https:\/\/www.bikereg.com\/ma200k2sky#Register<\/a><\/p>\nDid you miss going to Wachusette Mountain Visitor center during the last 2 year’s spring brevet series? \u00a0Now you have a chance to go there plus summit the mountain in a brevet late season when your training should pay off to make that seem easier. \u00a0Check out the Reach to the Sky 200km offering on Sep 6, 2025. \u00a0The outbound to Wachusette is basically the mix of the Sterling 100km from Lincoln to Lancaster, then follow the climbing sequence of Wachusette 200km to Princeton via North and East Sterling (Think Justice Hill Rd). \u00a0After Summiting Wachusette, riders will travel to Ashburnham (the designated lunch spot at 1\/2 way point) via East Westminster. \u00a0Some NER riders may have visited the Ashburnham Wine and Liquor store during the very rainy spring 300km\/200km this year and found tasty bagels and breakfast sandwiches as they were sheltered from the rain. \u00a0They also serve deli sandwiches and ice cream (kind of sad story is that they are kind of the only store in the town center, so they are more than just a liquor store). \u00a0Bathroom is available and water from bathroom sink is safe to drink.<\/p>\n
After lunch, the ride should feel easier as 2\/3 of the elevation gain is before lunch (~5000ft climbing before and only ~2500 ft after). \u00a0The jarring pavement condition is more of the challenge for the second half. \u00a0We try our best to pick low traffic roads with decent pavement but there is really no alternative in Fitchburg after descending the Rindge Turnpike that has a bike lane. \u00a0The section of Fisher road between Pearl Hill Rd and Marshall Rd is under constructions so the FPWD is actually doing something about it (I think the streams coming down from the side of the hills were trying to wash away the road this past spring). \u00a0You may have better luck then us pre-riders\/alternative route scouter this past month. \u00a0The two sections of Fisher Rd before and after that doesn’t seem to have any active repairs, even though they also desperately need some TLC. \u00a0Please descent the half mile section of Fisher rd after Marshall Rd with extreme vigilant (mile 73.5 to 74) for potholes. \u00a0Ashburnham, Lunenburg, Townsend, and Groton generally has good pavement, while Ashby, Fitchburg, and Shirley has noticeably bad pavement.<\/p>\n
There is a ~40 mile gap between controls after lunch (mile 62 to 103). \u00a0Route design has made an effort for riders to choose where they want to replenish water and snacks. \u00a0Dick’s vegatable farm stand (mile 75) on Northfield St has portable toilet at the back near the field and tomatoes and berries are in season, but they don’t sell any drinks. \u00a0There is the Hilltop farm market (which is actually a c-store) next to Lunenburg town hall at mile 77 (right before you turn onto 2A), along with the library (it closes at 2PM though) that can provide portable liquids. \u00a0Riders are routed onto Rt 119 near Groton Center for a block so the Haffner gas station at the turn can be used as a resupply point at mile 88. \u00a0For the Dunk’s lover, there is a Dunk inside the Haffner gas station. \u00a0If you prefer Honey Dew donuts, then you have to wait until Chelmsford control.<\/p>\n
There are two short stretches of dirt road on this ride. \u00a0They are both located in Groton, MA. \u00a0You will encounter the first one at around mile 86 as you turn onto Fitch’s Bridge from Pepperelle Rd. \u00a0This is the only non-numbered road crossing for the Nashua river in that area. \u00a0There is about a mile of dirt road after crossing the pedestrian and bike only bridge that is flat, but watch for potholes, although there are multiple lines unlike the earlier Fisher Rd. \u00a0The second dirt segment is Rocky Hill rd after Martian Pond Rd becomes dirt at mile 92. \u00a0That is on a slight incline but the overall length of the dirt\/gravel rd is short (~1\/3 mile).<\/p>\n
After stopping at the Heart Pond Mobil\/Honey Dew Donuts at the penultimate control, It is pretty much a straight shot (with reasonable detour off route 2A if possible, like Virginia Rd and Mill St) back to the start via Concord and Lexington. \u00a0Hanscom drive has been repaved and restripped to include bike lanes. \u00a0Please make sure not to speed on Minuteman Rail trail for the last 2 miles of the ride. \u00a0Minuteman is a shared path and late afternoon on Saturday is a busy time for the path.<\/p>\n
Thanks for reading my route reports.<\/p>\n
Tsun (NER’s Club President)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Start Time: \u00a06:30am on Sep 6, 2025 Time Limit: \u00a013hr30 min (Finish by 20:00) Start: \u00a0Thorndike Field, Arlington, MA. 99 Margaret St, Arlington, MA 02474 Controls: \u00a0Wachusette Mountain, Princeton, MA;…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boston-events","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5183"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5379,"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5183\/revisions\/5379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ner.bike\/nersite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}