Last Saturday I went for the bonus ride that I promised to do for Will Bike 4 Food. I did something I’ve only done once before, which is to ride a complete circuit around the Quabbin Reservoir.
I began by driving to Belchertown with my bike, and parking by the Jabish Brook conservation area on Route 202 (the red marker on the map above). I then rode counterclockwise, so I first went south about 2 miles to Route 9, and then headed east toward Ware. Just after starting out southward, I passed a few cyclists who were heading northward – not surprising, as 202 is a popular road for biking (it’s pretty busy, but has a sizable paved shoulder for most of its Belchertown to Orange length). This eastward leg covered a bunch of ground that I rode in my first September ride, but instead of cutting through the Quabbin reservation on Winsor Dam, I stayed on Route 9 the whole way. This means I crossed the Swift River at the Belchertown/Ware line. Here is the river, looking south (click on any picture to view large version):
Going this way meant a bit more hill climbing on 9, but it’s not too bad. I got to Ware pretty quickly (in under an hour). I went through downtown, and headed north on Route 32. Shortly before leaving the Ware town limit, I passed this little pond:
Just after that, I passed into Gilbertville, which is a village of the town of Hardwick. Pretty soon Route 32 angled off to the northeast, but I kept going north on Route 32A. This is when I began to do more serious climbing. None of it was very steep, but the road was going upward more often than not as I made my way to Hardwick center. Here’s a marsh that I passed on a level stretch of road:
After some more climbing, I got a nice view across a field:
That field was separated from the road by a low stone wall:
There was a bit of downhill riding after this, then more uphill to get to the town center. Here’s the Hardwick common and town hall:
Eventually I started to get a bunch of downhill riding, and during that stretch I entered the town of Petersham. I made good time for a while, but eventually had to climb again for the last few northward miles. On one of those uphill bits, I passed some cyclists who were heading south, and I believe they were the same ones I had seen back on Route 202 – they were also heading around the reservoir, apparently!
Also on the climb in Petersham, I saw some goats:
Not long after that, I got close to, but did not go through, Petersham center. Once I reached Route 122 I headed west (really west by northwest). This began with a lot of downhill riding, and then I had some level riding, with a number of bodies of water on either side of the road (and just woods some of the time), as I passed the north end of the Quabbin reservation. Here’s one such marsh on the north side of the road:
I had a bit of climbing to do on 122, but not much, and it only took about half an hour or so on that road to reach Route 202 in the town of New Salem (the north-south legs of this ride were considerably longer than the east-west ones). Once I turned south on 202, I had some more climbing to do, and I paused just before beginning the climb by this marsh:
I had to climb for about 2.5 miles before things leveled off, and I passed near New Salem center. I then was rewarded with a bunch of downhill riding, before passing into the town of Shutesbury and heading uphill again. This pattern repeated, and I was climbing again, still in Shutesbury, when I stopped to rest and noticed some interesting mushrooms growing by the side of the road. Here’s one of them:
I climbed out of Shutesbury and into the town of Pelham, and this was the last real climb of the day. Pelham has one of the highest points on 202, and there is a pull-off area at one point, where you can get a glimpse of the Quabbin itself:
From here, it was almost all downhill the remaining few miles to where I had parked the car. I got to the car not long after passing back into Belchertown. My distance for the day was 55.39. As this ride was on October 3, and my first one had been on September 6, that means I rode a total of 500 miles in a month’s time!
Thanks again to all who donated and have followed my rides this year!
Posted by seaking on 10-08-2020 at 09:10 pm
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For my eighth and final ride this month, I drove out to the Berkshires to do a loop in the Northwestern corner of the state. Above is the map of the route I had planned (click images to embiggen). I parked in the town of Lanesborough, at the southern end of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. Here’s the sign at that end, and the parking lot (my car and bike are first on the left there):
My goal was to head northeast to the town of Charlemont, which I’ve never been to, and then to come back to the town of Adams, then head south on the trail back to the car.
I began by heading north on Route 8, and was going to be turning off pretty quickly, but I missed the right turn. I rode almost a mile north and realized that I should have passed the turn already. I backtracked, and discovered that what looked like a parking lot entrance was the side road I wanted – Gulf Road (there is a street sign, but it’s at least a dozen feet back from the main road).
I headed east on Gulf, and it soon turned into a dirt road, but a pretty smooth one. It also started to climb, but I did not mind, as the scenery was very nice. Here’s some of the woods I passed through, where there were rocky hillsides on each side:
On this road, I passed into the town of Dalton, which was actually marked with a small sign. I also passed a couple of hikers coming onto the road, which is not too surprising, as the Appalachian Trail crosses this road in Dalton.
