qcpmsame 

@rumrunn6, understandable completely, sorry I don't have the pleasure of riding with you tomorrow, but those tasks take precedence.

@jimmuller, I just picked up a helmet at Pappa Wheelie's, in Portsmouth, after we finished lunch. Got the same Speech Echelon II that I use at home, kind of a neat shop to just. wander around in for a while. The helmet will be left with John for his use in the future. Its time to build him a bike, Our daughter, Betty, got my Cannondale R500T already. I have everything save the frameset for his ride, at homier my garage shop.

I scrounged a nice warm sweat shirt from John, and I brought a pair of mid-weight winter tights, a UA Cold Gear compression top, a base layer top for going over that, and then the sweatshirt, topped off with a nice long sleeve winter jersey and a wind jacket. Gloves are full coverage with mitten wind covers, those are welcome broken in and trusted. My skull cap/ winter head cover beneath the helmet "tops things off".

However, if you think something you bring will be better for warmth, I am certainly game, but pease do not overload your paniers for me. Being new to this weather, I will carefully listen and follow advice given by you fellows familiar with how to remain non-frozen. Not the coldest that I have been in so far, but a record for April, by a mile. Current forecast is for a high of 48 and cloudy. We shall see gentlemen, we shall see, or should I will shiver, perhaps.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to assemble a bicycle and check it over sos I do not make too big of a fool of myself tomorrow.

Panza

Are there any other bike manufactures in Massachusetts aside from Firefly, Seven, and Honey cycles? Really like supporting local.

jimmuller 

There are a bunch of individual builders. Two I can think of off the top of my head are Peter Mooney at Belmont Wheelworks, Toby Staunton (or maybe it's spelled Stanton) at Hottubes (hottubes.com) in Shirley.

jimmuller 

@rumrunn6, sorry you can''t make it. Next time. We are ready to ride tomorrow!

Ghazmh

Having been off a bike since Tuesday I was more than ready to ride this afternoon. It was a 33 mile wet and cool hammerfest on the Roubaix. Not very pleasant but somehow satisfying.

Looking forward to meeting everyone. I'll be to Depot Park around 9:00 AM.

qcpmsame 

Even though it was cold, and at times raining this morning, I truly enjoyed riding with some of the folks up near Boston. Meeting Jim and Sharon M, Ghazmh, and Jim From Boston, as well as our ride was truly nice for me. Putting a face with a person's screen name makes things better for me personally. I regret that Boston Jim needed to break off and get back home, getting to shake his hand and chat for a few minutes was just a start, I hope that this wasn't my only get together up in the area. My thanks to everyone for being so friendly and accomodating. See everyone again soon.

jimmuller 

He! Bill understates the experience. We all enjoyed it!

As he said, qcpmsame, Ghazmh, Jim from Boston, and my sweetie/stoker and myself did a nice ride in misty and sometimes rainy weather. JFB had to bail out a bit early and the rest of us rolled on for a nice 25 mile run through the northwestern suburbs.


L to R: JfB, q, my sweetie Sharon, me (staring at my smarf watch to trigger the camera), Ghaz.

A bit of C&V (q's gorgeous Medici and our tandem) and a bit of hypermodernism (G's Soma and JfB's something that I've forgotten - duh, must be the beer). Yeah, we got a bit wet and the bikes got a bit dirty. But we had great ride and it was a real pleasure to meet everyone.

rumrunn6

awesome. team Boston

rholland1951

Spent the day tinkering with the Ebisu build, installing a set of Paul Touring Cantis. That was the last major subsystem needed to take a first shake-down ride. This tickled me, since it means that the frameset has evolved into an actual bicycle. Had a nice ride with the tingle of new-bike novelty, and got a list of things to fiddle with.


rod

Ghazmh

Awesome, it looks fast!

rholland1951

Thanks! I'm sure I can slow it down a bit by sitting on it.

The frame and fork is an older Ebisu All Purpose Bicycle, with a Stronglight A9 roller bearing headset already installed. Wheels (built 'em myself) are Chris King hubs laced to Alex DM-18 rims with DT-Swiss butted spokes; I've got a pair of old, beat-up Grand Bois Cypres Extra Leger 32mm tires on at the moment, expect to swap them for the equivalent Compass tires before the bike sees serious miles. Drivetrain is Sugino XD2 triple crank, Shimano Deore XT derailleurs, Sun Tour Power Ratchet friction shifters from Tyler Oulton's parts bin, with a 9-speed SunRace cassette (specific cassette aside, I've found the Sugino/Shimano XT ders/9-speed friction shifting model to work really well for me, and used it on both the Rawland and Trucker DeLuxe builds). Brakes are Paul Touring Cantis with Moon Unit (giggle) carriers, actuated by eBay-sourced Dura Ace 7402 brake levers (the ones with the return spring), in pristine condition, that apparently graced a wall-art bicycle for decades. Handlebars are 42mm Nitto Noodles, on the narrow side, selected based on my experience with the Rawland build, and something that may get changed later, if the Ebisu handling is significantly different from the Rawland's (the Rawland is very low trail; the Ebisu is just inside the low-trail envelope, almost mid-trail). Stem is a Nitto Technomic DeLuxe high-rise with a bit less than the maximum reach (that's an experiment, may change that out later for more reach). Seatpost is a Nitto Crystal Fellow (whose job is to keep the Paul Moon Units company on the funny-names bench), saddle is an eBay-sourced WTB SST, a saddle that is offered intermittently by WTB and is known to fit where I sit. Bottom bracket is Shimano UN55, square taper.

