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Metro Boston: Good ride today?

Old 06-30-21, 05:09 AM
  #9351  
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Originally Posted by Ghazmh
Sadly Ferns removed their ports potty as had the Gropius house albeit that was last year.
Gropius House had port-a-potty(s)? It's a private residence, isn't it?
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Old 07-01-21, 02:47 AM
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Originally Posted by jimmuller
Gropius House had port-a-potty(s)? It's a private residence, isn't it?

It was a private house at one point. More recently it’s been a historic site.

https://www.historicnewengland.org/p...gropius-house/
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Old 07-02-21, 09:19 AM
  #9353  
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Originally Posted by rholland1951
While Estabrook Road retains modern, paved sections in Concord and Carlisle, the unpaved, stony core, in use at least since the 18th Century, was abandoned by the Town of Concord in 1932, and forms the armature of the Estabrook Woods, a unique, privately maintained conservation area owned by Harvard University and a raft of smaller land-holders. While this has recently been disputed, Estabrook Road remains open for recreational use, including cycling.
Every couple of years I get the urge to ride Estabrook Rd and as soon as I get on it remember why I think it should be called Estabrook Trail; the rockiness of it quenches the urge for another couple of years. First time I did it was on a road bike with 25mm which certainly didn't kill me but wasn't all that pleasant. Bring your fattest tires!
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Old 07-04-21, 03:06 PM
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Originally Posted by autonomy
Every couple of years I get the urge to ride Estabrook Rd and as soon as I get on it remember why I think it should be called Estabrook Trail; the rockiness of it quenches the urge for another couple of years. First time I did it was on a road bike with 25mm which certainly didn't kill me but wasn't all that pleasant. Bring your fattest tires!
For example, this:


rod
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Old 07-04-21, 03:26 PM
  #9355  
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So, for the last week I've been riding rather than writing; good trade, as the old joke has it. Here's a brief synoptic report.

Tuesday, the temperature hit 97degF, and I took the Surly for a little ride along the eastern shore of the Mystic Lakes, partly to enjoy the few degrees of moderation that proximity to the water is good for, partly out of curiosity for how the scene there was affected by the fierce weather. In general, people were in the water, or as close to it as possible; Shannon Beach was mobbed, but the adjacent lawns, picnic areas, and woods were empty, as were the basketball courts, tennis courts, and playground at Dugger Park.


The Giant Schnauzer and its master were once again keeping cool at the Tufts Barcow Sailing Pavillion.


Wednesday, I took the GT out on the same route, running ahead of the incoming line storm--I thought--but ran smack into it, instead. There was a moment when the temperature dropped at least 10degF in under a minute, accompanied by authoritative flourishes of wind, rain, thunder, and lighning. I took a couple of photos, and beat a not-quite-timely-enough retreat.


Thursday, I had an easy spin up the Minuteman to Lexington Center on the Surly. Wednesday's storm had improved riding conditions, however briefly.


Friday, the rain was back, mostly in the form of wind-blown drizzle that I associate with Oahu, and I rode the Surly out to Depot Park and back, getting nice and wet in the process.


Saturday, I rode East, and got even wetter.




Sunday (that'd be today), I sprinted up to Lexington Center on the Minuteman in unlooked-for drizzle. Just a little wet this time.


Is this what they mean by "stay hydrated"?


rod

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Old 07-06-21, 01:03 PM
  #9356  
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Sprinted to Lexington Center on the Minuteman with the Surly Trucker DeLuxe at noon, in a successful bid to get home again before the dunderheads and downpours came roaring through.

Question: if you had the choice of taking an actual bike ride, or spending the time in a spin-training class in sight of a bike path, which would you choose?


rod
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Old 07-06-21, 01:46 PM
  #9357  
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Originally Posted by rholland1951
Question: if you had the choice of taking an actual bike ride, or spending the time in a spin-training class in sight of a bike path, which would you choose?
depends on the weather. if it's storming outside, I'm outside! :-) only kidding, I only bike inside at the gym if I'm super tired at lunchtime but need to make an appearance
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Old 07-07-21, 08:28 AM
  #9358  
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Originally Posted by rholland1951
For example, this:


rod
*shudder* I can just hear my chain slapping the chainstay

Originally Posted by rholland1951
Haven't had the pleasure since they rebuilt it during the plague year. Have they opened their public toilets yet? That would be a boon.

rod
Pretty sure they have - I didn't try going in, but the locks were 'green'.





One heck of a storm yesterday, huh?


​​​​​​​
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Old 07-07-21, 10:39 AM
  #9359  
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Pills and Ills-ish update:

Yesterday another BIDMC run. Crack o' dawn appointment, so I got to ride in the passenger seat while my spouse drove me in. Non-essential ******* are still verboten, so left me at the curb to find my own way to the Farr Entrance. (I have always wondered where the Nearr Entrance is.)

