rholland1951

Saturday, took the Rambouillet and rode East.


This was the more-or-less standing hills-and-traffic drill, somewhat moderated by the holiday weekend's attenuated traffic. The Rambouillet had free range of the hills, up and down, coming and going, and only a few idiots behind the wheel complicated things. What started as a hottish day, high 70s and low 80s, became a cooler day with a sea breeze and cirrus clouds, low 70s. Works for me.

Hills with little traffic. What's not to like? Climbing was particular fun today, for whatever reason.


One of the jets d'eau at Fellsmere Park in Malden, at the foot of a long descent. Prettiest thing on the ride, hard not to photograph it. Kids on the banks of the pond were happily squealing, like so many piglets.


Much to be said for West Medford. Here's one of the whys to that.


As usual, not so many pictures of this ride, but I can feel it in my legs.

rod

rholland1951

I had a bit of time free for a ride mid-afternoon Sunday, so I took the GT out on a hilly route that would test the recent repairs to the drive train.


I followed the Minuteman as far as Revere Street, turned left onto Revere and up the hill, crossing Bedford Street and picking up Hill Street, continuing past the golf course and the Poor Farm (eerie coincidence?) and picking up Paul Revere Road, at which point all the potential energy accumulated by all that hill climbing got dumped into rapid acceleration as Paul Revere Road dropped abruptly, but not unexpectedly, and the bike went flying down the hill.


At Mass. Ave., another left turn put me at the beginning of a long, staged climb. Unfortunately, I blew the shift from the highest possible gear combination to one of the lowest, but redeemed that situation with another shift, and am convinced it was simply cockpit error, not a recurrence of the particularly vile chain suck that had occasioned the trip to the bike shop. Shifts happen, after all.


I climbed to the top of the hill, with the Old Stone Store acting as landmark.


Cresting the hill left me no place to go but down, and the bike flew down the hill with reassuring stability and.a high-pitched wail from the knobbies. I managed to avoid premature braking and clocked 28mph on the descent. I stayed on Mass. Ave. until I picked up Harrington Road at the Northern edge of the Battle Green (Harrington Road, a good answer to a trivia question). Picked up the Minuteman, and proceeded back to Arlington with no further ado.



rod

rholland1951

Wednesday was a long and busy day for me, but I did manage to wedge into the schedule a quick, brisk sprint on the Rambouillet, up the Mystic Valley Parkway and along the Eastern shore of the Mystic Lakes. Turned out the emergent theme was multi-modal transportation. Lotsa bikes, possibly more bikes than anything else, unless you counted the cars, invisible elephants that they are.


An amphibious cyclist was towing a kayak on a trailer. I felt a transient pang of envy.


At Shannon Beach, a swimmer was preparing to leave on his bicycle, or a cyclist had just gone for a swim.


At the Tufts Bakow Sailing Pavilion, there were no sailboats, but kayaks, open water swimmers, and sunbathers.




The Rambouillet conveyed me safely home.

rod

bike_tom

Today's ride was the MM -> Reformatory -> Battle Road -> MM loop. I've done this many times, but today was the first such trek on the Checkpoint (pun intended.) Always done this in the past on the hardtail MTB. The Checkpoint was a great match.

Specifically, I rode the MM to the Bedford Depot, then the Reformatory Branch to the end at Lowell Rd Concord. The surface conditions were excellent. The recent soaking left the ground slightly damp but not muddy. The choking dust of the summer was thus greatly reduced. Here's a view near Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (GMNWR):



BTW, the driveway to the GMNWR parking lot is still torn up, and they haven't started on the new bathrooms yet.

I back tracked from Lowell Rd to GMNWR and used Monsen Rd then Old Bedford Road to pick up Battle Road at Merriam's Corner, Minuteman National Historical Park.

There was a re-enactor at Hartwell Tavern providing historical commentary to tourists (or maybe he's just eccentric...):




There are some new tenants at the John Nelson House:




I followed the Battle Road Trail up the steep hill alongside Old Mass Ave, then up and down Mass Ave to Lexington Center. The Checkpoint handled the climbs well - I never needed to dip into my lowest gear (which is 30F, 34R). Coming downhill I did get into top gear, hitting 30.3 MPH. The bike was reassuringly stable at speed, but it was a little dicey approaching Worthen Rd where cars were waiting to turn left from both directions of Mass Ave. I got through unscathed.

