rholland1951

Played I-don't-have-time-for-a-longer-ride on the Minuteman in the mid-afternoon, rolling cheerfully on the Rawland Nordavinden. This newish graffito tickles my fancy, for whatever reason.


rod

Ghazmh

28 warm and soaking wet miles Tuesday followed by 28 more damp but less soaking miles Friday. This was followed by 34 wonderful sunny miles today.

mr_bill

Mustache is funny.


-mr. bill

rholland1951

Rode up to Depot Park on the Trucker DeLuxe, 20 miles to clear the cobwebs.




rod

jimmuller 

I just my Tommasini to and from work today. It was glorious day to ride.

Ghazmh

Sunday was 58 soaking wet miles on my new Seven followed by a thorough cleaning. Monday I broke a spoke on my touring bikes 36 spoke back wheel while hauling groceries home. That was followed by 33 wonderful early morning spring miles today on my Seven.

mr_bill

So, this is from that beautiful Saturday on my new bike. Relatively quiet (for Harvard Square). (The reason I leave the protected bike lane is that there was absolutely no traffic behind me.)

I never go faster than the speed limit in this clip (see safety zone map below). Maybe they should lower the speed limit? Maybe I should ride slower?



-mr. bill

rumrunn6

really enjoyed that but there were a cpl spots where I cringed

mr_bill

Doors appear closer than they are. So do people walking. For example, the "thread the needle" at the U-Haul is over 7 feet wide.

But yeah, I cringed too at spots.

-mr. bill

jimmuller 

My sweetie and I took the tandem out for 38.2 miles today. The weather was trending to warm but dry so the riding was great.

One goal was to ride the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. There is a nice park with a lake and a beach near the middle. When we got there expecting to eat a quiet lunch we found some "doings" going on, a Children's Ride affiliated with the Pan Mass Challenge. Really nice. Or rather, to use the word of the day, awesome!




Then we rode to the southern end, which sort of stops for now though it will eventually be extended further.



Of course the weather was predicted to produce thunderstorms in spots. We tried not to ride though any spots but one almost caught us on our return to the car. Felt a few sprinkles but nothing serious. Then we drove off to a farm stand and the sky opened up! Good timing, I say. Or rather, fortunate timing.

mr_bill

Drop dead gorgeous weekend.

Frances Appleton:


-mr. bill

rumrunn6

was also on the BFRT Saturday & dodged rain & hail. didn't get out 'till afternoon tho. had to figure out transforming one of my bike racks to fit Wifey's new car. we started in West Concord & rode South? to one end where I discovered some mountain biking potential! we hid in the car at the W. Concord train station after trying our luck in the other direction (North?) toward the prison where again, I discovered some mountain biking potential! then we drove to the Ice House Pond parking in Acton & went North until Wifey wanted to turn back. her first ride of the year was pretty good, 15 miles, about 1.5 hrs of saddle time but of course we were away from the house for more than that




truth in advertising

NARA Park in the background on the other side of the lake, the Nathaniel Allen Recreation Area 25 Ledge Rock Way, Acton, MA 01720. we go there for concerts & fireworks. were chatting about biking to fireworks this year

mr_bill

Good tool day.

Drivetrain swapped.

Was 105 drivetrain, 52/36 semicompact with 11-28 cassette.

Now Achilles friendly Ultegra drivetrain, 50/34 compact with 11-34 cassette (HG-800).

I know the hills aren’t getting steeper, but the hills are steeper this year.

Maybe next year.

-mr. bill

jimmuller 

I think they do get steeper sometimes.

I was noting on Sunday how I still run the same gears and cadence as I used to but I get passed by more people going faster than they used to. When other riders half my age were 20 I could generally keep up with most of them. When riders half my age hit 25 I could still keep up. You would think they would slow down as they get older, but now that riders half my age are 35 keeping up with them isn't any easier. How do you figure that?

rumrunn6

that reminds me of an Bud ****tt & Lou Costello routine ...

mr_bill

Pills & Ills update:

I'm up to 80% on my left leg.

I'm supposed to keep balanced, so that means I use 100% of my left leg on climbs but only supposed to use 80% of my right leg on climbs. So I'm down 20%.

