GO - Beverly - The Big End

Reminder - Beverly - The Big End

Dear AdventuRiders,

YAY, they've taken any mention of rain out of the forecast!!! It will still be warmish, humidish, and windyish, but it should be mostly SUNNY. It will be cooler along the coast than inland, so overall a very nice forecast.

On Wednesday, June 18th - Beverly - Hammond Castle

This will be "The Big End" for the 21st season of AdventuRides. All of our riders, past, present, and future are invited to join us on an EPIC journey to Beverly, the North Shore, and Hammond Castle in Gloucester.

Did you know that the only person with more patents than John Hays Hammond, Jr. is Thomas Edison? I have never actually been inside Hammond Castle, but my son Milo will be along to make me take the tour and see the organ. Be aware though that Hammond Castle doesn't allow bike cleats, so bring $0.98 Walmart flip flops if you want to do the tour. Admission is $10.

So the plan is to meet in Beverly at the soccer fields on Cross Lane and ride along the coast to Gloucester. We will stop at Lynch Park and ride through Endicott College in Beverly, go to Tuck's Point and Singing Beach in Manchester, and tour some beautiful coastline in Gloucester. I haven't checked out our usual LUNCH stop in Magnolia yet, but we'll find something special.

Here is the starting point map. We meet at 10:00 AM to avoid the traffic.

Here is a route map, its about 25 miles, but basically flat.

If you need to get back early, follow route 127 to Pride's Crossing and then follow this map. Its quite easy and I will have a view copies on hand.

• 10:00 AM - We will leave from the Curve Lane Soccer Field.
  
• 12:30 PM- ish - Lunch at Magnolia House of Pizza.
• 3:30 PM - We should be back, unless the museum is too interesting.
• Starting Point Map - Curve Lane Soccer Field.
• Route Map - Beverly - Manchester - Magnolia.
  
• Distance - 25 miles.
• Elevation Gain - 600 feet - pretty flat actually.
• Unpaved - None.
• Equipment - I plan to bring my road bike.
• AR Index - Roughly equal to 29 flat, smooth miles.

LUNCH - Magnolia House of Pizza. The plan is to buy lunch there and go across the street to the Magnolia Town Landing / Park for a picnic.

Hope to see you there,

Bill and Carole

GO - Acton Center

This Week - Acton Center - The Big End - Summer

Dear AdventuRiders,

The weather is looking really nice tomorrow. It should be much like today, but a bit warmer.

The morning Recreation Ride will feature a stop at Isaac Davis' house, the llamas and Nagog Hill Orchards.

To honor Captain Isaac Davis, who was the first officer killed in the revolutionary war, we will retrace his path to Olde North Bridge on the afternoon Fitness Ride.

The Monday rides use a new starting point that has PORCELAIN, Picnic Tables, and a Pizza Joint! The library opens at 9:00 AM and has porcelain to the left as you walk in the front door. Please park away from the library entrance and down toward the playground.

LUNCH will be a BYOL Picnic at the playground. You can buy lunch at the Acton House of Pizza on the other side of the library.

On Monday, June 16th - Acton Center

• 9:30 AM - The Recreation Ride will leave.
• 11:30 PM - We should be back.
• Starting Point Map - Acton Center - Behind the Library
• Route Map - Acton Center - Littleton Llamas
• Distance - 13 miles.
• Elevation Gain - 600 feet.
• Unpaved - none.
• Equipment - I plan to bring my road bike.
• AR Index = Roughly equal to 18 flat, paved miles.

LUNCH - BYOL Picnic - Or Acton House of Pizza

• 12:30 PM - The Fitness Ride will leave.
• 2:30 PM - We should be back.
• Starting Point Map - Acton Center - Behind the Library
• Route Map - Acton Center - Isaac Davis
  
• Distance - 14 1/2 miles
• Elevation Gain - 600 feet.
• Off Road - a bit.
• Equipment - I plan to bring my road bike.
• AR Index - Roughly equal to 19 flat, smooth miles.

On Wednesday, June 18th - Beverly - Hammond Castle

This will be "The Big End" for the 21st season of AdventuRides. All of our riders, past, present, and future are invited to join us on an EPIC journey to Beverly, the North Shore, and Hammond Castle in Gloucester.