I headed downhill on the dirt for a bit, then the road became paved again, and soon headed out of the woods into a residential neighborhood. I saw this little historic house, which I looked up later on (here’s the info on it):
From here, I rode a few blocks east, then north, and came out onto Route 9. I followed 9 east into the town of Windsor, and then began to climb. I climbed for a good 3 miles in total, taking about half an hour or so, until the road leveled off in Windsor center. Here are some of the few buildings there:
Just past this stretch of Route 9, I turned north on a side road, which turned out to be another dirt road. I climbed a bit more on this road, and then began to head downhill, but also got pavement for most of the down hill run. However, I soon intersected route 8A, which runs north-south. This was a surprise, as I had expected to be riding parallel to 8A. I consulted the map app on my phone, and found that the original directions I was following (which I’d mapped on my laptop), were taking me on a road that did not seem to exist. So I had to adjust my route, and I went north on 8A, into the town of Savoy. This worked out okay for a bit, as I went a little uphill, but then got some nice downhill riding. Unfortunately, there were some bumps on the downhill, and it happened that my third water bottle, which was in a pocket on the back of my bike rack bag, bounced out twice when I hit some bumps. The first time it just got scraped up a bit, but the second time it hit the ground the cap popped off, and all the water had drained out by the time I recovered it. There went 1/3 of my water supply.
I soon reached Route 116, and headed east for a little bit, passing the point where I thought I’d be getting to 116 on my original route. Here’s a view along 116:
I reached my next turn, called Loop Road, and turned left to go further north. This route was as expected for a while – I had to climb some more, then the road turned east, and I took another turn to continue north. Just after that turn, the road forked, and as I remembered from the mapped route, I took the right fork (Hawley Rd.). Just after forking right, I headed downhill a bunch, and then came to a dead end. The road just went into a farm driveway, and there was no place to continue. I looked at a map on the phone again, and sure enough, the dead end was on there, but Google’s directions had claimed the road went through. This was especially frustrating given that I wasted 15 minutes or more climbing back up the hill to the fork.
I got back up there, and took the left fork (Chapel Rd.) intending to follow a different route east that I saw on the phone map app. However, the new road I was going to take (Barnard) had a “No Outlet” sign when I passed it. So, I did not go that way, even though the app claimed it was a through street. I checked the map and decided I should alter my course, as I was behind schedule at this point, after a few delays. If I kept heading north, I would actually intersect the part of my original route that headed back from Charlemont to Adams. So I thought about just turning onto Adams Road to go west, without the loop to Charlemont. However, this might make the whole trip too short, so I also contemplated continuing north up to Route 2, and then heading west. I did ride north and got to Adams road at the point where Chapel Rd. becomes Black Brook Road. I took one look at Adams Road and made my decision, because that road:
Was a dirt road
Headed uphill
Had a surface of loose-looking gravel
Had a big sign saying “Not maintained in winter”
So I said a big “Nope!” and continued north. There was a bit of uphill riding on Black Brook Road, and then it started to head downhill, first through some slightly open countryside, but then becoming steeper and going through more of a wooded ravine. Here’s an early part of the downhill (note the fall colors already):
I stopped at one point on the steeper part where there was a view over the guardrail of Black Brook itself:
Here’s the view back up the road from there:
And here is the view downhill, ahead of me:
At the bottom of the hill, I got to Route 2, and turned to the west. I was still in Savoy, but about to cross another town line:
Here is what my new route was, now that I’d given up on Charlemont and was heading for North Adams:
As I entered Florida, the road climbed, and it did so for a long time – easily as long a climb as I did on Route 9, and probably longer, though at least it was gradual all the way – on my original route, I would have gone downhill to Charlemont, then come to this point and climbed up Black Brook Rd, which is steeper than Route 2.
And at least the road is very scenic. Here is the scenery when I was just a little ways up:
After that spot, I saw signs for a construction area ahead, and warnings of a one-lane road. Sure enough, I came to a point where a police officer was holding back some cars while a bunch of traffic came the other way. Once he sent those few cars going west, he told me I could travel in the “construction” lane on the other side of the cones, as the construction equipment and workers were only at the far end of the area. So I continued riding nicely separated from traffic as I climbed some more. I was able to get into the regular lane near the end during a lull in traffic, in order to get past the actual road work. Beyond that, I still had a slight incline to ride up for a while, and then got to what might be the center of town (or near the center):
I then had mostly level riding for a while, and had some nice views to the north, looking out over lower ground and other hills:
There were still a few sections of road where I needed to climb, and at what I think was the highest point on Route 2, there was this elk statue:
This is “The Elk on the Trail“, a World War I monument that was put in place almost a century ago.
There was a bit of downhill after that, and then one final little bit of climbing, as I came to the city line of North Adams, where this sign greeted me:
Just beyond that are signs warning of the impending downhill run:
Just past that green sign warning of the steep hill is this view of the valley below, including downtown North Adams:
That view is right by a small store, where the proprietor was selling stuff from a table on the porch, in front of the entrance, presumably to avoid having people come inside the building. I was hot and thirsty, and had lost some of my water supply back in Savoy, so I bought a cold pineapple soda, as well as a bottle of water.
From here, the road turned briefly north as it sloped down, but only for 1000 feet, and then it had a hairpin turn to go south for another thousand feet, before heading west again. I had to go slowly until I was around the sharp turn, and then I could lay off the brakes and get going fast into town. Incidentally, the tip of that hairpin turn sticks a bit into the town of Clarksburg, so one is in that town for a few dozen feet of road.
In the downtown area, I passed by Mass MoCA, and turned to head south on Route 8. That’s a pretty easy ride, as it’s almost completely level, and there is a nice wide bike lane on the road.
It was not too long before I got into the town of Adams, and in that downtown area I came to the Ashuwillticook trail, just a bit south of its northern end.
