Next Week - Heart Pond - East Pepperell - TBD

Dear AdventuRiders,

I am going to New York City this weekend to ride in the Five Boro Bicycle Tour. Just me, Eddie,  and 32,000 of our closest bicycling friends.

So, here is an abbreviated announcement of next weeks rides.

Monday, May 2nd - Heart Pond

The weather for Monday isn't looking so good (again) at this point, but we'll hope for the best.

We have two choices of rides on Monday, the morning ride will be an easy cruise along the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and a trip through Great Brook Farm State Park. The afternoon ride will be a bit more challenging as we visit the scenic backroads of Carlisle.

We will meet at the Heart Pond parking lot in South Chelmsford. Here is a starting point map.

• The morning Recreation Ride will feature the new ($1,000,000 per mile) Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. We will also cruise over to Great Brook Farm State Park and ride past the cranberry bogs.

• The route is a little less than 14 miles long, a little over 200 feet vertical (easy), and there are only two noticeable hill on it. There is a short bit of old dirt road in GBFSP, but a road bike will work fine. Here is a route map.

We will have a picnic lunch at Heart Pond beach. We can get subs at Kate's Corner store or BYOL.

• The afternoon Recreation Ride will also visit Great Brook Farm State Park on our way to the scenic backroads of Carlisle.

• The route is a little over 14 miles long with almost 300 feet vertical (average). It is all on road. Here is a route map.

Here is the schedule:

• At 9:30 AM - The morning Recreation Ride will leave.
• At 11:30 AM - We will have a picnic lunch.
• At 12:30 PM - The afternoon Recreation Ride will leave.
• At 2:30 PM - We will be back.

Wednesday, May 4th - East Pepperell

This is a "new" ride that starts at East Pepperell Center, goes UP to Hollis Center, then DOWN to Nashua. Lunch / drinking will be at Martha's Exchange on Main Street. Then we will ride through Mine Falls Park on our way back to the Nashua River Rail Trail and back to Pepperell.

The route is a little over 27 miles with about 500 feet vertical (easy). Here is a route map.

Here is the schedule:

• At 9:30 AM - The Exploration Ride will leave.
• At 12:30 PM ish - We will have lunch.
• At 2:30 PM - We will be back.

Friday, May 6th - TBD

Hope to see you there,

Bill and Carole

GO - It's A Beautiful Day!

Reminder - Boxboro Tomorrow

Dear AdventuRiders,

FINALLY, tomorrow is looking like a very nice biking day! The forecast is calling for 60s, SUNSHINE, and light winds. The forsythia is brilliant, the daffodils are out, and many trees are in bloom.

Friday, April 29th - Boxboro

We will meet at the soccer fields on Liberty Square Road. Here is a starting point map.

• This is one of my favorite rides. Its scenic, challenging, and has a two mile downhill run through Harvard and Littleton. Of course that means that there are some uphills too, but the one significant hill we have is mostly just long and not that steep. 

• The route is about 24 1/2 miles long and 650 feet vertical (moderate) with most of the elevation gain going UP Oak Hill in Harvard, although it is uphill back to the starting point too. It is all on road and I plan to bring my road bike. Here is a route map.

• I don't have any good ideas for lunch since Boxboro is "Cuisine Challenged". Put on your thinking caps!

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

GO - See You In Groton Center

Change of Plans - Groton Center Tomorrow

Dear AdventuRiders,

I've given up trying to figure out tomorrow's weather! The best I can tell is should be "Patchy fog in the morning. Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers." in Portsmouth. Not ideal for spending all day at the coast. 

So, since I need a ride before my legs atrophy, I designed a nice ride from Groton Center that will get us out of the house and give us the ability to bailout if the weather turns ugly.

On Wednesday, April 27th - Groton Center

We will meet in Groton Center at the Nashua River Rail Trail parking lot. Here is the starting point map.

• The route will take us down Martin's Pond Road to Baddacook Pond, over to Massapoag Pond, and down to Keyes Pond. From there we will ride to Tyngsboro and UP to a beautiful view in Dunstable.

• We can get lunch at The Convenient Mann in Dunstable and / or have a picnic at Larter Field.

