After prompting by my sweetie I took the Masi out for a spin this morning. I decided to try a new road. I had no idea where it went except its general direction. It's hard to go wrong around here unless you find yourself at the bottom of a long steep hill or surrounded by heavy traffic. Fortunately I found neither. I ended up with 47.95 miles. It would have been more if I'd ridden further but the road ran out just as I reached home so that will have to do.
Lots of bikes out today. About 20 minutes out I came upon a pair of riders trying to fix a flat with a mini-pump. (Useless things they are.) The guy said he didn't want to use up his CO2 cartridge. (So like, why carry it?) Anyway, I offered him use of my frame pump and he took me up on it. He didn't seem to understand how to get the best mechanical advantage with his arms but he got enough air in the tire to continue. Another victory for C&V equipment!
I stopped at the usual haunts, Heart Pond in Chelmsford for an early 10:30 lunch, then Ferns General Store in Carlisle to finish lunch. While I was eating another cyclist came out and asked "You're on another vintage bike today?" Huh? He recognized me from my last stop there riding the PF10. He even remembered the bike, a blue Peugeot. We spoke briefly. As he rode away another cyclist asked "You riding solo today?" Huh? She and her husband recognized me from the last time my sweetie and I stopped there on the tandem. I said she was the second person to recognize me there in the last few minutes and she said "You ride the same roads often enough and people get to know you."
The ride home offered a few photo ops. Carlisle's cranberry bog used to be quite productive. Riding by in the fall always meant a stop to watch the harvest. It hasn't operated for a few years now, but maybe they will get it going again.
A field in Lincoln was educational. I never expected aliens to look like cows. Somehow Andy Weir had led me to believe they would look more like spiders, but seeing is believing I guess.
