Location: Ride Headquarters in Sherborn, MA
Ride Type: Mixed Terrain
Dates & Time: Saturday, November 9, 16 & 23 - 10am rollout
Distances: 12 miles & 25 miles
Price: $20 for the series whether you do one ride or all three
Post-ride food is included
REGISTER NOW!
Description: Mixed terrain rides are a key component to enjoying fall and winter cycling to stay warm, meet others, and have genuine fun riding bikes. Three Saturdays in November, plan to ride to commit to yourself and learn to love riding in colder weather, possibly wet weather, and meet others with whom you can continue to ride through the winter.
We’re charging for this series (only $20 total) so that you commit to participating and if it’s a chilly morning, you remember your investment to riding outside, and get yourself to the ride start.
Dates
Saturday, November 9
Saturday, November 16
Saturday, November 23
Prizes
We are awarding the top three participants with fun prizes as an additional motivator. How do you win this series? We have a points system, which we’ll tell you all about when you register. Points are awarded for the following:
Participation - the more rides you attend, the more points you get
Participating in the cold and bad weather - the worst the weather, the more points you get
Putting together a team of your friends to ride - encouraging others to ride outside is rewarding in many ways, and we give you points for doing it!
Participating in social media as another way of connecting to people and helping motivate others to join in has points associated with it, too! #chillclubhq
We have a leader board at Ride Headquarters. Try to get as many points as you can; stay motivated!
Registration Includes:
Unique Route: You'll have access to the GPS files to a route we're confident you've not ridden. Even if you ride trails a lot, we know you'll see some new sights!
Other riders: Psychologically, it’s significantly easier to ride in the cold if you have good company. We are offering paces that will be fun for a new-to-riding-trails rider, experienced, and fast riders. Find others who ride similarly to you!
Food: Enjoy hot, fresh pizza after each ride. We always have hot, fresh coffee available here - it’ll taste even better after a cold ride.
Ride Navigators: If you want to ride with a group, we'll provide a ride navigator along with a ride leader that will lead you through the route. If you prefer, you and your friends may ride as a team together.
Fun and adventure! Riding trails and mixed terrain equates to adventure and unforgettable memories. See how much fun you can have at a colder time of year to ride!
Membership to the Chill Club! This club has a lot of benefits, with the biggest one being connection and access to other cold-weather riders. There is no cost to join, but you need to prove your interest by attending a qualifying ride. Every November Frost ride is a qualifying ride. Click on the logo to learn more.
Riding Categories
Guided Group: We've got RHQ leaders ready to take the fun, moderate, and fast groups. You'll get to roll with and meet, new riders while not worrying about when the next turn is.
Team: A group of 3-8 riders that you put together. At least one person in your team needs to have a GPS unit for route navigation; see details below. You depart just prior to the led groups so that you and your friends do your own ride and you ride at whatever pace you desire. You, your friends, whizzing through the trails with unexpected turns. Fun!
Estimated Ride Time
12 miles fun: ~2 hours
25 miles, moderate: ~3 - 3.5 hours
25 miles, fast: 2 - 2.5 hours
Riding Pace Categories
Determining true average pace on mixed-terrain rides is challenging. Our experience shows that people tend to think they're riding a lot faster than GPS indicates. There are a number of contributing factors to this speed-dilation:
Most riders don't track their actual time when riding in the woods so it's challenging to have a true sense of trail speed. Road speed is always a lot faster, typically about 2-3 times faster than trail riding.
Even if you tend to average 18 mph on a typical road ride, that pace on a 33-40mm knobby tire is really fast. Knobbies slow you down. Depending on tire pressure, the loss of speed is generally somewhere around 2-4 mph of road pace.
Being fast on the road doesn't mean you're fast in the woods. And, of course, the opposite is true. If you're a 23 mph road rider but not particularly skilled off-road, you might average 5 mph in the woods. That average brings you into the moderate pace group; you may feel that the moderate group pace is slow on the road but it'll feel fast enough on the trails.
Weather conditions, trail conditions, altitude changes all impact the true pace.
If you are new to trails or have no idea of your pace, select the “fun” 12-mile group for your first ride. We guarantee you’ll learn a lot out there and have fun in the process.
Group participants all have different strengths; we move at the pace of the slowest rider - fun and moderate groups leave no one behind.
Everyone rides a little slower in the cold.
If you want to be pushing the pace, or you're the type to get frustrated if the pace is slower or faster than ideal, we suggest putting together a team of 3-8 with friends that you know ride at your pace.
The Route
We’ve got some great trails and roads in store for you. Ride Headquarters will email the route on the night before the ride.
We're riding through every type of terrain available. We've included the 'ideal bike' as a way of explaining that no bike is perfect - that's part of the point of an adventure ride.
Expect to see the following on the November Frost routes: pavement, dirt roads, fire roads, smooth and rougher singletrack, and a few places where you’ll want to carry your bike over something.
The Ideal Bike
This is always a very personal choice based on your abilities, your bike stable, and the weather. Would you like to get into mixed terrain/gravel riding but don’t have a bike? We have demo bikes available for those interested in purchasing a bike. Email us to set up your demo ride: connect@rideheadquarters.com.
