Ride Report – Heritage Trails Tour - Saturday, August 13, 2005

I searched the web for some interesting rides. I might have picked the
Mt Greylock Century, but I rode up Mt Greylock over Memorial Day weekend
with the Hat City Cyclists & the Westchester Cyclists and the
originators of the ride – Bob & Teresa Bobbitt. So I decided on the
Heritage Trails tour, a ride that coincidentally included part of the Mt
Greylock Century ride was led by Mark Robinson of the Narragansett Bay
Wheelmen.



On my request Mark emailed me a cue sheet and writeup of the ride
earlier in the week. Saturday was a good day for me to take a long
ride, so I drove to Greenfield, Mass to the start. Anticipating hot
weather I had frozen my camelbak(about 2/3^rd full) and took two water
bottles. Because I ran out of bagels I stopped in the Greenfield Big Y
Supermarket for more.



The Heritage Trails Tour goes west on the Mohawk Trail and returns east
on the Molly Stark Trail, both trails were native American paths that
were the basis for modern highways – MA2 and VT9. The ride turned
uphill right from the start. MA2 was a climb and Mark & Neil
disappeared into the distance in front of me. Part of the ride was
along a brook. Later MA2 went along the Deerfield River with lots of
pretty scenery. I rode by a lookout without stopping since it was so
hazy in the distance. At a particularly scenic spot along the river I
saw Mark and Neil. I said I was continuing on. I wanted to keep the
level of pain constant.



In a while Mark came by and I foolishly kept up with him increasing the
level of pain. As we approached the top Mark said he was waiting for
Neil; I replied I would keep chugging to the top. I started seeing lots
of riders coming towards me; they were the first of the Mt. Greylock
Century riders. At the top of West Summit I talked with a couple of riders.



I stopped at two lookouts on the way down. The first had a good view of
Mt Greylock and North Adams. The second had good views to the NW. I
stopped at a Cumberland Farms for a snack and liquid. Soon Mark and
Neil came along and we continued to our first turn – N on MA8. We
stopped at a convenience store, but I did not want to stiffen up, so I
in a few minutes I rode on. Mark warned me that the split of VT8 and
VT100 I would have a long series of false summits, before reaching the
windmills. How right he was! I had three miles of one uphill after the
other. Finally I saw a cemetery with windmills behind it a ridge.



Then the route was downhill for many miles; I needed the rest. After
eight miles I reached Wilmington where I stopped. A couple of minutes
later Mark & Neil got there. We took a long break taking on enough
liquids for the rest of the ride. Five miles more of climbing brought
us to the point where the rest of the ride was mostly downhill. We
descended for more than ten miles along the Whetstone Brook which we
crossed in a covered bridge as we turned S.



Except for a short patch of gravel, the remainder of the ride was
uneventful. Mark waited for Neil and me at most intersections until he
decided he just to keep going and finish. I finished a little while
later. Neil took a little longer as he ran out of water and had to get
some from a homeowner along the route.



Mark is trying to get me to commit to his Mid-Hudson Tour on Oct 15^th .



Thanks for leading a good ride, Mark.