Day 27: Friday, August 27
Ride bike to the Green River Festival
I’ve been going to the Green River Festival for so many years I can’t count them. But I never rode bike there from my house in Easthampton. So that became today’s adventure. At the festival I caught these wonderful Soggy PoBoys, a dixie band out of New Orleans (I think), and the night show stage lights lit up the Franklin County Fairground fields, where the festival took place this year. The bike ride was wonderful once I turned off of Route 5 just north of Sunderland. Back country Franklin County roads, plenty of hills, and a nice glide into Greenfield for the festival along with other cyclists (carrying an amazing assortment of chairs, blankets, kids and other items!). The GRF is always an impressive display of organization, togetherness and great music, and we are all thankful for this festival’s return.
Adventure: Bike to the Green River Festival, Greenfield, MA
Distance traveled: About 27 miles cycling one way.
Challenges: Battling the wind corridor of Route 5; climbing hills of Franklin County; finding a secluded spot to change out of bike gear and into festival clothes (trees, a cemetery, it worked out).
Risks: Typical cycling risks: traffic, slipping on slightly wet pavement during a rainy stretch. And slight risk of getting caught changing clothes in public.
Difficulty scale 1-10: 6.5
Highlights: Wonderful late afternoon ride along country roads; the festival itself, with the usual great music and lots of people watching/sharing.