Ghazmh

Thanks!

rholland1951

Took the Surly Trucker DeLuxe out today on the Minuteman, enjoying the Spring weather.




The Town of Arlington has signs up along the trailside promoting the Town's renewable energy initiative.


The Mile 4.0 Cairn Builders appear to have discovered the Tea Party.


A cooling sea breeze presented as a stubborn headwind on the return. Hadn't noticed that riding out, but that's the thing about wind: when it's with you, you may never realize it.

rod

rholland1951

Managed to squeeze a ride on the Minuteman on the Surly in between the afternoon's chores and errands and the need to make a bit of dinner. The reward for this was temperatures in the high 60s, licensing shorts and short sleeves, a rare thing for March, at least for me. Lots of folks were out in it, and a certain amount of antic behavior was in evidence, along with some early-season sloppiness about little things like lane discipline and passing behavior. But, hey, Spring is here!


Lots of parents with children out for a ride.


Dogs were walked.


Cue the theremin. There's an area of flattened vegetation on Arlington's Great Meadow that resembles a crop circle... and me without my tinfoil hat.


Some things speak for themselves, of course.




A man setting a brisk pace in a racing wheelchair reminded me just how determined an athlete can be; for that, a word-picture is sufficient.

rod

rholland1951

Another little ride in fine weather, this time out the Mystic Valley Parkway along the Mystic Lakes, then back on Grove Street, with time-machine excursions to the Old Middlesex Canal, the Brooks Estate, and the Slave Wall.


Looking across the Lower Mystic Lake from the canoe launch area at the dam.


There's something about sitting or standing next to water and chatting amiably. Saw a lot of that today.


You can sit in a boat while chatting amiably. Hard to get closer to water than that.


Or you sit with your friends on Shannon Beach, and watch the wind drive the waves in. Good thing it was a warm afternoon. Try not to think about epidemiology.


At this point, the Surly's Time Travel subsystem kicked in, and I found myself at the site of the former aqueduct that carried the Old Middlesex Canal across the narrows of the Upper Mystic Lake.


From there I continued up the Mystic Valley Parkway, crossing the Aberjona River, heading E on Bacon Street (and crossing the Aberjona again in the process), and climbing the hill to the rotary, where I picked up Grove Street, where I soon encountered a flock of masked lawn flamingos.


Further pedaling brought me to the Brooks Estate and its network of semi-abandoned roads: dirt, gravel, and broken pavement. I rode up the hill to the manor house, then rolled back down the hill again, taking care to pick a reasonable line and thinking happy thoughts about the Rat Trap Pass Extralights that the Surly wears these days.


Down the hill, out the gate, and down the road brought me to the Slave Wall, the last of the historical destinations for this little ride.


I continued on Grove Street until it joined Route 60, then followed that through a rotary and across the Mystic River, where I used the second rotary to head S on the Arlington segment of the Mystic Valley Parkway. Riding S along the Mystic, I noticed the treetops tickling the moon, and stopped to take a picture of that.


rod

jimmuller 

My third ride of the year.

rholland1951

Jim, welcome back!

rod

rholland1951

Saturday afternoon was beautiful riding weather, so I took the Surly Trucker DeLuxe out and rode East.


This got me the usual assortment of warming hill climbs and swift descents, plus the usual dodgems urban tactical riding in the flats of Arlington, Medford, Malden, Melrose, and Stoneham.


Eventually, the temperature dropped to 50, with an insistent breeze, and riding home seemed the better part of valor given what I was wearing, so I turned the bike around and headed West.


Last of the hilltops, with the first of the sunset, on High Street, Medford. A happy rolling descent into West Medford followed.


Rode home and reheated some gumbo. Leftovers are wonderful things.

rod

jimmuller 

Thanks.

Ghazmh

Hi Jim! Did we pass each other on 117 right near the Weston/Waltham line? I was heading West I thought for a moment it may have been you but it’s been a while.

jimmuller 

Hi, Mike! You probably did pass me. (Nobody passes me unless going the opposite direction.) Yeah, it has been a while. Hope you had a good year. We had a reasonable year and stayed healthy.

