NomarsGirl

I've never been able to do my birthday ride on my actual birthday (early March). Not sure I'll be able to ride my age in miles anyway. That would be my longest ever ride. Most I have ever done is 50 and I'm looking at 55.Will have to be the nice, flat CCRT.
.

rumrunn6

sounds good. the longer you wait ... the older you get. but March, huh? a warm windless day in March is hard to come by on the CCRT. but this year has been mild so you might get lucky!

rumrunn6

that's the best we can hope for, this time of year, right?

Ghazmh

Absolutely. Comfortable enough to get it done without saying “never again”

rumrunn6

bite your lip!

rumrunn6

potential winter beast alert for Friday nite into Saturday

rumrunn6

do I want to pull the bike out of the basement & put the bike rack on the car & pack some clothes, for a ride after work? what the heck else am I gonna do, sit on my couch & write about riding my bike?

rholland1951

Made a couple of trips to Battle Road Bikes today, to drop off a frameset, wheelset, and miscellaneous parts for a build of an Ocean Air Rambler, a low-trail bike designed by Rob Perks and built in the USA by a series of frame builders. That's the yellow frame on the stand, in the foreground. The skinny blue tubing in the background is the Rawland Nordavinden, in for some overdue winter maintenance. The bike tinkering backlog continues to dwindle.


With the balance of the afternoon free, I took the 1987 GT Karakoram out for a sunset ride along the Eastern shore of the Mystic Lakes. There was fire, ice, distant headlights, and an infinite number of virtual cyclists whizzing through the void, all faster than me, just as the Standard Model predicts.






I'm guessing that cold weather operation is causing the color processing in the Pocket Devil's camera to get a little funky.


rod

rumrunn6

those are fun! & you're single handedly keeping that shop alive!

rumrunn6

overwhelmed by chores & work (excuse) opted for the stationary bike at the gym. got in about an hour after work

jsilvia

Got in 32 miles on the Southeast Coast. Likely the last outdoor ride before the weekend Nor'easter.

rholland1951

There's some pretty riding down there.

rod

Ghazmh

This morning I squeezed in a relatively short 19 mile ride. I was aiming for about 20 but didn’t realize that skipping going around the North bridge via Liberty rd would cause me to miss my goal by .75 miles. I must be slipping with my estimations. I was on my Boone 7 with Schwalbe Winter Marathons with 4 rows of heavy clicking carbide studs. Today was definitely a day for them. Despite the cold temperature years of experience in the cold coupled with proper equipment and apparel made the ride far less dramatic than it would be otherwise. No numb digits, or frozen cheeks just a few burned calories to offset winters ice cream and beer.

rholland1951

An economy of homely pleasures!

rod

rholland1951

While I'm certainly helping, the shop seems quite busy for the season. Some of these projects are best done in Winter. Come April, the circus will be in town, and the shop will be full of elephants and trapeze artists.

rod

rumrunn6

hehe true that! I was at Harris Cyclery in W. Newton, 2008?, browsing headbands (& got a nice one for $20), during my lunch break, one day in January? & overhead a customer chatting w/ an employee about the "slow season", who mentioned: "yep once we hit February, around Valentines' Day, we start seeing an uptick in business" or something like that. so anyone needing pro wrenching, best get it in the shop now. hmmm, what do I need/want done ...?

I was thinking about popping in the Battle Rd. shop on our way back from the MFA cuz we dropped some mail at our Son's apt. in Medford, close to Arlington, & we took the scenic route thru Harvard Square & then Mass Ave (memory lane incl. a midnight 1st date w/ Wifey at the Forest Cafe, aka bar) but didn't know their address ................. but now I see their address is 145 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA 02420

rholland1951

Another visit to Battle Road Bikes, to fiddle with some of the bits and pieces for a couple of the projects. The Ebisu (white bike) and Rambler (yellow bike) were up in the stand, under construction. This was a merry sight to behold.


The Rawland (blue bike, not shown) had finished its short course of Winter maintenance, and was carried off home.

rod

Ghazmh

Nice, I though I saw the yellow bike on the stand when I picked up my wheel earlier today. The hub wasn’t cracked, just a scratch from the rack it sits on when its dipped in when being anodized.

rholland1951

Glad to hear the hub's ok. It's always a little unnerving when a component fails.

rod

rumrunn6

the baseball that my Daughter wrote her name on, which my Son brought to Fenway, which I threw & accidentally hit David Ortiz in the arm with, which he then picked up & signed & threw back to me, just became more valuable. now if we can only get Nomar into the Baseball Hall of Fame!

NomarsGirl

Yes!!!! Let's get Nomar in. I have a whole binder full of his baseball cards and a few other collectibles. Nothing autographed though. I LOVE THAT MAN! I'll make the trip to Cooperstown for his induction.

rholland1951

The sky is falling on Saturday, so Thursday I took the GT for a quick and chilly spin on the Minuteman, the usual short ride to keep the moving parts moving and evolve enough heat with my endothermic metabolism so as not to get on the bad side of hypothermia. All that worked, and along the way I noticed that the kids skating on Peepers Pond resembled a flea circus.


The Minuteman is mostly clear, at least between Arlington Center and Lexington Center, with a few frozen puddles but nothing that can't be avoided if you notice. Nothing that will confound snow plows when they get around to clearing it again this weekend.


rod

rumrunn6

really? can't imagine why ;-) may we pause cycling for just a second?


& yet, they had to trade him in 2004 to break the curse of Babe Ruth to win their 1st World Series since 1918. before he left our Son got his autograph thru a slot in a fence. we brought a baseball & a sharpie to Fenway. Daughter was 7? Son was 8 or 6? told him just shove your baseball & marker thru the slot. Nomar took them, signed them, gave them back to Son & kept walking. Daughter looked up thru the slot & said: "he has hair in his nose". baseball ~ it doesn't take much to make it interesting

rholland1951

The sky is falling TOMORROW, so today's ride East--Medford, Malden, et alia--on the GT constitutes a lost world, a ride in conditions that likely won't obtain by the time this is read. Things often go that way, but if the weather witches have their way, the contrast may be balder than usual.


In the meantime, I got lots of warming, strenuous cranking up the hills, lots of cooling, whizzy descents down those same hills, and lots of appropriate social distancing in traffic with drivers who seemed far more annoyed with each other than with me. Turned around when night began to fall, a little farther up in the hills than was absolutely wise, and rode on back.

If and when the sky does fall, I'll practice my other winter sport: snow shoveling.

rod

Ghazmh

An early start to my workday immediately followed by 2.5 hours of a middle school play had me too tired for a 9:00PM ride on the eve of the blizzard of 22.