Sunset ride on the Minuteman to Depot Park, Bedford, 20 miles. The low sun at the start of the ride was hot and glaring, brutal in its way, an unlooked-for return to Mid-Summer. The worst of it was experienced on the street in Arlington, the shady Minuteman providing some welcome relief soon enough. My energy level was low for much of the ride, but a need to quickly pass while being squeezed by an on-coming cyclist engendered a quick sprint, and it was easy enough to maintain that pace thereafter. There were an unusual number (meaning non-zero) of competent, athletic skaters out tonight, one of whom passed me at a good clip going up hill, another was making quite respectable speed while pecking at her smartphone. There was also the usual quota of Wobblies.
Night fell after I reached the turn-around point, the temperature cooled pleasantly, and the Night Chorus kicked in with a vengeance. This suited me fine, and it would have been a jolly ride, except for a series of mechanical gotchas on the new bike that I had to iteratively deal with, in the dark, natch. The worst of these suggested to me that I should give this bike a rest until my mechanic gets back from his vacation; the alternative would be to start naively fiddling with the rear derailleur, which I'm sure would be good for many happy hours of learning curve; might be fun, but is unlikely to be efficient. The ride proceeded pleasantly in between wrenching breaks, a fat yellow moon--blue, by some accounts--rising over Arlington.
The sunset itself had minimal glamour tonight, but here's a peep at it through the trees up Elm Brook, Bedford.
rod