mr_bill

This might be the most spectacular shot of the squiggles ever:

Near the winter solstice the sun lines up with the piers. Wish I had an external windsocked mic on the fork. It's hard to capture the beautiful sounds there.

-mr. bill

rholland1951

Accidental music...

mr_bill

Accidental instrument.

Intentional music.

Each segment of pier is different, then comes the crushed stone, ending with pavers.

-mr. bill

rholland1951

I see... (with I little imagination, I hear...)

Something similar happens riding the Minuteman in February with studded tires...

rod

rholland1951

Had time to ride the Ebisu out to Bedford this afternoon, temperatures in the balmy 50s but with a wind that sang in my ears, tossed treetops, rippled phragmites, and made the leaves dance, to say nothing of at least one pair of shoes.










The toilsome headwind and buffeting crosswind of the outbound leg became a friendly tailwind on the return, and combined with the colors of the early sunset to make for a gentle ride home.










rod

rumrunn6

those gifs are fun! you use an "ap" for that?

rholland1951

Yes, currently use an Android app called GIFShop. It has a straight-forward interface for converting videos to gifs.

rod

mr_bill

Common this time of year on the Paul D. White.

There ought to be a word for when you keep getting in each other's way on a sidewalk or bikepath.


-mr. bill

anx

@ Mr Bill. I feel your pain, was hoping the cold weather would keep those joggers off the Charles river today when i was out early enough, but nope. Did not have a run in with any geese today, but there was plenty of their 'gifts' left behind to play slalom with

jimmuller 

No geese today, nor shoes. Just open road. 40 miles on the tandem with my sweetie. Very light traffic, a wonderful experience. Yeah, it was cold but not terribly so. We started in Bedford, rode the Bruce Freeman up to Chelmsford then down to the rt119/2A. It is officially closed south of rt225 but it is rideable if you are careful. In the southern sections they have been putting in concrete edging and the pavement has not been cleaned up. Still, it was pleasant ride. The bridge over rt119 was fenced off and it was time for us to turn around anyway.

jimmuller 

Another solo ride today, 40.8 miles on the Grandis. A cool but nice day.

anx

It definitely was cold out there, I should have been more wrapped up than I was but still managed 25.4 miles on the Arlington bike path and some exploring of Landlocked Forest on the larger wheels of my Trail bike. Interestingly, I set some of my personal bests on the bikepath on the heavier bike & colder weather, can't quite figure that out. The seasonal temps definitely means fewer people out there, and I am loving it! Wish I had taken my bike lock would have loved to call in to Border Cafe in Burlington for lunch, next time!

anx

Got a quick loop in at lunch time stopping off at Arlington Center for lunch, a ~5 mile loop, the advantage of the weekday lunchtime being less traffic on the roads and sunlight this time of year.



For such a bike friendly city with those lanes, not a lot of bike parking options, still ended up strapping to the nearest lightpost that I could watch over from a distance.

rholland1951

Took the somewhat-neglected Rawland Nordavinden out on the Minuteman for a chilly ride at sunset, temperatures falling through the 40s.


I successfully played Drop The Pursuer on both the outbound and return legs of the ride. I blame the Rawland: its lively frame and light, supple tires conduce to friskiness. The Pursuer on the return was mounting BIG LUMENS, too bright and aimed too high, imposing enough that I felt like the Silver Surfer heralding the coming of Galactus in an old Marvel number.


The Great Shiny One seemed to have destructive interactions with each on-coming cyclist or runner, and so I put him (or her) a little more behind me each time that happened, and declared him (or her) dropped when I left the Minuteman at Water Street. Fun to ride the Rawland again. When the road salt arrives, it goes into the basement until Spring.


rod

antimonysarah

I think we passed each other going in opposite directions, on Mass Ave near the bridge over 128. Either that or someone else with a blue bike and a similar beard. I was out on an NER 100k, from Medford to Groton and back. Dressed correctly this time; didn't overheat or freeze, and the weather was nice aside from being chilly.

