End-of-season Rides, Western New England

Back in May, I compiled a list of early-to-mid-season cycling events within a two-hour drive of Amherst, MA -- an area including most of Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and a thin strip of New York State along the borders of those previous states. Having moved here recently, I found precious little in the way of comprehensive resources for cyclists, so I posted the list on Velophoria.

Last week, I repeated the process, searching for the regional rides remaining in the '09 season, starting in late August and running through the end of the season in October. These are organized rides that are neither official races nor official brevets/long-distance events. Each generally offers a range of distances, anywhere between 25 and 100 miles, and proceeds usually go to a good cause.

I only found six, and the two posts together comprise a mere 18 rides, which in itself represented hours of work. I'm quite sure there are many I've missed so, in the spirit of fostering greater Western New England cycling community, I'm putting out the call for comments, corrections and additions.

Sat., 8/29 - Ride with the Champions - Topsfield, MA

Sun., 9/13 - Connecticut Valley Century - Hatfield, MA

Sun., 9/13 - Ride to Provide - Amherst, Ma

Sun., 10/4 - Ashford Metric Century (Plus...) - Ashford, CT

Sun., 10/4 - Major Taylor Century - Whitinsville, MA

Sat., 10/17 - Ride for a Reason/Livestrong - West Hartford, CT

Western New England Cycling Events

I took some time over the last week or two to gather a list of upcoming cycling events in my area. Given my lengthy health issues this winter, and that I'm still cleaning up some ongoing related stuff, I'm probably not going to be racing this season as I had planned. But I need events to train for.

I spent last year -- my first season back on the bike in decades -- just riding to ride, and it was fun, but the aimlessness got a little dangerous sometimes.

So, this season I aim to acquit myself reasonably well at organized rides in the my newly-adopted region. I won't be off the front trying to prove how indomitable I am, but I'll try to post some good times, and have some good times, too. Hopefully, I'll get a little training motivation out of it, discover more of the area, and make some new friends to hang with. It's been a little lonely out here, away from my friends back in Boston.

Since it took me a while to compile this list from different sources, I thought I'd post it here for the benefit of cyclists in the Pioneer Valley, or the larger region (which the local NPR affiliate so smoothly calls "western New England"). Most of these rides start within roughly a two-hour drive of the Five Colleges area (basically Amherst and Northampton, MA). Some are much closer. Most events offer a variety of routes, with distances ranging from 12 miles to well over 100, and a number of lengths in-between.

I warmly invite comments if you know anything about any of these rides. I'd also love to know of any area cycling events not listed here. (Note that I've not included rides that only offer long-distance routes, such as pure centuries or brevets.)

Sat., May 16 – Tour de Northeast – Woodstock, Ct

Sun., May 17 – Heidi’s Chain of Hope – Westfield, Ma

Sun., June 7 – King’s Tour of the Quabbin – Rutland, Ma

Sun., June 14 – Hat City Cyclists' Cyclefest– Bethel Ct.

Sun., June 14 – Tour De Cure – North Haven, Ct.

Sun., June 20 – Ride to Survive – Plainfield, Ct.

Sat., Jul 25 – Memory Ride – Devens, Ma.

Sat.-Sun., Aug 1-2 – Vermont Lakes Region Cycling Weekend – Poultney, Vt.

Sun. Aug. 2 – Tour of Litchfield Hills – Litchfield, CT (?)

Sat. Aug 22 – Hoosic River Ride – Bennington, Vt.

Sat., Sept 12 – No Limits Ride – Manchester Centre, Vt.

Sun., Oct 11 – Great River Ride/Berkshire Brevet Series – Westfield, Ma.


Hope this list is helpful to folks!