Ride Type: Mixed Terrain Ride, a few paved roads, dirt and trails, nothing too technical
Location: Start and end in Waltham, MA - near the Mighty Squirrel
Date & Time: 9am rollout Sunday, December 18 (date moved from Saturday to Sunday due to expected too wet trails on Saturday)
Distance: ~25 miles
Price: Free, but in the spirit of the holidays, please donate to the Boston Children’s Hospital, details below AND be aware of NEER membership requirements discussed below after the first ride you do with us
Become a member of NEER in order to join us if this is your second ride with us
RSVPs: Required, see bottom of page for RSVP form
*Ride Headquarters is donating $20 per 45NRTH item purchased toward the Boston Children’s Hospital fundraising so buying a set of tires helps you donate more to the kids!
Details of the Special Aspects of this Ride:
This is a very fun mixed terrain ride, and it’s also an opportunity for us to share holiday cheer while on bikes together during the holiday season.
Virtual Toy Drive: In the spirit of the holidays, we want to help kids find joy. This ride benefits the Boston Children’s Hospital. Your donation helps purchase meaningful items for patients. Specifically, here is how your dollars help buy children much needed joy.
Please donate directly via the button here, before December 17. No actual toys will be collected via this drive.
Buy Winter Riding Gear: For every 45NRTH item you purchase, Ride Headquarters will donate an additional $20 to this drive. Stay safe riding on ice this winter and feel especially good about your purchase!
If you want to contribute but can’t attend the ride, no problem! Just click the link at the button above and your contribution is easy to make there.
Last year’s Toy Box ride was at night and was very festive! Between Ride Headquarters’ financial contribution and riders’ money and toys donated, a total of $2,437 was donated to ABCD who was the beneficiary of last year’s Toy Box ride. Over 40 riders came out to share in the holiday joy of riding and giving!
DEADLINE: All donations should be completed before this ride happens on December 18, so we have a total amount to celebrate on the ride!
Ride Details: This mixed-terrain ride takes cyclists through Waltham and to surrounding towns. The route includes paved roads, trails, dirt roads, grassy areas, and other places off the beaten path. Considering the time of year, if trails are wet but not frozen, we’ll implement a back-up ride plan to be kind to the trails.
The ride departs at 9:00 am with various speed groups. We have a designated Super Domestique leading the last group to depart which will be rolling at a slower moderate pace. If you have ridden mixed terrain before and can average 14mph on a paved road ride, you should be fine with the pace of this ride. We typically have 2-3 groups who we assemble at rollout who each ride together and ahead of the Super Domestique-led group. This way, if one gets with a group that’s a bit faster than desired, that person can drop back to the last group and have a super fun ride. We expect to have gravel, mountain, and fat bikes attending.
We don’t have a sweep rider for this ride so only participate if you’re confident in your skill level and fitness.
Parking: We email everyone by 7pm the evening before the ride with logistics details, where to park, where to meet up, and the route. Parking is free and ample.
Route: The weather and trail conditions dictate the route. We expect this ride to be 20-25 miles in length. If you want a longer ride, the Brutiful ride is happening at the same time and is a 40-mile adventure.
Estimated time: ~2.5-3.5 hours depending on your speed group.
Ride Notes: We discuss these with you prior to rollout. Note that a mixed terrain ride is a little rougher than a “gravel” ride. You’ll be riding over some roots and rocks, though there won’t be that much requiring any technical ability. The trails we’re on are well maintained.
Get in the spirit of the holidays and feel free to come decorated!
Last Minute Information: We email all participants with any critical late-breaking news.
Contact Information: Email - connect@rideheadquaters.com, Phone which reaches the ride leader before and during the ride: 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.
Leave your fenders at home, there are so many twigs and leaves on the trails, fenders only serve to collect these in ways that can break them, your spokes, derailleurs, etc.
Per our usual recommendations, be sure to have everything you need in case of a minor mechanical including flat fixing and chain fixing tools and supplies, including a rear derailleur hanger if your bike uses one. Also have a plan if your bike or body decide to stop working mid-ride.
Ride your fattest tire bike. 32mm tires are the minimum. Bigger tires roll better over things you can’t see and are more fun on rougher terrain. It’s fat bike season anyway so there will be a number of fat bikes on this ride. Gravel bikes are perfectly acceptable and will have plenty of fun if this is your fattest tire bike.
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 Tuned Bike: Be sure your bike is in safe working order, have it properly lubed and tuned. We’ll ask you to call for a ride or take an Uber home if you have a mechanical situation that will hinder the forward progress of the group by more than a few minutes.
Ride with high enough tire pressure to prevent pinch flatting and burping your tires. We recommend about 80% to 90% of maximum rated tire pressure to begin. Ask us if you’re not sure where to set your tire pressure. We want you to have more than enough air for these reasons:
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 rides.
You can easily take it out, much harder to add it in.
Flat tires and burped tires are especially problematic when it’s cold. We ride on the coldest days. Our ride leader(s) can’t help with mechanicals when it’s so cold, we risk freezing our sensitive extremities.
Waiver: NEER requires a signed waiver before your first ride.
IMPORTANT for participation:
If this is your second or more ride with us, our insurance requires that you become a member of NEER.
How do we decide if we’re having the ride?
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 must have studded tires in order to ride with us.
Cold: It doesn’t matter what the temperature is, we ride. The coldest ride we’ve hosted started at 5 degrees. It was a blast!