Just to prove that great minds think alike, our rider emeritus, Carlin, sent me one of her paintings (in progress) of the beautiful hill in West Pepperell that we visited on Monday afternoon. Check it out!
The weather for Friday is looking better at this point. Now they're saying Mostly Cloudy, 60s and light winds.
The Friday Fitness Ride will first take us to the Acton Arboretum to enjoy all the trees in full bloom. Then we will cross Route 2 (at the lights) and ride along Fort Pond Brook and the old mill buildings before reaching Maynard. From there we cross the Assabet River, ride the unpaved portions of the Assabet River Rail Trail, explore the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge and have a potty stop. Then is off to the golf courses in Stow before heading back along Delaney Pond and Elizabeth Brook. The route isn't particularly hilly, but there is almost 5 miles of unpaved, civilized off-road.
We can have lunch at Idylwilde Farm.
On Friday, May 13th @ 9:30 AM - West Acton
- Meeting Point Map : West Acton - Elm Street Playground
- Route Map : West Acton - Assabet River NWR - Delaney
- Ride Distance : 27.4 miles
- Elevation Gain : 417 feet
- Unpaved: 4.5 miles
- Equipment : I will be riding my HYBRID bike
AR Index : roughly equal to 32 flat, paved miles.
I have been working on a method to better describe the difficulty of the rides. So I have a formula that takes into account hills and unpaved areas and attempts to describe the additional difficulty in terms of extra miles. None of this is an exact science, but it should be helpful in setting your expectations.
For example, a 24 mile end to end ride on the Nashua River Rail Trail would have an AR Index of 24. The 24 mile Bolton - Mount Pisgah route that we did last Friday has an AR Index of 32 due to the hills. This ride also has an AR Index of 32 due mostly to the unpaved portions.
Here is the schedule:
- At 9:30 AM - The Fitness Ride will leave.
- At 12:30 PM - We will be back.
- Lunch
Hope to see you there,
Bill and Carole