Let me preface this by saying that the only reason I was in town to do this ride was because we are running around like chickens sans heads trying to get boys to school and ourselves to work. I would have much rather been in a particularly lovely spot in Maine with great people who I've been with a lot and like a lot. But getting ready to go there and getting ready for the week after being there looked impossible so we felt we had to bail on it. So I got to do this early on Sunday morning and still had most of the day with family ...
A couple of weeks ago I missed the Honey Hundred, a 100K with a lot of the miles in the woods. It was a more linear ride than the very local Diverged ride that Ride Studio Cafe offered last spring. I really liked the idea of the ride, although I knew that I might need to bail on it, if I did get the chance to ride it, since it was billed as a 6-10 hour ride and given my skills I would take more time than average. Instead, the day of the ride was the first day of soccer practice for my five year old and that preempted even trying to plan for the 100K. The idea was nice, however and I thought I could put together a shorter ride for myself.
At the same time, Chasing Mailboxes was again issuing a coffeeneuring challenge. While I can only hope my schedule can accommodate 7 visits to coffee shops by bike during the challenge, I will do what I can and enjoy what rides, and coffee, I can get. So, as practice coffeeneuring, I intended to visit the new coffee shop in Concord, Haute Coffee, and failing that, see if Ride Studio Cafe wasn't too crowded on National Coffee Day.
This is the route. It is a great route except the trails going north in Estabrook can be better handled with a mountain bike, depending on your skill. I definitely needed to walk a few sections. Alternatively, there are trails to the east of what I took that are easier to ride. ridewithgps.com has these mapped. I knew all of the other riding and knew the Estabrook section both by foot and on skis and have mapped these trails with GPS multiple times.
I left early, around 5:15AM. It wasn't foggy at home but there was clearly a lot of mist in the air - I could see it in my lights. Soon, I could see that at lower elevations it was foggy and conditions worsened over the first hour. I planned to take the Minuteman Bike Path and Reformatory Branch Trails and was happy to be off the road because of the fog and lack of light. My Busch and Mueller 60 lux light was fine for roads and the bike path but I turned my battery powered Nite Rider 600 lumen light (on low) on for the Reformatory Branch Trail and it was necessary. It wasn't needed by the time I reached Estabrook. Estabrook was lovely as usual. It feels like a little corner of Vermont, a short drive or bike ride from my home. There are plenty of wetlands in Estabrook and they are especially pretty at this time of the year.
One issue with the conditions and the soil on the Reformatory Branch: the moisture in the air caused the dirt to fly and then stick to my bike. My front fork and most forward facing surfaces were covered by the time I reached Concord. I had to use one water bottle to clean the other, both being coated with dirt. My bike needed a thorough cleaning after the ride.
Estabrook was easier on equipment except when I rode around a fallen log where there was a herd path. I managed to drag a substantial branch I ran over with my bike before it broke. It was caught between my rear derailleur cable and the cable guide. This managed to pull my cable off the guide. While I was looking at the issue, a mountain bike rider, along with his dog, came by and provided the other two hands necessary to get the cable back in place.
I was in Concord by 8:15 and looking for the new coffee shop, whose name I could remember and address was either not listed or was listed in an obscure location on its web page. I ran across a couple of cyclists who were stopping at Main Street Grill who recalled a new sign on the alley where the old sandwich shop was located. I checked it out and it was indeed the new shop but it opened at 8:30. The owner saw me outside the shop (how could he miss me - all of my lights were blazing) and was kind and let me in and made me a pour over which I enjoyed outside of the shop. Coffeeneuring success!
By then it was getting late for me. I road back via the Battle Road Trail. The trail was relatively crowded by then. Up to that point I had only seen the one mountain biker and a few road cyclists just getting going, or stopping a the Main Street Grill. There were a lot of walkers and runners and a couple of cyclists. I was passed by Bill from Lexington near the Mill Street cutoff on Route 2A on the trail. We ended up riding together for the last few miles into Lexington where he lives. He was riding a used Sycip cross bike, which he just bought off of Craigslist, after some equipment failures on his road bike during the Honey Hundred ride. It looks like a great find. He also frequents Ride Studio Cafe and while another coffee would have been delightful, neither of us had time for one.