From there I hopped back on the MM for a quick ride back to E. Arlington. One thing to mention, if you've noticed the construction alongside the MM at the Lexington Center parking lots: its going to be a little parklet with bike racks and benches, according to the construction workers I spoke with. More shady benches are always a good thing.

28.6 miles.

Tom

rholland1951

Took the Rambouillet out on the Minuteman before dinner, the standard short ride up to Lexington Center and back. Logged my fastest ride on that route since July, which was funny, since lots of people were passing me, and only some of them were on e-bikes... Cutting along like that felt good, in any event.


September is here and the Sun is lower, sooner, than is absolutely desirable for late afternoon riding. Pfui, as Nero Wolfe used to say.


rod

rholland1951

Took the Rambouillet out to Depot Park and back on Friday. The light was diffused by smoke in the stratosphere, the continent is burning. This confused my phone's camera somewhat, not what it was expecting.


That ride pushed my miles on this bike over 600, a milestone I recently passed with the OAC Rambler, as well. Getting acquainted. Time for a little rotation?

rod

rholland1951

Took the Ocean Air Cycles Rambler and rode East.


This was another afternoon of the familiar mix of hill climbs, descents, and playing in traffic in the hilly conurbations to the East that I have come to depend on to strengthen my legs, open my lungs, and sharpen my wits, all without pedaling to Worcester County. The drivers seemed a little frantic today, perhaps because the sky was subtly transformed by the smoke that blew in from the burning of the Golden West. That counts as noticeable weather, and we have come to expect Boston drivers to lose their composure any time the weather is noticeable (this includes weather that is too pleasant). This milky sky, up in the hills, for example...


... or this lurid sunset display over Medford Center...
...

"NO TURN ON ROD"... I need to send a thank you note to the Medford Bicycle Committee for that one... of course, it might be in Malden...


Things not photographed: a group of four young men pushing a pickup truck through an active intersection in Malden; the sound the acorns that are beginning to litter the roads make when run over by the bike tires.

If legs could smile, I believe mine were smiling by the end of it all.

rod

bike_tom

I got out for an early-ish ride today (about 9:30) with the intention of beating the weekend crowds on the Minuteman. As it turned out, I also beat the afternoon rain shower I didn't know was coming.

I hadn't ridden the '83 Fuji since I got the new Trek, so I decided it was time it got some exercise. I headed up the MM to Lexington and then on to the Bedford Depot. At that early hour (for a Sunday) it was busy but not crazy.

i grabbed a photo of the construction underway alongside the bikeway in Lexington:



I've been told some benches will be coming. More bike related amenities are always to be appreciated.

The old bike was still surprisingly pleasing to ride, friction shifting BarCons and all. Even the single pivot Dia Compe sidepulls, which I upgraded with low friction cabling and Kool Stop pads a few years ago, were more than acceptable on the relatively flat MM.

In repose at the Lexington Visitor's Center:



I won't be taking the Fuji on the Battle Road Trail, but it will continue to have its days in the sun.

Overall, a very pleasant Sunday morning outing.

Tom

rholland1951

Friction shifting, hurrah!

rod

rholland1951

Took the Ebisu All Purpose Bicycle out for a spin before dinner, the purposes of the evening being to commune with the swans in Peepers Pond and to stay ahead of the Death Angel. The swans were cooperative, the Death Angel was lazy, and the Ebisu provided sufficient mechanical advantage, so it all just worked. Certainly as far as the swans went...


A great hawk swooped through the gestalt just as I was starting to roll away from Peepers Pond. No pictures of that, but it would have made short work of any stray cat who had the misfortune of crossing the trail just then. None did, and it didn't.

Lots of random friends out tonight.


Not quite late enough in the season for real sunset colors at 6:15. But late enough that the clouds looked like the painted backdrop of a Star Trek set. Or maybe they should be green...


A few minutes later, things changed.


Kept a good pace.

rod

.

rholland1951

Tuesday, I took the Ebisu All Purpose Bicycle on a quick sprint up the Mystic Valley Parkway, along the Eastern shore of the Mystic Lakes.


