Conference noted::bicycle

It's usually the third Sunday in August.  The times that I've gone I've just
shown up that day at the start, paid my $10.00 and did the ride.  The T-shirt
arrives in the mail in early October.  Plan on rain, as even the best weather
in recent years (1991) had rain at one point in the ride.

Rich

    
    Maybe I wasn't explicit enough in .0.  I need
    SPECIFIC information on this ride---like a phone
    number to call or an address to write for a
    registration form.
    
    Info of the sort "just show up and pay your money"
    is next to useless.  (WHERE does it start?  And what TIME?)
    I'm not driving all the way to the Berkshires driving
    around looking for the start of the ride on the third
    Sunday of August because someone in notes told me
    "it's usually the third Sunday of August".
    

    The Berkshire Velo Club runs is, and the cue sheet says "sponsored by
    The Arcadian Shop, Lenox, Mass."  So, maybe information can give you a
    phone number for them.  The start/finnish location is Allendale
    Shopping center, junction Rte 8 & 9, Pittsfield, MA.
    
    
    Rich

just sent in my registration. here's what it says on the info sheet:

********************************************************************************
time: sunday aug 22,1993 ; check in 1:00 am ; start 8:00 am
host: berkshire velo club 413 - 637 - 3010
sponsor: arcadian shop, 333 pittsfield - lenos rd, lenox ma. 01240
start finish:allendale shopping center parking lot, junction of rt 8 and 9 in
pittsfield ma.
fee: $10.00
route: a very challenging 100 miles with a total of 7878' feet of climbing. the
ride
proceeds to the summit of mt greylock (2347'), descends to n. adams, thence to
charlemont via the mohawk trail (rt2, 1573'),descends to hawley climb, a very
steep climb at 52 miles (1203'),descends to goshen and cummington and at 85
miles (1013') to windsor. from there the last 10 miles are a rolling down hill.
services: 3 mandatory check points and a sag wagon with water and or ERG
substitue . pls bring your own food.
other: helmets are mandatory
t-shirts to all finishers
same day photos available from rex channell photography for $5.00 for each (4x6)
print.

********************************************************************************

notes:

the figures given above for each climb are the climbing feet and not the peak
elevation. for example the climb up the back side of greylock (hey, i'm from
north adams so of course the lanesboro side is back side) is 2347 feet of
climbing. the summit elevation is 3487'.

send to sent the arcadian shop for a registartion. include a sase. i requested a
course map too cuz i couldn't remember the details of a few of the turns. it's
not a half bad map. it has a little course profile of the mountains a la TdF
race guide.

i will be riding the course next weekend and will try to remember to report back
on the condition of the roads on the greylock descent into north adams. the road
has been in *TERRIBLE* condition for a long time but last time i was there they
were repaving some of it. it might be done by now.

one word of caution. the stretch of rt 9 from where you initially turn onto it
at 72 miles to the post office in windsor at 91 is prime place for a very bad
BONK!!! why? because there's not a store for that entire stretch. add to that
the fact that it's pretty much a slooooow uphill for most of the 20 miles. make
sure you're fueled up. if i understood the course map correctly there's a food
stop at 52 miles. i'm planning on refueling there. i did this ride twice when i
was riding 10K miles a year and bonked in that stretch both times. of course
then they didn't have refueling stops so you had to carry all your food with
you. if you didn't bring enough - tough toenails. there is a convenience store
at the top of the hill in windsor (91 miles). 

if you like climbing and would like to see the parts of massachusetts that bear
absolutely no resemblance to the over-crowded suburban hell hole of metro boston
you owe it to yourself to try this one out.

ps. then you'll definately want to come back in september for the mt greylock
hillclimb. it goes up the side you come down in the berkshire century.

    
    Thanks for the info!  This file and its folks
    are the best!
    

np. see ya there. i'm the tall skinny guy with the blue serotta colorado.

did anyone else do this ride? here's my account.

got there late - about 10 minutes before the start. (arg!) got my number
and put two tall bottles of full strength ultra fuel into the hawley climb
feed wagon. then got dressed up as quickly as possible - done just in time for
the start. the weather was looking good. sunny and cool, but not cold.

this ride has sure "grown up" since when i used to do it 10 years ago. they've
got feed stops and support and i couldn't believe how many people were there
including many racers. the number of racers surprised me especially onaccounta
the brodie mountain road race was happening that day just down the block in new
ashford/hancock MA.

me and another guy (dave somebody) ended up finishing first with a time of
5:20:30. assuming the ride was exactly 100 miles that means an average speed of
18.7 - not bad considering all the climbing.

on the greylock climb (~10 miles long - the first and hardest climb starting at
around 15 miles into the ride) there were four of us, me and this guy and two
guys from sarah lee who were from rhode island. i got dropped halfway down the
decent (am chicken s--t descender and did well to keep them in sight for that
long) but caught back up on the subsequent mohawk trail climb (~ 6 mile climb
moderately hard) out of north adams. on the last major climb (hawley @ ~ 55
miles/~ 4 mile climb with some very steep stretches) me and dave ended up
pulling away from the two sarah lee guys (two nice guys, one of whom seemed to
be a junior - his name was matt). we rode the rest by ourselves with dave doing
more than his share of the pulling. i sucked his wheel all the way up route 9.
at one point i got a severe leg cramp and he soft pedalled a bit while i worked
it out. very gentlemanly especially since i wasn't of any use to him being that
i was sucking his wheel most of the time.

all in all a great course and a great day for a ride. 

     Nice ride... How's the traffic on that ride?
    
       Chip

    
    I didn't end up doing it, as my base of cycling this year
    was not adequate for such a demanding tour.  One of these
    years!
    

>     Nice ride...
thanks.

> How's the traffic on that ride?

traffic, what traffic? this is western mass!!!

seriously. it's not bad. the route starts on rt 8 which is the major north/south
road in the area but at 8:00 on a sunday morning there aren't many cars.

the only serious safety problem is the descent of greylock but this was made
alot better recently as parts of the road were repaved. there are still a few
bad stretches but it's 100 times better than it was. descending mt greylock you
do have to watch for cars but if you stay on your side of the road you're fine.

rt 2, which is the major way in and out of northern berkshire county, wasn't too
bad. once again, it's still fairly early in the morning. also, the road is wide
enough to offer room for everyone.

the only other spot where you'll see cars is the stretch of the ride on rt9.
this is about the last 25 miles. most of this stretch is very wide with a
shoulder wide enough for two riders to go side by side.

there are only three stop lights on the whole ride and they are all in the last
5 miles. we didn't have to stop for any of them.

try to find a ride in eastern mass where you can go for 100 miles *without
stopping at a &^&*&(^ intersection*!!!!!!! that's one of the things i miss most
about riding out there. you can go miles on end without stopping at an
intersection.

sometimes i sound like a broken record but what the heck. i'll say it again.
western mass is cycling heaven. 

    	Karol,
    
    	One of the fellas that rode BMB (and came in shortly after Ed
    	Kross) rode for Sara Lee and was from Rhode Island. I'll bet it
    	was the same fella. Never caught his name, but talked to his
    	wife at the finish of BMB.
    
    	Scott

>    	One of the fellas that rode BMB (and came in shortly after Ed
>    	Kross) rode for Sara Lee and was from Rhode Island.

did he do the greylock century? the junior guy's name was matt. the other guy
had sandy brown hair and a pig tail. he road a concorde frame. 

    	Karol,
    
    	I never talked to him, just his wife. And, I forgot what he
    	looked like, so....
    
    	Scott