This was the first build from a F/F/HS that I've done with my own hands, and it's taught me a great deal about bicycle subsystems that I have used without much thought for decades. Often, this learning involved proceeding from one error to the next. Thanks to Tyler Oulton at Paramount Bicycle repair, Ball Square, Somerville, for patiently mentoring me through the process, allowing me to make enough mistakes so that discoveries were made and the lessons sunk in. The build's not over, but the end is in sight. Good thing, too: it's riding season.

rod

Jim from Boston

Nice write-ups, and it was such a nice opportunity to meet my friendly fellow BFs, all of whom I read regularly. My bike is seen en face, rather than on profile, and is a Specialized,Diverge Elite, so that’s probably why @jimmuller couldn’t remember the make.

One other interesting aspect of the event was that all the others were very technophilic and conversant about brands and components. I admitted that my LBS does essentially all my work, and I trust their opinions, so I don’t shop around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

…Besides time, I have never had good facilities to work easily on my bike…Having the LBS do it all, in my case is a really good deal. The shop is one block away, and they will fix many things at a convenient time for me. They are so expert that they can do these things quickly, better than me, and often spot problems that I did not see. Whenever I leave the shop,the bikes ride as if new again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

… I decided to get a CF. My trusted mechanic said here’s the bike you want, knowing my riding style. Well the MSRP was $8000, but he got it for me at half off.

qcpmsame 

Regardless Jim, that is a really nice bike. There is no rule I know of, or would follow, saying you can't just enjoy riding a quality bicycle. Some of us are real gear heads, I freely admit to being one happiest with grease and grime under my finger nails, and others aren't interested in turning wrenches as much as possible. It was still enjoyable to talk with you and to ride the short time we had.

I can pretty well assure you this isn't the last trip up to New England for us. Our son has over a year remaining for his grad school at UNH, and he has always intended to pursue a PhD in his field (Linguistics.) There will be more opportunities to ride and talk, after having such an enjoyable time riding Saturday I want to cover other parts of the Boston area. I'll see you then my friend.

Bill

athrowawaynic

A (very) little bit of exploration this morning on the SNETT. I set myself a time limit of 30 minutes out before turning around and heading back. But several telephone calls from clients mid-ride ate into the ride time and only managed about 8.5 miles.

Despite the warmth, quite a few waterlogged segments. Still manageable though. Also got a little lost/sidetracked at Centre St in Bellingham where the trail drops off for 500 feet.

EDIT: Sorry for the mismatched wheels. I was playing with tubeless over the winter, only just realized I should have set up my knobbier tires tubeless. In the middle of changing over, but wanted to get a ride in before the rain the next couple days.

autonomy

A little bit out there, but there's also Welcome

autonomy

That is awesome. They're doing this cycling thing right. There's some good riding over there on the Cape, Nauset Trail to Cost Guard Beach as well. Have to do the Shining Sea Bikeway one day.

rumrunn6

oh yeah. the outer cape is my little piece of heaven. go the right time of year & it's like another part of the globe. lots of hidden secret places no one knows about too

if you don't mind camping to save a few bucks, you might try "North of Highland Camping Area". that's how we raised our kids ... camping & biking ...



carrying 4 bikes is no easy trick, when they start getting big!

rholland1951

With the chilly downpours today, it's hard to remember how pretty Sunday was. I spent part of it documenting the mile markers on the Minuteman (oddly enough, somebody who should know better had asserted that they had been removed).

They're all there, as tastefully discrete and semiotically coy as ever. Each marker is scribed with a pair of Roman numerals (rotated so their baseline is aligned to the long axis of the pillar, with the numeral V further rotated for artistic or cryptographic effect); the number on the Westbound side indicates progress from the Eastern terminus of the trail, the number on the Eastbound side indicates progress from the Western terminus. The two numbers always sum to 11 (or XI). Given the actual location of the markers, the zero points are a little mysterious.

In my opinion: these are best regarded as latter-day menhirs, mysterious legacies with an abstract beauty of their own, some of whose mysteries can be decoded with a little effort. Whatever their shortcomings as signs, they are elements that help give the Minuteman its particular charm, souvenirs of its founding inspiration. We should let them be.