My old bike was 34/30, so the 34/34 gets me back 13%. I can go slower up on my current legs for the same cadence/power.


What already makes me happy is I can now fluidly go up and down stairs. And I can walk without any limp *AND* I pass people while walking.

Finally started to do heel drops, so that's feeling so nice.

And the kick scooter is a great way to work on one leg at a time.

But what makes me laugh is running. At least I can now run faster than I can walk, but I look so absurd. (I'm too embarrassed to run on the Minuteman without looking ahead and checking over my shoulder so I can only do 100 meters at a time. But I'm only supposed to do 100 meters at a time.)

p.s. I'm not holding my breath to ever get back to 100%. 95% would make me very happy though.

-mr. bill

mr_bill

Finally got out for an errand to Davis Square and a shakeout.

So so nice.

I believe I can climb
I believe I can force the rhyme
I think about it every night and day
push my legs and climb away

-mr. bill

mr_bill

Anyone buy a vintage French Motobecane Grand Touring bike, canary yellow with straight handlebars at a garage sale in Newton? Or seen it riding by?

Big oops!

-mr. bill

TXBDan

Great pics. Davis Square is my old stomping grounds. I moved out to the burbs 4years ago. I plan to start commuting from the Melrose Highlands commuter rail station area down to the Alewife area on Tuesday. I plan to go through Winchester and down the Mystic Valley Parkway. Should be nice!

rumrunn6

saw that on the news but thought it had drop bars? no? funny the description says straight bars but they show this photo on NECN

rholland1951

Spent the last two weeks on a road trip in the Pacific North West, lots of hiking but only indirect bicycle content, i.e., enjoying other people's bicycles much the way I enjoy other people's dogs.


Speaking of enjoying other people's bicycles, came across this posted in a shop window in Seattle; read the fine print at the bottom, if you can (last word, folded out of view, is "you"). Be careful whose bike you steal, I guess.


Anyhow, back home and out on the LHT to Depot Park in the heat of the day for an Independence Day ride. Sparse traffic on the roads, the Minuteman carrying more family groups than usual, with kids falling off bikes and flailing on skates at a seemingly higher frequency than usual, perhaps heat-born flakiness. Nice day to be in a green tunnel, though.


Lexington seems to have installed a new park bench at one of the Arlington Great Meadow vantage points. It's a welcome amenity.


Speaking of Lexington, while they're busy trying to change trail user behavior with spam semiotics, they might consider repainting the center line. It's disappeared in many stretches, and lane behavior is noticeably deteriorating.


rod

rholland1951

Took the Trucker DeLuxe and rode East, looking for a seabreeze. I found one soon enough.


The Malden River is easy to miss, a dozen pedal strokes and it's gone, but it bears contemplating from time to time.


There's a new sculpture installed on the Northern Strand Community Trail, Malden.


Towards the end of the ride, I was in the middle of a fast descent down High Street towards West Medford when I heard a baritone dog-bark coming over my left shoulder; aural location had it at about the same height as my head. I took a quick peep back and saw a Medford Police K-9 car, light flashing, making a quick left turn. A moment's thought suggested that the bark was Doggie for "on your left".

rod

rumrunn6

went back to investigate the unpaved Southern end of the Bruce Freeman trail in Concord. used google maps to find the closest parking behind the Concord Middle School, Sanborn campus approx 835 Old Marlboro Rd, Concord. got South of White Pond Reservation & South of Rte 117 Sudbury to the Davis Farm Conservation Land network of trails. some of the going was quite rough & after a cpl hrs in 90+ degree heat, despite the shade, I think I got a touch of heat exhaustion. there were plenty of obstacles to lift the bike over









it's fun having an old mountain bike

rholland1951

Bravo! Real exploration.

rod

rumrunn6

thanks. didn't expect to get as far as I did. kept expecting to get stopped in my tracks but there was always a way thru the veggies. I had intended on also then driving to the MCI Concord rotary BFRT parking lot to explore that undeveloped end but I was done. glad I kept a thermos of more cold water in my car. the worst was some of the steep climbing on the side trails & the last straw was climbing that little gravel road behind the school back to the parking lot. I was like: "yup, that's it for me"