Local ride
Mar 25, 2023
(~100 miles)

With the first day of spring passing by on the calendar mid-week and milder temperatures on deck, I was eager to get out to ride this weekend. Char and I made plans for a longish ride on Sunday, but NER member Amy Fuson had also scheduled an RTE event for a pizza joint less than 10 miles from my house on Saturday. I would’ve felt like a putz to miss out on it, so I RSVP’d affirmative as the week drew to a close.

The weather forecast wasn’t great, with scattered rain and showers for the day, but I knew I needed to get out of the house (where I work all week long) for a change of scenery. Riding 10 miles wasn’t gonna cut it either, so I took a fresh look at one of my older “3 hour” routes and spruced it up a bit. Ready to go!

I headed out just past 10:00, zipping through Plainville MA and north onto one of my favorite series of local back roads, winding me around west for a short cruise along Diamond Hill Res. From there I took the fabulous Tower Hill Road (carefully – still sandy and sketchy in the corners), then on through Cumberland, past the Woonsocket Res and North Smithfield. I detoured briefly in Pascoag to scout out the existence of a 24 hour ATM that might be useful in a future certification ride I’m planning, then continued on to finish my trek across the Ocean State.

Needing a turnaround point (Bogey’s Ice Cream is still closed for the season) I pulled in at the Thompson Speedway sign for a quick snap.

From there I found my way to the woodsy and isolated East Thompson Road, carving north through Douglas State Forest into Mass once more. Then it was the fun series of Chestnut/Pine/Linden/Chocolog roads over into Uxbridge, before dipping back down into Slatersville RI. Iron Mine Hill Rd provided some final lean therapy before I cut and run for the RTE via the most direct path on I-295. The rain had mostly held off, with a few sprinkles here and there during my ride, but started to get steadier as I navigated through the heart of Attleboro to get to the restaurant, which is a bit off the beaten path.

I’ve passed by Briggs Corner Pizzeria about a million times over recent years, as it is right along one of my go-to short local rides. It’s just far enough from home and out of the way from our daily routes that we’ve never ordered take-out from it, nor thought to try it for any other reason. It does always seem pretty busy though, and boy was I happy to make its acquaintance today! First, though…am I in the right place? Where are all the bikes?

photo credit: Amy Fuson

I knew that several folks had mentioned driving cars to the event today, so I wasn’t actually too surprised. I walked in with my helmet on, dripping on the floor as the hostess pointed me to the NER crowd. They had given our group a nicely partitioned section off from the bar, with full windows and there was actually a pretty nice turnout for a March RTE – maybe 25 people or so?

Amy (host), Matt, and Joe

After mingling a bit and meeting some new-to-me NER members, I grabbed a seat at a table with some nice folks and ordered food. Several people were ordering small pizzas, so I followed suit, electing to stick with a simple pepperoni and a salad. Boy, that pizza came out perfect! Crust nice and dry but tasty, with cheese well-caramelized. While still your standard Greek-style pizza, it was a bit different from the local stand-bys that Char and I have been ordering since we moved here. I had a feeling we’d be mixing it up a bit with our future pizza takeout to sample more of the menu here.

It was a pleasant meal chatting with a bunch of local NERds, most of whom I hadn’t met before. One couple had trekked out from the Springfield area, just to meet up on this blustery day. There was a nice roaring fake firepit in the room too, that helped keep things cozy against the outside chill and wet.

photo credit: Amy Fuson

The NER event season was off to an early and busy start this year, and it’s great to see a lot more people hosting gatherings and events. I chatted with whomever took the time to listen and was one of the last people there as everyone began to drift out to their cars. I finally suited back up and headed back into the rain for the short scoot back to the house. I was glad that I’d made the effort to get out today, and was feeling primed for a longer ride tomorrow, hopefully in better weather.