the last group departed and I headed back to Concord.
At the finish was longtime rider/volunteer Jeff who has helped support this ride for many years. Joining him was Emily who rode out to Concord after work to assist. We had a nice sunset as the roads had mostly dried out and the moon was full. I was still cold but warmer than in the morning.
The last rider arrived shortly before midnight and thus ended another successful event. Just one rider DNF'd, haven gotten a bit too cold early in the day and opting for the train home. Big, big thanks to Bill, Jeff, and Emily for their help on the ride!
The results have been submitted to RUSA and should appear on https://results.ner.bike in the next few days once processed
Jake
Tsun Au Yeung
May 11, 2025, 8:35:15 AMMay 11
to li...@jkassen.org, NERds
I hate to sound like propaganda (just think of it as the good kind).
Everyone passes the Thai Buddhist Temple in Fitchburg yesterday and instead of worrying about the conditions, I took a moment to reflect why we do what we do even though sometime it is not “sane”. I felt so zen 🧘.
I gave what I know the safest direction to the Fitchburg line for the DNF rider and soldier on.
Huge thanks to Jake, Bill, Emily and Jeff to make this possible!
I already expressed my riding muddies my full gratitude on Strava.
Yes yesterday you saw the zen 🧘 Tsun
(Definitely not sane, usually kind, could be a saint, but probably turn away at the heavens gate even though he is a self proclaimed saint, no white smoke is needed out of his saddle bag though)
Sent from my iPhone
> On May 11, 2025, at 7:59 AM, Jake Kassen <li...@jkassen.org> wrote:
>
> Hey NERds. Congrats to everyone who came out to the two rides yesterday, Sat 10th.
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "New England Randonneurs" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ne-randonneur...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/20250511115917.11695.qmail%40server263.com.
Everyone passes the Thai Buddhist Temple in Fitchburg yesterday and instead of worrying about the conditions, I took a moment to reflect why we do what we do even though sometime it is not “sane”. I felt so zen 🧘.
I gave what I know the safest direction to the Fitchburg line for the DNF rider and soldier on.
Huge thanks to Jake, Bill, Emily and Jeff to make this possible!
I already expressed my riding muddies my full gratitude on Strava.
Yes yesterday you saw the zen 🧘 Tsun
(Definitely not sane, usually kind, could be a saint, but probably turn away at the heavens gate even though he is a self proclaimed saint, no white smoke is needed out of his saddle bag though)
Sent from my iPhone
> On May 11, 2025, at 7:59 AM, Jake Kassen <li...@jkassen.org> wrote:
>
> Hey NERds. Congrats to everyone who came out to the two rides yesterday, Sat 10th.
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "New England Randonneurs" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ne-randonneur...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/20250511115917.11695.qmail%40server263.com.
Charles Coldwell
May 11, 2025, 6:43:49 PMMay 11
to tsuna...@gmail.com, li...@jkassen.org, NERds
I guess the irony here is that the weather a day later is beautiful (albeit a bit windy).
Charles M. Coldwell, W1CMC
Belmont, Massachusetts, New England
"Turn on, log in, tune out"
Belmont, Massachusetts, New England
"Turn on, log in, tune out"
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/D1C380D7-6694-443C-A8C4-83C7A67126CB%40gmail.com.
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