Tires: Most riders will be happiest on knobby 33mm to 40mm tires. Probably nothing wider than 45mm otherwise the roads are likely to feel rather slow.
Gearing: We strongly recommend a low gear of about 1:1 ratio. A 34-tooth small front ring mated with a 32-tooth large rear cog will get you up most of the hills.
Tire Pressure: Don’t ride tires too soft; you don’t want to get a flat on this ride, and there are paved sections that will go faster with more tire pressure. For tires between 33-45mm, we tend to ride at 66-75% of the tire's rated maximum pressure. Ask us if you’re unsure of your proper tire pressure.
Clipless mountain bike pedals: This ride isn't for everyone; we ride at a fair pace and aren't stopping a lot. You have to ride clipless mountain pedals and shoes; the reasons for this are many, including that clipless pedals provide you more control of your bike, help facilitate getting over obstacles such as logs and rocks, and make bike handling more surefooted.
Team Rules
Must have a Group of 3-8 riders.
Email us your team name and list of team members.
Each member registers individually; include your team name.
We will assign you a starting block time; if you have a preferred start time window, email us.
Your team must have at least one GPS Units like a Garmin 800 or higher or a Wahoo Element. We strongly recommend having two or more GPS units. We are not printing cue sheets for this mixed-terrain ride. A Garmin 510 or lower is not recommended.
Use a GPS Device that will get you through up to 5-hours of riding time. The only way to navigate the route is with a dedicated GPS device, preferably one that shows trails and roads.
Everyone on your team should ride with a comprehensive repair kit that's suited for mixed-terrain riding. Riders should take into account tubes and tubeless setups.
Ride Rules
This is not a race; this is an adventure. If you're not up for having fun with us, stay home.
Follow good trail etiquette.
Follow the rules of the road.
If a rider asks for help, help.
You represent all cyclists so be on your best behavior.
Bring a repair kit that includes, at a minimum, everything for fixing a flat and a multitool that can help fix most mechanicals. Here's our recommendation for a long mixed-terrain ride.
Bring a helmet, I.D., and clipless mountain bike pedals and shoes.
Fill out the Ride Headquarters Ride Waiver online.
Last Minute Information: We have everyone’s email addresses who register for this series so we’ll send out an email for anything that is important for riders to know.
Ride Headquarters Contact Information: Email RHQ or call: 413-461-RIDE (413-461-7433).
Waiver: RHQ requires a signed waiver before your first ride. Please fill it out online prior to your first ride.
Email us if you have any questions.
Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for ongoing updates. #chillclubhq
The Honey Allroads - the Ideal Cold & Winter Bike
The Honey Allroads bike is the perfect bike for gravel and mixed terrain riding as well as cold and foul-weather riding. This bike is designed to ride on all road conditions – paved, broken, carriage trails, and single track. We call this the mixed-terrain adventure bike. Take it anywhere to do anything - all year long.
Why is the Honey Allroads an ideal bike for the cold, foul weather, and winter?
The Allroads bike fits 700c x 38mm studded tires comfortably. Studded tires are the secret to winter riding confidently and safely on roads and trails. Ride on ice with no issues with studded tires. If you order
The titanium frame doesn’t corrode or interact with the environment at all. It is completely unaffected by road salt and grime. Counter-intuitively, carbon bikes and aluminum bikes experience corrosion issues. Ask us why this is and we’ll explain how this happens and how this impacts the bike’s longevity.
The Honey Allroads uses a standard threaded bottom bracket. This means you don’t have to be paranoid about the bike getting dirty. Pressfit BBs are notorious for their creaking and issues, some of which may impact the bike’s life. Standard threaded bottom brackets are the easiest bottom brackets to deal with (because you probably won’t ever have to deal with it) and won’t cause you issues. They’re also non-proprietary, so if you need a new one, it’s easy to buy and have replaced.
When the surface you’re riding is wet or uncertain, the most important thing you need are tires to stick to the ground. This offers you confidence and safety. A titanium bike designed as Honey has designed their bikes keeps the tires on the ground in a way that a stiff bike can’t. You want drivetrain rigidity (Honey bikes have this), you don’t want a bike that is stiff in every direction for your comfort and for your stability in keeping your tires on the ground.
Membership to the Chill Club
Whether or not you think you need more motivation to ride this cold season, we are providing the ability to connect with others in the store and via a special email distro list, offering cold weather cycling advice, sending you special promos, and much more.
How do you join the Chill Club? Easy: ride with us in the November Frost series! This is not a club for people who say things like: “Someday I’ll do it, next time, when the kids go to college, once I get fitter, once I get the right gear…” So many excuses, all of which are keeping you from discovering joy, fun, mental and physical health. Keep false barriers out of your way. Don’t have another winter of being blue or of being burned out from the trainer in the spring. This fall and winter, discover the incredible fun of these seasons on your bike. Use the Chill Club to keep your motivation up and outdoor cycling happening.
There is no requirement to participate in the email distro list if you are a member of the Chill Club. Do all that you want to do as a member, and nothing you don’t want to do. Be proud, though, of your membership and enjoy the many perks of being a Chill Club cyclist!