rholland1951

Yikes, Jim, sorry to hear about your fall. Glad you're ok.

rod

rholland1951

After a week of Mid-Winter Visiting out of town and off the bike, it was a pleasure to roll out on the LHT this evening in the cold and drizzly darkness. The drizzle gradually intensified, becoming a frank shower at the turnaround point at Lexington Center. Trail users were sheltering under overpasses on the return, some lit, some not; the invisibles were a bit of a challenge, but two of them, sheltering under Drake Road, were making themselves known by bellowing incoherently, perhaps lit from within...












Viewing distant, on-coming headlights in the darkness of the trail, I found myself thinking in terms borrowed from observational astronomy: occultation, when a headlight was briefly obscured by a pedestrian or an unlit cyclist, an indication of a wandering, dark planet; secondary images caused by reflections in puddles reminded me of gravitational lenses, although nothing so weighty was involved, and it was generally easy enough to sort out which was the real headlight. Raindrops on my glasses gave me a little volunteer interferometer, repeating the bright spots, but all the software between my ears could do with that was say, "Pretty!" The rain let up as I approached Arlington Center.

rod

mr_bill

I promise that I'll soon post some recent footage, but teaser, my jaw dropped when seeing a doppleganger of this in Cambridge, Our Fair City, MA. (Double teaser, near the lower case poet's house. Non-commercial, but other than that....)

I think this is fair use....



-mr. bill

rholland1951

Took the studded-Nokian-shod GT Karakoram out to Depot Park, Bedford, at the end of the day, in part to assess conditions on the Minuteman after the morning's inch or so of snow, temperatures dropping from the low 30s into the mid-20s.

Arlington plowed and salted; the former is routine, the latter is unusual, and generally happens by accident when it happens at all. The effect was to really clear the path between Arlington Center and Bow Street, Lexington, mostly dry pavement, a little ice up near TJ's.


Lexington seems not to have plowed, and the snow was packing down and getting rutted, occasionally turning icy, but there wasn't that much of it. Those with studs and/or knobbies were doing fine; those relying on 23mm road tires and skill were looking a little grim and very focused, but were keeping the rubber side down. Exchanged greetings with this cheerful rider near Arlington's Great Meadow; I think she was running studs.


There was a run of bare pavement, presumably plowed, right behind Lexington Center. This terminated unceremoniously in the one true trouble spot on the Minuteman, a large, deep, rutted-icy puddle, just West of the Lexington Depot, that got my attention when I crossed it.


Rolled down the hill beyond Bedford Street, the surface snowy but manageable at speed (with knobbies and studs, anyhow). Stopped for a moment to commune with the Bolted Signs From Outer Space.


Bedford hadn't plowed either, although I was almost the only person on that segment and in a position to notice; it was empty.


Elm Brook was lit by the sunset.


Turned around at Depot Park, where the Buddliner was gently glowing.


The heated bogs are apparently only open on the weekends during this period, so I made my own heat by pedaling faster, and rolled back towards home. As I crossed Revere Street and approached Taylor Lane, the big tree lit up, as if on cue, Winter lights for a cold, snowy night.


Rode home in the moonlight.




rod

sherbornpeddler

My only ride has been to Holliston and west on the Upper a Charles trail. The highway department salted it for the popular New Year's Eve walk so it was clear of ice all the way to Highland and mostly to Summer St where further west to Chestnut and on towards Milford was crusty ice.

I quickly slowed to a studded snow tire envy rate for that last bit.

rumrunn6

did you try the Lexington Visitors' Center? I found both closed on Monday 1/2/17

rholland1951

I didn't, no.

Ghazmh

I took the Winter Marathon equipped Montare on a lively 11 mile winter jaunt this morning. The snow began falling mid ride, it set the nicest ambiance that could in my opinion only be enjoyed on a bike with warm winter gear and studs. Lots of ice and snow on the Charles River path from the Watch factory to Watertown Square. It was a winter wonderland!

anx

Had fun today on my Cannondale Trail 2 around Somerville and Medford area bike trails and some road/pavement. It was super fun to be riding through the uncleared pavement, only wiped out once when I got a little too confident in my own abilities towards the end of the ride. Most of the roads and trails were in good shape.

Behind Tufts Pool


In front of Tufts Pool


College and Boston Ave Intersection


Powderhouse Sq



Davis Sq to Alewife bike trail

anx

..Continued from above, was limited to 10 photos per post..


Arlington Bike Path






Spy Pond / Mass Ave



Mystic Valley and Alewife Broke Parkway



Boston Ave, this bike isn't making it out today

rumrunn6

cool tires what are they?

anx

They are WTB Bee Line 2.2 tires on my 27.5. They seem to do a good job of not getting too clogged up with the snow and could handle most everything I threw at them this weekend.

mr_bill

As 2016 ended and 2017 began, lots of changes, some small, some large.

Starting with Somerville changes.

The temporary (on it's way to permanent) separated bicycle lane at Beacon St in Somerville, bear left at Bicycle Belle.


And of course, trash belongs where?



Parking in front of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is no more, replaced with a *gasp* sidewalk. I know!


-mr. bill

mr_bill

And now changes in Cambridge (our fair city) MA.

Part of Scott Street (near the lower-case poet's home) is now a Dutch-style street, shared motor travel lane down the middle, two way, plus shared bike lanes on each side, complete with raised crosswalk intersection.



