Hub on Wheels - Boston

[quint41]

Has anyone ridden this? Looking for a review of the ride overall. I only have one report to go on, and that was a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend who said the road conditions are not good; too much traffic, poor pavement, even dirt paths. I checked the website, which confirms "rough paths and a one quarter mile section of dirt and gravel." I don't do dirt/gravel w/ my road bike. As a matter-of-fact, the ride's website even says "hybrid bikes are preferable." That screams red flag at me. Also, the website suggests anyone who has a problem (injury, mechanical trouble, can't finish) should flag down a volunteer who will then call for help. That tells me there is no SAG.

I think this ride is trying to become the "Five-Boro Tour" of Boston. I thought I'd see if anyone out there could give me the skinny before I nix it completely based on heresay. Thanks!

Louise

[BethG]

I did it last year (fwiw, I'm strictly a recreational rider). There are definitely sections where dicey pavement and dirt tracks could be rough on a nice road bike. That said, I certainly saw a lot of people doing the ride on road bikes with super-skinny tires.

As a faster rider, you'd probably be able to avoid the worst of the congestion (both because they'd let you start first and because you'd outrun the rest of us), but there were a couple of sections where things got a bit crowded.

Can't speak to whether or not they have a SAG-wagon - but if that's important to you, I'd suggest calling or emailing the organizers and not relying on word of mouth.

I enjoyed it for the most part, and I plan on riding it again, but I don't know that I'd haul up from Central CT to do it.

[Crankin]

I just finished the 4 day tour sponsored by Mass Bike, the same organization that is doing Hub on Wheels. I would say that they are trying to attract "recreational" cyclists to this. I didn't do it last year because of the dirt/ unpaved issue. I would never ride my road bike in Boston! I bought a hybrid last winter, but still not sure if I would do this ride because I don't think the speed I go on the hybrid would qualify me to be up front; it weighs about 28 lbs with the bag on it. As I said, doing this on my road bike is not an option.
I also found that the tour I did didn't really mention the difficulty level of the rides. There were 30, 50, 65 mile routes each day and while the elevation from point to point was on there, they should have been more up front about how challenging this tour would be. We knew it would be challenging, but a lot of people didn't. And the shorter rides weren't much easier than the longer ones.
So, this makes me a bit uneasy about doing Hub on Wheels. Mass Bike is a great organization, but I think they need to look at safety from a different angle.

[DebW]

I did H.O.W. last year - the shorter 25 mile route. I rode with a friend who had her 4 year old on a trail-a-bike. I thought it was a blast riding down Storrow Drive with no cars. And seeing some cool parts of the city I hadn't been in before, including the Forest Hills Cemetary. The seacost was nice too. The 1/4 mile of gravel was unpleasant because there was a steep little hill in it, but you could always walk that. I rode my touring/commuting bike with 26x1.3 tires. Rest stops were adequate and included mechanic support. There were volunteers at many of the confusing intersections so people didn't get lost. I enjoyed it.

[quint41]

Thanks to all who responded! You pretty much confirmed what I suspected. I think I'll skip it this year.

Thanks again!