Location: Start and end in Philipston, MA
Ride Type: Gravel roads, fun trails, paved roads too
Date & Time: Sunday, September 22, 9am
Distance: 70 miles with easy ways to cut the route shorter if desired
Price: Free, open to NEER members due to the complexity of organizing this weekend of adventure rides
RSVPs: Required, see bottom of page for RSVP form
Details
This is a fun ride where everyone has a chance to load your gravel-capable bike (gravel, mtn, fat) and go on an adventure ride! This route is fun, there’s a variety of terrain in a beautiful part of the state, come well prepared for a big day!
We recommend camping the night before this ride (and doing the Saturday Adventure ride if you can too!) But if you want to come out day-of for the ride, that’s fine as well. If you’re not camping, then if you want to park at the campground where everyone else is, it’s (probably) $10 for the day to leave your car and have access to bathrooms/showers/all of the campground amenities.
If you want to stay over Sunday night and head home Monday morning, that’s an option, we’re reserving 1-4 camp sites for 2 nights and maybe more sites for both nights, depending on the number of people and tents. It’s a max 8 people per site but we’ll want to spread out more than this.
The price of camping will be the total amount that it costs plus firewood divided by the number of people who stay at camp. We expect the price to be somewhere around $50-75 per person.
Pace
This ride is suitable for everyone, some fat bike riders who are fitter will be carrying a lot of stuff so a less-fast gravel bike with less stuff will keep up just fine. Everyone is welcome to go at a comfortable pace, but we’ll try to set this up so everyone has people to ride with.
Start Time/Schedule
7am - Wake up, make coffee (pourovers at campare on offer!) Make your own breakfast with your bikepacking stove. If you don’t have one, we have extras for you to practice with. Be sure to have ingredients for breakfast. We’ll bring a few extra things to share.
8:55am - Be ready to ride!
9:00am - Safety talk starts, then everyone rolls out
Distance & Estimated Ride Time
Allow ~8 hours for this ride, depending on your pace. Assuming 10mph is reasonable + stopped time.
Parking
Parking is available at the campground for $10 and you’ll get use of the facilities if you’re not sticking around to camp.
Route
The route will be emailed to all who RSVP no later than 7pm Friday evening.
After the Ride
Anyone who wants to hang out, enjoy dinner and campfires, and/or camping is welcome to hang out at camp. It’ll be a long day so you might not feel like driving home (though it’s not a long drive back to the Boston area).
Last-Minute Information
We will email all participants with any critical late-breaking news.
Contact Information
Email - connect@newenglandexpeditionriders.com with questions about this ride.
CALL US if you need us to know anything just before the ride start or during the ride at 413-461-7433.
Don’t txt if you need an immediate response, all txt msgs go to our email that we aren’t checking if we’re in front of people at the ride or on our bikes.
Riding Rules
All riders are required to read and are expected to abide by These Rules. RSVP’ing to this ride indicates you have read and accept all of the rules. These make the ride safer and more fun for all.
Waiver
NEER requires a signed waiver before your first ride. Please fill it out online prior to your first ride.
If this is your second or more ride with us, our insurance requires that you become a member of NEER.
Proper bike & Equipment
33mm knobby tires OR BIGGER. Wider tires are nicer!
Clipless pedals and shoes. These are important elements of bike control. If you are an experienced cyclist who has used platform pedals and sticky shoes extensively, this is acceptable. Note that mountain-style pedals/cleats are significantly better than road-style. We strongly discourage road pedals/cleats on a mixed terrain ride. You can possibly get away with road pedals/cleats on a gravel (dirt road) ride, but not a mixed terrain ride.
A bike that’s in safe working order that is properly lubed and tuned. Have a plan in case your bike or legs stop working. Note there are a lot of dead cell phone areas in the areas where we’ll be riding.
High enough tire pressure to prevent pinch flatting and burping your tires.
Be sure you have supplies necessary for all common mechanicals including extra derailleur hangers, a multi-tool, quick chain links, tubes, CO2 or hand pump, etc. You are responsible for you and your bike.
RSVP to Participate in this Ride Now!
Please RSVP only after you’ve made sure you can attend. It is inconsiderate to RSVP prior to committing to attending since it affects the experience of the other cyclists in attendance. We understand that things come up last-minute. Be sure to email us if you can’t attend: connect@newenglandexpeditionriders.com.