Similar to my 2011 run, I was joined by two friends for section 2 of the BCT. The forecast called for unseasonably warm weather with a high temperature into the 80s. This would become a factor in the latter stages of the ride. We met at the Prospect Hill trailhead with an eclectic mix of bicycles. Tony had a gravel bike with skinny tires, Bill had a hardtail mountain bike, and I brought my very heavy fat bike. I had to give Bill the "Goldilocks Award" for picking the bike that was "just right" for the trail conditions.
There was no time to warm up the legs as we were immediately faced with a steep climb up Prospect Hill. Prospect Hill is a glacial drumlin rising 268 feet above sea level and was the high point for the day. The climb was about a half-mile long with occasional blowdowns to make things interesting. I was struggling with the weight of my bike, and I think Tony was having some difficulty getting traction with his smooth tires. Bill was ahead and quickly out of sight. Unfortunately, the hard effort to the summit was not rewarded with any views.
The descent down the other side of the hill and through Dow Brook Reservation was slow and tedious. The trail off the backside of the hill was twisty, steep and rocky and the single-track in Dow Brook was blocked by numerous blowdowns. It required dismounting the bike, lifting the bike over the fallen tree and getting back on the bike. In some cases, we only rode a few hundred feet before repeating this process. Bill helped me get my bike over one of the blowdowns that was waist high. He commented on the weight of the bike. I don't think he believed it was as heavy as I told him it was until he actually had to lift it!
Crossing Route 1 into the Hood Pond section of Willowdale, the riding remained relatively easily before Linebrook Road. From here, the BCT runs mostly on top of an esker for the next two miles. There were points where the trail ran very close to the edge of the steep-sided esker. A fall here could have been serious. In mountain biking lingo "babyheads" refer to rocks the size of a baby's head. The esker trail had its share of babyheads which slowed my progress. That and the short, punching climbs at times.
Frankly, I was happy as heck to get off that esker when we reached Georgetown-Rowley State Forest. We made a short detour to avoid a flooded section of trail only to be greeted by another section of flooded trail. I had a moment of deja vu as the same thing happened to me when I ran this trail in 2011. We managed to keep our feet dry by walking on a stone wall while pushing our bikes through the deep water. Three miles later we were out of the woods and onto our first stretch of pavement. To me, it was a welcomed sight!
Bill had been taking the lead most of the day, so when Tony and I exited the French Family Woodlot and didn't see him, I assumed he missed a turn. My phone rang about five minutes later and Bill confirmed my assumption. When Bill met back up with us, we took a much-needed break at the Boxford Community Kitchen on Elm Street. Tony was having some cramping due to the heat and Bill and I were out of water. We hoped a cold coke and some salty chips would breathe new life into us. It did the trick, at least temporarily.
We were on our way again and after one mile of road riding we turned into Lockwood Forest. One more mile of single-track dumped us out onto Middleton Road where we ended the ride at the entrance to the J.C. Phillips Sanctuary. Tony had 1400+ feet of elevation gain on his Wahoo while I showed 1300+ feet on my Garmin which was acting wonky on the climb up Prospect Hill. That's a fair amount of gain for a 18.2-mile ride. This ride was a challenge for me, maybe even more than I anticipated, but I'm looking forward to my next ride on the BCT.
(A note regarding the above photos: Although these photos are from my 2011 run, they depict the conditions we encountered on the trail. I felt I was the weak link on this ride, and I did not want to delay the group further by stopping to snap pictures.)
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