Purposes to which the Ebisu was put for this ride included a rousing game of Drop The Pursuer, a turn at Rotary Dodge-em on Route 60, as well as a little ethnographic observation of the amiable community of kayakers, paddle boarders, open water swimmers, and Labrador retrievers all happily playing in the water around the Tufts Bacow Sailing Pavilion, on the Upper Mystic Lake.






Short ride, quick ride, vigorous ride: the ride I needed.

rod

rholland1951

Thursday afternoon I put the Rawland Nordavinden back in the rotation and took a quick, cool spin up to Lexington Center and back on the Minuteman.


Fall was on the breeze, and lots of people turned out, including more queue-jumpers than usual at the Arlington Center intersection.


On the trail itself, the population density was higher. The two most useful words in the English language this afternoon seemed to be "Heads up!" People were coming and going, and occasionally vanishing into thin air.


Once again, the Crane Suzu bell clued the clueless. That said, the Nordavinden was a delight to ride, with its low trail, lively frame, and 32mm Grand Bois Cypres Extra Leger tires. Cleared the moths right out of my brain. Yippee!

rod

rholland1951

Took the Rawland Nordavinden on a pre-prandial sprint on the Minuteman, up to Lexington Center and back. First time I ever thought of my fellow cyclists as a naked mole rat colony; it was a disagreeable thought, and I pedaled harder until it went away.


rod

rholland1951

Took the Rambouillet and rode East.


Rode hills up and down on a cool and breezy day, sallied forth wearing shorts and short sleeves, dodged drivers who mostly seemed cranky at each other. Beautiful day for a ride, so much so that I concentrated on cranking along and staying out of potholes, taking few photos. Enjoyed the ride through Arlington, Medford, Malden, Melrose, and Stoneham, enjoyed gravity, enjoyed weather, enjoyed the seasons changing.

rod

bike_tom

Rode the Checkpoint out to Bedford Depot via the MM this morning.

For a few months now there's been utility work going on at the intersection near the Depot. It seems to be encompassing more of the road:



I'm pretty sure that whole intersection was repaved in the past couple of years. Oh well.

I was tempted to continue on the Reformatory trail out to Concord, but the weatherman was warning of rain (that never came during the day) so I headed back home.

There's been a lot of progress on the new parklet in Lexington since I was there a week ago:



In that time they've put down the bricks and installed a bike repair stand and what looks to be a bench. I don't know what the cube shaped thing is to the left of the bench.

Tom

rholland1951

Before the rain and before I reported for a bi-valent Covid booster, I took the Rawland Nordavinden for a brisk sprint out the Minuteman to Lexington Center and back. It was a gray day, and some of the riders were twitchy.


There was mist/fog/drizzle of some sort, fine-grained water droplets filling the air like so many Cartesian vortices. I tried to photograph it, without much success. The long-sleeved merino wool jersey did just fine with this, whatever it should be called. I found myself cranking pretty hard on today's ride, and passed an adult cyclist who had labored to pass me, and then seemed to not have the stamina to widen the gap. When I passed him, he actually attempted to accelerate (kid behavior, in my book), but didn't have it in his legs to make that work. This provided the impetus for a very fast return, which my legs enjoyed, along with some atavistic region of my brain. I know, I know, silly stuff. But the trail was relatively empty, and no harm done.


rod

EVlove

rholland1951 thanks for your steady stream of ride reports. I'm NW of you in BFRT land but I really should start expanding my range, so first-hand road and trail updates are much appreciated.

I rode part of the Nashua river trail on Saturday, from River St in Dunstable south to Groton. First time in many years and not sure I'll be back until they fix the root damage, it was jarring on 32mm tires and I felt bad for everybody on narrower stuff.

rholland1951

@EVlove, welcome! Glad these posts are of use. Both the BFRT and the NRRT are of interest to many here, so your postings will find an audience. This reminds me to wonder when the NRRT will be at peak foliage color this year. That can be a pretty ride; sounds like it's gotten pretty bumpy. The Minuteman has been in a bumpy phase, itself, this year. Dealing with root heaves involves a multi-year maintenance process, and the temptation to skimp by extending the cycle appears to be irresistible.

rod

autonomy

I haven't been riding as often or as far as I would like to recently. Not a good preparation for my first planned century (NH Seacoast Ride)! So on Saturday I executed a very last-minute, late-night plan: take the commuter rail from Lincoln to Wachusett and bike home. It was too cold for my tastes in the morning so I decided to sleep in. The commuter rail was a pretty good experience and while wasn't busy, had more people on it than I expected (I haven't been on in decades!). I had to improvise - there is no ticket machine in Lincoln, so I ended up downloading the mTicket app and buying a ticket that way (which no one checked), which was probably less hassle.



