Location: Ride Headquarters in Sherborn, MA
Ride Type: Mixed Terrain
Time & Date: Departs Every Full Moon, varying start times
Distance: ~15 miles, approximately 90 minutes of riding
Price: Free
Description: The Full Moon ride takes cyclists all over the trails of Sherborn and beyond. The route includes paved roads to trails, dirt roads, grassy areas, and other places off the beaten path.
Why Night Ride? Here is the best description of why it’s awesome to get into night riding that we’ve found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAIxw0H-IZw
Take a look and get inspired to join us under the Full Moon!
1 September Update: This ride will be run Social Distance style. We will be very safe and run the ride respectfully. Here is the ride protocol:
RSVPs are required: email connect@rideheadquarters.com letting us know you’ll be coming.
Everyone is required to wear face masks for the duration of the ride for the safety and peace-of-mind for all.
Keep at least 6 feet of distance between people at all times. If we see anyone getting too close to anyone else, you will be asked to leave immediately. Please don’t put anyone in an awkward position - just keep space!
We will enjoy beverages post-ride outside. We will have a bathroom available for those who need it. Otherwise, we will be outside for the entire time.
No touching each other or things that aren’t yours. We have hand sanitizer readily available and soap in bathrooms. Please use these generously.
The calendar of all Full Moon rides and start times is:
| Date | Day | Moon Name | Departure Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 January | Friday | Wolf Moon | 7:30 PM |
| 9 February | Sunday | Snow Moon | 6:00 PM |
| 9 March | Monday | Worm Moon | 7:30 PM |
| 7 April | Tuesday | Pink Moon | 7:00 PM |
| 7 May | Thursday | Flower Moon | 7:30 PM |
| 5 June | Friday | Strawberry Moon | 7:30 PM |
| 5 July | Sunday | Buck Moon | 9:00 PM |
| 3 August | Monday | Sturgeon Moon | 8:30 PM |
| 2 September | Wednesday | Corn Moon | 7:30 PM |
| 1 October | Thursday | Harvest Moon | 7:00 PM |
| 31 October | Saturday | Blue Moon | 7:30 PM |
| 30 November | Monday | Beaver Moon | 7:00 PM |
| 29 December | Tuesday | Cold Moon | 7:00 PM |
Get on our Night Riding Email List!
| Do you love night rides, specifically? We have an email list and if you're on it, you'll receive invites to all of our night rides and events when they come on our calendar. Sign up to be on this list! |
Route: The route is available to attendees the evening of the ride at Ride Headquarters.
We will email the route to everyone who RSVPs by 5pm so that we don’t need to touch GPS computers to load them in the store.
We change the route to meet the weather requirements so that the ride isn’t longer than 90 minutes.
Ride Notes: We have a designated Ride Headquarters Super Domestique leading the ride and pointing out turns. We don’t have a sweep rider for this ride so only participate if you’re confident in your skill level and fitness – or know your way back.
Last Minute Information: Watch our Twitter feed for last-minute updates, weather cancellations or other changes.
Estimated time: ~1.5 hours
Contact Information: Email - connect@rideheadquarters.com, Phone - 413-461-7433
Riding Rules, What to Bring, How Our Rides are Different: All riders are required to read and are expected to abide by These Rules.
Waiver: Ride Headquarters requires a signed waiver before your first ride. Please fill it out online prior to your first ride.
Proper Bike for this ride:
32c knobby tires minimum. Wider tires are nice, too. Tire choice depends on your riding skill set. In the winter, we will require studded tires when we expect to see ice.
Clipless pedals and shoes. These are important elements of bike control. If you ride with platform pedals you’re likely to be over your head in some of the more technical parts of the ride.
A bike that’s in safe working order. We don’t stop for preventable mechanical issues.
Higher tire pressure than you’d ride on a cyclocross ride. We recommend about 80% to 90% of maximum rated tire pressure, for two reasons:
First, we want to minimize flats on the ride; waiting for someone to change flats is not why we ride. We typically see zero flats on our ride. One of the primary reasons for this is due to higher than average tire pressure.
Second, on average, about 30% of the ride is on pavement; having slightly higher pressure makes the road sections go by faster.
We do not recommend fenders since sticks and twigs can get caught in them.
How do we decide if we’re having the Full Moon ride?
Thunder storms: If there’s a 33% or greater chance of a thunder storm at the ride start time, we don’t ride. It is not safe to get caught out in a thunder storm.
Rain or sleet: There are a few variants of this. We don’t ride sensitive trails when they’re wet; this can cause damage that’s not repairable. Fortunately, we have some rain-friendly routes that don’t damage sensitive trails.
If it’s raining at the start of the ride we probably cancel the ride. If it’s only threatening rain, we ride.
If it’s misting or drizzling at the start of the ride, with less than 50% chance of rain in the coming hour, we ride.
If it’s been raining a lot for a couple days, but not raining the night before, we ride. Our rain-friendly routes avoid sensitive trails. Of course, every few years there’s such a bad storm that we won’t ride; we take the force majeure very seriously.
Snowing: We ride; it is so much fun to ride during a snow storm.
Snow on the ground: We ride. It doesn’t matter if there’s 1 inch or four feet, we ride. We recommend studded tires or fat bikes for these kinds of conditions. The only exclusion to snow riding is when there is a state of emergency and we’ve been asked to stay off the road.
Icy conditions: We ride. For this you have to have studded tires in order to ride with us.
Cold: It doesn’t matter what the temperature is, we ride.
If you'd like us to do any work on your bike prior to the ride, please email us the day before so we're ready to do the work as soon as you come in; we want you to be ready to roll before the ride starts.