This old station building stands right by the trail:
Looking south, I was surprised to see signs indicating that the trail was closed:
I rode south on a street parallel to the trail for a bit, hoping that it would only be a small section that was closed. I saw some other cyclists who were stationary on the trail near a restaurant, and so I asked if they knew how much of the trail was closed and why. The northern section of the trail was apparently being resurfaced, and at that point there was a nice smooth, rideable surface. Though the work was not quite finished, there were no workers present at that time of the day (about 3:30pm), and so many people were using the trail.
I went ahead and rode south on the trail. Here’s a section that is still officially under construction, just a little south of downtown Adams:
My legs were getting tired, and I was feeling saddle-sore, but I pushed on south through the rest of Adams, and then through the town of Cheshire, where the trail runs for a long distance at the side of the Cheshire reservoir:
Eventually I got through Cheshire, and rode a couple more miles through Lanesborough, until I reached the southern end of the trail, and my car. My total time on the modified ride was about 6.25 hours, and the distance I traveled (including wrong turns and backtracks) was 57.75 miles.
This concluded my riding in September, and I ended up going a grand total of 445 miles over my 8 rides. However, I did promise a bonus ride in October, and as my fundraising goal was met, I will be doing that ride soon. Stay tuned for a post about it.
Posted by seaking on 09-29-2020 at 08:09 pm
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This past Thursday, I went on my seventh trip, heading south and east from home to a town I had never been to, and had only barely heard of. That would be Wales (not to be confused with the slightly more well known place in the UK).
I began by heading across the CT River into Chicopee, and going south until I crossed the Chicopee River, then turning east on Route 147. I followed this road across the northeast part of the city of Springfield, and then headed into the town of Wilbraham on Stony Hill Rd/East Boston Rd. That’s a nice, tree-lined road, and at one point the trees almost form a tunnel (click on photos to enlarge):
Just after this point I got onto eastbound US-20. Some more riding brought me to Nine Mile Pond:
A bit later, I passed by this horse and sleigh:
That is displayed in front of this business:
In most of Wilbraham, there is a small amount of shoulder where one can ride a bike and not be in the traffic lane, but as one gets farther east, near the Monson line, there is an official bike lane for a couple of miles. Here’s a picture of it:
This lane might be partly in the town of Monson, as Route 20 skirts the northern border of the town for a while.
The road then headed into the town of Palmer, and through downtown, where they emphasize the railroad history of the place. Here’s a typical sign from the downtown area:
A couple of blocks from that sign is this partial old depot building:
That is part of a little park that has a small play train (presumably for kids to climb in):
I continued east from Palmer on 20, and passed through a small spur of Monson before entering the town of Brimfield. In that little bit of Monson, I crossed the Quaboag River. Here’s the view south from the bridge:
The road had been pretty close to level up to this point, with only minor climbing, but there was a long stretch in Brimfield with a gradual climb. Soon after that climb, I came to the point where I turned off south, onto Hollow Road, which took me down into Wales. Here’s the town line sign:
It’s a pretty wooded town – here’s the section of road where that sign appears:
A bit farther south there is a little marsh off the east side of the road:
I had to climb some more on this road, until I got near the center of town. In the center, they have this monument I came across when I intersected Route 19:
Here are some details of the monument:
I went just a bit further south on 19, then began heading west. I passed this pond just after leaving the town center:
From there the road went downhill a whole bunch. It was almost all downhill as I headed into Monson, and passed just south of that town’s center. Then I started to climb again as I continued west. I had an initial, slightly steep climb, then some more gradual climbs as the road turned to the southwest. It eventually headed downhill again, as I entered the town of Hampden, before running into another road where I turned west, and headed into Hampden center. Here are some pictures of that area:
That monument is apparently to soldiers from the town who served in World War I. Near here there was a town park where I stopped to eat my lunch. I ate in this empty picnic shelter:
which was right by this playground:
One gets from the parking lot to the picnic/play area on this little bridge over a ditch/creek:
While I was eating, there was a parent with a small child on the playground, and at one point the parent pointed out something on the edge of the playground, which I could soon see was a frog hopping away from them. It went down into the ditch, apparently into the water. Later, once they had left, I took a look in the shallow water, and found a frog – likely the same one:
I went a bit more to the west, and then headed north by northwest to leave Hampden. I passed through a corner of the town of East Longmeadow, and then into the southeast part of Springfield. I made my way north through the city, eventually getting back into Chicopee. I crossed the Chicopee River in the same spot as I had in the morning, though with a better view of the dam there:
From here my path was the reverse of the way I started out. I got home having ridden 59.88 miles, bringing the September total to roughly 387.
Coming next: the final ride of the month!
Posted by seaking on 09-27-2020 at 10:09 pm
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I did my sixth ride on Sunday the 20th, and this was another “drive someplace and then bike from there” occasion. I drove to the town of Hatfield, and parked near the Lions’ Club pavilion (behind the public library and a school), which is the location of Will Bike 4 Food in normal years. I headed a bit north on Main St., and then made my way northwest, which took me past the Food Bank itself. Here is their building and sign (click on photos to see larger versions):
In the north part of town, I crossed over Routes 5 and 10, as well as I-91, and then headed due north into Whately. I passed through Whately center on the way north, and then through some open countryside. Here’s a view from a low hill near the town center:
Some mild up and down riding brought me eventually into a plain where the road turned eastward, and I crossed the town line into Deerfield. Here’s the town line sign – rusty, as a lot of such signs seem to be:
It also looks like the letters on both sides were reapplied at some point, in a different size than the previous version. Here’s the view of the plain and nearby hills to the west of the sign:
I soon turned north again, and crossed over Route 116. I went north on Stillwater Road, which brought me to Upper Road, where I crossed the Deerfield River on this bridge:
Here are views of the river on both sides:
That second photo looks downriver to the east, and if you look closely you can just make out a bridge in the distance, which is where Interstate 91 crosses the river.
