Metro Boston: Good ride today?
#8551
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#8552
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One of their lightly organized rides, the Jingle Ride. (I can't afford their organized organized rides, but I do admit to lusting after them in my heart.)
-mr. bill
-mr. bill
Last edited by mr_bill; 12-16-19 at 09:54 AM.
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#8553
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No riding today. I did have an opportunity for a sunset ride yesterday afternoon before the overnight snow started falling. I hit the road at about 3:30 for 26 miles. The evening rush hour is a bit more to deal with than my usual morning rides as most of you know. Not long after I headed out I switched my Light & Motion headlight with it’s frame mounted endurance battery from throbbing mode to low and eventually medium. While staying cognizant of the motorists I was still able to enjoy the cold winters air (even if it’s technically autumn still) and delight in the holiday decorations. There is a house on Trapello rd in Lincoln near the library that gives Clark Griswald competition.
#8554
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in case anyone was curious what the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, in Acton, was looking like this week. I pass this intercession every morning. this was yesterday. the shallow snow pack is firmly in place with these low temps. the trail gets a lot of use. I think this is ride-able as-is, albeit rough & bumpy. but if one needs a work-out away from the cars ...
Last edited by rumrunn6; 01-21-20 at 10:05 AM.
#8555
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turns out, further West was less favorable for a bike. there was no consistently flattened center line from other riders. while there were some shallow depth areas of hard snow pack & ice, there was mostly a cpl inches of crunchy snow over pavement w/ areas of ice. the going was very slow. so only rode for about an hour. I think the conditions are good for a fat bike
turned around at the Ebenezer Wood pencil factory remains & waterfall
saw 1 runner, a cpl walkers & 1 skier
turned around at the Ebenezer Wood pencil factory remains & waterfall
saw 1 runner, a cpl walkers & 1 skier
Last edited by rumrunn6; 12-22-19 at 04:15 AM.
#8556
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That looks like a spectacular place to take a spectacular fall and probably get hurt in the process. My bikes and I would be toast!
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#8557
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haha funny you shud say that cuz I dumped the bike & rolled out & up on my feet at a decent slow speed without any abrupt wrist or arm impacts. A perfect place to launch into a snowball roll of sorts - kinda fun actually! Especially cuz it was getting dark & spooky. no camera rolling at that time tho
Last edited by rumrunn6; 12-23-19 at 11:00 AM.
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time for a fat bike
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the hybrid (40mm studded tires) is perfect for a plowed trail with a skim coat of snow & ice, or up to 3" of fresh snow on bare pavement
the 29er (2.25" studded tires) extends the usability conditions. I've been holding off on mounting those cuz I mounted them too early last year. this BFRT ride would have been more fun on the 29er
where is the threshold between that & a fat bike?
I know Zipp's studded Stash extends the usability conditions further & his studded true fat bike, the furthest
but when looking at my ride choices (year round), storage capacity & budget, I'm just not there yet. maybe this winter I will rent one!
the 29er (2.25" studded tires) extends the usability conditions. I've been holding off on mounting those cuz I mounted them too early last year. this BFRT ride would have been more fun on the 29er
where is the threshold between that & a fat bike?
I know Zipp's studded Stash extends the usability conditions further & his studded true fat bike, the furthest
but when looking at my ride choices (year round), storage capacity & budget, I'm just not there yet. maybe this winter I will rent one!
#8560
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the hybrid (40mm studded tires) is perfect for a plowed trail with a skim coat of snow & ice, or up to 3" of fresh snow on bare pavement
the 29er (2.25" studded tires) extends the usability conditions. I've been holding off on mounting those cuz I mounted them too early last year. this BFRT ride would have been more fun on the 29er
where is the threshold between that & a fat bike?
I know Zipp's studded Stash extends the usability conditions further & his studded true fat bike, the furthest
but when looking at my ride choices (year round), storage capacity & budget, I'm just not there yet. maybe this winter I will rent one!
the 29er (2.25" studded tires) extends the usability conditions. I've been holding off on mounting those cuz I mounted them too early last year. this BFRT ride would have been more fun on the 29er
where is the threshold between that & a fat bike?
I know Zipp's studded Stash extends the usability conditions further & his studded true fat bike, the furthest
but when looking at my ride choices (year round), storage capacity & budget, I'm just not there yet. maybe this winter I will rent one!