• Then we cruise the backroads to Sand Hill Road and catch the rail trail back to the Center. The route is about 26 1/2 miles with about 500 feet vertical (moderate). Here is a route map. There is a bit of dirt / gravel but I'm planning to bring my road bike.

Here is the schedule:

• At 9:30 AM - The Exploration Ride will leave.
• At noonish - Lunch.
• At 2:30 PM - We will be back.

Hope to see you there,

Bill and Carole

STOP - All Monday Rides Are POSTPONED

This Week - Heart Pond - Portsmouth - Boxboro

Dear AdventuRiders,

I hope everyone had a peaceful and relaxing "Spring Break". Its actually starting to look a bit like Spring outside.

We also seem to be getting the "Spring Showers". The forecast looks a bit unsettled all week, we'll see what we can do.

Monday, April 25th - Heart Pond

The weather for Monday isn't looking so good at this point, but we'll hope for the best.

We have two choices of rides on Monday, the morning ride will be an easy cruise along the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and a trip through Great Brook Farm State Park. The afternoon ride will be a bit more challenging as we visit the scenic backroads of Carlisle.

We will meet at the Heart Pond parking lot in South Chelmsford. Here is a starting point map.

• The morning Recreation Ride will feature the new ($1,000,000 per mile) Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. We will also cruise over to Great Brook Farm State Park and ride past the cranberry bogs.

• The route is a little less than 14 miles long, a little over 200 feet vertical (easy), and there are only two noticeable hill on it. There is a short bit of old dirt road in GBFSP, but a road bike will work fine. Here is a route map.

We will have a picnic lunch at Heart Pond beach. We can get subs at Kate's Corner store or BYOL.

• The afternoon Recreation Ride will also visit Great Brook Farm State Park on our way to the scenic backroads of Carlisle.

• The route is a little over 14 miles long with almost 300 feet vertical (average). It is all on road. Here is a route map.

Here is the schedule:

• At 9:30 AM - The morning Recreation Ride will leave.
• At 11:30 AM - We will have a picnic lunch.
• At 12:30 PM - The afternoon Recreation Ride will leave.
• At 2:30 PM - We will be back.

Wednesday, April 27th - Portsmouth

As usual, the weather for the Portsmouth ride is looking "iffy". What does "Isolated Thunderstorms" actually mean? I'll keep you posted.

Although its an hour drive each way, this is a good route to accumulate early season miles without hills and with marvelous scenery. We also need to do this ride before May 1st when parking and entrance fees in NH go into effect. Yup, $4.00 per person every time we stop to admire the scenery!

We can meet at the Shaw's parking lot at 4 corners in Groton to carpool. Here is a meeting place map.

We will meet at the Hampton North Beach Parking. Here is a starting point map.

• The Exploration Ride will ride along the beautiful NH seacoast to New Castle and then to Portsmouth. Along the way we will stop at Rye Harbor State Park, O'Diorne State Park, Fort Constitution, ... Since we have experience with afternoon headwinds on the coast, I have mapped out an inland route on the way back if necessary.

• The route is about 31 miles and mostly flat. Here is a map. Its all on road, so I plan to bring my road bike.

We have many choices for lunch in Portsmouth. Here are a few suggestions:

• Lunch on the deck overlooking Portsmouth Harbor at River House Restaurant.
• Pub lunch with fresh microbrew beer at the Portsmouth Brewery.
• Lighter fare at Popovers on the sidewalk in bustling Market Square.

Here is the schedule:

• At 9:00 AM - Meet at Shaw's to carpool.
• At 10:00 AM - Meet at Hampton North Beach parking lot.
• At 12:30 PM ish - We will have lunch.
• At 3:00 PM - We will be back to North Hampton Beach.

Friday, April 29th - Boxboro

We will meet at the soccer fields on Liberty Square Road. Here is a starting point map.

• This is one of my favorite rides. Its scenic, challenging, and has a two mile downhill run through Harvard. Of course that means that there are some uphills too, but the one category 5 (easiest category) hill we have is mostly just long and not that steep. 

• The route is about 25 miles long and 700 feet vertical (moderate) with most of the elevation gain in the first hill, although it is uphill back to the starting point too. It is all on road and I plan to bring my road bike. Here is a route map.

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