Dear AdventuRiders,
ARRRGHHH! I just found out that Nancy's Airfield Cafe is closed on Mondays now. So we are going to do essentially the same rides I planned, but we will start at the Elm Street Playground in West Acton. It is just around the corner from Idylwilde Farms, so we can have lunch there.
The weather forecast isn't bad (for a Monday) with cloudy skies and around 60 degrees.
The morning Recreation Ride will take us on a loop through the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge with almost 6 miles of car free riding on mostly old asphalt roads and a bit of dirt / gravel.
The afternoon Recreation Ride will tour the unpaved portions of the Assabet River Rail Trail along the river. This ride has about 2 1/2 miles of car free riding on surprisingly smooth dirt / gravel. This ride has a few more hills than the morning ride, but it also has some great views of the Assabet River Valley.
On Monday, June 13th - West Acton
- The morning Recreation Ride will leave at 9:30 AM.
- Starting Point Map - Elm Street Playground - West Acton
- Route Map - Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge
- Distance - 15 miles
- Elevation Gain - 200 feet (easy)
- Unpaved - 2 mile
- Equipment - I plan to bring my HYBRID bike.
AR Index = roughly 17 flat, paved miles.
Lunch will be at Idylwilde Farms
- The afternoon Recreation Ride will leave at 12:30 PM.
- Starting Point Map - Elm Street Playground - West Acton
- Route Map - Assabet River Rail Trail
- Distance - 15 miles
- Elevation Gain - 250 feet (moderate)
- Unpaved - 2 1/2 miles
- Equipment - I plan to bring my HYBRID bike.
AR Index = roughly 18 flat, paved miles.
Here is the schedule:
- At 9:30 AM - The morning Recreation Ride will leave.
- At 11:30 AM - We will have lunch at Idylwilde Farms.
- At 12:30 PM - The afternoon Recreation Ride will leave.
- At 2:30 PM - We will be back.
On Wednesday, June 15th - Westminster
The Wednesday Exploration Ride will take us west to the Mount Wachusett region. We will start in Westminster, climb UP toward the west shoulder of Mount Wachusett on some scenic backroads before zooming DOWN to beautiful views at Princeton. From there we ride to Gardner passing many lakes before turning back to Westminster. I'm planning to do the whole ride with just a couple of snack breaks and then have lunch afterwards. Lunch options include Gardner Ale House, Old Mill Restaurant, or a brewery tour at Wachusett Brewing.
- The Exploration Ride will leave at 9:30 AM.
- Starting Point Map - Westminster Bandshell
- Route Map - Westminster - Wachusett
- Distance - 27 miles
- Elevation Gain - 800 feet (more difficult)
- Unpaved - 1 mile - some rough spots
- Equipment - I plan to bring my ROAD bike.
AR Index = roughly 36 flat, paved miles.
On Friday, June 17th - Townsend - Greenville
This is the old Nennie's 5 Star Cafe ride to Greenville, NH. There are some serious hills getting up to Greenville and there are some seriously nice views all the way to Boston and there is a seriously fun 9 mile downhill run back to Townsend. Stay tuned.
Hope to see you there,
Bill and Carole