The good news is that its supposed to be a sunny, bright blue sky day tomorrow. The better news is that the foliage is nearing peak in Central MA. The not so good news is that it will be chilly and breezy tomorrow. The wind chill will be about 35 degrees first thing in the morning and the high is only supposed to be 50. Dress warmly!
Your hands and feet are particularly exposed on a bike. Full gloves and warm shoes / socks / booties will make the ride much more enjoyable (CVS bags and arugula bands have been used in the past :-) Some sort of thin hat or ear muffs are also recommended.
The Exploration Ride on Wednesday is really far out! We are going to start in Jefferson, MA (where the heck is that?) and travel the new sections of the Mass Central Rail Trail through Rutland State Park and the Ware River Watershed (the what?) to Oakham, MA (I'm confused). From there it is back to Rutland Center (I thought that was in VT) for lunch at Heavy Evie's Happy Kitchen. After lunch we will visit the bison at Alta Vista Farm and zoom down to Eagle Lake Park and back to Jefferson. Its only 5 miles and downhill after lunch.
The rail trail has a nice crushed rock surface and we will be riding on some gated MDC gravel roads. A possible side trip takes us to the old Rutland Prison Camp, check out these pictures. The route is about 25 miles with lots of hills, crushed rock, and gravel. Its all quite civilized though. Here is a map.
On Wednesday, October 14th, we will meet in Jefferson Center at St. Mary's Church parking lot. Here is a map. According to Google Maps, its a 43 minute drive from Groton. Please park across the street away from the church. There are no facilities, so be prepared.
- At 9:30 AM, the Exploration Ride will leave for Rutland. Here is a map.
- At 12:30 PM ish, we will have lunch at Heavy Evie's.
- At 2:15 PM, we will be back.
Hope to see you there,
Bill and Carole
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