sherbornpeddler

Rumrunn6, Very nice observation.
Seems like so many contributors take time to observe and contemplate and share things.

This is the Withywindle that combines moments of silence, Minuteman updates, tank controversy, 20lbs of zucchini, Shaker Museum, beautiful bikes and sunsets. I love this thread too.

rholland1951

Took the Rawland out for 15 muggy miles on the Minuteman tonight, lots of company, mostly unobjectionable, rang the bell a lot.


rod

jimmuller 

It sounds like both a pleasant ride and a testament to the validity of your own advice!

I rode my commute on the Gazelle today, and a lovely ride it was too on the way home. A bit wet this morning, almost misting, almost like riding through a swimming pool.

This is wildlife week, I think. On Monday I saw a family of turkeys in Woburn's Four Corners, was a mom, a dad, and two 1ft tall turklets. Today I saw another solo turkey right in from of Lawless Dodge in Four Corners. I was mildly harassed by a small dog today in an area usually quiet. He seemed to be acting out some territoriality. (Wow, Microsoft Spullchucker thinks territoriality is a real word!)

Finally, I see that Lexington has put down new pavement on Concord Rd on at least the section by the radio towers with the steep hill. I didn't ride yesterday but that new pavement wasn't there on Monday. Now you can fly down that hill without worrying about the bumps!

rholland1951

An eccentric causal chain resulted in my bringing the Rawland Nordavinden and my riding gear to work (on the back of the car; we're not talking about honest cycle commuting here), and I took advantage of this fluke to get a 13 mile lunchtime ride on the Narrow Gauge Rail Trail and Dudley Road, in Bedford and Billerica. This route was chosen as much to exercise the new bike in conditions it hadn't yet encountered (stone dust, sand, roots, broken pavement) as for any other reason, and I'm pleased to say the Rawland came through with flying colors, tracking rock steady in the face of numerous provocations to do otherwise, and steering quickly and accurately to avoid trouble. Nice variation on the workday routine.




Dudley Road's crocodilian pavement is still up to snuff.






Route 4? You can get there from here...


Lovely, tart apples.


A nag in a bag.


rod

sherbornpeddler

Rode 22 miles up to Hopkinton State Park and back. Grapes are out. I smelled them and will compete with the birds.

bigredkevbot

Rode the length of the minute man for a quick sprint last night (tired to make it the full lap before sunset). Was successful and had time to make dinner

jimmuller 

Dudley Road - one of the area's really really really cool roads, even if it isn't very long. You can't ride it very fast and you wouldn't want to.

Grapes are out and so are acorns! One of the autumnal hazards has begun.

And speaking of the Minuteman, as on most days I rode may commute today which includes about 2 1/2 miles on the MM. The MM was busier than usual this morning, with extra traffic on bikes and on foot. In fact the first half of my commute was decorated with gaggles of attractive joggers, as Ron Thomason used to say, women of the opposite sex. I got a late start today so maybe that explains it, but I think maybe it is students coming home to roost.

Unfortunately I flatted a Vittoria sew-up tire going into Woburn. As luck would have it, I finished up re-assembling the bike about 100yds ahead of an oncoming street sweeper machine. If I'd been 10 minutes later whatever cut my tire probably wouldn't have been there. The cut may be big enough that I can't save it, but it's a tire I had already patched once and sewn back up.

jimmuller 

This morning's tire adventure:



I had repaired that tire once before, and I'm thinking that with that cut it should be retired. (Get it? Re-tired? )

One pic from the return commute. In Woburn Center a statue of one of Woburn's famous native-born sons, Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford.



I ride by his statue every day. BF member Jim_from_Boston called him to my attention last year. Though I had seen the statue and wondered who it was I always took it for granted. Where I grew up we had statues everywhere, mostly historical, certainly not scientific.

sherbornpeddler

I'd tell you about another really cool long road just recently repaved but....I can't...because it has a good crop of grapes. I did ride south down through Medway and Populatic St then turned east into Norfolk on Miller Rd just by Kingsbury Pond, where the Mill River flows north to the Charles. There is smooth pavement and if one were to notice the aroma it isn't acorns. I brought some home.

sherbornpeddler

Jim, Do you normally ride sewups for commuting? Do you think they are more, less or equally prone to flats on MetroBoston roads? Do you carry a foldup spare and glue or just inflate enough to hold it on and avoid powering through turns? What pressure do you run your sewups when commuting?

jimmuller 

So many questions!

I've ridden sew-ups for commuting more than I ought to! It's really the choice of which bike. Usually I'll ride something else but this week I just felt like riding my uber-bikes, the Masi, the Motobecane, and the Gazelle. The Gaz has Veloflex Masters, a 23mm high-end clincher, but the other two have sew-ups. One reason (I rationalize) for commuting on sew-ups is the speed of fixing a flat on the road. When I really don't want to be late for some meeting at work, I'll rationalize like that. The only down side is the time and aggravation it takes to fix one, and eventually the cost of replacing one.

