autonomy

That sounds like an awesome trip/tour, also looking forward to the report (I've biked from the ferry landing to Gay Head, taking the bike ferry in Menemsha - very memorable). A couple of questions - what kind of chair do you have and what kind of GPS mount is that, Garmin series by any chance? I've been looking to resurrect my bulky Garmin 62S and use it on the bike but so far had to resort to velcro.

autonomy

I'm sure we'll come to that some day as well... but not as dockless as one may think (pun intended?)

It's all about perspective, isn't it

Ghazmh

Ghazmh

rholland1951

Bravo!

rod

rholland1951

Took the LHT out in the heat of the day, 3l miles through Arlington, Lexington, Bedford, Carlisle, and Concord, on a familiar variation of the North Bridge loop, out the Minuteman to Depot Park, then Route 225 through Bedford to Skelton Road and River Road in Carlisle and Monument Street in Concord, picking up the Reformatory Branch and taking that back to the Minuteman and home. Temperature in the mid-90s, with aspirations for a little more, but between the breezes that came with the day and the breezes I was making by pedaling, the liter-and-a-half of water that I guzzled was effectively used for evaporative cooling; yay, sweat! I noticed a little haze from time to time, but didn't notice the ozone alert until I got home and checked my email backlog. Oh well, it was a pleasant day in the shade, drinking water while I pedaled. And I had company; of this gentleman, mr_bill said, "He's always there", and he was, too, coming and going.


This big old catalpa tree is my favorite bit of shade. I think it knows things. Hail, Catalpa!


Cyclists undeterred by the heat, briefly benefiting from the catalpa's shade.


From the Lexington DPW:
And, lo and behold, there's the start of that:

Dismounting and walking through what was, in effect, 3/4 of a covered bridge was no particular hardship, although the guy behind me on the return sailed through no-hands; silly.

Carlisle: this is one of my favorite signs of all time. I noticed that the bluebird house appears to be occupied.


Concord: a quiet afternoon on Plato's Cave Farm. It was a good day for shadows.


The wildflowers were out in force again on the Reformatory Branch.


Sitting in the shade on the Reformatory Branch, looking out over the sun-soaked Great Meadows NWR.


The shady, narrow, intimate bit of the Concord section of the Reformatory Branch.


Lexington: the beaver dam in Tophet Swamp has become a substrate for lush vegetation; aside from the water levels, you might not notice the beavers built it. I suspect this is the way they like it.


Another hot one tomorrow. Stay wet, y'all.

rod

mr_bill

With ofo leaving MA, and Quincy joining LimeBike, decided to update the map.

Excluded are university/employer/housing based bikeshares.

Note that Zagster you must start and stop your ride in the City/Town where your ride originated. So if the City/Town has an asterisk, your ride must start and stop there.

Ant Bicycle is less explicit about where you must start and stop your ride. It's ambiguous if you could start in Lynn and ride and park at MIT for example.



-mr. bill

sherbornpeddler

RR. Takes one to know one. Thank you for being so thoughtful as always. I'm working my way back to more active and consistent. The community that is this forum is such a nice mix of information, encouragement, friendship, interesting insight and support.

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by sherbornpeddler

RR. …I'm working my way back to more active and consistent. The community that is this forum is such a nice mix of information, encouragement, friendship, interesting insight and support.

Hi sbp,

Always nice to see a post by you, and as noted recently:

Quote:

Originally Posted by rholland1951

It occurs to me that this thread has reached page 300 a few days ago. Congratulations to SBP (@sherbornpeddler) for building to last, and to all of us who have ridden together virtually here over the years.

For those who haven't yet done so, exploring the early days of the thread is interesting reading.

rod

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

Well said @rholland1951, and Hear, Hear. I have frequently described this thread as the de facto Metro Boston Regional Discussion subforum. .

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

... I like to write up my rides, as do others on a local discussion thread here in Boston, and for me, it’s more a journal for myself, than for the amusement of other subscribers, though I hope others would find it interesting. Of course we in Metro Boston all know the region, and each other, at least electronically, so we are a ready receptive audience for each other.

I have thought of that thread as the cycling equivalent of “apres-ski” after a day on the slopes, where we gather to exchange stories, routes, photos, ribbing, and (?) tall tales…

By way of chit-chat, I took note of this recent post on the General Cycling Discussion thread,”Best ride break meal”:

Quote:

Originally Posted by livedarklions

Please note--this is not a request for nutritional advice or your opinion on in-ride nutrition. There's more than enough threads on those topics.

