Today I went for a ride on the 
Ashuwillticook Trail. It was great! I think it was probably the nicest trail I've ever ridden on. It starts just north of Pittsfield and runs to Adams. I was surprised to discover that its mostly downhill from Pittsfield to Adams. The wind was also out of the south, which contributed to a fast, easy ride out and then a long, slog back -- I prefer to arrange things the other way around, but the plan was to get dropped at the trailhead, take a ride while Alisa and the boys went to the museum, and then meet at a Chinese buffet. The first mile runs through forest and swamp, then several miles are along a beautiful lake -- an impoundment that originally served for power generation -- the shores lined with birch and red osier dogwood. A few more miles through marshes -- I stopped to move a painted turtle off the trail and on the way back saw a garter snake there. After you cross the Hoosic River, there is a cut through the spur of a mountain and the trail follows the Hoosic and drops fairly steeply down into Adams -- lots of old, adandoned mills, some with interesting architecture.
The plan was to meet back at the Chinese buffet at 2:00pm, which gave me 2.5 hours. The trail is 10.5 miles long and I figured I would probably average about 10mph. I was ahead of schedule when I reached Adams -- I had averaged around 15mph. I stopped and took a rest and then began the climb back to Pittsfield. I seemed to average between 7 and 8mph going back -- my average speed had dropped to 9.8 by the time I got to the end). Since I had a deadline, I tried to push myself harder than I might normally, but by 18 miles, I was running out of energy -- I needed to stop every couple of miles and rest. I reached the trail head before 2pm and then had only the 1.5 mile ride to the restaurant. I had observed that it was mostly downhill from the trail head to the restaurant, but there was one slight climb at the beginning, but I couldn't make it -- I couldn't climb at all anymore, so I got off and walked. Once I reached the top, I could mostly coast the rest of the way there. I arrived just as Alisa and the boys stepped back out of the restaurant after checking to make sure I hadn't gotten there ahead of them.
This is definitely an adventure worth repeating -- especially in the fall. The lake would be exquisite with the fall colors.