It was still foggy so I opted for the bike path to get to Arlington. It was crowded at that point, around 9:30.
It was a long ride for a cup of coffee but it was worth it.
Miles for the ride: 33 (12 on dirt of one sort or another), miles during September: 300, miles for the year: just under 2500.
Observations
It's slow to ride on trails. After the Diverged Ride and this ride, it's clear to me that that it takes time to navigate the surfaces you find on trails. The 6-10 hour estimate of the Honey Hundred seems reasonable to me.
Bikes get dirty when riding off road. Plan on spending time cleaning up a after a ride.
It's beautiful in the woods in the early morning and well worth the effort getting there, whether by bike or not.
It's fun riding alone although it was a lot of fun riding the Diverged ride in a large group. I pushed myself more on that ride, partly because its fun to do so when in a group (and if you are the slowest one in the group it is necessary) but, for safety's sake when riding alone, I preferred to keep a slow pace on this ride.
The food would have been much better on the Honey ride. All I had between getting up and getting home was a bar and a croissant.
Equipment can break. Hopefully you can fix it yourself or find people who can help you.
Lights open up a lot of riding time.
Coffee makes a good destination or stop on the way.
Pictures from the ride
The observation tower at Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge in Concord. There was nothing to see this morning, although I could hear a lot of birds.
Foggy conditions just beyond the Concord water treatment plant:
Near the Heron Rookery: It was a beautiful place early in the morning:
First hints of color, Estabrook Woods, near Hutchins Pond and the Punkatasset entrance:
The trail going north in Estabrook. It was easy going in this section.
Downed tree across the trail in Estabrook:
Estabrook Road, heading south from Carlisle:
Mink Pond in the fog:
My bike was a mess, mostly from the dirt flying on the Reformatory Branch Trail:
Coffeeneuring evidence:
Spider webs were easily visible today:
Bill's recently acquired Sycip. This is only the second Sycip I've seen:
A couple of weeks ago I missed the Honey Hundred, a 100K with a lot of the miles in the woods. It was a more linear ride than the very local Diverged ride that Ride Studio Cafe offered last spring. I really liked the idea of the ride, although I knew that I might need to bail on it, if I did get the chance to ride it, since it was billed as a 6-10 hour ride and given my skills I would take more time than average. Instead, the day of the ride was the first day of soccer practice for my five year old and that preempted even trying to plan for the 100K. The idea was nice, however and I thought I could put together a shorter ride for myself.
At the same time, Chasing Mailboxes was again issuing a coffeeneuring challenge. While I can only hope my schedule can accommodate 7 visits to coffee shops by bike during the challenge, I will do what I can and enjoy what rides, and coffee, I can get. So, as practice coffeeneuring, I intended to visit the new coffee shop in Concord, Haute Coffee, and failing that, see if Ride Studio Cafe wasn't too crowded on National Coffee Day.
This is the route. It is a great route except the trails going north in Estabrook can be better handled with a mountain bike, depending on your skill. I definitely needed to walk a few sections. Alternatively, there are trails to the east of what I took that are easier to ride. ridewithgps.com has these mapped. I knew all of the other riding and knew the Estabrook section both by foot and on skis and have mapped these trails with GPS multiple times.
I left early, around 5:15AM. It wasn't foggy at home but there was clearly a lot of mist in the air - I could see it in my lights. Soon, I could see that at lower elevations it was foggy and conditions worsened over the first hour. I planned to take the Minuteman Bike Path and Reformatory Branch Trails and was happy to be off the road because of the fog and lack of light. My Busch and Mueller 60 lux light was fine for roads and the bike path but I turned my battery powered Nite Rider 600 lumen light (on low) on for the Reformatory Branch Trail and it was necessary. It wasn't needed by the time I reached Estabrook. Estabrook was lovely as usual. It feels like a little corner of Vermont, a short drive or bike ride from my home. There are plenty of wetlands in Estabrook and they are especially pretty at this time of the year.