Once I was over the river, Upper Road began to climb (it is called “Upper” because there is a parallel road called “Lower Road” which does not climb as much). Fortunately it’s mostly gradual, and the climbing is spread out with some level stretches. After getting to the top, the road entered the city of Greenfield, where I skirted around the interchange between 91 and Route 2, and continued north. This included getting on the short recreation trail which follows the Green River. At the north end of that trail, there is a little bridge taking the trail over the river. Here’s the bridge itself:
Here’s the river below the bridge – it’s pretty shallow:
After getting off the trail, I went further north on Leyden Road. In the north of Greenfield, that road had some gentle hills, and here’s the view from one of them:
Not long after that, I passed into the town of Leyden, and then the road started climbing for real. Most of the uphill riding I did on this trip was in Leyden. Unfortunately, there were no spectacular views available on the Leyden hills – I was always too far from an edge and there were houses and trees between me and any good place to lookout. Here, though, is a view looking back the way I’d come, at the road descending:
The building to the left is the Leyden town offices, though this is not the actual town center.
The last of the climbing, which was also the steepest climbing of the day, came soon after that, when I had turned east, on Frizzle Hill Rd. I had to stop and rest three times getting up that last hill. Once over the summit, I began my big descent, heading further east as well as south into the town of Bernardston, on a road called Eden Trail. On a more gradual portion of the road, I stopped to photograph this pond, which I believe is called Eden Pond:
Once I got to the bottom, I headed east to Routes 5/10, where one finds rooster statues:
These are located at the headquarters of Kringle Candle, and that red rooster is the logo of the restaurant there:
I went just a bit north of there, and then headed further east, then south, and got onto a dirt road for a bit, passing into the town of Gill as I hit dirt. It was only half a mile or so of dirt road, and it was in good shape – no loose gravel or sand to give me a hard time, and no potholes to speak of. Mostly the road was paved as I headed to Gill center, where I got onto Main Road, and headed southwest. I went uphill for a little while, then downhill a bunch down to Route 2. I crossed 2 and immediately rode across the Connecticut River into Turners Falls (which is part of the town of Montague). I got on the Canalside Trail there, and followed it southwest. Here’s a view of the canal:
I noticed a log or pole in the water that had a cormorant resting on it:
Further downstream, the canal widens out. Here’s a view at that section, looking back the way I came:
I followed the trail all the way to its western end, which is on the other side of the CT River, in Deerfield. Here is the bridge over the river as I approached:
Here’s the view downriver (south) and then upriver (north):
Once on the Deerfield side, I headed straight south on River Road. After a few miles, I crossed Route 116 into Whately, and continued south. The road eventually brought me to and through Hatfield, and back to where I had parked. Just before getting back to the car, I stopped to take a picture of this large birthday cake for the town:
This year Hatfield is having its 350th anniversary.
I got back to the car after about 6 hours and 15 minutes, having gone just over 60 miles. This brought my total for the month to about 327.
Posted by seaking on 09-23-2020 at 10:09 pm
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A couple of days ago I did my fifth ride. This was another one that began and ended at my house. I started out with an easy ride north on Route 5 to Northampton, where I got on the rail trail that parallels 5 (and which is next to active railroad tracks). This is a piece of trail that has existed for 11 years – I was there for the ribbon cutting in 2009 and blogged about it here.
Here’s the bridge that carries the trail over Main St. (click on pictures to see full size version):
Just a little further along is the other bridge on this trail, which passes over North St.:
On the trails in Northampton there were several signs like this one:
Fortunately, I was all set, as I was wearing my neck gaiter over my mouth and nose whenever riding in an area where I might pass near people.
When I got near the northern part of this trail, I headed northwest on the original Noho bike path, which took me all the way to Look Park. I went through the park onto the trail section in Leeds (a village of Northampton), which also opened in 2009. Here’s a wayfinding sign at the main road crossing in Leeds:
Just after that crossing, there is an exit ramp from what used to be the end of the trail:
However, the trail now goes further northwest, a little ways into the town of Williamsburg. On the way, there is a bridge over Beaver Brook, from which there is a nice view of the Mill River:
And there is a marking of the town line on the trail shortly after that bridge:
Near its end, the trail gets narrow, and then has a sharp curve before it lets out onto River Road:
Once off the trail, I made my way on a couple of side streets to Route 9, and then doubled back a bit to the southeast on 9 to Bread Euphoria – a great bakery and restaurant, where I picked up some lunch to go (I got the Burgy Cheese Steak).
I then followed Route 9 northwest all the way to and through Williamsburg Center, and then turned onto Route 143 to go due west. This is where my climbing for the day began. As 143 heads up into the town of Chesterfield, it initially climbs for about 1.5 miles. During the climb, I ran across this sign:
I also looked up at one point in the climb and saw a hawk sitting on a telephone wire just ahead of me. However, it flew off into the woods before I could think about stopping and getting out my phone to take a picture.