There was some sort of festival happening at the Wachusett ski area so the summit and surroundings were full of people.



Riding up Wachusett proper is actually not that difficult, it's not all the way up all the time, there are even a couple downhills! The reward is not only going down Wachusett at breakneck speed, it's also another slight 3.5mi downhill south into Princeton and then a somewhat steep 4mi or so descent east from Princeton to Sterling. Though I have to admit that I didn't really start enjoying the roads and scenery until I got to Bolton, when things got a bit more quieter in terms of traffic and more rural. Maybe I need to revisit my route. Had to make an emergency calorie stop at the venerable Concord Market and then barely made it past Hanscom before getting picked up to go see the Arlington Town Day fireworks, making the ride 51.5mi and 3Kft or so. Did not see a lot of other cyclists, likely due to the timing.

On Sunday I rode with a buddy for about 20 mi or so and then because I had some spare time and a huuuge craving for their Mega Eggy sandwich, continued to the beloved Haute Coffee cycling hub in Concord where, after washing down the aforementioned sandwich with a strong cortado, I went north on Lowell Rd. and then back home via 225 for a total of 45mi and only half of the previous day's elevation gain. Cyclists ruled the roads today, and pretty much everyone was either nodding or waving.

Notably, I've done a couple of big, memorable gravel rides in Western MA this summer, a fully-loaded shakedown overnighter to Harold Parker SF, and nothing at all on the Cape! Looking forward to some fall rides maybe in Maine or NH, and been trying to join a group ride with either Battle Road Bikes or Ride Studio Headquarters, but the schedule just hasn't been working out!

EVlove

Well, not sure I can contribute much of interest, most of my riding is short exercise runs on the BFRT. I work from home (have been since looong before the pandemic) and can pretty much fit those in whenever the mood strikes and the weather is nice.

Saturday was different, I was challenging myself to do 50K, and to do it on the Dawes which is new-to-me but frankly, in need of a full rebuild. I had put on new tires and chain but neglected to check the spokes, which I came to regret at mile 20. Ping! At least this happened to be behind Groton library, so I was able to wait for the team car (i.e. my wife) in complete comfort, seated in the shade. She brought the Zizzo folder, I swapped my saddle over, and continued on. Now mulling the best way forward, the rear hub having a slightly pitted cup and many of the spokes being suspicious both F and R, I may go for a basic wheelset instead of throwing money at the old wheels.

rholland1951

Rebuilding the Dawes sounds like a project with a lot of potential.

rod

EVlove

BFRT at Route 27 (Acton Rd), taken at noon today. That's hard to see coming from the far i.e. south side. Hopefully not for long. I saw the crew at work on my way out so I was sort of prepared on the way back. Still surprised they would just leave it like that.

bike_tom

This afternoon I took my more or less weekly ride out to Concord via the MM and Reformatory Trails. I rode the Checkpoint, which my wife refers to as the Trekpoint, a moniker I rather like.

I was concerned the Reformatory would be too wet after last night's rain, but my fears were unfounded. Like last week, it was damp but not muddy. I guess the drought conditions this summer left the soil so dry that it can absorb a lot of water at this point. Here's an example of the surface near Great Meadows:



Even the usual bog east of that spot, as well as the one just east of Monument St were just damp. Overall, great conditions.

I saw a rather large wild turkey cross the trail - no picture unfortunately. Come to think of it, it was near where I saw a deer last month.

Stopping for a break at the Bedford Depot on the way back I noticed lots of small green berries hanging from the trees above the benches. In a couple months those will be the acorns that will be bouncing off our helmets.

A nice montage of wheeled vehicles:



Tom

EVlove

I need to get myself down there for a little bit of "gravel" experience. Would really like to practice some real climbs and descents on gravel, anybody have route tips in the Merrimack area? Or do I need to head out west for that? I'm aware of Gravelmap but I find it very confusing TBH.

Been seeing lots of acorns on the ground here already, which of course also means chipmunks and squirrels dashing about.

rholland1951

What a great use of a commuter rail line! Bravo!
rod