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| March 1, 2014, almost noon |
My intention was to go for 50 miles (80k) by doing a wide loop through many surrounding towns and I would have reached my goal had I not flagged around the 30 mile marker. After arduous climbs into the western hills, then a cautious descent into Lancaster and a drive-by of the Dexter Drumlin, I loped into the twisty, sandy, reasonably car-free roads of tony Bolton and Harvard and had my way with them until stopping at the general store on the Harvard Town Commons where I clomped inside in full regalia, used their bathroom, and took stock.
A loop into Groton would have secured 50 miles. As it was, the clear sunny sky had given way to the high gauze and the sun went slack. A slight wind picked up. Either way I went, I knew I had a long slog back into a headwind. I set out with the intention of doing the extra loop anyway but then part way in I knew it was too much and that not only would the extra miles thoroughly thrash me but the venture would eat up more time than I could afford. So I eschewed the extra 10 miles and heading more or less directly back.
At one point, early in the ride, I was confronted with something of a moral dilemma. A movement in the scrub brush beside the road caught my eye. It turned out to be a small hawk with a pigeon in its talons. When I approached, the hawk dropped the pigeon and, to my surprise, the pigeon wasn't dead and fluttered upwards. The hawk swooped around and grabbed the pigeon again and flopped to the ground a few yards behind me.
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| The scene of the hawk & pigeon struggle |
I asked myself - should I save the pigeon by scaring the hawk away? Or should I let it all play out? I always try to save animals that are in the road to keep them from getting hit by cars ... but if I interfered with the hawk's hunting, wouldn't I be disturbing the natural cycle?
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| Struggling with my conscience |
In the end, I rode off and let the drama play itself out behind me.
The thermometer registered 33 degrees when I left but it not seem that warm. As clouds slid in and absorbed the weak vestiges of sun, all sense of residual warmth dissipated. I was dressed well but eventually my feet got cold. Given that there remained a surfeit of ice along the road sides, my pace wasn't fast and I was out a long time, long enough to start to feel worn down and vaguely chilled. My thighs grew heavy and my hips tightened up.
So finally, realizing that 50 miles weren't in the cards today, I cut short my foray into Groton and headed back. In the end, I topped 43 miles, a solid effort but still not quite the distance of the Rasputitsa.
Note that today, for the first time, I saw other riders, at least two others. Serious bikers like myself. One guy was on a road bike. That seemed a little audacious, a little bold, given the road conditions, but he blew by at a fast clip going the other direction and seemed pretty content with this rhythm. Bon velo!
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| View of Mount Wachusett from Prospect Rd, Harvard about 30 miles away. |
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| The overlook from Prospect Rd, Harvard |
Towns: Princeton, Sterling, Lancaster, Bolton, Harvard, Groton, Ayer, Shirley, Lemonstar
Ride Stats: 43.68 miles (69k), 13.3 mph, 3 hours 15 minutes in the saddle. Upper 20s when I got back, the sky thick with cloud.
Road Kill: Another opossum (no photograph) and a bunny rabbit.
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| Bunny Down |
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| After taking this photograph, I picked up the body and put it on the snow bank out of the road. |
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