After that 1.5 miles, there is some level riding for a bit, and a small amount of downhill riding. Just after that downhill there’s this marsh off the side of the road:
As I stopped to look at this, some birds flew out of the water and away from me. I could not identify what species they were. I continued on, and did some more climbing to get up to Chesterfield center. Here are some of the buildings there:
I also saw the second instance on 143 of this highway name:
And just as I was leaving the town center, and about to head downhill, I got to the Chesterfield General Store:
I bought a bottle of blood orange lemonade here, and sat outside to eat my lunch. Afterward, I continued west, on the long, fast downhill part of 143. When I say fast, I mean that my bike got up to a speed of 42.5 miles per hour at one point (and I used my brakes on parts of the hill). It was pretty exhilarating.
Right after reaching the bottom, I turned left (south) onto Ireland St., and shortly came to my main destination for the day: the Chesterfield Gorge. This is a pretty natural feature of the Westfield River, maintained by a nonprofit known as the Trustees of Reservations. Here’s one of the introductory signs, and some views of the gorge itself:
One can walk further downriver, outside of the official gorge reservation, where there is a town fishing area. It’s not a gorge at that point, but you can walk out on the rocks in the river, so I did. Here’s a view looking back upriver (north) toward the gorge:
After standing in the middle of the river, I walked back up to the gorge parking lot, where my bike was chained up. I headed out, and went further south on Ireland St., which immediately starts climbing after the gorge. The climbing is not too long, but the first few bits of it are reasonably steep, so I had to stop and rest once on the way to the top. At the top of the hill, there’s a plateau for a little while, and there are some farms and an orchard there. Here’s a cow pasture up there (with cows in the distance):
Shortly, I got to go downhill for the rest of this street, until I came to Route 112 in the town of Worthington. There’s a little village center at that intersection, called South Worthington:
That waterway is called the Little River.
From here I headed south on 112, quickly passing into the town of Huntington. At one point I noticed some orange construction barrels up ahead, and they turned out to be marking a rockslide on the edge of the road:
Most of the riding on 112 in this direction is downhill, so I was making pretty good time. I stopped at a scenic outlook to this picture, showing the Knightville Dam in the distance:
Not long after this, I came to the intersection of 112 and state Route 66 (the western end of 66). I turned onto 66 to head east and began to climb. This climb is not very steep, but it is long. I stopped to rest a couple of times. There was one place I stopped because it contained something I did not remember from previous times I’d traveled this road – there is a bench and water spigot, which I can only think must have been put there for cyclists, as there’s nothing else around:
Looking to the right of this (downhill), you can see that it’s just a grassy area by the side of the road:
I was not tempted to use the area, as the spigot seemed to be leaky, and its base was rusted, so that there was a pool of rusty water around the base.
I kept climbing, and eventually got to the top of the ridge, just before crossing the town line into Westhampton. I went downhill for a couple of miles, before going a bit upward to Outlook Farm, where I’ve stopped a number of times in the past. I did not stop there on this trip, but turned south there, and rode further downhill into the town of Southampton. I made my way to the town center, which looks like this:
I went a bit east of this point, then further south, and then headed east over a small hill I had not traveled before (on White Loaf Road – not sure how it got that name). This took me back to the Holyoke city line, and I headed over one last hill to get home. The distance for this trip was 58.66, which brings my September total to 266.66.
Posted by seaking on 09-20-2020 at 10:09 pm
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For my fourth ride, I headed south into Connecticut. I had initially been planning a route that was wider east to west than what is seen on the map above (click on image to embiggen), but then I spied a recreation trail on the map that I had not previously been aware of. It’s in Windsor Locks, CT, and I made my route narrower so that it could be longer north to south, to pick up the southern end of the trail.
I started my ride by heading across the Conn. River from Holyoke into Chicopee, then followed route 116 down into Springfield. I turned west off that road at the first opportunity in Springfield, and the street I was on curved south near the river, as I approached that city’s bike trail. Here’s a view of the river from that street, looking north (the bridge is I-91):
Here is the view south (downriver) from the same spot:
Soon after that I got on the trail just south of its northern end. Here’s the view south along the rail, and the river seen from the trail:
I headed south through Springfield on the trail, and at one point passed a snake that was crossing the trail. I turned around to try and take a picture, but it was pretty quick, and it was into the grass on the other side before I could get my phone ready.
As one gets near downtown, the trail goes up onto a bridge that carries it over some railroad tracks. Here’s that bridge, as one is heading upward, and when at the top:
While I was at the high point of the bridge, a freight train came along, heading east over the river and then under me.
I continued along the trail until I got to the last point where I could exit (if one goes all the way to the southern end, one has to turn around and come back). I took a few side streets down to Forest Park, and then rode through much of the park, with a quick stop by this pond, where there were ducks:
Near the pond were some smaller bits of water that were full of plants. I’m not sure if these are a type of water lily, but the flowers and leaves are pretty large and interesting:
I exited the park on the western side, onto Route 5, and started to head south, but turned off on a different street, then headed south into the town of Longmeadow on a route that’s less busy than 5. The street I was on eventually became route 192, and headed into Enfield, CT.
