Ride 24: Essex, Westford & Fairfax

All of a sudden fall is in full swing and time is difficult to find. It’s been close to a month since my last ride and I was itching to get out. I was already planning a ride on an upcoming Saturday (more on that in Ride 25) but Maddie and I were invited to our friends’ place in Fairfax for dinner and I thought I’d take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and ride up there. Pat and Margaret’s house is right near were I was planning to ride anyway and I figured I’d just make this my second point-to-point ride of the project. So I tweaked the route a bit, packed up a bag for Maddie to bring along in the car, ducked out of work a bit early and headed north. 

As I mentioned, the weather has been crazily warm. I’d normally describe it as Indian Summer, but we haven’t even had a frost yet, so I wouldn’t say it even counts! The leaves were really starting to peak so I wanted to get as much time in the saddle as possible. Plus, I didn’t want to miss the precise moment of peak foliage. I began from the house, so I technically rode in Jericho, but I’d already checked that town off way back on Ride 3. The first half of this ride was also interesting because we were right in some of my favorite local riding zones, so I was very familiar with the roads. The first part on Packard Road, cutting through the Town Forest and onto Old Pump Road was especially familiar. I also had a really tough time riding past the best creemee in town at Palmer Lane Maple. We’re spoiled with options in town and when we drive the 4 miles to get there, we have to pass two other places that serve creemees. But this one is hands down the best. Anyway, after a short stretch I was into Essex, the first officially new town of the ride. Essex is an interesting mix of rural and suburban. There is a village of Essex Junction that really blew up in the late 50s with the arrival of IBM and its chip plant. In fact the differences have become so divisive that there’s a good chance the towns will split in two and I may need to rename my project Dirt 252. Anyway, I crossed into Essex on Old Pump and took a right onto Sleepy Hollow Road. Google seems to think that this road connects all the way through, but it doesn’t. At least not where Google has it going. There are, however, some trails that work their way through to the north. I needed a few tries to find them, but I finally did on a recent ride. I continued down and took a right on the main road connecting Essex and Westford, Route 128. I normally would be taking Osgood Hill Road, but seeing as how this was a 251 ride, I wanted to get a few new roads in. So I opted to continue north and take Pettingill Road. I crossed over the Browns River and began climbing, soon coming to the Westford line. Along the way, I passed three sugarhouses and some immensely beautiful foliage. I almost feel like I need to apologize for the amount of changing leaf photos that will be coming in this and the next ride wrap up. But anyway, it was absolutely gorgeous and I even managed to cross paths with a small flock of turkeys. Now onto the first of many sets of gratuitous foliage shots…

I continued north towards the center of Westford. Westford is a bit of a sleepy town, though there is occasionally drama and the odd Phish recording session. However, overall, I know it best for being a great town for riding. I also just discovered a neat school on Brookside Road since I normally ride it in the other direction. The Barn School with its distinctive windows is right down the road from Westford Elementary. I cruised onto the village green and paused briefly next to the Westford Country Store and Cafe. Foivos Kalimeris and Alexandra Argyropoulou opened the store in September 2020 (and a few months later became US citizens) and it’s been quite successful and a great place for a mid-ride snack. But I didn’t want to spoil my appetite so I pushed northeast on Cambridge Road over the Browns River Covered Bridge and on towards Fairfax. As I neared the border, I saw “Town Line Lane” though unlike the one from Ride 22, this one didn’t quite match the boundary and it’s fully in Westford. The countryside got a little more developed with some suburban-style development, but it’s still lovely scenery. I dropped down onto Route 104 for a few hundred yards before crossing the Lamoille River on a lovely truss bridge above Fairfax Falls. I turned onto Goose Pond Road and took it past River Berry Farm. This farm is a great place to score some strawberries when they’re in season. There wasn’t too much going on, but it did appear that there were some fall raspberries being harvested. I began climbing up out of the river valley and the settlements were similar: mostly wooded with a few cul-de-sacs and assorted developments. I passed the roads towards the village of Fairfax and its amazing pizza joint, Stone’s Throw (can you tell I was hungry?). The restaurant has since expanded to two other locations and even though it’s a bit pricey, it’s delicious. It was about this point in the ride where the landscape shifted a bit and I really felt like I was in Franklin County. The area is known for its agriculture and rolling hills (as seen extensively in Ride 11) and this was really meeting that reputation. I knew the feeling may not last, but passing a farmer raking hay made it really stick for the moment.

Being farm country, the views began to open up. I got some looks at the Georgia Mountain wind turbines and over towards the sun dropping towards the Adirondacks. The route had been fairly flat in this section but began to pitch up as I got closer to Buck Mountain on Woodward Road. Once I reached Berthiaume Road, the views were fantastic. There was still an agrarian feel, but the road passed through a beautiful sugarbush. I also passed an amazing old piece of machinery. It looked like it was meant to sift something, but whether that was grain, gravel or something else I couldn’t be sure. I climbed further and began smelling the distinct odor of fresh manure. Not the pleasant (to me anyway) smell of fresh cow pies, I’m talking industrial-scale, straight out of the lagoon stink. As I began down the back side, I could begin to see a slight sheen amongst the corn stubble in some of the fields and soon enough I came upon a tractor and the smelly spreader. This time of year, farmers are typically anxious to get manure on their fields before they freeze up and the deadline to do so passes. Luckily, gravity pulled me down the hill and out of the stench quickly. I took a right onto Cherrirville Road and began my last climb. I pushed on knowing that friend time and dinner awaited me. Amazingly, I beat Maddie to Pat and Margaret’s house. She was soon to arrive though and they were gracious enough to let me take a quick shower and change into my regular clothes. We then did a quick garden tour, ate some delicious falafel and had a great time catching up. As far as work day evenings go, it was one of the best.

The Details:

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