rholland1951

I rolled out on the Rivendell Appaloosa on Tuesday afternoon, up the Minuteman to Lexington Center and back, the temperature starting at 40 and settling gradually to the high 30s. The return segment featured a chilly headwind that was a special treat. I had a chat with Sam, who allowed as how he should have worn his fur coat, and, noting the bike, asked if I had a paper route.


Primate behavior was on display in Arlington Center, as is often the case.


For those who braved the weather, riding, running, walking, or walking to heel, it was a dandy Fall day on the Minuteman. The yellow leaves, from whatever species, were in their glory.


The Mile 4.0 Cairn Builders left us a hermit, a meditating monk. Or, perhaps, a hitch-hiker.


I made some mental notes about how the clothing worked in these conditions, and will wear long johns and a heavier fleece layer on the torso when I ride in the colder stuff on Saturday.

rod

bike_tom

Happy Thanksgiving fellow Metro Boston riders.

My wife and I were invited to a "Friendsgiving" later today, so this morning I found myself with beautiful weather and no cooking or hosting obligations. Of course, I went for a ride.
I decided to take another trek over to Charlestown via the Minuteman, Alewife Linear Park, and the Somerville Community Path.

As I began my ride, the MM was covered with a greasy layer of wet leaves:



I rode cautiously and had no mishaps, but I was glad the paths beyond Alewife had less tree cover.

There was a football game taking place at Russell Field in Cambridge and one of the bus drivers apparently thought it was perfectly fine to completely block the path at Harvey St. Doh!



Sigh. (it was still there when I came back)

Davis Square was unusually quiet:




After making my way to Charlestown I followed the Harborwalk along the water front:



I stopped to take a few shots across the harbor toward downtown, such as this one:



I always get a kick out if this sign at Constitution wharf:



Here's a shot of the Zakim, just 'cause:



I headed back the same way I went out. The wind really seemed to have picked up, which made negotiating the elevated sections of the Community Path a good exercise in bike control.
The spot where the path crosses up and over the Union Square branch is WAY up there and required a tight grip on the bars:



It wasn't a very long ride - not quite 16 miles, but it was a fun holiday jaunt.
Now I will relax and look forward to my friends plying me with Thanksgiving dinner.

Tom

rholland1951

I took the Appaloosa out at noon for a peaceful Thanksgiving ride. Arlington Center was empty.


Shortly after getting on the Minuteman, I heard a disembodied voice announce that "29 seconds remain in the 4th period". By the time I got to the AHS stadium, the voice announced a final score of "Waltham 7, Arlington 27", and the kids had lined up and were shaking hands.


We're getting into bare ruined choirs season now, and the denuded trees are revealing squirrel infrastructure, bobbing in the breeze.


I learned a little more from the bike today about what the swept-back handlebars and upright posture are and are not good for. I'm getting close to a final decision on asking Pete to rebuild it as an honest touring bike, with Nitto Noodles and a 3x9 drive train. The prototype configuration mostly solves problems that I don't have, and creates a problem (slow climbing) that I don't want to have. That said, it's fun, especially rolling downhill. I'm glad I did the experiment, if only to get some understanding about what the rivbike people are thinking. And the long-wheelbase frame is definitely a keeper.


The time for the quiet little ride ended, and I rolled away home.

rod

rumrunn6

took a ride in the cold today. one more winter ...

didn't realize this was repaved on my first pass, haha

I think a handful of volunteers were doing maintenance, in Concord

rholland1951

Took the Sam Hillborne out on a sparkling cold windy day and headed East.


It was another of those noticeable-weather days that derange Eastern Massachusetts drivers. I found the drivers I was dealing with somewhat given to buzzing. I guess they haven't gotten the memo about 4 ft passing clearance. That said, I made good time through the traffic, and the hills were much as they ever were, save that a cold headwind in a descent isn't an incentive to go faster (and colder). However, I cranked along. Soon enough, I reached sunset, and then true nightfall, at ridiculously early hours. I got the urge to try again for a photograph of "chasing my shadow". Second verse, same as the first, I guess.


While cranking along through Medford in the darkness, I heard a clattering noise. My first thought was that somebody had thrown something, although that didn't seem very likely. My second thought was that I had lost the U-lock, but I stopped the bike and verified that it was secure. Puzzled, I rode home, where I promptly discovered the Pocket Devil (Google Pixel 7 Pro, state of the art some other year) had escaped my pants pocket and apparently done a face-plant. I drove back to the scene of the clank, and found it after a few minutes searching. Seems it had been run over, perhaps several times. So now I'm working to expeditiously replace it, before I go into convulsions. Meanwhile, I'm trying to salvage the data. Here's a screen shot of a low-res image of its sadly pockmarked visage, made with the camera on my Dell laptop and a little low-budget improvisation.