I made my way south through Enfield, also working westward. There were some rural areas, but also a lot of residential streets that I rode on, and fortunately many of those roads had wide shoulders or actual bike lanes. I eventually got to CT Route 140 in the town of South Windsor, and I took that road west across the CT River. Here’s a view of the river from the 140 bridge, looking north:
On the other side, I arrived at the south end of the Windsor Locks Canal Trail. Here’s the trail near that end) looking north:
The canal itself is over to the left:
I headed north, not seeing other people for a little bit, but then I started to encounter people walking, and a few other cyclists. The path was next to the canal the whole time, and over to the right were a lot of trees, through which one occasionally could see the river:
At one point, maybe halfway along the trail’s length, it went over a little bridge, and the canal itself did so as well, so that water from other sources could flow out to the river:
As I headed north, the river got closer to the path, and there were more points where one could look out at the river, like this:
Eventually, I came to the northern end of the canal, where it begins with water flowing in from the river. At this point, the trail turns left to cross the source of the canal and continue along the riverside, but there is a platform at the turn with a nice view of the river:
The bridge seen there is Route 190. People seem to be find of putting padlocks on the fence at this place:
Here is a view looking south along the canal:
The trail goes a short distance more, into a small park with a parking lot for people to access the trail. I followed the trail under Route 190, where it heads west and stops at Route 159. I then took that road north, heading through the town of Suffield, and back toward Massachusetts. I entered Mass in the town of Agawam, and was welcomed there by this sign at Six Flags New England:
I continued on this road almost all the way through town, and then went on a couple of other streets to end up in the city of West Springfield. I made my way north and east there, until I was back at Route 5, but then got on the city’s short riverside trail. I went to its north end, and then rode along 5 the rest of the way into Holyoke. I got home about 5 hours after I started, and did a total distance of 50.64 miles. Total for the month is now about 208 miles.
Posted by seaking on 09-14-2020 at 11:09 pm
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I did my third ride for Will Bike 4 Food on Friday the 11th, and this was another one where I drove somewhere with my bike and then did the ride from there. I drove up to Hadley, and parked out behind the Mountain Farms plaza, where there is an access point for the Mass Central Rail Trail (Norwattuck section). Here’s the area where one gets onto the trail (click on any photo to see a larger version):
As you approach the trail, this set of signs directs you:
I took a left turn onto the trail, heading east, and I very soon passed through “Rangeview”, which is simply an area adjacent to South Maple St, where one can see the Holyoke Range to the south. It was overcast and somewhat chilly, but I was not too bothered, despite being in shorts and short sleeves – I knew I would get warmer from the cycling.
I followed the trail until I was just a bit into the town of Amherst, and then headed north on the trail spur known as Swift Way. This took me to the UMass campus, and I made my way through there, stopping briefly to look at the duck pond:
Just to the west of that is the W. E. B. DuBois Library:
I headed north and east from campus, through the north part of Amherst, which is fairly wooded. Here’s a nice little waterway I passed, which I believe is called Dolittle Brook:
Just after crossing the brook, I passed into the town of Leverett. The road did some climbing in North Amherst, but it began to climb more in earnest in Leverett. The road was lined with trees for the most part, but here’s a spot where there was a break in the trees for electric lines:
I also noted at one point that somebody who lives (or lived) in Leverett is a fan of The Prisoner:
The road climbed almost continuously as I neared the next town line (Shutesbury), and kept climbing into the town. There were a couple of brief points where it was more level, but one is essentially climbing until reaching the town center. In Shutesbury center is this wayfinding sign:
And here is the town hall:
From there I headed north (toward Wendell). I got a bunch of nice downhill riding on this road, until I got to Lake Wyola state park. There is a beach there, though it was a slightly chilly day, so only a few people were there. Here are the lake and the picnic area in the park:
I continued north from the lake, with the road occasionally moving east, up into the town of Wendell. There was some more hill climbing, but not as much as what I did in Leverett and Shutesbury. On the way up to Wendell, I noticed this sign on a phone pole:
It was not in front of a house, so I have no idea who put it there, or how long it has been up. Once I got up the hill in Wendell, I passed a house that had this figure displayed by the road:
I expect the mask was put on in reflection of the COVID pandemic, but was the display already there beforehand, without the mask? And if so, what could it mean?
In any case, I shortly reached the town center. Wendell has a reasonably long common – here is what it looks like from the north end, looking south:
From here, I went slightly further north, and then turned west to head toward Millers Falls. Right after I turned, I stopped to look at this marsh:
While I was stopped there, someone passing in a pickup truck pulled up next to me, and said “Beautiful, isn’t it?” I agreed, and the driver mentioned that there are otters in the marsh. It turns out the driver lives across the road from the marsh, and sometimes sees otters in the driveway. I unfortunately did not see any otters that day.