Ghazmh

Hi Jim, I hope you and Sharon have been well. It was good to see you on two wheels. Hope to see you at Ferns one day soon. I

Ghazmh

As mentioned above I was out Saturday morning. I was on my Seven Redsky and felt almost underdressed until the temperature rose a little more. I only had the energy for 34 miles (poor planning on my part) after a prior evening at the gym followed quickly by a few adult beverages at a bbq which led to a poor night sleep. It was quickly followed by an early morning session at the gym which included a 2 mile run which ensured I was questioning my decision to enjoy that last IPA. Shortly afterwards I went out on my Seven. Nothing was keeping me off that bike on a such a beautiful spring day. By the time I got home from my 34 mile ride I was ready for a nap. Thankfully the rest of the day was relaxing. Keeping Ghazmh junior occupied with racing his remote controlled car has been keeping me off the road on Sundays for the past few months.

rholland1951

Took the Surly up to Depot Park for a mid-afternoon ride on Tuesday, temperatures in the upper 50s, sunny, with a breeze that was more playful than tiresome. I kept a medium pace, and paid more than the usual attention to the behavior of other trail users, particularly other cyclists, since there was a sort of random quality to their maneuvers, or so it seemed to me. Perhaps it was just the way I was disposed to regard things at the time. In any event, I kept an eye on my fellows, and avoided any collisions or similar karmic entanglements.

The Mile 4.0 Cairn Builders broke their long-standing pattern, and created a triad, rather than a dyad. Is that duck a clan totem, a family pet, or dinner? Further research is necessary, time to type up another grant proposal.


More and more I have been noticing the cumulative wind damage to trees in the woodlots along the Minuteman. This is the time of year when it's most apparent, of course, it will get harder to see when everything leafs out.


While it wasn't in the tree-knocking-over business just then, the wind was very much in evidence, and managed to feel like a headwind both outbound and inbound. Here it is, gently nudging a few trees, without actually breaking them.


Reached just after crossing Revere Street, this apparently nameless rill in Lexington is traversed by a tidy covered pedestrian bridge. It's a charming spot, and I've occasionally tried to do it justice with a photograph. Maybe this time.


Turning around at Depot Park, with an affectionate pat to the Buddliner.


Another aspect of the feeling of randomness was the distribution of users. Very clumpy, either a few minutes' solitude or sudden throngs.


rod

rholland1951

Set off on the Surly Trucker DeLuxe a little after six under a gray sky that promised neither immediate rain nor sunset colors. Took one photo, and spent the rest of a short and vigorous ride just cranking away and making time. It was the ride my legs wanted.


rod

rholland1951

Friday conditions were cold and windy, and I wanted none of it. Saturday, on the other hand, was merely cool and breezy, so I bundled up, but not too much, and rode East.


Played in a certain amount of traffic in Medford, Malden, Melrose, and Stoneham, and rolled around the by-now-familiar hills, for example, this local saddle-point on Fellsway East.


Eventually rode West, in daylight for a change. Thank you, Daylight Savings Time!


The last call for hills on this ride is High Street, Medford, with a bumpety-bump descent into West Medford on rough, patched pavement.


rod

jimmuller 

Just a little spin from Bedford to Carlisle. And back of course.

Passing through Concord:

rholland1951

Sunday, I had time for a short ride before dinner, on a sunny, breezy, cool afternoon. The prospect of dealing with an actual Easter Parade on the Minuteman was even more daunting than dealing with the figurative one that the good Spring weather seemed likely to occasion, so I took the Trucker DeLuxe for a quick spin around the Mystic Lakes, instead.

Seen while riding across the Mystic River from East Arlington to West Medford on the River Street bridge: Don't fall in, kids!


Friendly games in progress at Dugger Park, West Medford.


Where the Lower Mystic Lake narrows, becomes the Mystic River, and heads for Boston Harbor.


Riding up the Mystic Valley Parkway, along the Lower Mystic Lake.


A sunny day on the dam.


Mystic Valley Watershed: wherever you go, there you are.