One issue with the conditions and the soil on the Reformatory Branch: the moisture in the air caused the dirt to fly and then stick to my bike. My front fork and most forward facing surfaces were covered by the time I reached Concord. I had to use one water bottle to clean the other, both being coated with dirt. My bike needed a thorough cleaning after the ride.
Estabrook was easier on equipment except when I rode around a fallen log where there was a herd path. I managed to drag a substantial branch I ran over with my bike before it broke. It was caught between my rear derailleur cable and the cable guide. This managed to pull my cable off the guide. While I was looking at the issue, a mountain bike rider, along with his dog, came by and provided the other two hands necessary to get the cable back in place.
I was in Concord by 8:15 and looking for the new coffee shop, whose name I could remember and address was either not listed or was listed in an obscure location on its web page. I ran across a couple of cyclists who were stopping at Main Street Grill who recalled a new sign on the alley where the old sandwich shop was located. I checked it out and it was indeed the new shop but it opened at 8:30. The owner saw me outside the shop (how could he miss me - all of my lights were blazing) and was kind and let me in and made me a pour over which I enjoyed outside of the shop. Coffeeneuring success!
By then it was getting late for me. I road back via the Battle Road Trail. The trail was relatively crowded by then. Up to that point I had only seen the one mountain biker and a few road cyclists just getting going, or stopping a the Main Street Grill. There were a lot of walkers and runners and a couple of cyclists. I was passed by Bill from Lexington near the Mill Street cutoff on Route 2A on the trail. We ended up riding together for the last few miles into Lexington where he lives. He was riding a used Sycip cross bike, which he just bought off of Craigslist, after some equipment failures on his road bike during the Honey Hundred ride. It looks like a great find. He also frequents Ride Studio Cafe and while another coffee would have been delightful, neither of us had time for one.
It was still foggy so I opted for the bike path to get to Arlington. It was crowded at that point, around 9:30.
It was a long ride for a cup of coffee but it was worth it.
Miles for the ride: 33 (12 on dirt of one sort or another), miles during September: 300, miles for the year: just under 2500.
Observations
It's slow to ride on trails. After the Diverged Ride and this ride, it's clear to me that that it takes time to navigate the surfaces you find on trails. The 6-10 hour estimate of the Honey Hundred seems reasonable to me.
Bikes get dirty when riding off road. Plan on spending time cleaning up a after a ride.
It's beautiful in the woods in the early morning and well worth the effort getting there, whether by bike or not.
It's fun riding alone although it was a lot of fun riding the Diverged ride in a large group. I pushed myself more on that ride, partly because its fun to do so when in a group (and if you are the slowest one in the group it is necessary) but, for safety's sake when riding alone, I preferred to keep a slow pace on this ride.
The food would have been much better on the Honey ride. All I had between getting up and getting home was a bar and a croissant.
Equipment can break. Hopefully you can fix it yourself or find people who can help you.
Lights open up a lot of riding time.
Coffee makes a good destination or stop on the way.
Pictures from the ride
The observation tower at Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge in Concord. There was nothing to see this morning, although I could hear a lot of birds.
Foggy conditions just beyond the Concord water treatment plant:
Near the Heron Rookery: It was a beautiful place early in the morning:
First hints of color, Estabrook Woods, near Hutchins Pond and the Punkatasset entrance:
The trail going north in Estabrook. It was easy going in this section.
Estabrook Road, heading south from Carlisle:
Mink Pond in the fog:
My bike was a mess, mostly from the dirt flying on the Reformatory Branch Trail:
Coffeeneuring evidence:
Spider webs were easily visible today:
Bill's recently acquired Sycip. This is only the second Sycip I've seen:
nice post and pics!
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