Here are the mile markers. Each marker is denoted by <Westbound count>/<Eastbound count>, with an indication of location; both Eastbound and Westbound faces are shown; lat-long information is embedded in the images, should anyone want that.

I/X, Spy Pond Park, just E of Linwood Street


II/VIIII, AHS, between Mill Street and Grove Street


III/VIII, just W of Bow Street, Arlington


IIII/VII, between Bow Street, Lexington, and Fottler Ave.


V/VI, between Maple Street and Seasons Four


VI/V, Lexington Center, between Fletcher Avenue and Grant Street


VII/IIII, Revere Street


VIII/III, Tophet Swamp


VIIII/II, between the Shawsheen River and Wiggins Avenue


X/I, Depot Park, at the Buddliner


rod

jimmuller 

In case no one else rode today, I rode to/from work wearing new rain pants and shoe covers that my sweetie drug (that's the past tense of dragged) me off to buy last night so I could ride in the rain today. It rained. But I stayed pretty dry!

mr_bill

Patriots Day

Before dawn:


Nearing the green:


The regulars:


Heading to Concord:


Main Streets:


Heading home, a few of the Bedford Militia heading to Concord:


-mr. bill

mr_bill

Patriots Day part 2

Marcel Hug threepeats:


Atsede Baysa wins:


New security:



Very quiet on the way home:



-mr. bill

qcpmsame 

@rholland1951, I noticed a few of those monuments as we rode last Saturday, I had wondered what they signified. Thanks for the bit of history education about them. Its a shame someone defaced some of these unique markers, I will never understand grafitti being necessary.

About last Saturday's ride in the rain with @jimmuller and the others from Boston's surrounding area, it wasn't my best day as far as remembering to bring my correct kit for the weather conditions. As you can see in the group picture, I am in running shoes (at least they are New Balance 990, made in New England,) my watch had stopped during the night and I didn't pay attention to it when we got up Saturday morning.

I was drinking my coffee and gathering things up, casually. My son looked at me and asked what time we were riding, I replied with, 9:30. He got a funny look on his face, then he pointed to the digital clock on their stove, it was already after 8:00 am. I had over an hour's drive from New Hampshire to the Depot, our starting point. I gathered up everything, or so I thought, and scrambled off to pay the various tolls along the way.

When I began dressing things started to become all to surreal, no cycling shoes, no shoe covers for the rain, no long enough wool socks, etc. I lucked out and wore some every day wool socks that worked really quite well, thankfully. No rain jacket, just a 50+ Forum wind jacket, and my flight jacket I wear all the time when its chilly, just not to ride. Never say that I didn't give up and punt the ride. If was just kind of weird feeling to wear my running shoes, and that bulky flight jacket, for a fairly brisk paced ride. Seeing as how those present had done things just because I was up in New England and were being extra nice about putting together a ride day, I was determined not to miss out on this once in a life time experience.

My sincere thanks to all the good folks that rode last Saturday, no matter how long they were able to be with us, it was great to meet up and ride with a few of the BF/C&V people. I owe each and everyone of you a big hug and hand shake next time we all ride. I missed seeing several Boston area members, @rootboy is someone I wanted to meet in person, big time, along with about a dozen others. There will be future visits, be sure of this.

Bill

Ghazmh

I've been on the bike a bit this week. Took my 10 year old son for a Sunday afternoon ride on the Minuteman. It was a great opportunity for him to experience the joys and challenge of a crowded yet awesome trail. We drove to the trailhead in Bedford and I had my trusty Montare 29er sans grocery panniers. Monday's afternoon ride on my R3 was the best ride this year. My fitness training has been paying off. 33 mile hard and heavy hammerfest. Not to get bogged down with details but my average MPH was the highest for me ever. For me it's a big fitness accomplishment, in addition to the joy of just cycling in general. That was followed by a pre sunrise 30 mile spin Tuesday morning with my Roubaix.

Took the 520 down from the rafters, mounted the panniers and started to pack for a 4 day 3 night tour from home to Provintown-ferry back to Boston next month. I'd sure love for the weather to be sunny and 85* the whole way.

Enjoy the riding.

jimmuller 

Query: Did Howie Carr write another bike-trashing column within the last few weeks?

On the other hand, drivers don't seem to need provocation to be both obnoxious and stupid so maybe I shouldn't blame H.C. It seems to me that traffic levels and aggressiveness have been climbing for the past month.

However I managed to survive my commute once again.

Jim from Boston

I reviewed a list of his columns since January, and none were bicycling related. I also listen pretty frequently, and no rants in the recent past. You give H.C. a lot of credence for his ability to rile the motoring public.

Most of my recent riding has been on Saturdays this year, so I haven't dealt with the commuter flow, even though I ride in the reverse commute direction. Nonetheless, my general experience over the years in the Southwest corridor. has been pretty amicable. Is it the region, or just me?