My Scouting Trip

For the past several months I've been planning a trip to Mt. Greylock in Western Massachusetts.  It's right outside a town called North Adams, and partially forms the border between Massachusetts and New York.  It's also the highest elevation in the Commonwealth and I've heard the view is rather spectacular.  Back when I first created the meet up (thanks, Meetup.com), it was me and one other dude.  Then, about two months ago, it went from two of us, to eight of us.  Now, I will admit, I hadn't really thought through exactly what I was doing when I posted the ride.  I figured at most 3 other people would join me.

Well, such as it is, I now have to lead a group of 8 riders on a trip of some 150 miles, or so.  This, let me tell you, freaked me out to no end.  I scrambled to find someone to help me.  Enter Brenda.  She was very kind enough to lend me her expertise (she's led many rides herself), and she has offered to be the co-captain of the trip.  Whew!

As luck would have it, things didn't stop there.  This weekend, when I was hoping to ride out to Greylock, to test the trip for myself and make sure that I could plan what I needed to do (such as where it would be necessary to ride single-file as opposed to staggered), Brenda told me that the primary route I was hoping to take was closed, due to road damage caused by hurricane Irene.  On further investigation, I uncovered information that several of the routes to Mt. Greylock had also been damaged.

Rather than scrap the ride, I decided to change the route and destination.  On Brenda's suggestion, I looked at a ride to Mt. Holyoke.  With a basic map in mind and a starting route pretty much on the books, I decided that I would ride the new route, to the new destination.  Man, there were some amazing pieces of road, both in scenery and in the amount of curves involved.

Along US-202, I came across a scenic overlook, of sorts.  If offered me my first-ever glimpse of the Quabbin Reservoir.

Needless to say, I had to stop and take the above picture.

So, I continued on, taking a right at Amherst Road and continuing on.  Most of this portion was fairly unassuming.  Nothing too big, except, I ran passed lunch time again, so as I made a few mistakes, and had to search for an ATM, I was getting a little cranky.  Still, I finally made it to my destination for the day.  From the summit (a whopping 932 feet), there was a very nice view of the surrounding area, including the Connecticut River.

This is from the north "face" of Mt. Holyoke

Another north "face" picture

Last north "face" picture.  That's the Connecticut River running below.

The next pictures are all from the south "face"

Summit Cap

It was an impressive view.  I can only imagine how much better the view from Mt. Greylock is.  The cool thing about Mt. Holyoke is the access road to the summit.  It's a perfect training road for getting used to switchbacks on a bike.  I will admit, quite readily, that I have quite a way to go before I can handle the big boy switchbacks that exist elsewhere.  Still, it was a lot of fun trying them out.  I just have to learn the lines better and not be quite as scared to lean the bike over.

On a sour note, I noticed that the left front foot peg is rather damaged.  Rather than try and hobble it together for the trip next weekend, I decided I'd just order some replacement pegs (and pegs that aren't made of bad carbon steel and rubberized plastic).  When I got back, I placed and order for a new set of Arlen Ness front foot pegs.  Why Arlen Ness?  Because I really don't feel like having the foot spikes (they aren't really pegs at that point) and I wanted a set of pegs to match the passenger pegs.

Pictures of the pegs once I get them installed.

All things considered, I hope the ride next weekend goes off without too many bumps.  And, despite my earlier trepidation, I would like to see the other riders come along.  It'll be fun.