Ghazmh

I've still been riding albeit far less than a few weeks ago. About 1 early AM ride before work and 35-40 mile weekend rides. I have been enjoying everyone's pictures. I dropped off my Montare hybrid at my old LBS for new 3x9 groupset. The front derailleur has shifted its last shift and the rear shifter has decided it's had enough. The BB had enough slop and recently started making a delightful Grinding noise. It's getting new Deore shifters, front derailleur, crankset, Alevio rear derailleur and finally doing away with the fast wearing Giga pipe BB in favor if the hollow tech BB like on my 520.

jimmuller 

Very likely could have been me. Lots of guys have beards but blue bikes are getting scarce. Apparently they can't make blue carbon fiber. Next time give a shout! I'm usually too focused to notice anyone though.

NER 100k, sounds fun. And varied too.

NomarsGirl

Haven't been on my bike in forever. I travel for work so really only have the weekends. Went to Maine 2 weekends in a row for family birthday parties. Then a week's vacation in Italy. (No, I don't expect any sympathy). Now I'm thinking it's too cold for me.

autonomy

Good to see new faces posting in here. After a 2-week (or was it 1 week? It's all a blur now) hiatus I've been riding almost every day this week (commuting). Finally getting all the parts and putting a roof rack on the car helped a lot - I now plan to drop the kid off at daycare, drop the car off at wife's work, then ride the 1 mile or so to my work... and ride back the full length home in the evening. The weather's been kind enough although that's about to change on Saturday. My road bike is in slow, long-term maintenance due to me not having time/desire to ride on the trainer. Replacing the brake cables + housing + bar tape.

By the way, the Minuteman got a new, proper light in Arlington center at the Swan place intersection.

Ghazmh

For the first time since April (if I recall correctly) I rode my 30 loop after work as opposed to covering it in the morning. Traffic volume kept me focused and alert. I still managed to enjoy the holiday decorations and lights along the way.

jimmuller 

I'm not sure what you mean by "Swan place intersection" but there are new bicycle lights for crossing Mass Ave at Pleasant St when going eastbound on the MM. I saw them yesterday. I don't know how long they've been up because I've been taking a route home that doesn't use the MM.

Yesterday I did take the MM, and of course I saw the usual stuff. Which is to say when it's dark you see only what your lights let you see. Not so many bikes. Most had nice lights and the riders knew how to handle them. One guy was riding along completely unlit. Lots of 'destrians wearing all dark clothing. Didn't their mothers ever teach them anything?

It was a nice commute.

autonomy

One morning this week I saw workers installing a light at the intersection by the Kickstand cafe, the troublesome one when you're heading west. It is now sensor-triggered. On Friday evening it was operational and the first time I had a bike sensor - you know the little bike icon on the pavement for "stop here" - trigger a light for me. I did notice the bike specific light going east as well. Very interesting.

True about pedestrians although I'm always pleasantly amazed at how many people by Alewife have either lights or reflectors. Anecdotally, lately, 99% of cyclists have covered their light for me - but I have been doing the same, so I don't know if they do it on their own accord or if I'm cueing them to be nice back (I know my light is very bright).

Sooo, with this snow... the brake cables are changed, the handlebars are wrapped on my road bike... I'm kind of tempted to go out tomorrow morning but on my adventurer bike, knowing the Minuteman will be plowed. Not really in the mood for Zwift.

JohnHuth

How can we find out if bike paths are cleared? I commute in on the Charles River path on the south side of the river, and cross over on Eliot Bridge to the north side. I see that DCR has some priority system for snow removal, but this doesn't tell me whether it's actually been removed, since sidewalks/paths seem to sometimes be lower priority.

Thanks!

anx

Minuteman Bike path is looking clear. At least near Scutra in Arlington.



I did have to pick up my bike from BikeBoom in Somerville after putting it for a full service and a bottom bracket overhaul, managed for a few quick miles around Somerville checking out the bike lanes, most streets were in good shape but getting on some of the backroads was a few sketchy patches of slush that was icing up.

JohnHuth

Answering my own question - here's a guide to snow removal in the Boston area:

https://www.mass.gov/service-details...d-priority-map

In scouting it out on today's commute in, it looks pretty accurate. Example - the sidewalk along the Charles River was cleared, but the bike path closer to the river was only partially cleared. Conditions were mostly good, but there were a bunch of icy patches, so I was glad I swapped in the snow tires.