Continuing up the Mystic Valley Parkway, along the Upper Mystic Lake.




Crossing the Aberjona River, prior to looping around the North end of the Mystic Lakes on Bacon Street and Everett Avenue, and continuing back home on Cambridge Street, Mystic Street, and the Arlington segment of the Mystic Valley Parkway.


Meanwhile, at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and the Collective Unconscious...


rod

rholland1951

After some inconclusive tinkering with the Rawland, I took the Surly out for a windy ride on the Minuteman before dinner. Said the Wind, "Let me help you steer, it will be fun!" Said I, "Fun for you, you mean."




Extra credit for the headwind, extra speed from the tailwind.

rod

Ghazmh

Saturday and Sunday I snuck out for what averaged out to be 20 mile rides on my 2014 Trek 520 touring bike as shakedowns after some maintenance. I replaced all the cables and housings, replaced the chain and cassette, replaced the heavy aluminum Craptrager rack (after discovering a crack) with a svelt Tubus steel rack which is nicer looking, has a higher capacity and weighs 1/2 pound less. I also decided it’s time for a new Ortlieb handlebar bag and the wheels were rebuilt with all new spokes. I did everything other than the wheel rebuild. I made a few minor adjustments and when the new cushioned bar tape arrives it’ll be ready for 2021’s overnight adventures.

rholland1951

Who would have thought retirement would entail so many time constraints? Anyhoo, I wedged a little ride on the Minuteman up to Lexington Center and back into a right-sized hole in the schedule. I had Sam bless the Surly, and then noticed that somebody had left a votive offering of chicken bouillon cubes (or, at least, the packaging) by the toe of his right boot. More hygienic than sacrificing a live chicken.




The ride was a sustained, pleasant spin, mostly about getting warmed up at first, then just getting into a groove and sticking with it. Reddy Kilowatt whizzed past on his Class III pedal-assist contraption. A squadron of recumbent tricycles were pootering along in Lexington, including one articulated vehicle that answered the question that nobody asked, "What would it look like if three recumbent tricycles fell in love and lived in perpetual union?" Yup, three seats, at least 7 wheels, and articulated couplings between each subunit. My inner 6-year-old boy thought of it as a pedal-powered hook and ladder fire engine, and was pleased. It also moved a bit like a centipede.

Not a lot of photos on this little ride, but this one got taken because the thing itself made me smile. Perhaps the tree will pat the helmets of passing cyclists, or pet the occasional dog. Or maybe this is arboreal PPE. Or, perhaps, a rare East Coast variant of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus?


rod

rholland1951

Took the Surly Trucker DeLuxe for a quick ride around the Mystic Lakes before dinner.


Springtime has arrived on Everett Avenue, Winchester.


The ride was over before I knew it, and pretty while it lasted.

rod

NomarsGirl

Very short spin this morning down to Borderland State Park. Still a wee bit cold for me.

rholland1951

Found the time for a ride on the Minuteman before dinner. The crowds were out, but I managed to enjoy the demographic variety, not to mention the assorted bikes, skates, and electrical contraptions.


There were little periods of solitude, despite the pull of good weather, and I enjoyed them, too.


rod

mr_bill

So, I’ve been avoiding this post, because I’m doing OK.

Pills and Ills update:

At the beginning of the pandemic I got one of the last “annual physicals” before they shut down “non-essential” medicine. Then I had to wait for telemedicine to ramp up, then MRI to start up, then biopsies to start up.

Bottom line, back in October I found out I have Stage IIIC prostate cancer, or more informally, wicked aggressive wicked high risk. Started hormone therapy, they punted me off the bike (fall risk), then I volunteered for a phase III clinical trial.

They finally let me get back on the bicycle in March, and I’ve been riding ever since, even to my every two fortnight clinical appointments. (Apparently they’ve never had anyone ride to and from Oncology before.)

So, while I’m still out and about, expect fewer updates. Sorry.

-mr. bill

jimmuller 

Sorry to read about your prostate cancer but sure glad to hear you doing okay and riding. May you recover fully! And quickly.