Pedal2Pints

Combining two of my favorite things, I participated in the 2012 Pedal2Pints ride yesterday with my great friend and colleague Buzz Hoagland. We arrived early and enjoyed the breakfast spread served by People's Pint general manager Beth Fraser. We were among the first to arrive and soon people were pouring in.

At first I felt a bit out of place wearing a t-shirt and shorts: almost everyone else was wearing a fancy riding jersey and seemed to have a high-end carbon-fiber bike. But we soon discovered that the first wave was composed of riders going on the 70 mile loop (that headed down to Amherst and over to Northampton, before heading for Greenfield). They left after a few minutes and then the short-loop people started arriving: I felt more at home among them.

We headed out, up route 5, then turned off on 116, and then took to the backroads. We stopped for a few minutes at an apiary that provides honey for mead by Green River Ambrosia. We headed out again, mostly uphill, and I was quickly dropped by the rest of the pack. That suited me just fine: I rode at my own pace -- walking up a particularly steep hill -- and periodically checking the route on google maps. There were some markings on the pavement, but they were a bit inconsistent. When I got to a particular point, the markings were ambiguous and I missed a turn. I ended up in the middle of Greenfield, so I just headed for the People's Pint brewery, where we were scheduled for lunch. When Buzz pulled in a few minutes later, I called "What took you guys so long?"

Lunch was pleasant with a sandwich, apple, and beer, although the sun was pretty brutal: there wasn't much shade and no shade on the tables. Buzz had decided to attach himself to the front riders of the second wave, so he set off a bit before me. I set off by myself again and set my own pace.

The route was pretty nice: mostly good roads with plenty of room for cyclists, with a few exceptions: the bridge over the Connecticut River being full of nastly potholes. You don't have a lot of choices for crossing over from Greenfield to Turner's Falls, but a better choice might have been to cross the Deerfield river and then take the bike trail over the Connecticut River -- that's a beautiful ride.

As I pushed on, I read the description of the route and found that it talked about "swooping down" into Millers Falls and then having a really steep climb back out and decided to turn off early and head straight for the Book Mill while I was still on high ground. Once again, I got there a few minutes ahead of the lead riders and said to Buzz, "What took you so long?" We had pint of IPA in the shade and rested before the final leg of the ride.

The last part went along Falls Road in Sunderland: one of my favorite destinations. There are cool grottoes and lovely waterfalls, picturesque farm fields, and great vistas of the Connecticut River. Everyone who passed me was very encouraging and, in the event I was stopped, people unfailing asked if I needed assistance. It was a very supportive crowd.

I was kind of dreading the last climb along Mount Sugarloaf, but it turned out not to be as grueling as my mind had made it out to be, and I rolled in to the BBC in good order, ready for good beer and good food (and bacon-chocolate-chip cookies!). I was a bit sunburned and my legs were sore, but I had a great day and look forward to riding it again next year.