Fondo Pre Ride July 7

[djming]

Unfortunately I'm out completely. I need to be back home no later than 10 so even if you guys vote on a 7AM start and I met you in Hubbarston for a loop thru there and Templeton it would be pushing it when factoring in drive time.

Here's the route with the one minor change from the first pre-ride: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27525568
This cuts out the horrible (putting it kindly) pavement downhill section where I'm surprised we only had one flat.

There are plenty of opportunities to stop:
The official stop is mile 30.5 in Templeton where the is the Templeton Country Store.
You will also pass Mr. Mike's in Hubbardston center at mile 14.5 and then again at mile 37'sh (on your left the first time, right the 2nd)
Mile 43.5 there is a small store at the intersection of Rt.68 and Intervale (by the Pout & Trout) on your right.
Coming out of Princeton Center on Rt.62, there is a store on the left maybe 1/4 mile from the common.
Take note that the water fountain at the base of Wachusett seems to be out of service (although at that point it's ~5 miles basically downhill back to the brewery)

Other notes - for those that rode it earlier, recall the stretch coming off of Mt. Jefferson Rd climb where there is a bit of tricky dirt on a downhill and a left bend (mile 18'sh, at intersection with Old Cross Rd from your right, BEAR LEFT)
I rode the dirt parts leading to the back side of the mountain last weekend and they were even better than on the pre-ride! Didn't go up North Rd but I imagine it to be in good shape. I can't say what things will be like on North Rd if we get heavy rain tomorrow though. At a minimum, there will probably be mud all around the gate access.

Just remember - North Rd is easy to pass by if you're not looking for it, but the route will direct you fine so load it up!

[Mkidd3]

8 is nice!

[Briana]

8 works for me. If anyone is in for a C paced ride i'd be willing to lead that group. This will be a C pace that will probably turn into B- pace but it wont be a B pace that turns into an A pace. So ya, it will hopefully be a B pace. After today's 2 rides and more action in VT tomorrow i will be doing good to ride at a C pace. This will be a no drop ride unless of course i drop myself.

Brian A.

[KTeves]

Was the first pre-ride a 'B' pace? That was hard enough for me. I wasn't planning on killing it for 75 miles and 5k elevation.

Update:
Just looked back at the Strava for the previous pre-ride. It had a 'Massive' relative effort, so that may have been a tad more than a 'B' pace for the route.

[dantelman]

what is the start/meeting point for this ride?

[KTeves]

what is the start/meeting point for this ride?

The same as the start for the fondo — the Wachusett Brewery. Looks like the consensus is for an 8 AM start.

[dantelman]

I'm good with the easier pace (B/C).

8 works for me. If anyone is in for a C paced ride i'd be willing to lead that group. This will be a C pace that will probably turn into B- pace but it wont be a B pace that turns into an A pace. So ya, it will hopefully be a B pace. After today's 2 rides and more action in VT tomorrow i will be doing good to ride at a C pace. This will be a no drop ride unless of course i drop myself.

Brian A.

[Mkidd3]

And I'm out... Got a timeline at home to hit. Enjoy lads!

[jraguin]

I am pretty sure I am in for an 8 AM clip in at the Brewery. Assume I am unless I say otherwise.

[dantelman]

low temp Sat morning = 57! Woot woot... may bring my knee warmers!

[mfwestbe]

Is 8 the final call on roll-out?

[MarkMiller321]

Okay so 8:00 tomorrow at the brewery. Who's in?

[KTeves]

In

[jraguin]

In

[MarkMiller321]

I am going to attempt to load the route on my Garmin tonight because I don't know the route. I've actually never loaded a route before so we'll see if it works!

[Briana]

In for the slow group, legs are dead from the past few days.

Brian A.

[pace21]

Out

[mfwestbe]

Innn

[cbusick]

I'm out

[dantelman]

I am still in.

[MarkMiller321]

Just a little follow up for the guys that were on the ride.

I managed to hook up with an Uber right away that was going to cost $28.00. I called the guy up and asked if my bike would fit in his trunk which he promptly replied with a matter of fact no. Probably too many dead bodies to fit the Tarmac. I was setting up another Uber when an Old Timer smoking a cigar pulled up. He offered to drive me to the brewery, we just needed to let his son know first. This old dude was the man! He was in the process of breakfast consisting of a stogie and a cup of black coffee. He informed me that his only other plan for the day was a second cigar and a glass of Jack Daniels after dinner. Cool dude that was either 82, 83, or 84 depending on which of his stories that I wanted to believe.

Crazy old dude that almost made the mechanical worth it! Hope the rest of the ride went well. I will be looking to get down there again in the next couple of weeks.

Mark

[jraguin]

Wow, that is quite a story. I still wished you could have finished the ride with us.

[mfwestbe]

Love stories like this. Also wish you were there for the rest of the hill party, though!

[Briana]

That was fun ride on Sat, I love the route and I'm glad we kept the pace very reasonable. There were a couple of notes from the ride, the new section to avoid the terrible downhill seems to only have replaced one terrible downhill with another. I'm not sure if there's another option, I'm not really familiar with the roads in that area. The other thing was a potentially dangerous intersection, I think at 68 and 62. You are coming to an intersection and making a left turn onto 62 I think. You could easily assume it's a 4 way stop but it's not. I'm not sure if there's an easy way to make people aware of this.

Brian A.

[djming]

Thanks Brian. Yes, the downhill is a case of lesser of 2 evils. Otherwise it's a complete re-do of a large chunk of the course and with approvals in place I don't want to open up that can. I'm going to re-preview both sections myself and make a decision. In either case, I'll be using extra red/orange marking chalk on the road to alert in areas.
As to the intersection, possibly you're thinking of Barre Rd and 62 (mile 40'sh, after the 2nd time thru Hubbardston center)? Regardless, I know all the intersections very well and will be having alert signage where appropriate.