On this road (Farley Road), I got to go downhill a lot. It was almost all downhill heading into Millers Falls (which is a village center of the town of Montague), though there were a couple of small uphill portions. Here’s the view looking back from one of those uphill bits:
Once I got into Millers Falls, I went north and crossed the Millers River. Here’s a view upriver from the bridge:
Once I was on the other side of the bridge I was in the town of Erving. I rode a bit west on Route 2, and then took a side fork, which allowed me to cross back over the Millers River near its mouth, on a bike and pedestrian bridge (part of the Franklin County Bikeway). It’s a favorite spot of mine, mainly because of this view, which is looking downriver at the mouth of the Millers, as it empties into the Connecticut River, and beyond that the French King Bridge, which carries Route 2 over the Connecticut:
Here’s the little bridge that I was on:
I headed south from here, and uphill for a short distance. Once I got a little ways into Montague, I went west on a road that I had not followed before. It turned out to be a dirt road, which went through a state wildlife management area. The road itself was not hilly at all, which was nice, but it did have lots of ruts that had puddles in them, so I had to avoid those. There were also a few sections of road that were sandy, and so my traction was not great (and my steering was a bit affected). It was mostly wooded, but at one point toward the western side of the area there was a big parking area, and some clearings stretching north and south:
Here’s the road itself, looking west from this parking area:
The road became paved shortly before it ended, and I turned south onto a more main road (Turners Falls Road), then went a bit more west, and headed south on a series of roads that follow the Conn. River. I made my way through the rest of Montague, and then through the town of Sunderland, getting onto Route 47. I followed 47 all the way into Hadley, and back to the MCRT. I then took the trail east back to where the car was parked, finishing the ride in about 5.5 hours. My total distance was 52.44 miles, bringing the total for the month to about 157.5.
Next ride goes to another state – stay tuned.
Posted by seaking on 09-13-2020 at 09:09 pm
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For my second ride of the fundraiser, I planned to ride out west into Berkshire County, then come back on a more southerly route, including a dip into Connecticut, as seen on the map above (click on images to see larger version). This ride did not begin from my house – instead I drove with my bike to Westfield, MA, and parked by the bike trail there (in a little lot at the Shaker Farms country club).
I began the ride by heading north on the trail, and I got off before the northern end, so that I could check out a new mural I had read about. The trail is elevated to the north of the Little River, and it has a few bridges over roads and at least one tunnel – in this case there is a bit of trail that passes through a tunnel under the main trail, connecting 2 residential streets. These murals painted in the tunnel were recently completed:
The mural images depict several aspects of the City of Westfield. That first one shows the bridges that carry routes 10 and 202 over the Westfield River, the health care workers are likely in honor of staff at Noble Hospital and Western Mass. Hospital, and the fighter jets refer to the National Guard air wing that is stationed at Barnes Airport, as examples.
From there I left the trail and headed westward, passing the campus of Westfield State University, and making my way to US 20. On 20, I passed the town line into Russel, and then came to this high overpass:
That’s the Mass Pike (aka the Massachusetts Turnpike, aka Interstate 90). That is actually a fairly long bridge that carries the Pike over Route 20, the Westfield River, and some railroad tracks. Here’s a view along the bridge (which clearly seemed to be under construction), looking east:
I continued west on 20 for a bit, and then turned onto Route 23, where I began to climb. Then I climbed some more, and more yet. This was the most prolonged climbing of the day – the first mile on 23 is constant climbing, and then the next 3 miles after that has a bit of level riding, but is mostly uphill.
Just after that first mile, the road crosses over the Mass Pike:
Just after that crossing, I noticed a cow by the side of the road, though not a real cow:
On the climb, I passed into the town of Blandford, and eventually got to Blandford center. At that point I’d been on route 23 for about 4 miles, almost all of which was uphill. As I contined west I got some nice downhil riding, interspersed with some more uphill stretches. I stopped off by this nice scene just before one uphill bit:
That body of water is called Blair Pond. Soon after this I entered the town of Otis, and soon got near the town center. This is when I left 23, and began to ride around the Otis Reservoir and Tolland State Forest. Here’s a view of the water on the north end of the reservoir:
I passed along the north side, then headed south on the western side of the reservoir. I was not close to the water the whole time, but I did come to a spot where the road went right along a bit of the water. There was a shady area with large rocks to sit on, so I stopped off there to eat lunch (which I had brought with me from home). Here’s the view from my lunch spot:
After eating, I continued south, heading away from the water. The route started with a quick climb, but then descended a bunch. Unfortunately, after the descent, the road I was on changed to a dirt road, and had a number of up and down parts. This is what it looked like for quite a while, heading south, then heading east along the south side of the reservoir:
I did get one more glimpse of the water from that road. This view is looking north:
I was looking forward to reaching the end of this road at a more main (north-south) road, which I assumed would be paved. It turns out I was wrong, that next road (called Schoolhouse Road) was also dirt and gravel. At least it had less climbing than the previous roads – even a small, gradual climb is a pain on a dirt road, given the lesser traction, and I had to apply the brakes a bunch on the downhill portions, for fear of losing control of the bike.
I did finally reach pavement again when I got to Route 57, near Tolland center (somewhere on the dirt roads I entered the town of Tolland). At this point it was considerably later in the afternoon that I’d expected, so I decided I needed to revise my route, and take the shortest path back to the car. I followed Route 57 east as previously planned, which had some nice downhill stretches, but also a few climbs that were tough after all the climbing I’d already done. I passed into the town of Granville, and came through the West Granville historic district. Here are some historic buildings, and the small white shapes on the front lawn of the church appeared to be chickens of some kind:
Not long after this point, the road started to be all downhill. I stopped off briefly in Granville center, and took pictures of the library and the town common:
After this I continued east and downhill into the town of Southwick. The road leveled off and had a bit of up and down, before eventually bringing me back to the trail I had started on. I headed north on the trail, back into Westfield and to the car. I finished about the time I had originally expected to get back from the longer, 59-mile ride. Instead, I ended up going a bit over 48 miles. Here is the route that I actually rode:
So, this ride did not end up surpassing 50 miles, but at least I averaged more than 50 miles between the first two, so my total at this point is 105 miles for the month.
