New Route Re-kindles My Love for Cycling
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New Route Re-kindles My Love for Cycling
My regular 26 mile route along the shore is nice but after hundreds of trips it is wearing a little thin.Today I went inland toward Sebago Lake. 40 miles; a few good hills, traffic in places, got lost a few times even though I had mapped it out with Map My Ride. Yet, all in all, a wonderful day! Started out by giving directions to the lighthouse to a pretty little Chinese cyclist on the bridge. Discovered a few places where you can see for miles; chanced upon the Mountain Division Trail which is a rail/trail. Crossed a bridge where children's laughter was heard down on the river at a summer camp, I guess. Got a double scoop of Beal's ice cream on the way home. A few Chicken McNuggets and part of a Power Bar were fuel enough for the day.
It is amazing how much I enjoyed my ride today. Did not realize how much of a rut I had gotten into.
It is amazing how much I enjoyed my ride today. Did not realize how much of a rut I had gotten into.
Last edited by Sculptor7; 08-18-14 at 02:51 PM.
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It always amazes me how much me a simple new route or even a bit of a change up can make in the way a ride feels. I have to make myself find new routes or at least change up some of the order or I'll ride myself into that rut you are speaking about. Too much of a creature of habit, I guess.
Bill
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I very happy you found a new route to rekindle the pleasure of cycling. Riding new roads is my favorite thing to do on a bike. In my area there are many country roads so that even if I've ridden some of them before it is often a while before I get back to a particular route.
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I ride some local county roads after work a couple of days a week and, as you say, the regular old routes can start getting a little old. One "trick" I've used is to do them in reverse (these are all loop rides). It's amazing how seeing the same old route "backwards" makes it seem a little fresher. The routes have the same familiar crossroads and landmarks but I get to see them in a new way.
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Nice! No pix of the pretty little Chinese cyclist?
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Exploring new areas with a bike is what drew my interest to riding town to town when I was a little kid. Seeing what is up around the next corner, over the next hill and generally forgetting all cares in life is the magic of cycling.
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Sounds like the perfect sort of ride - especially the ice cream
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Variety is the spice of life.
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I crossed the bridge.
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I love exploring new places on a bike. Lucky for me, we have the Oregon and California Railroad lands (no railroad, just forest, tree farms, creeks and rivers in the coast range) relatively close to where I live. There's oodles of unpaved logging roads and plenty of paved roads to explore. It's even fun to grind up a hill only to find a dead end. I don't know how many centuries and double centuries I have ridden out there, often with plans for the former but changes leading to the latter, but it's been a lot.
Two nights ago a neighbor came a-knockin' on my door around 9:00 PM. He was heading out to ride up a butte in town that I had never been up. he invited my family and I to join him. It was great fun and there was even a cemetery with many familiar names on the headstones at the top. I have always enjoyed cemeteries. Maybe I'll settle down in one some day.
Two nights ago a neighbor came a-knockin' on my door around 9:00 PM. He was heading out to ride up a butte in town that I had never been up. he invited my family and I to join him. It was great fun and there was even a cemetery with many familiar names on the headstones at the top. I have always enjoyed cemeteries. Maybe I'll settle down in one some day.
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I too have a 20 mile llop that I can ride in either direction. The only problem is one hill that I am not able to climb when I go from west to east. On the other hand going est to west is fun as I fly down the same hill
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A new route can be fun. Sometimes, just riding the same old route in the opposite direction is good also.
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There's something to be said for the old, too familiar 25 mi route - base miles for cardio continuity and longevity. But really nice to jump outta the rut. Good story.
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Being able to explore new roads, places, etc. is what first attracted me to bicycles as a kid. Still feel the same way about it today. Adventure is good.
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I really enjoy doing loop rides in different directions according to the wind direction and my frame of mind. It really helps to mix things up. I also sometimes go exploring with no real plan, get lost, and then find my way home. I have had some of the best rides that way but have gone over the intended distance by as much as 10 miles because I was lost.
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I particularly seek novelty on my long Saturday rides. On last Saturday's ride (8/22/14) I pondered my routes:
… A recent Metro Boston post however suggested another itinerary in a sector of the Metroverse* I haven’t ridden in lately, so I decided on that new destination, I'm calling the "Magical Mystery Tour" because
…On my speedy downhill, I actually missed the left-hand split of Lexington St, and got on to Bacon St. I did know Bacon St because of a prior ride to Waltham this summer. As usual it was novel because I was riding in the opposite direction.
… for the past few years after doing training rides all around the Metroverse*, I have thought this about these long rides. Whereas inhabitants of neighborhoods know their areas as an entirety, I know them as routes with peculiar things I note as landmarks. It becomes very satisfying when I ride a new route and it suddenly intercepts a familiar route in the same neighborhood, and that neigborhood now becomes more of an entirety to me too. Often when I meet someone new, I ask them where they live because invariably I’ve ridden through their neighborhood, and that question spurs a lively conversation.
Originally Posted by Kurt Vonnegut
”Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.”
… for the past few years after doing training rides all around the Metroverse*, I have thought this about these long rides. Whereas inhabitants of neighborhoods know their areas as an entirety, I know them as routes with peculiar things I note as landmarks. It becomes very satisfying when I ride a new route and it suddenly intercepts a familiar route in the same neighborhood, and that neigborhood now becomes more of an entirety to me too. Often when I meet someone new, I ask them where they live because invariably I’ve ridden through their neighborhood, and that question spurs a lively conversation.
One other whimsical technique on familiar roads is to imagine I'm riding with a certain fellow BF subscriber from the Midwest I enjoy reading, and I'm showing him around on my route. I particularly enjoy having visitors to Boston and take them on tours, as rtool (not my imaginary friend) commented on this year’s Sixth Annual Fifty-Plus Ride:
Originally Posted by Steven Wright
”I have an imaginary friend, but he won’t play with me.”
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 08-27-14 at 04:47 AM.
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I can relate to the change in scenery. I've found I need to do different venues just to keep from getting stale. I even had to resort to buy a new bike along the way as well. Any new bikes in the plans**********?
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#20
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Whenever I get stuck in a rut, I'll do a familiar loop 'backwards'. It's amazing how hard, or easy, a hills on a route can be when approached from a different direction.
Meeting a cyclist that is not from your area is always nice. I once met a Englishman that was near the end of his third cross USA trip. He too needed a confirmation on his directions. It was nice to chat with him. He told me that the roads I ride all the time, and have become a little boring to me, are great road for riding. Made me pause and realize that, yeah, they are great for riding.
Meeting a cyclist that is not from your area is always nice. I once met a Englishman that was near the end of his third cross USA trip. He too needed a confirmation on his directions. It was nice to chat with him. He told me that the roads I ride all the time, and have become a little boring to me, are great road for riding. Made me pause and realize that, yeah, they are great for riding.