Bishbike

Managed to get a 25 mile out and back from Belmont to Concord around 6:00. Mostly dry with a few sprinkles here and there. A steamy ride to say the least.

jimmuller 

I got out for about an hour and a half this afternoon. Rode the orange '72 Bertin, Belgian variety, to test out some new/old wheels in prep for tomorrow's commute. I'd recently strung up the old Normandy high-flange hubs that come on my UO8 to some old 27" Fiamme Yellow Label clincher rims, and mounted some tires I happened to have, Conti UltraSports, 28mm IIRC. The Bertin always felt odd with 700c wheels and 25mm tires, and has a very low BB. So I thought maybe bigger wheels and tires would help. By golly it seems to have made a subtle difference for the good. By rights I ought to put those wheels on the UO8 and the UO8's Shimano/Sun wheels on the Bertin but I figure why mess up something that works? For the time being neither is broke so I won't fix'em.

I discovered something new today. I'd stopped for a drink of water and a snack and was sitting on the bench just west of Meriam St when I overhead two women admiring a new sign pole that had been put in today (but with no sign yet). I asked about the sign and mentioned that if it was too large it would take some cyclist's head off. One of them said it was small, only so big, holding out her hands. Then she asked me where I'd ridden from and if I came that way very often. I said blah blah blah, and then she asked me if I knew what that building behind her was. I said no, and she "Ah! Perfect case in point. That's why we're putting up this sign. This is the town's official visitor center. It's open to the public 24/7, 362 (I think that was the number) days of the year, with water, restrooms, and other stuff. Cyclists coming through should take advantage of it!" Great! Then she mentioned how the town had just build a little "parklet" in front of Ride Studio with covered tables and benches and everything, to go along with the bike parking lot. She was quite excited about it all. Lexington seems to want the place to be friendly to visitors!

Metrowest, indeed all of metro Boston, is a cool place!

rholland1951

Rode the LHT out to Paramount Bicycle Repair, Ball Square, Somerville, then rode the STD (Surly Trucker Deluxe)--now waiting for a rack that's on order to be declared "done"--out to Lexington and back, having great fun along the way with the bike's nimble handling and crisp acceleration, and with the cushiness of the 44 mm Compass tires. Noted something minor that needed fussing with, fussed a little with that myself, then chatted about it with Tyler. Got onto the theme of "each bike is different", even these two, both 58 cm Surly Long Haul Truckers; the difference between the 700c wheels on the old Trucker, and the 26" wheels on the new one affects handling substantially. The build and set-up is also significantly different between the two. No worry about clone monotony. Rode the old Trucker home, enjoying that. 18 miles, all told.


rod

sherbornpeddler

Seems like Metro Boston encourages appreciation of the personalities of bikes.

Yesterday I broke out the recumbent for a morning coffee date in Holliston with my wife then rode the steel frame, carbon forked, better-wear-spandex bike for a loop de loop through the hills of Sherborn, Dover and Westwood. I finished with a 3 speed ride for an evening visit to the pond.

Today I was back on the speedy spandex for a 42 miler with PMC-ers in training who pushed every hill to and from the Diamond Hill Reservoir in the northeast corner of RI. The little general store at the end of Burnt Swamp/Reservoir road in Cumberland has closed!

rholland1951

Took a late-morning Independence Day ride out the Minuteman to Depot Park, Bedford, 20 miles. With the temperatures in the high 80's to low 90's, and the relative humidity bouncing around 55%, the Victorian maxim "horses sweat, men perspire, women glow" notwithstanding, it was a good day to observe sweating women (and men, of course).
(via https://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/h...heatstress.htm)

While the sunny parts of the ride had their own charms,

the shady bits got the most appreciation.


rod

rholland1951

Spent a couple of happy hours in the garage converting my 1987 GT Karakoram 26" MTB from an ice bike to a beach bike. Off came the 47mm Nokians with the carbide studs, on went 55mm Schwalbe Big Bens, low-pressure balloon tires with a moderate tread, said to do well in mixed-surface riding, and, of course, roll over things like manhole covers and pot holes with minimal fuss. In the process, figured out that while my fenders could be adjusted to accommodate the big fellas, the fork wouldn't accommodate the fenders in that configuration. Oh well, off with the fenders. Then came to grips with the fact that I had allowed the chain of this bike I hadn't ridden since the last Winter storm to get into a deplorable state, and spent half an hour lubing the chain, flexing stiff links until they freed up, and spinning the drivetrain with no load until I liked what I was seeing and hearing. Lubed the derailleurs, which were pretty creaky, then rode the bike for a couple of miles in a space-filling curve through the back streets of East Arlington, just to make sure everything worked well enough, taking care to ride over every manhole cover and through every pothole I came to.


rod

jimmuller 

I rode my commute today and boy was it a steamah! 80DegF on the way in and the wind of riding didn't feel cool. More like 90 on the way back and everything felt hot. Until the breeze came up while I was waiting for the train.

jaytxvo

Started to ride my bike from Somerville to Allston, short ride but building up to longer rides soon.