I've crossed the rubicon into way too frequent imaging patient, they know me, asked how my bike ride went. Told them couldn't do the morning ride, but will be taking a few BLUEbikes home after the scan.

Went into the MRI head first, wearing a helmet of sorts, as they checked out the insides of my noggin to rule out other organic causes.

One sequence sounded like a heavy metal call and response waltz of all things.

Call, Double Bass Drums: 123123!
Response, Guitar/Bass Bb Power Chords: 123123!
Live version, so went on for six minutes.

Walked from West Campus to East Campus for Starbucks (wasn't allowed coffee before the MRI) for an espresso. Then walked through Riverway Park, through the Longwood Stop, onward over the BU Bridge, then to Magazine Street in Cambridge. Picked up Blue#1 at what might well be the least photogenic bike dock in greater Boston behind Micro Center:



From there, along the Cambridge (our fair city) MA side of Dr. Paul D. White bike path to the edge of Harvard Square:



Walked to Somerville from there, and along the way, wondered why oh why can't I ride on bike boulevards (This is Oxford Street, in Cambridge (our fair city) MA) like this:



Will be negotiating for that at my next Cognitive appointment.

After two miles of walking, at Somerville Community Path at Cedar Street, Blue#2:



Spur of the moment, I decided to stop and get another espresso in Davis, and to dock Blue#2 (no photo).

Picked up Blue#3 in Davis (no photo), rode Somerville Community Path to Alewife Linear Path to Minuteman Bikeway to Arlington Center to dock Blue#3 (photo!):



And got yet another espresso (but discretion said it should be a decaf this time.)


So, the roadless traveled.


Now comes a couple of days of scan stress while I wait for the results. Not too stressed, bloody unlikely that there's something IN my skull. Well, I hope they find a brain, but nothing more:


-mr. bill

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Old 07-07-21, 11:25 PM
  #9360  
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Late Wednesday afternoon, I took the Surly out the Mystic Valley Parkway along the East bank of the Mystic Lakes, to once again enjoy the riding-next-to-water groove and observe the Summer scene, preferably before the heavens opened and drowned all and sundry as predicted..


It was a hot afternoon, temperatures in the low 90s, but perhaps a little cooler near the lakes. At the Tufts Barcow Sailing Pavilion, the Giant Schnauzer was absent, but a man giving a swim to three not-so-giant dogs took up the slack. A single open-water swimmer shared the water with the dogs and no one else. This puzzled me at the time, but was clarified a bit later.


I continued up across the Aberjona River.


After that, I doubled back and rode to Shannon Beach, where an ice cream truck was administering one of the sacraments of Summer.


I rode around Shannon Beach for a while, observing fewer people overall, and much less crowding at the beach itself.


A programmable highway sign on one of the paths to the beach area told the tale: "Polluted Water, No Swimming, Have a Nice Day". A call to the DCR beach water quality hotline (617-626-49720) confirmed this. I followed the path of the Old Middlesex Canal past the beach and out to the narrows where one of the Canal aqueducts crossed the Upper Mystic Lake. This is leafy and out-of-the-way, and I paused for a few minutes, peeping through the leaves at the Winchester shore and its various docks.


After that, the sky began to look a little ominous to the North, so I rolled back to Arlington before it fell.


For the kids at the North Union Spray Park, Summer was good.


rod

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Old 07-09-21, 07:12 AM
  #9361  
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anyone out in this? our sump pump is cycling every 15 seconds. today is the day I was supposed to get 4 bikes ready for vacation next week ... ugh


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Old 07-09-21, 02:03 PM
  #9362  
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
anyone out in this? our sump pump is cycling every 15 seconds. today is the day I was supposed to get 4 bikes ready for vacation next week ... ugh

I got out on foot early this morning during the lighter bands, but did take refuge during a particularly heavy band. Saw a friend ride by on their Dutch bike (a real Dutch bike, they are from Amsterdam), all buttoned up in foul weather gear.

Oh, in Pills and Ills update - the great news is the MRI shows that I indeed have a brain - and nothing of concern.

Mass quantities of pre-surgical appointments early next week, then surgery, then off all bikes for at least three weeks. Then "only" twenty scheduled appointments for the remainder of 2021 - so far.

-mr. bill
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Old 07-09-21, 02:58 PM
  #9363  
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I took the Surly out Thursday afternoon, figuring to get a ride in before yesterday's no-name thundershowers started. A craving for relative novelty led me to ride down to Harvard Square, over the river, and down the Dr. Paul Dudley White bike path to the Esplanade, there picking up the Frances Appleton Bridge to cross the river again at the Longfellow Bridge, then returning on Main Street, Broadway, Hampshire Street, Beacon Street, Somerville Ave., Mossland (don't ask), Elm Street through Davis Square, the Somerville Community Path, and the Minuteman, 14 miles with lots of context shifts, packed into an hour and a half that got me home before the first raindrops fell. While these are familiar haunts, enough has changed since I started haunting them 50+ years ago, and enough is changing quickly enough recently enough, so that I found a sense of strangeness mixed with the sense of my adopted home.