I don't think sew-ups are especially prone to flats. Whatever I hit today would have cut through a clincher too. Most of my sew-up flats have been like that. But the thinner tread does make a difference compared to a more utilitarian tire like the 25mm Pasela TG/PT or Gatorskin. The light clincher wheels on the Gaz used to be on the Masi, and in about 1000 miles I wore a set of Vittoria Open Corsas so thin they were like paper. Then one commute I got 4 flats which was a wake-up call to replace them. For high-performance tires my experience has been that Vittorias are more prone to flatting than Veloflex. In fact, I don't believe I've had a flat on a Veloflex tire yet except for the screw I picked up in the Gaz's front (clincher) tire. But that could be all by chance.

I carry two spares, both already glued up and folded. Of course the glue is a contact cement (as you know) so it adheres to the rim quite well even after it is dry. Of course I'm not bombing down Mont Ventoux, just the minor hills between Waltham and Woburn.

As for pressure, I like all my tires, sew-up or clincher, pumped up. "Ordinary" clinchers get 120psi, the Gaz's clinchers gets 140psi. The sew-ups usually start at 150 because they have latex tubes which can lose 30psi in a day. I can get pretty good pressure in one with my frame pump though I've never measured it.

Some people in the C&V would say I'm crazy. Others swear by sew-ups and high pressure. Me? I just like how they feel.

Jim from Boston

JfB in reply. Back in 1972, my then-girlfriend-now–wife and I bought matching Merciers, for touring, because we wanted “really nice bikes," and they had sew-up rims. We did several fully loaded tours in Michigan and Ontario without many problems. For our fully loaded, self-supported cross-country honeymoon in 1977 from LA to DC, we started out with six additional tires, and had an inordinate number of flats, maybe overall about one every three days, especially out West.

Usually, the next flat occured just after the sticky glue/black grease had finally abraded off my hands. Often the evening's intended relaxation was replaced by tediously repairing the tubes. At three times en route we had to leave the bikes in a motel, and hitchhike to a city to buy more (Flagstaff, AZ, Pueblo, CO, and I think one more in Ohio), further deleting rest days. We did arrive within schedule, but as soon as we got to Boston, we got clincher rims. My current high end CF bike rides so well, I can’t imagine it could get that much better with sew-ups. FWIW

I recall that memorable ride in an attempt to follow your famous commute. I posted about BT:

jimmuller 

On the subject of sew-ups, I should mention that another BF member [MENTION=368671]Ed.[/MENTION] in the Boston area says he has been riding them exclusively since about 1968, IIRC, and he hasn't had any particular issue with flats. He does enthusiastically recommend tire saves. Over in the C&V there are a number of sew-up enthusiasts. The consensus seems to be that inexpensive sew-ups aren't much better than inexpensive clinchers and therefore not worth the trouble. But good ones, that's a horse of a different feather. When I started riding them I decided I might as well go with good ones.

We took the tandem (on clinchers, of course) out for 56.2 miles today. I wanted to try some new roads but a late start, few delays, and a road-construction detour prevented us from getting out as far as my intended destination west of here. Nevertheless, as we were heading home my sweetie said it was good that we started for home when we did. Tomorrow we may try again.

We meandered out through Bedford and Concord, tried to go south to rt117, got redirected a bit further north than I would have like. Eventually we found a great picnic table on the grounds of Acton Ford beside the Assabet River. Thank you, Acton Ford! We almost made it to Maynard but as there was no particular reason to go there, we turned south at the next road.



On the way home we stopped at this farm stand, a long-time Concord establishment. Of course Sharon had to buy peaches and zucchini.





On a previous stop we had the pleasure of talking with one of the elderly Scimones, possibly Frank though it may have been Frank's son. We have to stop again and ask. He showed us a family pic taking around 1948 or some such time.

Finally, I've been having some trouble shifting the front to the big ring. Several times today it threw the chain and then move the FD on the ST. So when we got home I swapped it out for another Simplex I had picked up some time ago "just in case". Today was The Case, I guess. In bench shifting it works much better! The previous one had developed too much free play.

rholland1951

Took the Rawland Nordavinden out for a 31 mile ride through Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, Waltham, Lincoln, and Concord, with 2762' of climbing over Belmont Hill and lesser lumps. Chose the route for the hills, and learned that the Norda's low trail means less wheel flop in climbing, but is more responsive to steering inputs, so a light touch does it. Zipping down in descents the bike is speedy and stable, and it holds its track admirably during encounters with occasional potholes.