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Where was that with all that snow? There isn't any here. And it was 55 yesterday. Seriously considered taking the bike out, but went to the gym instead.
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Bruce Freeman Rail Trail starting from Concord Rd Acton parking lot at Ice House Pond
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Between my studded Trek cross bike and my Allroads I’ve been riding steadily since Saturday including a lovely Christmas Eve Eve evening ride last night. I also racked up a quick 20 miles today which put me at 7505 miles for the year.
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This week I rode every day except for the 26th. A few too many Christmas Day eggnog martinis left me in no mood to ride that day. In all it added up to 170 miles this week for a total of 505 miles for this December, my highest mileage December so far. Saturday morning I was on my Allroads with Soma Shikoro tires. I figured since it was mild and didn’t get below 32* I’ll be fine, which I mostly was until I wasn’t. About 7:00 AM I took a right onto Monument st right in front of the Colonial Inn and must have hit black ice. I fishtailed badly, managed to unclip my right foot and somehow keep upright. Very scary. My heart almost beat right out of my chest for the next few minutes. My favorites were my 2 evening rides (one on the 23rd) where I could bask in the winter scenery and enjoy the holiday lights. The only thing missing was my Bluetooth speaker in my back pocket playing Baby it’s Cold Outside. No plans to ride tomorrow or Tuesday or all of January for that matter. After 7604 miles for 2019 I’m taking a break for a few weeks.
happy new year!
happy new year!
Last edited by Ghazmh; 12-29-19 at 07:39 PM.
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Took a few bikes out for a quick ride. Only a few miles. Pretty cool out with snow /rain/ice on the way
#8567
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Yow, Mike. Be careful. Glad you didn't go down. I tried riding to work once earlier in December when I figured the wet road would have thawed. It took me less than a mile to realize it would be foolish indeed. Noop, just because temps are above freezing doesn't mean the ground warmed up.
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current conditions on the Reformatory Branch Trail at Great Meadows, Concord. didn't ride myself just walked w/ Wifey. looked rough for bikes & didn't see any. only a solitary track. cold wind blowing today. it was granular which is good but variable in depth & support, which is not so good
for those who may not know, this is the walking trail, off-limits for bikes
for those who may not know, this is the walking trail, off-limits for bikes
Last edited by rumrunn6; 01-02-20 at 02:12 PM.
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40 degrees & raining today. the conditions were horrible. loved every minute of it
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I know I said I was taking January off from cycling but Mrs. Ghazmh accurately predicted that I couldn’t do it. In keeping with that prediction I went out for 25 miles on my Trek Boone 7 cross bike with the studded Schwalbe Winter tires. It was icy windy and oh so slow but fulfilling in every way a nice winters morning ride should be.
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Tomorrow is supposed to be great weather for riding with temperatures near 60. I got a notice about a group ride and I'm thinking of joining them. It will be my first time back on the road bike since my injury so I'm a little nervous. Ironically, the group riders are the people who inadvertently ran me off the path on that last ride back in late October. Maybe I should stay away and go ride somewhere by myself? In all fairness, they didn't know how badly I was hurt. They were focused on a small scrape on my knee and a little bit of blood. Didn't notice I was holding my shoulder.
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That wud be my cautious move
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We'll probably take our tandem out. Probably riding out of Bedford. Second tandem ride this year. Riding opportunities have been scarce.
I did ride my second commute of the year today.
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Well, you gotta' get back on the horse what throwed ya', so they say. You'll do fine. If I was you, which I'm not, I'm not sure I'd go out with that group ride though, unless I wanted to explain to them why I'd been out for so long. But then, I don't like group rides much anyway. Enjoy the day!
I've never really done any group rides, but if I'm going to ride the PMC, I better learn how. But a group that rides even slower than I do may not be the right one.
I think my husband and I will probably just go out on our own tomorrow though. He's not a morning person.
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Last week I brought my Honey Allroads to the shop for its first tune up. I told them I’m taking January off from cycling, take your time with it. I ended up riding my Trek Boone 7 cross bike with its studded Schwalbe Winter tires 117 miles this week. I figured between the dry but cold days followed by the mild temps I’d better take advantage. We may have 4’ of standing snow come April 1st. It felt weird wearing shorts and a short sleeve jersey while riding with studded tires.
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