Finally: got a century ride in last weekend!

The last week or two in our part of MA has been a stretch of insanely hot & humid weather. However, 

this last Saturday we had brief respite so I carped the diem to finally get in a 100+ mile bike ride ("century ride") to prep for the PMC in August.. So Friday night I plotted a route...

The Ride: My GPS Log

... and I was out on the road by 7-ish on Saturday.  

The route went from our house out West and North up through to Ashburnham, then down to Fitchburg/Westminster and Wachusett Mountain.    

I did not ride up Wachusett mountain this time -- I did once a few years ago, but this time I opted to focus on the miles and not the mountain.  That said, the grade on the aptly-named "Mile Hill Road" that goes past Mt. Wachusett into Princeton was plenty sporty for this outing.

Princeton was about the half-way mark of the ride (as planned) and I was felt pretty good because, 

1. I actually physcially felt pretty good, and

2. I knew the worst hills of the ride were behind me.

I stopped at "Sterling Ice Cream" about 10 miles further on and had a quick lunch and some ice coffee. I wanted to keep it quick and light, so no ice cream -- if I really wanted ice cream, I'd get it at Kimball's in Westford at the end of the ride.  Back on the road and through Clinton, I took a little short-cut up Water Street to Wattaquadock Hill Road, headed Northeast to Bolton. 

At this point, I will stop to impart 3 things I have learned while cycling on country roads in New England:

1. If a road has the word "Hill" in it, you better believe there's a hill.  (E.g. "Pinnacle Hill Road", "Mile Hill Road",  "Janestopthiscrazy Hill Road", etc).   Visiting cyclists: consider yourself warned.
2. If a road has the name of a Town in it, following that road will get you to the namesake town.  I.e.,  following Harvard Road in Littleton will get you to Harvard.   Conversely, following Littleton Road from Harvard will get you to Littleton.  The perverse thing about this certainty is that the same road is known by two names and changes when you cross town lines. 
3. The minimal speed to avoid deer fly attacks is 10mph.  Less than that, and you're the blood buffet.

That said, Wattaquadock Hill road wasn't so big, but I was still a little surprised by it.  By the time I got close to Bolton, I noticed a narrow tree-lined road cutting back to my right, West Berlin Road.  (Three guesses where that road goes.)  The vista off to the east and south (toward I-495) was just beautiful, and I stopped to ogle it and even did a short back-track town West Berlin Road to check it out.  I shall definitely make it part of my next ride.      Soon I was coasting down Wattaquadock Hill past Nashoba Valley Winery to route 117,  where I headed east to Stow, then Acton (via South Acton Road, no less.  See?)   

From Acton, I headed Northeast to historic Concord, cruised down Main Street past all the tourists and rich boarding school kids, took a loop around Monument Square and then headed back North and West on Old Lowell Road. (I didn't take it all the way to Lowell, but I could've.)  I followed it until it ran into route 225 (aka "Westford Road") and then followed it to (wait for it...) Westford.   I decided to hop onto the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail where it crosses route 225 in Westford.   Then I cruised the trail North a couple of miles to Hart Pond before heading back down toward Littleton.    By that point, home was just another 7 miles or so away with the remaining route pretty much identical to my daily bike commute from Juniper Networks in Westford.

So, by the end of the afternoon I'd bagged my first century ride of the year, with no incidents and felt like I still had plenty of "gas left in the tank".   And that was the bar I'd set for the day -- not any speed record or "climb to the clouds" on Mt. Wachusett.    With less than 3 weeks left before PMC, it looks like I'll have at least one good weekend candidate for another century ride.  I'd like to re-ride this route, as it was really very scenic and shady.    Maybe I'll add in a climb to the clouds. We'll see.   At this date, my main goal is to just not hurt myself before the PMC.

---

So endeth the long recounting of the ride.   I have to say, I think it was much more interesting in person. 

For all of those out there who've donated for this year's PMC:  I cannot thank you enough.  Your generosity helps so many.    

For those who have not yet donated for this year's PMC, there's still time.  Just go to http://www.pmc.org/donation.asp  and follow the instructions.

My rider ID is DM0192 -- or you can just use my name: Doug McPherson from Littleton MA.

That's all for now.

/doug