Well, *somebody* has to begin using the John W. Weeks footbridge as a Bike Path/Multi-Use Path. With the 8.33% grade, would you believe there is already a "King of the Mountain" segment on Strava?


The new temporary separated bike lane at Lafayette Square.



And the new temporary separated bike lane at Harvard Law.



Finally, Point Park renovation is complete - and the separated bike lane obstacle course - left untouched.


-mr. bill

rumrunn6

"Boston" is trying ... gotta give them that. great updates but glad I don't ride those routes

mr_bill

Rural Design Guide

-mr. bill

rholland1951

Interesting. I browsed the Mixed Traffic options for a bit, and noticed that "Yield Roadway" is something I've seen in rural areas overseas (Italy, Wales, New Zealand, Laos): essentially one-lane, two-way roads in low-traffic areas, that require a behavioral repertoire of drivers that includes both courtesy and skill, and occasionally Reverse; unfortunately, it doesn't, in all cases, lead to lower speeds. Pedestrians do use them, sometimes looking fatalistic, hypervigilant, or both.

When I've encountered these in my travels, my immediate reaction has not been "Oh boy! We need this back home!" The learning curve for drivers and other users of one of these in a US setting would be steep, it seems to me, but the survivors would probably get the hang of it after a while. Maybe what most drivers would learn would be to avoid them, not a bad thing in se. The narrow, mysterious portion of Dudley Road, Bedford, and possibly Ridge Street, Lexington (although that's dirt) seem to come close to what's described here; those are both very low volume routes.

That said, I'm grateful to you for posting this. The country roads many of us are fond of riding do have their own body counts; some thoughtful rural cycling infrastructure might help with that. Untangling the roles of behavioral modification versus structural changes to traffic flow is a conundrum for the broader community that will take some time to work through. Every road is an experiment, provided we bother to evaluate the data we get from it. In the meantime, I'm always glad to see a good sharrow.

rod

rholland1951

Had a little time for a mental health ride tonight, so took the GT Karakoram in its icebike persona out to see what the storm, cold, and today's thaw had made of the Minuteman surface in Arlington and Lexington. The thermometer read 32, and it immediately started drizzling.


The Arlington segment of the Minuteman was, once again, well plowed and showing mostly bare pavement, with some runs of thin, packed snow as one climbed up the hill towards Arlington Heights.


Lexington had been plowed, too, but had a more or less uniform base of packed snow: passable, but as the rainfall continued, this got wet and produced a surface that conduced to vague handling, even with 47mm Nokian W240s, studded with an aggressive tread. I reverted to the EVEN LESS SPEED option, as my airline would call it if they were trying to get me to pay a fee for the privilege of slowing down.


For all that, and the persistent showers, it was a beautiful night to be out taking the air, and my choice of clothing happened to cope reasonably well with the cold and damp.






Between the snowpack and the overcast low ceiling, there was enough diffused ambient light to make the task of missing the several Invisible Pedestrians encountered less of a chore than usual. Pedaled home in the intensifying rain, and had a glass of red wine and a bowl of leftover lamb stew.


rod

rumrunn6

you must live close to the trail huh? jealous - so convenient

rholland1951

I've taken to thinking of it as my Linear Back Yard. It pretty much captures all my short rides, and acts as a starting and ending NW conveyor for many of the longer ones. There's a downside to this, in that I tend to forget to ride N, E, W, S, and so on, and am always pleasantly surprised when I do...

For the third of the year when most of my riding is done in the dark, the attractions of relative solitude, intimate familiarity with the terrain, and the absence of drunk drivers or harried commuters seems to outweigh the occasional encounter with an Invisible Pedestrian or Blinding Handlebar Radiation. Sometime I'll swear it off for a month, and see what happens.

rod

rholland1951

I reread the Yield Roadway description this morning, and it by no means calls for a one-lane road; it simply describes a low-volume, low-speed side street with space to pull off and park, no center stripe, and unhurried good manners practiced by all parties. Many of us grew up on streets that. While remembering the one-lane highways in Wales and Laos was fun, it's not what is being described here, I think. Apologies for the red herring.

rod

rumrunn6

sounds awesome

in my town, there is a new paved trail The Assabet River Rail Trail (Acton to Marlborough). unfortunately it will not connect with the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail Chelmsford to Framingham)

driving a bike to Concord, then riding to Arlington round trip, then driving 5 miles back home, has been a new joy

rholland1951

Took the LHT out for a quick ride up to Lexington Center and back before dinner. The thaw did its job, the Minuteman was clear in both Arlington and Lexington, a couple of patches of rutted slush in some of the traditional big puddles in Lexington notwithstanding. A veiled moon hung over Arlington's Great Meadow. Something was singing there; could it be frogs at this time of year? Noticed that the winter moths appear to be gone for another season.


rod

rumrunn6

thanks for that picture, the trail looks good

rholland1951

Another preprandial ride in the rain on the LHT, with the difference this time of temperatures in the relatively balmy 50s.
Nice ride, all things considered.

Near TJs, I encountered this, which I took for a car on the Minuteman (not without precedent, after all). Turned out to be a couple of guys on bikes, riding two-abreast, amiably chatting while achieving TOTAL PHOTONIC DOMINANCE.


rod