Belmont Hill on Concord Avenue: up up up...


Down, down, down... Hit 36 mph here, technically speeding.


Beyond Belmont Hill, Concord Ave brings one to the Kingdom of Cattails and Willows.


After that flat, wet bit come more hills, up and down and up and down. I took a little historical detour on Barberry Road, Lexington, to admire the lovely Modern houses built there by the Architects Collaborative, and those like-minded folks who came later. Many of the best of these houses blend so subtly with the surrounding landscape that they're hard to photograph, a carefully achieved effect that has matured over the years, but here's a reasonable exemplar of the style.


Continued out Concord Ave. to Spring Street Lexington/Smith Street Waltham, and bombed down Trapelo Road over the Cambridge Reservoir causeway and into Lincoln, then chugged up the hill past the Peace Barn.


Continued on to the DeCordova Museum, where I took a little cultural break, nibbled on a Cliff Bar, and thought good thoughts about Bishbike. Took my bike into a sort of latter-day fun house titled "Crazy Spheroid-Two Entrances"


When my kids were little they used to love The Musical Fence, and I was charmed to see a young child running along beside it today, playing glissandos with one of the sticks provided for the purpose. That piece is an enduring success.


I also spent time with "ence pence" which for me evoked the monumental sculptures of Bayon temple, in the Angkor ruins.


Rode past the 1938 Gropius House on Baker Bridge Road, Lincoln, a little closer to the well-spring of Bauhaus inspiration that those Architects Collaborative guys were sipping from.


Rolled past Walden Pond and crossed Route 2, reminiscent of a wildebeest migration, taking a short-cut to pick up Lexington Road, Concord, followed the familiar path of Old Bedford Road with its corn fields shivering in the breeze, Virginia Road, Mill Street, past the N end of the somewhat-thirsty-looking Cambridge Reservoir, and so on home, picking up a little bit of the Minuteman at Maple Street, and getting a dose of population pressure that I had managed to avoid on early stages of the ride. I don't blame them, it was a great day to be out and about.


rod

mr_bill

Biked around Hyde Park.

Hired a Boris Bike, uh, Barclays Cycle Hire, uh Santander Cycles.

FWIW, I always take the lane when the road says GET IN LANE.


More later....

-mr. bill

rholland1951

London! Enjoy!

rod

Jim from Boston

Very nice travelogue of routes I have been familiar with for years. It looks like Concord Ave on Belmont Hill has been paved since I last was there. I think the Peace Barn has had that symbol up since the late ‘70’s when I first started riding out there. I have never stopped at the DeCordova though. Another favorite landmark is the library in Lincoln.

Back in my home town of Detroit was a distinctive white house in a tree lined boulevard of red-brick homes that after I moved to Boston, I realized looked very much like the Gropius House. When I was back there last week we drove by, and it was sad to see the disrepair.

jimmuller 

Yesterday we were thwarted in hitting our intended destination so we tried again today. We made the trip and ended up with 62.5 mile to boot. But we had an inauspicious start. We started 8:10AM and managed to go all the way to Waltham Common, a distance of, um, about 1 mile when we had our first flat on the tandem. Of course it was a rear tire which must be patched without removing the wheel. However we found the leak, patched it, and continued on our way.



We made it out almost to I495, turned north into Harvard, Bolton, a bit of Boxborough, crossed under 495, ran south back to rt117, then back east.

Our return took us by Verrill Farm where we stopped for some lunch. Of course my sweetie just had to buy and take pics of veggies.





Our return also took us on the Minuteman Bikeway which as been known to harbor monsters this summer.





When we returned home I checked out the rear tire more carefully. I think the flat was the bike's way of telling us it should be retired. That's the second rear tire we've run through since I built up the bike.



Back in January 2013 another bf member, dddd IIRC though it may have been Golden Boy - I need to go through my old email - , had sent me a set of tires. I had just replaced the rear so I didn't need them right away. Today I mounted them and all is well. Also the FD I replaced yesterday worked like a charm. We be rollin'...

Addendum: One interesting thing about riding into parts unknown and seemingly isolated is the folks there may really be isolated. For example, we were Daisy, Daisy'ed by one woman out walking on some quiet country road. Ah, never seen a modern road tandem? Okay, so it's a C&V road tandem.

On our return's lunch stop we were approached by some guy in a bike jersey asking where we'd been. He told us he was part of a tandem team too and they'd noticed us there on our way out. Coincidentally we both stopped at Verrill Farm on our return at the same time. Had a nice conversation about the various roads around there.

