If you're itching to warm up your legs with a great springtime road ride, this is the best there is! This modest 20-mle ride begins with a short 1/4-mle climb, followed immediately by 1.5 miles of sweeping downhill through rarely-used well-maintained rural road. Over the course of the scant 20-mile ride, there are only two significant climbs, the 1/4 mile climb out of the gate and a fat one-mile climb about half-way through. The entire ride is glorious rolling hills and some relative flats through rural New England countryside near Berlin (that's Ber'-lin, not Berlin' as in Germany).

The photograph that accompanies this posting is (was) the view from Sawyer Hill Road last weekend. The trees are just beginning to come out (brave souls that they are), and by next weekend they should be in full bloom.

This is a road bike ride. If you can't make this ride but are interested in seeing more rides like this (with hills, including either longer or shorter routes), please post a comment or message me to describe your interest. We do significantly more hiking than biking in Gay Outdoors in New England, and I'm keen to know what interest there is in both road and trail biking for future events.

We will meet for coffee at noon on Sunday at the picnic tables at Berlin Farms. From Route 495, west of Boston, take exit 26 to Route 62 West (toward Berlin). After 1/2 mile, you will find Berlin Farms on the right-hand side at the intersection of Route 62 and Sawyer Hill Road. Berlin Farms is a family-owned farm business with a refreshments and gift shop in the main building. We will have parking arranged for our cars, so please SIGN UP for this ride no later than Saturday morning if you plan to participate so we can arrange for appropriate parking on farm property.

We will plan to ride together, but I will have cue sheets for riders (if any) who want to sprint ahead. At the conclusion of the ride, we will meet back at the farm for ice cream and refreshments (bring your own or purchase from the farm store).