I got in on the 50s-in-late-January fun today with a bit of a rambling (and pictorially undocumented) workout ride just after lunch. I picked the Classique and headed to Chelmsford center to explore conditions on the BFRT, but it very quickly became clear that there were too many icy spots left, particular since it's currently on 23mm Michelin Dynamics. Poor foresight on my part but I just wanted to get some miles in on this still fairly new to me bike.
The trail plan abandoned, I headed out on Route 4 south towards Billerica. Traffic was light and for the most part I was able to pick my line around potholes and puddles. Deciding to turn left onto Mill Road, I was now more or less committed to a sizable counterclockwise loop into Billerica and Lowell. I enjoyed the near-effortless action of the 600 Arabesque friction shifters, while remaining acutely aware of the near-effect-less action of the 600 Arabesque sidepull brakes. An empty office parking lot (Zoll Corp., makers of emergency defibrillators) beckoned to be explored, just to give my legs, and the security cameras, something to do. Oops, this is not Aunt Wilma's house!
On I went, parallel to Route 3 and then crossing it on a brief stretch of 129 that I would never venture near on a weekday. I turned north onto quiet Brick Kiln Road, past the local UPS hub, and rode on past the Lowell cemeteries, then west under the Lowell Connector and back homewards on Chelmsford Street (110), again roads that I would normally avoid. I didn't think the Lowell end of the BFRT would be any more ridable, so I stayed on 110 until Dalton Road, which is more or less a straight shot home. Worked out to 13.9 miles and 600 feet.