The Doug Ryder Reports

Chapter 2: Being An Exploration of the Subdivisions Roads Around Birch Hill

The second Doug Ride of the 2001 season got underway up at the Birch Hill ski area parking lot at around 7:30 or so. There were eleven of us all told: myself, David James, Burnside, Yates, Tom Moyer, and several other folks whose names I never got. The trails up there were still muddy and snowy so we decided to ride the subdivision roads around Birch Hill and see what’s what.

We took off down East Birch Hill Road and then turned right on Bias Drive to where it dead-ended. We turned around and then went back up Beacon Road to where it dead-ended. Lots of puddles, mud, and such but no trails. So we turned around and went back up Birch Hill Road to the top of the hill where we then took a short little back trail over to the head of Parkland (I think) Drive. We followed a fast, furious, and fun descent down Parkland to the bottom of the hill where it intersected Birch Hill Road.

From there, we went over to City Lights Boulevard, up around the cemetary, and then over above the old tank farm. We stopped at mid-level at the cemetary to figure out if we could get around the tank farm by going down onto the base and over to Gaffney. After some consideration, the consensus was to continue on over to the powerline. So we slogged up through the cemetary, followed a hole in the fence, walked all the way around the tank farm, and then (finally!) got to where the powerline intersects the tank farm fence.

Once there, we started the quarter-mile ascent of the powerline. A couple guys rode all the way up but for most of us, it was push-push-push to the top. Once we got there, we walked/rode down back to the cars, which took around ten minutes or so. We got back to the cars around 9 or thereabouts. Total time: approximately one and a half hours. Total distance: about ten miles. Worst (in fact, only) hill: the powerline. Best part: descent down Parkland to the bottom of the hill. All in all, it was a blast (except for the mud on the trails and such)

That’s my report for this week. See ya next week!

Liam Wescott

a/k/a The Doug Ryder

FCC Historian