Posted by seaking on 09-09-2020 at 07:09 pm
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Before I describe this ride, I want to start off by noting that my fundraising goal has already been surpassed! That happened within a little over 2 days, which is certainly a record for my involvement in Will Bike 4 Food. The generosity is great, and I hope even more will be contributed (I’ll match it).
Today’s ride was the first one for the event, and I covered mostly territory that is familiar to me – heading out east to the town of Ware. Here’s a rough map of where I rode – I was on the southern-more path as I went east, and came back west on the northern route (click on photos to enlarge):
I began by taking a quick ride through Pulaski Park before leaving Holyoke. It’s a park that runs along the Connecticut River, where people can look down on the river. Here’s what the park looks like:
Unfortunately, there are many spots where the view of the river is blocked by trees:
Toward the south end of the park, one can get a view of the beginning of the city’s canal system (water is diverted in here just before the river gets to the dam):
After leaving the park, I headed across 2 of the canals, where the normal bridge over one of them is closed for construction, but there’s a little side bridge for cyclists and pedestrians.
I headed across the river into South Hadley, and then went a bit south and continued east, heading uphill into the city of Chicopee. I passed through just the northern part of Chicopee, and then was back in South Hadley, and before long entered the town of Granby. I stopped for a quick rest partway through Granby, by this little pond:
Just after this point, I began my first big climb of the day. It’s a long climb that goes up into the town of Belchertown, and after hitting the peak, the road immediately heads downhill a whole bunch, until it intersects route 21. I turned south on 21 for a very short bit, then went east again, on a road that eventually turned south and took me into the town of Palmer. That road comes to an end and I turned east again, heading into the village of Bondsville (part of Palmer). Here’s what the village center looks like:
Behind me as I looked at that intersection was a church building with a “For Lease” sign:
From there I continued east, and soon crossed the Ware River. Here’s a view from the bridge, looking south:
Just after that I had to turn north, but the road I was on then started to bear east. I stopped as the road passed Forest Lake:
Just after this I reached route 32, and headed north on it, into the town of Ware. As I’ve seen in the past, Ware is apparently known as “the town that can’t be licked” – they say so on their welcome signs, in fact:
I rode on some side roads across town, eventually ending up on route 9, and got to Janine’s Frostee near the eastern edge of town. I stopped there for lunch.
I got a lobster roll and some sweet potato fries. All their eating area is outdoors, there was not too big a crowd there, and people were good about wearing masks in line, so it was a safe place to eat. After lunch I started heading back toward home. I took route 9 all the way west through town, getting off the highway only to ride through a bit of the Quabbin Reservoir area. Specifically, I rode across Winsor Dam. I have photographed the dam and the reservoir many times before, but here are some more pictures, as it’s just a pretty area:
I rode the rest of the way across the dam, then out the west entrance to the Quabbin, getting back onto route 9 in Belchertown. After a little more, I turned onto route 21 and headed up to Belchertown Center, and then continued west on a few different rural roads, passing back through Granby just to the south of the Holyoke Range.
I took a road that I had not traveled before to get to route 116, and on that road (Aldrich), I ran across this little waterfall over a small dam:
From there, I went south through South Hadley, and crossed the Connecticut River back into Holyoke on route 202. Total time for the ride was just over 6.5 hours, and the distance was 56.8 miles.
That’s it for ride number 1. Tomorrow (Labor Day), I’ll be doing the second big ride of the month. Stay tuned!
Posted by seaking on 09-06-2020 at 10:09 pm
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It is September, and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts is once again holding its Will Bike 4 Food fundraiser. The COVID-19 pandemic makes it a problem to hold a group event, but it also has increased many people’s financial difficulty, and food insecurity. The Food Bank has reported serving 16% more people from March through June of 2020 than in the same months in previous years.
In order to avoid an unsafe environment, the event this year is happening separately; all riders will ride on their own, whenever during the month of September they want to. Riders get to set their own goals for how far to ride and where to do so. While I initially just thought about coming up with my own 100-mile course to ride in a day, I ended up deciding to do something different. With many places shut down, there is a lack of facilities for rest stops. So what seems like it will work better is a larger number of shorter rides. In past years, including training rides and such, I’ve typically ridden a total of 300 to 350 miles during September. So, my goal for this year is to put in a total of at least 400 miles between now and 9/30. Mainly, I expect this to take the form of 8 rides, each of which will be at least 50 miles.
My goal for fundraising is $1000, and I plan to match contributions that people make, regardless of whether that goal is met (I know many people may be unable to donate as much this year as in the past). However, if people do donate a total of $1000 by the end of September, I will go for a bonus long ride in early October. In other words, I will literally go the distance for you if you meet my goal.
To contribute, you can give online at this year’s fundraising page by clicking here. Thanks so much for the past support, and for whatever you can give this time.
I’ll post recaps of all the rides here on the blog, complete with pictures and such. Looking forward to it!
Posted by seaking on 09-02-2020 at 11:09 pm
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