I heard Pond St in Brookline is a good downhill ride that I need to try. Anyone know any good downhill areas that I can hit 30-40 mph on?

rholland1951

... so, somewhat later the same hot & muggy day, after setting up my sweetie's bike for the season (where'd April go?), I decided to take the GT in Bigfoot mode out for another shakedown ride, this one the familiar 10 miles to Lexington Center and back on the Minuteman. I just hopped on the bike in the clothes I was wearing to work on the bikes, khaki shorts, a sweat-soaked t-shirt, and an old pair of Birkenstocks; much to be said for platform pedals in the spontanaeity department. The heat was starting to ease a bit, with a pleasant breeze, the sun was low but not getting around to setting yet, its light creating a golden haze that suffused everything on the outbound run. The Big Bens lived up to their reputation, rolling surprisingly well on pavement and eating all the bumps and thumps. I had them pumped to 40 psi in front, 45 in the rear, believe it or not about 10 psi more pressure than many run them at, but I reckon I'll find out about that in due time. Tooled right up the hill to the turn-around point at Woburn Street, then went bombing back towards home, enjoying the shade, the self-generated wind that was making some headway with evaporative cooling, and the pleasing behavior of these large tires at speed. At Great Meadows, stopped to snap a picture of a cumulonimbus cloud on the Northern horizon, all pinked up for the sunset, that reminded me of the mushroom clouds of my Cold War childhood. And that's all the good news...


When I got going again, I stood on the pedals for a fast start, and heard a sharp "click". After that, every pedal turn gave me a creaky-croaky sound; better than the blast wave from a thermonuclear detonation I suppose, but a bad omen nonetheless. By the time I got home, I had gotten used to it, and was thinking that perhaps I could join a samba battery if I kept the right cadence. When I parked the bike, I found a jagged crack in the top surface of the left crank arm; I was able to get my thumbnail in it...


Bigfoot will have to cool his heels for awhile, it seems. I suppose after 26 years, an aluminum crank arm is entitled to get cranky...

rod

Postscript: just found a small wrench in the washing machine when I went to switch the laundry. It's been that sort of day.

rholland1951

Nashoba Road in Littleton will do the trick, and the pavement's in good shape. No point hitting 30 mph AND a pothole, after all...

Closer to home, Park Ave. in Arlington has grade and length, but be aware that there's a major intersection with a stop-light at the bottom.

Then there's Grove Street, Lexington/Page Road, Bedford.

rod

jimmuller 

It's not in town, but in Belmont. There is a stretch of Concord Rd from Pleasant St to Winter St with a sharp downhill where breaking 30 is easy, maybe breaking 40 if you crank hard enough. The pavement is decent mostly and it has a long flat runout.

Way out in Lincoln, Rhode Island you can go east on Wilbur Rd and kill yourself at the rt246 crossing at the bottom, but the half mile before that stop sign gives you a chance to burn out your brake pads.

You do realize, don't you, that if you start and end at the same place your downhill must always be paired with an equivalent amount of climbing. There is an entire contingent of cycling who hold that the pain of uphill is more than half the fun, that it tests your resolve, allows you to prove and improve yourself, and puts everything else into perspective. The downhill make a very quick desert which quickly dissolves into emptiness.

jaytxvo

I grew up on this hill in Somerville and was never able to cycle up it. It wasn't until last year after training everyday was I able to go up it and it was an amazing feeling. This year I am looking for a new challenge and hopefully this place in Belmont will be worth it!

gabedad

I left my garmin on and it was dead this morning. Just started riding and ended up in Natick center from chelmsford. rode back through sudbury and up 27 through acton. hi 50's in milage. Riding the TDC next week 150 miles - two days.

the_doctor

See https://www.facebook.com/SundayCoastalLoop for the CRW Sunday Coastal Loop. It was fantastic. There were over 50 riders. The front group rode in a large pack, together. The ride is arrowed along the coast. This is the only ride in which you can see Boston from multiple vantage points. There was a nice breeze along the coast.

Bill

jimmuller 

Ho hum, another commute. Outran a thunderstorm on the way back to the train station this afternoon. The humidity was so high that...<fill in the blank>. Otherwise it was just another day at the office.

gabedad

rode with goodales yesterday. The souhegan route - very humid last night. https://connect.garmin.com/activity/341112576

Nickel

My first jaunt on the Charles River Greenway: (Please keep in mind that I report this as a newb to this area)

This trail has great promise as it travels through several towns along the Charles River. There are plenty of small parks to visit, bridges to cross (above traffic, nice!), benches to lounge on and small overlooks that provide a nice river view. The trail was mostly paved with some gravel/soft sections near Waltham/Watertown. It provides a nice car-free route in and out of the city. I ended up turning around before getting into Boston itself and ended up on some new (supposedly?) green bike lanes on Commonwealth Ave which were quite fun.