I paused for a look at the Grand Junction Railroad Bridge; with a bit of luck that will carry bicycle traffic one of these years. I'm not sure where that project stands, but perhaps Mr. Google knows, I haven't asked lately.


There's a tendency on this ride to look at the path, look at the river, and look across the river at the opposite shore, but sometimes anomalous things are to be found by looking away from the river. This peculiar erection, for example: what on earth is it?


Meanwhile, across the river, the familiar contours of my alma mater were crowded by BIG DOINGS in Kendall Square. I guess the 'tute had a hand in that, and alumni shouldn't complain, but this will take some getting used to.


Junior! Keep out of Arthur Fiedler's nose!


Meanwhile, the Performing Arts are alive and well in the Hatch Shell.


Over the river...


... and into the Future (or is it the Immediate Past?)


rod

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Old 07-09-21, 06:42 PM
  #9364  
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Elsa wandered off to New Brunswick, and the sun came out around 4pm.


I had a little time for a ride before dinner, so I took the Surly out to see if the Mystic Valley Watershed was in fact shedding water.


Turns out it was, with the water gates on the dam between the Upper and Lower Mystic Lakes unleashing a torrent.


The river downstream of this release did not seem particularly disturbed, so I guess the engineers knew their business.


Hope that dam is in good shape. Infrastructure tends to become invisible, until it fails.

rod

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Old 07-10-21, 06:03 AM
  #9365  
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Originally Posted by mr_bill
Oh, in Pills and Ills update - the great news is the MRI shows that I indeed have a brain - and nothing of concern.Mass quantities of pre-surgical appointments early next week, then surgery, then off all bikes for at least three weeks. Then "only" twenty scheduled appointments for the remainder of 2021 - so far
stuck seat post? but seriously, I missed the cause for the surgery & wish you well
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Old 07-10-21, 09:43 PM
  #9366  
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The weather cooperating for a change, I took the Surly Trucker DeLuxe with the big old Compass Rat Trap Pass Extralights on a ride East.


Made the usual rounds of hills, up, over, and down again...


... and playing in traffic, vroom!


Only one of the Fellsmere jets d'eau seems to have made it through Elsa unscathed, but it was looking feisty, ready to take on all comers.


Headed West again, over the last few hills, back across the Mystic, and home for some leftover risotto.


rod

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Old 07-11-21, 06:55 PM
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Took the Surly on a quick sprint up the Minuteman to Lexington Center and back on a gray day, receiving a quick spritz in the form of a delightful cooling drizzle that augmented whatever sweat I was offering to the wicking technical fabric of my bicycle gear. A pleasant ride, all in all, and swift.


rod
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Old 07-12-21, 07:10 AM
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Originally Posted by rholland1951
...
I paused for a look at the Grand Junction Railroad Bridge; with a bit of luck that will carry bicycle traffic one of these years. I'm not sure where that project stands, but perhaps Mr. Google knows, I haven't asked lately.

...
rod
I did, in fact ask Mr. Google about the progress on the Grand Junction MUP, and learned a few things... Turns out its design has headed in a "rail and trail" direction: the MUP runs next to the existing low-volume freight line, preserving future options to upgrade that to passenger service. One consequence of this approach is that the Grand Junction Railroad Bridge will remain just that: a railroad bridge. The BU Bridge (formerly, the Cottage Farm Bridge) will carry MUP users across the river, should they want to cross. Apologies for confusing one good story with another.

rod

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Old 07-12-21, 06:44 PM
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Spent a certain amount of time this afternoon squinting at the weather radar, trying to calculate exactly the right moment to take the bike out without getting drizzled on. I eventually realized that conditions were too unstable to get an answer to that question that wouldn't turn out to be a practical joke, and I had better just dress to get wet, and get on with it. So that's what I did, taking the Surly once again on a quick sprint up the Minuteman to Lexington Center and back.


There were ducks.