It was a glorious day.

sherbornpeddler

Out and back ride on the Upper Charles. We started at the man made spring on Center St in Holliston.

and rode west on smooth, packed stone dust, sections of packed and loose recycled asphalt, unimproved dirt and a sweet new wooden bridge I think at Beaver Brook close to the Milford line. e crossed under Rt 495 and stopped for lunch at Prezo next to the trail, continued on across Rt 109 on the new section behind Hannaford's then actually followed the original rail bed past a storage facility and the Natural Stone Supply yard to the Senior Center and Main St. The thought crossed my mind my sweetie was going to ask me to bring home a load of crushed stone for the garden path but we kept moving and the panic passed.


On the way back we did stopped to chat with Robert Weidknecht, chairman and dedicated trail worker of the Holliston Trails Committee. I told him I'd see if I can find a "deer camera" to catch those childish vandals with early personality disorders and lack of pride and concern for community property.

mr_bill

So, some more from Hyde Park - London.

Mostly I wanted to visit Speaker's Corner, which I did pass by both on foot and on the Boris Bike. There were no speakers on soapboxes that I saw, but there is a food kiosk:


Anyhow, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. After walking through Hyde Park and seeing the numbers of folks about on Boris Bikes, I got up early the following morning and headed over. There's an app for that which proved quite easy to use to locate docking stations, this one for a return:


Around the park there were park roads with bikelanes:


park roads without bikelanes:


Segregated bicycle/walkways (though pedestrians with smart phones can often be quite dumb about that):


A very wide bicycle lane with lamp posts separating cyclists from pedestrians (I've briefly left the bike lane since the cyclists coming towards me didn't single up):


And a collection of folks on roller skis, most going round one way on the pedestrian paths:


And a service road (only for very small park vehicles and bicycles), a broad walking path on the right, and a *HORSE*(?) lane on the left:


Saw no horses, but very well behaved dogs off leash. Here I'm track standing for a brief moment on the Boris Bike while the owner tells her dogs to stay and motions me onward:


I did very briefly venture onto a quiet city street, but lost my nerve to be a true roadie on a Boris Bike sharing the very busy roads with all manner of buses and cabbies and cars:



All in all, a delightful way to spend two pounds and an couple of hours.

-mr. bill

rholland1951

10 miles on the Rawland at sunset, the day yielding its warmth slowly, August to the last, promising just a little more Summer.




The light faded...




Night fell...


... and the Night Chorus sang out in all its glory, more raucous and varied than I've heard them since June. And there were cicadas! This matters to me because the other day I had briefly tricked myself into believing the Chris King hub "angry bee" freewheeling noise was cicada song, and it was disappointing to realize the truth... but these bugs were the genuine article, I was definitely pedaling when I heard them...

rod

rholland1951

10 miles on the Minuteman at sunset.






The Egg has reached its second September, with a little help from its friends.


rod

jimmuller 

No riding today. Bummer. Things got in the way. But this note is an excuse to post this link!

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...-ride-5-a.html

Come out to lovely Cape Cod and ride! Oct 10, departing around 10AM (we always intend to gather at 9:39 and we never do). There may be some part-swapping goin' on too.

The CCRT is 22 miles long from Dennis to Wellfleet so the round trip is 44 miles. Most of it is flat but with two bridges over Rt 6 to test your gearing. Plus we'll throw in a short spin over to the Atlantic. Plus there is a great coffee/chocolate shop in Orleans about half way.

Classic bike, modern bike, any bike at all that can go as far as you want to ride!


Some pics from previous CCRT rides.

October 2014, the start


Lunch at the Wellfleet trailhead


April 2015, arriving at the Atlantic

rholland1951

It's getting a little darker, a little earlier every day, but it's still Summer, warm and toasty: I'm not complaining.


The AHS girls soccer squad practicing on the field was a harbinger of Autumn, but I'm not complaining.


The Lexington behavior modification signs got informally modified themselves by someone's behavior, and are now hiding in the bushes, but I'm certainly not complaining about that.


I did complain to some of my fellow Minuteman users about lanes, lights, unlights, random walk, and the offering up of their unlit children on scooters to Moloch, but I got all that out of my system at the time, and didn't hit any. Did sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" to several fellow cyclists running their 500 lumen front blinkers; maybe they'll complain about that... to somebody...

10 miles on the LHT, half of them in the dark among idiots.

rod

Jim from Boston

Sounds like a great ride [MENTION=10358]jmm[/MENTION]. I rarely would drive out to start a ride, but cyling that trail is a ride I would like to do. However, that weekend I am joining the Fifty-Plus Annual Ride in Pennsylvania, that I have been anticipating and training for months.

BTW, I have posted a proposal for a Fifty-Plus Boston Bicycle weekend on September 12, of the Tour de Streets to benefit Liveable Streets (to pass through Waltham) and my post of three days duration has received no replies, and a measly 131 views.

So, what’s so special about the middle of nowhere in PA, compared to the Hub?