That being said -
The trail is poorly marked. While it is easy to ride the trail if you have a good sense of direction (as it is next to a river), it is very difficult to have a general idea of distance or where things are in the surrounding area. For instance, I had planned on riding on the north side and returning on the south side but crossing some of the bridges did not always yield clear answers to trail access. I only saw one map kiosk the entire ride which was in Watertown. The cute 'huron' feet that lead you through Waltham/Watertown are nice but rapidly fading. The trail sometimes terminates without any curb cut making it difficult to know whether crossing the busy street will lead you to the rest of the trail or if this is a sign you need to cross and change direction. There was at least one crossing that was unmarked and it was very difficult to cross safely, due to the pitch of the road.

The trail condition varies wildly. This trail would best be suited for a mtb or hybrid bicycle. I was riding 700x32s and still felt a bit beat up. The trail condition gets worse as you approach Cambridge and the trail also seems barely wide enough in some areas for two bicycles to pass one another without hugging the edge of the trail. There seems to be plenty of space for expansion (hint) as even another foot would help.

rholland1951

Spent the last week in Provincetown with my sweetie. While bicycles weren't the focus of the trip, we did take ours along, and got some riding in. The Province Lands Bike Trail became a before-breakfast ritual. Laid out in 1967 over sand dunes stabilized by beech forest or scrub pine forest, it's no rail trail: it's a roller coaster where sharp up-grades are followed by sharp down-grades, sometimes with a hairpin turn thrown in for yucks, a real ambidextrous shift-fest, in beautiful surroundings. Several miles of it were repaved two years ago, and most of it (one spur excepted) is in great shape. It's well worth riding for what it is: a surprisingly challenging little path where you don't necessarily expect one, lots of fun.






A tamer, but equally beautiful, bike trail runs along the North shore of Nauset Bay, reachable from the Salt Pond Visitors Center or the Cape Cod Rail Trail.





It was somewhere along this causeway that the following conversation took place: (Greenhead fly, landing on my hand) "Hold still!" (Me, trying to brush him off without success) "Please leave." (Greenhead fly, with great determination) "Not yet, I'm not finished." (Me, with appropriate use of other hand) "Now you are..."

At the end of the path we saw some marine mammals offshore; turned out to be surfers.






rod

jimmuller 

Nice Cape story, Rod. We've ridden the CCRT many times, like it a lot. But the bike trail that leads over to Marconi Station is old-school like what you reported. Back then it seems they were laid out by engineers who walked instead of rode, who figured a bike could ride over anything at any speed. narrow, twisty, steep ups and downs, and ultimately dangerous. That didn't stop us from ride the tandem on it though.

We managed a bit over 30 miles today.

rholland1951

While the bike paths had their own virtues, as the week progressed I spent some time squinting at Google Maps to see what the on-and-off-road riding opportunities were on the Outer Cape. The road network basically has Routes 6 and 6A as a pair of parallel East-West axes, with side roads radiating North or South. Connecting these secondary roads are occasional tertiary roads; either no-name fire roads or narrow lines on the map with intriguing names like "Old King's Highway", with the odd bike path thrown in. As usual, there was no way to know a priori whether these are rideable; we were back in the familiar territory of "Google Maps, trust but verify". Some, like this fire road off High Head Road, are paths through deep sand; maybe on a Pugsley...


The Old Colony Nature Pathway, an unimproved rail-trail turned nature walk and birders' paradise, turned out to be well-packed and quite rideable on my 32mm GB tires. The principal flora and fauna on its Mount Gilboa section turned out to be poison ivy and mosquitoes.


A path connecting Head of the Meadow with South Highland Road in Truro, marked "Old King's Highway" on one map, but not another, fell in between these extremes: I tried it on my 32mm tires, determined that wasn't practical, and was left to speculate about whether the 55mm Big Bens on the bike I had meant to bring before Murphy's Law and metal fatigue took a hand would have been up to the job; I'll have to go back and try that.


This last example was encountered during a pleasant 18-mile ride from Provincetown on Shore Road (6A), Highland Road, and South Highland Road, to Old Dewline Road, North Truro, site of the former North Truro Air Force Station, a link in the chain of continental air defenses in the 50's and 60's. The radar is still there, operating under FAA auspices, but the extended site has been converted into the Highland Center, a National Park Service facility that is part lab, part public art exhibit, part history museum, part trail network, and part performing arts venue.












