The team gathered on Friday afternoon to discuss our Saturday plans and when we realized that only 4 riders were available to travel to Exeter we began to question the benefits of driving 2.5 miles to Exeter for a very short race. Â So, we pulled the plug on the Exeter race and rode the D2R2 course as a longer training ride. Â No van time and 5.5 hours of saddle time proved to be exactly the right choice and even though we didn’t race, I’m claiming a “W” on the day!!! Â The D2R2 is an epic ride through western MA and southern VT:
http://www.franklinlandtrust.org/d2r2.html
We chose to ride the 100km version of the ride (the 180km was a bit intimidating) and had one of the best days of riding I’ve had in New England. Â The ride is mostly on dirt roads and the first 50km involved a vertical mile of climbing, mostly on roads of mixed surface with dirt, loose gravel and sometimes larger rocks and ledge. Â We encountered few cars but many sheep, cows and enthusiastic dogs! Â The final 50km wound through river valleys and we followed the Green River back south to Greenfield. Â The damage from Hurricane Irene was evident everyone and the boys were especially impressed with the washed out bridges and landslides along the upper reaches of the Green.
A phenomenal day in the saddle, a perfect Saturday afternoon for DA cycling and check out the Deerfield Cycling Facebook page for images and video! Â