Did you know that the only person with more patents than John Hays Hammond, Jr. is Thomas Edison? I have never actually been inside Hammond Castle, but my son Milo will be along to make me take the tour and see the organ. Be aware though that Hammond Castle doesn't allow bike cleats, so bring $0.98 Walmart flip flops if you want to do the tour. Admission is $10.

So the plan is to meet in Beverly at the soccer fields on Cross Lane and ride along the coast to Gloucester. We will stop at Lynch Park and ride through Endicott College in Beverly, go to Tuck's Point and Singing Beach in Manchester, and tour some beautiful coastline in Gloucester. I haven't checked out our usual LUNCH stop in Magnolia yet, but we'll find something special.

Here is the starting point map. We usually meet at 10:00 AM to avoid the traffic.

Here is a route map, its about 25 miles, but basically flat.

Mark your calendars!

Hope to see you there,

Bill and Carole

STOP - Today's Rides are POSTPONED

The Big End - Hammond Castle

Dear AdventuRiders,

My son's school has a tradition that the last day of school culminates in "The Big End" where I am usually recruited to burn the hot dogs while the rest of the school feasts on black bean veggie burgers.

Anyhow, next Wednesday, June 18th will be "The Big End" for the 21st season of AdventuRides. All of our riders, past, present, and future are invited to join us on an EPIC journey to Beverly, the North Shore, and Hammond Castle in Gloucester.

Did you know that the only person with more patents than John Hays Hammond, Jr. is Thomas Edison? I have never actually been inside Hammond Castle, but my son Milo will be along to make me take the tour and see the organ. Be aware though that Hammond Castle doesn't allow bike cleats, so bring $0.98 Walmart flip flops if you want to do the tour. Admission is $10.

So the plan is to meet in Beverly at the soccer fields on Cross Lane and ride along the coast to Gloucester. We will stop at Lynch Park and ride through Endicott College in Beverly, go to Tuck's Point and Singing Beach in Manchester, and tour some beautiful coastline in Gloucester. I haven't checked out our usual LUNCH stop in Magnolia yet, but we'll find something special.

Here is the starting point map. We usually meet at 10:00 AM to avoid the traffic.

Here is a route map, its about 25 miles, but basically flat.

Mark your calendars! More details to follow next week.

Hope to see you there,

Bill and Carole

Reminder - Lancaster on Friday

Dear AdventuRiders,

The Friday forecast is looking terrible at this point, but since I screwed up on Monday, I will ride if at all possible. I didn't spend much time on this email since we did these rides before in 2010, but they are still beautiful rides!

We only have 1 week left in our Spring 2014 season. Many of our riders, including Carole, are going to be away tomorrow, so I am counting on everyone to get out and enjoy our last few Spring rides.

 We will meet in South Lancaster at Atlantic Union College (NOT the baseball field in Lancaster that we used last time). Here is a map. The college is KAPUT, so we shouldn't have a parking problem

The morning Fitness Ride will feature up close views of Wachusett Mountain, a short ride on the Mass Central Rail Trail, and scenic views of the Nashoba River Valley. The route is a little over 18 miles and very hilly with almost 700 feet vertical. It is all on road except the extremely civilized MCRT. I plan to bring my road bike. Here is a map.

The afternoon Recreation Ride will feature the beautiful farms on George Hill and Davis' Farmland on our way to the Wachusett Reservoir. We will ride along the reservoir on a civilized gravel / dirt path and visit the impressive Wachusett Dam (largest hand built dam in the world) and enjoy the fountain. The route is 14 1/2 miles with one significant hill and a little over 400 feet vertical. I plan to bring my road bike. Here is a map.


On Friday, June 13th, we will meet at Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster. Here is a map.

• At 9:30 AM - The Fitness Ride will leave for Sterling. Here is a map.
• At 11:30 AM - Lunch will be BYOL, or at Trolley Stop Pizzaria (a couple blocks away).
• At 12:30 PM - The Recreation Ride will leave for the Wachusett Dam. Here is a map.
• At 2:30 PM - We will be back.

Hope to see you there,

Bill and Carole