I have a habit of taking very long single-day rides (greater than 100 miles, so far longest 168), and during those rides I generally take an hour or so off in the middle for a real meal. My question is two-fold: Does anybody else do this, and what's the most enjoyable meal they've had on such a break?...

In terms of actual quality, the best meal I ever had on a ride was a (yes, really) goulash sub from a pizza place located in a gas station convenience store--the family was Hungarian, so the goulash was the real thing, and I've eaten it in Budapest. If you ever are in Sherborn, MA look up Rustic Pizza.

If you're ever in RI, stopping for hot dogs is a no-brainer. Better than Chicago or NY if you ask me.

Mentions of Clif bars and gel packs will definitely be off-topic. What's the best meal you've had during a ride?

Sounds like a destination to ride to.

rholland1951

Goulash sub!!!!!

rod

rholland1951

mr. bill, many thanks for this, it's genuinely useful. I took the liberty of passing it along to ABAC.

rod

livedarklions

Thanks for quoting me, Jim! I live in NH, but ride Boston Metro a lot, so now that I know about it, I'll be at least stalking this thread right after I get a chance to read through it--you folks are a wealth of knowledge.

That was my first and so far only ride through Sherborn, but I definitely want to ride through there again, and I want another of those subs. Funny thing is I thought I was ordering a bowl of goulash, but the bread was the best I've ever had in a sub shop, so I definitely was not disappointed.

rumrunn6

Rustic Pizza, 21 S Main St, Sherborn, MA 01770, that's only 20 miles from my home in Stow'ish & appears to be a straight run South on 27 (more or less) so I'd be less likely to get lost!

Jim from Boston

Thanks for your note, and the tip about Rustic Pizza, @livedarklions. I have noted on a few previous threads that you do a lot of long distance riding. FYA, I have posted an informal “Cycling Guide to Metro Boston,” and I described the sector including Sherborn, and especially neighboring Dover as:

livedarklions

Thanks! I'm sure you've done it a million times, but can you post a link to the "Cycling Guide"?

Jim from Boston

My post quoted above (link) is the "Cycling Guide." It's informal and sketchy, meant for the visitor who doesn't know even in which direction to ride. I commented that my favorite map is the AAA Metropolitan Map of Boston, and it also includes some information about MUPS, taking a (fully-assembled) bike on public transit (the subway, aka known as the (T),and Commuter Rail), and a bit about local cycling clubs, and reputable bike shops, that might have bike rentals.

The Guide pre-dated the Hubway Bike Share system, now known as Blue Bikes, and a new system called (?) Lime Bikes.

livedarklions

Thanks!

Nashua now has Veoride rental bikes. I'm seeing them everywhere. My sons live in Watertown, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Lime bike.

Ghazmh

rholland1951

Bad timing. Aside from the heat and humidity, yesterday was the first of two ozone alerts. Tough conditions.

rod

rumrunn6

wise men change their mind, fools never do

autonomy

Thanks!

Bummer! Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes... But as the hiking community says, the mountains will be there next time. Sometimes we need to realize that it's time to turn back and that is one of the most important skills to have.
And I can totally relate to the struggle of leaving the family.

I read that Ofo is leaving the US period. Peak bikeshare?

mr_bill

Why Ofo is Retreating From the Dockless Bikesharing Battle

"Ofo will continue with a small footprint in some markets, such as San Diego, the University of Denver, the Phoenix metro area, and College Station, Texas."

How much longer they will continue with a "small footprint" in the US is hard to say. Their "retreat" has been chaotic at best, such as sending out notices of "good-bye" to Seattle users one day, "oops, never mind" the next day, finally followed by "oops, never mind the never mind, we're so out of here!"

-mr. bill

rholland1951

Took the Rawland Nordavinden out for a quick spin up to Lexington Center and back before dinner, on a deep Summer afternoon when we had already had a few showers and were currently getting drizzle with full sun, what my father would have referred to as "the Devil beating his wife", while waiting for the real storms to come if they chose to do so (still in doubt as of this writing). Bought some lemonade from a stand a couple of little kids were running near Woburn Street.




For some reason, the Norda was attracting favorable comments today.


rod

rumrunn6

Wifey w/ her (bollard induced) green cast walking past a bollard along the Le Corridor du littoral bike trail in Quebec City. thought it was kinda funny. btw those Frenchies must really want to snag a passing cyclist with those wings, huh? & by the looks of those scratches, they caught a few!

Ghazmh