Ritzhikes

Where: Southern New England Trunkline Trail (SNETT) When: 8/6/2019 With: Solo I'd seen the SNETT on maps, and heard about it from folks I knew. Then a friend ran it (and established the fastest known time). That got me thinking that a bike ride might be possible, and when the opportunity arose (a day with nothing planned, good weather), I went. Jane & Andy were still sleeping as I loaded my bike in the car and made the quick drive to the start. The SNETT is a former railroad bed , 22 miles long, and owned by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation. It passes through six towns, with the level of development varying from town to town. The first few miles were an easy riding packed stone dust path. It changed to a paved trail for a time, then went back to stone dust.  I passed folks from time to time, walking dogs or just walking, but generally had the path to myself. For the most part, the land surrounding the trail was all woods, with some remnants of...

Where: Westfield River When: 7/23-7/24, 2005 With: Chip, Dave We'd set aside this weekend some time ago for a Stupid adventure. The destination and activity were left undecided, though most bets were on a reprise of the annual kayak adventure in Connecticut. As the date got closer, I sent out another message to see if anyone was still interested in going. Chip responded immediately that he was on board. Xeth took a bit longer to reply and after a brief exchange of emails he bowed out, citing a heavy work schedule. Dave waited even longer, then sent a "So, are we going?" message. The Connecticut river trip was closely linked to Xeth and I didn't feel it was appropriate to go there without him, so I began to consider alternatives. Somehow I got the idea of a return to the Westfield river, but with mountain bikes. I knew Dave & Chip both had the bikes, and I'd wanted to ride in the area along the river for some time. I figured we could park at the usual spo...