About 100 yards beyond the ducks, there was what I took at first for a fox, but was in fact a foxy-colored tabby cat, large and well-groomed, who was standing in the wet trailside vegetation, wishing it were drier, and trying to keep track of the several small rabbits that were hopping away from it, while striving to ignore my greetings. Human language is SO inconvenient to a cat with better things to do. After that brief rhetorical disruption of feline business, I continued on my way, hoping the cat was sufficiently well-fed not to give serious chase to the little bunnies. When I returned, the ducks were still there, the cat and bunnies were not.

rod
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Old 07-12-21, 09:08 PM
  #9370  
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A nice article about biking up to Cape Ann - https://nyti.ms/3jSdChe
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Old 07-13-21, 04:59 PM
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It's easy to forget that we've been in drought conditions for much of the previous year or two. I got into the habit of using the North end of the Cambridge Reservoir as an instrument to gauge that: if it was a reservoir, we were ok; if it was a mudflat, the drought was in session. After all this rain lately, I thought it would surely be a reservoir again, so I rode out to have a look this afternoon.

I started out riding up Mass. Ave. into Lexington, pausing at Robbins Cemetery, a fine and private place, as the ancient poet had it, somehow hidden in plain sight beside the thoroughfare.


The quick (like a bunny) and the dead were gathered and juxtaposed in the traditional New England village fashion.


I continued on Mass. Ave. out through East Lexington, picking up Marrett Road at the Masonic museum and climbing up the hill past Dunback Meadow and the old Lexington Reservoir and on up, and then down, the hill at Middle Street, past the Idylwilde Conservation Area and on down the hill on Lincoln Street, and under the Route 128 (I can't quite bring myself to call it I-95) overpass with its dopplering vehicular birdsong.


It didn't really come as a surprise that the drought was elsewhere. The Cambridge Reservoir appeared fully charged...


... as did its backwater.


This was a Good Thing, as far as it went. Perhaps somebody else can have a turn at watering now. I turned the bike around and rode to Lexington Center on Lincoln Street and Mass. Ave., across the back of the Battle Green on Harrington Road to Hancock Street, then picked up the Minuteman and rode home.




rod

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Old 07-14-21, 10:31 PM
  #9372  
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In spite of a certain weariness, I took the Surly out on the Minuteman for a quick ride through the warm and muggies before dinner.


The Minuteman was thronged, all those people bestowing the usual mixed blessing on each other. In spite of the occasional hair-raising traffic violation that conduced to misanthropy, somehow the presence of fellow humans on the trail managed to be cheering today.


And, again, there were ducks. Sign me up.


rod
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Old 07-15-21, 10:15 PM
  #9373  
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I took the Surly out Thursday afternoon to follow up on an idea that I had about the Tri-Community Greenway. It seemed to me that its tunnel under I-93 could be paired with the Marble Street/Forest Street overpass without ramps a bit further South to create a nice loop, including a run down Highland Avenue, Winchester. I had a little time, the weather was cooperating, so I gave it a try.

I headed up the Mystic Valley Parkway, and checked out the usual scenes at the Mystic Lakes. There was nothing much doing, slow day.



I picked up the Greenway at Ginn Field, Winchester, after discovering that the trailhead at Wedgemere Station is closed due to construction. After a few turns on this path, following it through its on-road/off-road convolutions has become intuitive, and I made good time, but could still notice a swallow perched on a wire..


Weirs large and small on the Aberjona River.




This still smells like Jell-O, or at least I think it does.


Crossing under I-93. I worried that the tunnel might be flooded, but it apparently drains well. I performed the usual art appreciation as I rode through.


I followed the Greenway to Main Street, Stoneham, and headed South. Conditions were a trifle urban, playing in traffic. And I was almost knocked over by a drunk driver at more or less this intersection, years ago, while returning from a long ride on the North Shore on a Saturday night. But things were OK this afternoon, everyone seemed sober.


I turned right on Marble Street, which is leafy and pleasant, and soon enough was on the overpass across I-93.




Across the highway and across the town line, Marble Street became Forest Street, and gave me a whizzy descent in leafy shade, that brought me in due time to Highland Avenue. Highland is a favorite road: North-South, with an initial climb and a final descent whichever way you take it, and rollers in between.


After Highland spat me out on Main Street, Winchester, I rolled on down the hill to Playstead Road, Medford, and rolled down that to West Medford village, crossed the tracks, picked up Harvard Street, and was home in a trice. I like this loop: 15 miles and a lot of variety. I'll edit a map link into this post sometime when it isn't midnight.

rod

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Old 07-15-21, 10:44 PM
  #9374  
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Originally Posted by mr_bill
...
.
Mass quantities of pre-surgical appointments early next week, then surgery, then off all bikes for at least three weeks. Then "only" twenty scheduled appointments for the remainder of 2021 - so far.

-mr. bill
My fingers and toes are crossed on your behalf.

rod
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Old 07-17-21, 04:49 PM
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Ghazmh
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Today I decided to try out Esterbook rd. At one point it was at a slight incline after crossing a small stream, the road/trail itself was a stream for a few dozen muddy yards. I was particularly pleased to see how I eventually landed just above Carlisle Ctr by the church on the hill. I couldn’t not stop at Ferns for a cold iced coffee! 35 mixed surface miles in all.



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