mr_bill

Rode home from oncology again. Got lightly drizzled on.

Two more appointments next week, another in four weeks, and then a whole two months off, maybe?


Anyhow, the Blue Bikes clean up nice:


-mr. bill

rumrunn6

8-12" of snow on Friday ...!

rholland1951

More fun with the phase diagram of H2O. To shovel, perchance to blow. Spring is coming...

rod

mr_bill

Glorious short ride on my Frankndale. The Minuteman is slowly flattening for me.

-mr. bill

rumrunn6

1st ride on a 2 wheeler in a long time?

rholland1951

Don't forget the creative use of Blue Bikes...

rod

rumrunn6

oh man, the paved trails are looking so good lately. I'm sure the MM is 100% clear. the BFRT is mostly w/ only rare ice, but always w/ large clear paths down the middle. tomorrow's storm would be ideal for a pre-dawn ride just as the storm is starting & before it gets bad. dark & snowy, just what I love. gonna be torture not to ride, but my shoulder is doing so well, I don't want to jinx myself. especially since bossman is closing the office! what are the odds I get a free day off the day of a storm!?

Ghazmh

Ride carefully my friend. Winter is coming.

rholland1951

The weather Wednesday was a lovely, unseasonable gift, a sunny day with temperatures in the high 60s. My son John and I rode from Seven Hills Park in Somerville to Depot Park in Bedford, sticking to the bike paths and having a grand old time. John was on his Surly Cross Check, I rode my Trucker DeLuxe.


We had a picnic lunch (thank you, John!) at Spy Pond.


The bikes took a little rest at the Lexington Visitors Center...


... and another at the Shawsheen River bridge, in Bedford.


I had told John about the hidden galleries of Caleb Neelon's street art under the bridge, and he set off to investigate.


He returned with treasures.




We both did.


rod

rumrunn6

I'll explore on foot, I think

rholland1951

24 hours later and 40° colder, on Thursday I took the Rawland Nordavinden out to do an errand, delivering a couple of packages of pedal adapters to the folks at Battle Road Bikes, for use in a couple of builds currently in progress. Had a good visit with Pete, Cammy, and Matt, and caught a glimpse of another project that was progressing nicely. That done, I just kept riding for a while, the Minuteman pavement clean and dry, the air cold (26° F) but windless, the vegetation sere, and something that sounded strangely like frogsong quietly chirping in the background.


Snow next. My other bicycle is a snow shovel.

rod

rumrunn6

I'd rather be on wheels ;-)
time for breakfast

rumrunn6

I feel bad for the critters when the weather jumps around like this

rholland1951

But the crunching snow is great!

rod

rholland1951

Agreed. How do they cope? I guess some of them may not.

rod

rumrunn6

I was fishing for a while & read about insect hatches. so sometimes I still notice when there's a hatch & suddenly a bunch of bugs are flying around. & in spring there can be an abrupt switch back to frigid temps. I know some bugs don't live long anyway but for the ones that would have had a longer life, if they were given a chance at sustained warm temps, those are the ones I feel bad for

rumrunn6

yeah peaceful, quiet, safe. I forgot to do a ground level segment. I'll try that later

rholland1951

So, the entire generation of a particular species is at risk, at least locally. Yup, beyond the individual case. Food for thought.

rod

rumrunn6

well I think they'll make more ;-)

rholland1951

After doing a bit of remedial snow shoveling, then tramping around Spy Pond with spikes fitted to my boots, I took the GT, shod with spikes of its own, for a sunset ride on the Minuteman. This was in part to get my bicycle muscles moving after a few days' inactivity, and partially to spy out conditions on the Minuteman, riding across such ice as presented itself for the purpose.


Conditions on the Minuteman weren't bad. Enough wind to fly the flag. Lots of clean, dry pavement, some ice.




When I got to Bow Street, Arlington, an ice field presented itself that, while apparently benign, was sufficiently large to trigger an irrational response in some part of my brain (maybe the part that's been reading the newspapers lately). I had the distinct impression that I would rather take its picture than ride across it, Nokians or Nonokians. So I did take its picture, didn't ride across it, and rode home, taking another picture or two along the way.






rod

rumrunn6

tricky time for cyclists navigating Boston roads & commuter trails

rholland1951

Took the GT Karakoram out for a late Winter's ride along the banks of the Mystic Lakes, temperatures in the mid-20s: fire, ice, and solitude.


Spring tomorrow, as some tell it.

rod

mr_bill

Walked to BI in Lexington (on the Bedford Line) yesterday because I was worried about the ice on the Minuteman.
Shoulda taken the bike. Minuteman was gorgeous. Sigh. Wonderful walk though.

(Google maps, on the other hand, kept trying to route me onto 4/225 over 128. Technically there are sidewalks there somewhere under the snow.)

-mr. bill

rholland1951

Took the GT out on the Minuteman up to Lexington this afternoon.


This stretch gets the BEST ICE ON TRAIL award. The Nokians loved it, and I dreaded it not. I recall times when pretty much the whole trail was like this, and worse, etc., etc. In any event, I seem to have successfully disambiguated icy patches on the Minuteman from DEFCON 3.


The TV weaterpeople claim today is the first day of Meteorological Spring. Uh huh. It is also Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Carnival, the last day before Lent. But this being Massachusetts, it looks like the affair is being catered by Cotton Mather.


Oh well, 3 more weeks or so and perhaps they'll stop spreading salt on the roads... Hang in there.

rod

rholland1951

Welcome!

rod