Local loop in western MA
Sun Sept 2, 2018
(~277 miles)
Char and I headed out for a 2-up local ride out to Amherst MA, to grab a bite and enjoy the somewhat lower humidity in the air after another stifling week. I’d seen the Black Sheep Deli mentioned somewhere as a good eating spot, and decided it would make a good ride destination for lunch.
After completing some household chores, we had most of the day free to use, so we picked up familiar back roads from North Smithfield RI, out through Thompson CT, and up through Southbridge MA. The temperature was climbing just past 80, but still comfortable in our mesh gear, so we enjoyed the ride.
We picked up US-20 in Sturbridge and headed west. The antiquing fairgrounds in Brimfield were about halfway filled up, but traffic wasn’t too bad getting through the town. We figured things were either winding up or winding down, and didn’t want to stick around to find out which.
We left US-20 to cruise west through Monson and Wilbraham, zagging northwest to the Springfield suburb of Indian Orchard so I could collect another Melting Pot Tour bonus photo (for “India”).
We stayed on local roads north to MA-116, up into Amherst. I wasn’t very familiar with this area between South Hadley and Amherst, and we were disappointed to find ourselves on a fairly busy thoroughfare of strip-malls and commercial properties for a few miles.
Arriving in Amherst, we could tell from the buzz that students were back in town, there being a few colleges in the immediate vicinity, including the big UMass campus. There seemed to be a lot of families walking around so I guessed perhaps it was moving-in weekend.
We found the restaurant on Main Street and snagged a parking spot across the street. We walked in to a comfortable-feeling deli/store area, with lots of tasty-looking baked goods, such as cake, macaroons, and cannoli, in the cases and glass jars on the counter.
The menu selections all looked good, with plenty of meat and vegetarian options. I ordered a Southwest Chicken sandwich, while Char opted for the Purple People Eater (roasted eggplant). I had to try something baked since it’s made in-house, and we agreed to split a delicious-looking coconut-chocolate-cranberry cookie. I asked the staff about pie options, and they said they make them seasonally after it starts getting cooler out (good reason to return!).
We ate outside at the sidewalk tables they had set up and people-watched while we ate. I’d give this place a definite thumbs-up for a lunch stop while riding in the area.
After finishing our meal, we geared up again and headed west out of town on MA-9, out through Hadley, Florence, and Williamsburg. We turned left on MA-143, which was an unfamilar but enjoyable riding road that took us through Chesterfield and Worthington, and finally to Peru MA which I had targeted for a Melting Pot Tour bonus.
Peru is out in the central Berkshires and is at significant elevation (for MA towns) averaging over 2000ft and surrounded by lots of woods and state forest lands. Formerly known as Patridgefield, it incorporated as Peru due to its “mountainous” character (*shrug*), like the South American country. (source: Wikipedia)
We passed a town limit sign going in, but the sharp curve didn’t present a safe spot to stop for the photo. Upon arriving at the diminutive town hall, we pulled over after the crossroads to try to locate a post office on the GPS.
“We are being watched,” Char said via the Sena comms.
I looked around and saw a big horse with a mottled coat looking intently at us from his enclosure across the street. We were probably the most interesting thing this handsome fellow had seen all day, as the place was a ghost town.
Coming to the conclusion that there was apparently no post office in town, we continued down Route 143 looking for the western town limit sign, which we found a couple miles further on, just before crossing by Ashmere Lake.
We finished out our run on 143 where it hits MA-8 in Hinsdale and turned south, enjoying the fields with late summer goldenrod and smells of mown grass as we zipped along.
US-20 took us east from Becket, enjoying the fast curves and sweepers all the way down to Westfield, where we picked up the Mass Pike for the express ticket homeward.
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Black Sheep Deli Ride
Local loop in western MA
Sun Sept 2, 2018
(~277 miles)
Southbridge MA
Char and I headed out for a 2-up local ride out to Amherst MA, to grab a bite and enjoy the somewhat lower humidity in the air after another stifling week. I’d seen the Black Sheep Deli mentioned somewhere as a good eating spot, and decided it would make a good ride destination for lunch.
After completing some household chores, we had most of the day free to use, so we picked up familiar back roads from North Smithfield RI, out through Thompson CT, and up through Southbridge MA. The temperature was climbing just past 80, but still comfortable in our mesh gear, so we enjoyed the ride.
We picked up US-20 in Sturbridge and headed west. The antiquing fairgrounds in Brimfield were about halfway filled up, but traffic wasn’t too bad getting through the town. We figured things were either winding up or winding down, and didn’t want to stick around to find out which.
We stayed on local roads north to MA-116, up into Amherst. I wasn’t very familiar with this area between South Hadley and Amherst, and we were disappointed to find ourselves on a fairly busy thoroughfare of strip-malls and commercial properties for a few miles.
We found the restaurant on Main Street and snagged a parking spot across the street. We walked in to a comfortable-feeling deli/store area, with lots of tasty-looking baked goods, such as cake, macaroons, and cannoli, in the cases and glass jars on the counter.
We ate outside at the sidewalk tables they had set up and people-watched while we ate. I’d give this place a definite thumbs-up for a lunch stop while riding in the area.
After finishing our meal, we geared up again and headed west out of town on MA-9, out through Hadley, Florence, and Williamsburg. We turned left on MA-143, which was an unfamilar but enjoyable riding road that took us through Chesterfield and Worthington, and finally to Peru MA which I had targeted for a Melting Pot Tour bonus.
We passed a town limit sign going in, but the sharp curve didn’t present a safe spot to stop for the photo. Upon arriving at the diminutive town hall, we pulled over after the crossroads to try to locate a post office on the GPS.
“We are being watched,” Char said via the Sena comms.
I looked around and saw a big horse with a mottled coat looking intently at us from his enclosure across the street. We were probably the most interesting thing this handsome fellow had seen all day, as the place was a ghost town.
Coming to the conclusion that there was apparently no post office in town, we continued down Route 143 looking for the western town limit sign, which we found a couple miles further on, just before crossing by Ashmere Lake.
We finished out our run on 143 where it hits MA-8 in Hinsdale and turned south, enjoying the fields with late summer goldenrod and smells of mown grass as we zipped along.
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