That ride ended with a slow pedal up Commercial Street in Provincetown, at the rear of a parade of delivery trucks that didn't really fit comfortably in the available space, briefly displacing the numerous pedestrians and bicycle riders who normally mill about there. Commercial Street has managed to retain its essential cultural integrity.


It was a good week, and ended too soon, of course. Hope to get another crack at riding the roads and paths of the Outer Cape--with fatter tires--before too long.

rod

rholland1951

The vacation-formed habit of riding before breakfast persists, at least for today. 10 miles on the Minuteman, to Lexington Center and back. Beautiful morning, lots of company. Made my best time of the year on this ride, I should remember to go on vacation more often...

rod

jimmuller 

Rod, we might have crossed paths on the MM this morning.

I had planned to do a long ride today, 60+ miles or whatever it came out to be, but I discovered last night that the tandem's headset needed some work that my LBS has the tools for but which I don't. So I shortened the ride so I could take the bike over to the shop.

35.9 miles on the Gran Criterium. Home (Waltham) through Lexington, Bedford, Concord, up toward Carlisle but for a shortcut on Skeleton Rd (How would I pass up that opportunity? ) over to rt225, back to Bedord and a slightly different return route home. I left home a bit before 9AM and made the 17 miles to Concord in a shade over 1 hour, thanks to having no reason to stop, little traffic, no red lights, etc.
Memorial on Concord Green:


The view over Hutchins Organic Farm and the Concord River Valley:


Yesterday we managed about 35 miles on the tandem. One highlight was Dudley Rd off rt4. There's a farm (Greenwood Farm, I think) with a sign 1689. That road has been there a long time. Hasn't been re-paved since then either!

Nickel

Cycling with an old friend is always a treat.

Today it was west metro exploration: Starting in Belmont on Concord and found Trapelo to head west through Lincoln. Headed north and swung past Walden Pond. Ended up in Concord and headed west to pick up a snack and loaf of bread at Nashoba Brook Bakery (yum!). Turned around and the plan was to find the spur trail (Reformatory Branch) that would link up to the Minuteman. Surprised that it was a natural surface trail but the 23cs were up to the task. Found the Depot and the Minuteman Trail which is amazing! My favorite surprise was the crossing signals at trail crossings that actually stop traffic. Very cool!


- I saw a few spur (dirt) trails along the way. Google maps has some of these labeled, like dike trail. Does anyone know if you can ride bikes on these?

- I am very surprised that there are always uniformed police officers at all construction sites.

sherbornpeddler

I really enjoy reading these posts. I'm absolutely dedicated to the brilliant observations of long time contributors and also the new insights from new folks. Nickel, I'll stop in at the bakery. I've not been to for a few years and it hasn't occurred to me the Charles River routes aren't clearly marked because I ride them fairly often. In both cases I'm inspired to ride these newly reviewed routes.

I've been riding same old, same old routes and a few days ago bailed out on a new variation of Burnt Swamp Rd to Cumberland because I was reminded I still haven't fully adopted the preventative maintenance thing. My shifter cable snapped so I'd notice my rear tire was worn halfway through the threads which, in turn, made the 1mm of rubber on the brake pads look....not that bad.

Great Circle of Life amended vacation plans but my lacrosse player son adapted his plans to join me for a new 30 mile route through Millis, Norfolk, Wrentham and Franklin.
Now we are planning a 2 or 3 day credit card tour later this week. I'm guessing we can manage 30-60 miles a day.
One idea is to ride out then train or ferry back.
Springfield or Pittsfield, MA?
Portland or Freeport, ME?
Provincetown?,
New London or Old Lyme, CT?
Coastal routes will be cooler but the westerley routes drop us at Framingham station close to home.

jimmuller 

Too much to write today, not enough time. Nickel, you are spot on. The MM is a very nice run, innit? Yes, Massachusetts is probably unusual in having a policeman at just about every construction site. Probably some union requirement or something. There are bunch of "spurs" off the MM. We've ridden parts of the Bedford-Billerica Narrow Gauge trail, mostly gravel but some paved near Bedford. I've never ridden the Reformatory trail, was told that it wasn't friendly to narrow tires, but your post inspires me to try it one day. Will have to check out Nashoba Brook Bakery (except that my tandem partner/sweetie doesn't do gluten .)

SPB, it sounds like you're having or planning to have some interesting adventures. Your pics report "Invalid attachment" but they sound intriguing anyway! I'm surprise that an old 2-wheel hound like yourself would be running a bike which, ahem, needs maintenance. A CC tour sounds like fun. We're hoping to do some on the tandem in the near future. In the meantime we have a 2-night trip planned with full camping gear, and we'll probably be accompanied by some other BF members from Maryland and NJ. Will post a report when it finally happens.

I did my commute again today. It was HOT. And humid. And did I mention that it was hot?