by During the pandemic GCN published a route that took in Mount Wachusett and Mount Greylock: New England In The Fall | Jeremy’s 100 Mile, 10,000 Feet Epic Bike Ride! It caught my attention. The route posed two problems: (1) getting to Wachusett and (2) getting back from Greylock.
The first problem had a couple of possible solutions. The most obvious solution is to just bike to Wachusett. That adds the additional complication of adding in 40+ additional miles of riding. The other solution that someone pointed out to me was the train. There was a train station two miles from my house on the line that runs to the Wachusett train station.
The second problem of getting back from Greylock was solved by Martin. That story is for tomorrow. (Spoiler: X-Mass)
I got a few hearty souls to join me: Lewis, Alex, Brian, Eric, Danny, and Tim. We all took the train out to the Wachusett station to start the ride.
The ride started off poorly. I had edited the GCN route to start at the train station. My edit had us going down a road that was closed and fenced off. After some twists and turns, we just decided to head south towards the big mountain. It was easy enough to find. It’s the biggest thing in the area. We had fresh legs for this first big climb. We all made it easily to the summit.
That climbing earned us lots of downhill. We rolled through central Mass and into our second problem of the day. The GCN route had us taking Old Petersham Road. The sign at the road entrance said the road was not maintained. It should have said this was not a road. It quickly deteriorated from bad double track, to single track, to worse. It was hike-a-bike.
I doubted myself and thought my edit had brought us down this section of “road.” When I looked at the route after the ride, this section was included in the GCN route. I’m guessing that GCN didn’t actually bike all of this route.
After we popped out of this nastiness, we came across another cyclist. He clearly looked committed and loaded down with a backpack that seemed out of place for a day ride. A quick hello and casual ask of where he was going. “Greylock.” This was Riccardo who we expected to see at Greylock.
We had a scheduled stop in Petersham at the Country Store. This was just off the GCN route. We were all hungry. As we got close to town, the delicious smell of bacon was wafting in the air. My stomach did a little rumble. The Country Store made a delicious breakfast sandwich. A perfect rest stop with plenty of great food choices.
The next 20 miles brought us around the northern end of the Quabbin Reservoir. I had edited the route in this section for roads that I knew. The GCN route looked like it went down some rough roads. My route had roads in great condition that rolled up and down.
The temperature was climbing. The forecast called for the temperatures to reach the 90s. The forecast was right. The sun was out and it was hot.
The next stop was one pointed out by GCN in the video: Leverett Village Co-Op. GCN was right to point this location out. A great selection of food with picnic tables in the shade. It was also time for a route choice. The GCN forked left at the store on a dirt road. Or we could turn right and stay on paved surfaces. We took the GCN left on to Rattlesnake Gutter.
Then back on the tarmac to curve north around Mount Toby to a bridge crossing the Connecticut River into Deerfield. We had a special, surprise guest up ahead. Pamela, the fixiepixie, was hosting us for lunch.
We took in long lunch. We needed a lot of re-hydration.
Pamela lead us out after lunch and offered a route edit to take us off the main road for a stretch on Creamery Road. Unfortunately, that was the end for Tim. He pulled the plug and headed back to recover at Pamela’s house. We continued over Bug Hill.
Then we encountered the third problem of the day. Pamela’s route had brought on a different road from a planned rest stop in Ashfield. The next planned rest stop was the Savoy General Store. We missed the sign or it wasn’t open. Either way, we had a long stretch with no breaks. With the heat we were all riding with empty bottles.
We decided to skip the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace and head straight into Adams for liquids and food. We saw Greylock looming over the town. We could see the War Memorial at the top marking the end of the ride. We collapsed at a Cumberland farms sucking down liquids and snacks. We re-filled our bottles. After getting re-hydrated, we decided to make it a longer stop and to find some air conditioning. We got as far as the McDonalds next door. Lots of fries, McFlurries and shakes.
The good news was that we quickly got into some shade to save us from the afternoon heat. The bad news is that the shade was coming from the giant mountain looming over us.
We turned up Dean Street. That was a problem. I didn’t see the 20% grade around the corner. I managed to get into the little ring, but couldn’t shift the cassette up fast enough. I failed. I had to clip out and walk up the hill. Back on the bike, around the corner and uphill to the proper start of the Greylock climb.
It was hard. My legs were so tired. I saw a sign that said 6.5 miles to the summit. That cracked me. My bike just had regular cassette. I didn’t have a low enough gear ratio. I came to one of the steeper sections of the climb. That was it. Clipped out. Started walking. I got back in once the grade relented. Repeat the process. I reached a point higher up and could see the War Memorial off in the distance. It still seemed so small. Now that I had the target, it felt like the goal was in reach. Just keep pedaling.
I was the last one up. The rest of the crew and those riding the next day were at the Bascom Lodge. We were bunking up for the night. The proprietors put a beer in my hand. A quick shower made me feel much better. The Bascom Lodge operators put out a delicious dinner for us. I felt much better. Not good, but better. It was time to bunk down for the night to try to recover for the next day.
116 Miles
11,700 feet of climbing
9 hours in the saddle
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