The fifth episode started in Ashfield. I had arrived a little earlier to check if there were facilities nearby, fortunately there were 2 opportunities. When I came back the first riders had arrived. And by the time it was 5:30 we had 10 riders gathered: Tim, Jasiah, Meg, Joe, Jeff, Chris, Christian, David, Aimé, and myself.
We basically did 2 loops from Ashfield, first an easterly loop, through the town center up Norton Hill. While I was chatting with Aimé I forgot the route for a second, and erroneously lead us down Creamery, fortunately I realized it quick, and we turned around towards West rd back on the route. We then descended Brier Hill towards Creamery. I had warned folks about the sharp turn in Brier Hiill, and it was extra tricky as it was covered with loose sand and horse manure. Christian who was in front of me, skidded sideways and ended up on the side of the road, fortunately he was able to control his bike and kept it upright.
On Creamery we turned right to towards 116 and with a quick bonus gravel section on Hill rd we made it to Murray rd. Just when we reached the top, a car passed us, and we decided to wait a bit. This way we were not held up by on the gravel descend.
Emmets rd had just been graded, and after saying hello to a curious capoodle, we descended into rt 116. Emmets sharp right hand turn, was now extra challenging with the loose gravel. I heard some riders almost loosing control. Aimé seemed to do a (controlled) back skid around the bend.
We regrouped back in the center of town for our 2nd, now westerly loop, we first bombed down Smith, and immediately had to regain the elevation by climbing up Apple Valley rd. We took it relatively ez until David saw a town line and went for a sprint, I almost wiped him out as I was pointing out Cemetery rd.
At the top of the climb we were treated to an applause from some walkers. We had reached the highest point of the ride. Once regrouped we set our course back east and took Hawley towards Bear Swamp rd. We had a quick stop at the corner to admire the view down on Shelburne Falls.
We got quite the cheering from a family enjoying the beautiful evening on Bug Hill rd. We followed Bug Hill all the way down to rt 112/116, and with a quick detour over Steady we were back in Ashfield.