I was pleased to discover that my layering for this ride worked just fine. Good ride today, even if it is going to cause me to stimulate the economy shortly.

rod

rumrunn6

oops

nice nite pics

EVlove

We left on Thanksgiving day for a quick trip to see family and friends back in Germany. I didn't get to ride all week--we had mostly dreadful weather for it, anyway--and despite the mild and dry spell here, probably won't go out today, either; I seem to have picked up a cold. Herewith a few bike-related impressions from way out of area.

A somewhat questionable example of bicycle "upcycling" at a Christmas market:


A trip by car through some prime bike touring terrain, the province of Limburg in the southern Netherlands. To be revisited on two wheels, perhaps next summer:



Yes, those are bike lanes left and right! I'm not entirely sure how it even works on a busier day.

We were flying in and out of Brussels airport, where Belgium's rich cycling heritage (along with beer, and the works of Hergé and René Magritte) was proudly displayed in many forms:

bike_tom

The weather forecast said it would be cloudy today, but unlikely to rain till after 4pm. I put my faith in that, ventured out before lunch, and was rewarded with a great late fall ride out to Concord.

The sky was still fairly blue, and it was sunny enough to make shadows, as I made my way westbound on the Minuteman through East Lexington:




By time I was on the Reformatory Branch in Bedford, the sky was noticeably more gray:




Trails End at Lowell Rd Concord:




On the way back I noticed someone had generously decorated a tree along the RBT, near the side trail to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery:




Great Meadows NWR:



(BTW: new bathrooms still not open at GMNWR)

Christmas has come to Depot Park:




Lots of folks out for a walk on the MM as I approached Lexington Center inbound:




In high spirits, and with the wind at my back, I was really cranking along, hands on the drops, as I came downhill through Arlington. Along the way, I passed this pair I see periodically:



The canine half of this duo really loves this activity, and was providing the bulk of the forward thrust. I gave a wave as I blew past and got a grin back from the rider.

I made it home in time for a late lunch. A great ride - the usual 28 miles.

Tom

rholland1951

So, a few days pass and it's Friday, I've given myself an accidental equipment upgrade in the pocket devil department, done the two-factor-authentication dance to Mr. Google's satisfaction, dropped the Appaloosa and a build kit off at Battle Road Bikes, and picked up the newly rebuilt 1982 Specialized Sequoia up from same and taken it home. What's missing is riding, which I haven't done until today. At the very end of the afternoon, with the Sun taking a powder and a very light drizzle making promises about rains to come, I took the Sequoia out for a little shake down cruise in West Medford along the Mystic River. I enjoyed the nimble handling, the way the combination of the steel frame and the 35mm Rene Herse Bon Jon Pass Extralights smooths rough pavement, and the bike's willing speediness. The rebuilt wheels (thanks, Pete) build confidence, and the new Nitto Technomics stem, raising the handlebars to saddle height, eliminates the annoyance of the slammed handlebars (I know, not everybody's reaction). It looks like the current stem is just a tad too long, perhaps 2cm, so I called Pete up and arranged to swap in another one. I think the series of prototypes is converging on a dandy new-old bicycle.


rod

rholland1951

The Saturday weather was what passes for GOOD this month, so I took the Rivendell Sam Hillborne and headed East for another hills-and-traffic drill in Arlington, Medford, Malden, Melrose, and Stoneham, my first real ride in a week.


Medford furnished some customary traffic early in the ride, to say nothing of the High Street hills. Catch a bus before a bus catches you.


The stretch of gravity hill on Main Street, Malden, continues to please. Up we go!


I went cranking about my business, and soon enough the afternoon darkened, the way it does as the Winter sets in. A fog came with it. Both the darkness and the fog were noticeable as I crested Fellsway East, so I stopped to take their picture. Cranking up those hills after a week away was instructive.


High Street, Medford, is the first and last major hill on most variations of this route. Here's an end-of-the-ride photo, headed down hill in the dark after climbing to reach a plateau..


rod

rholland1951

After a week full of walks and hikes, but no riding, I took the Sam Hillborne out Saturday afternoon and rode East.


The fun started in East Arlington, then continued through Medford, Malden, Melrose, and Stoneham.


This was, of course, another round of the hills-and-traffic drill in paved portions of the Fells Escarpment (with bits of the Coastal Plain thrown in for contrast). The riding was particularly intense today. Don't know why, but I put more torque on the hill climbs than usual. I was still at it when the sun went down; shortly thereafter, the firetrucks started turning up.


Typical instances of this route have me passing the Kurukulla Center in Medford twice. I was pleased to see that they're showing Winter lights on the stupa again this year, and stopped briefly to photograph that.


Speaking of Winter lights, this well-lit house in Medford sits more or less at the crest of High Street, just before the beginning of one of the most satisfying descents on the ride. I took the picture, then thundered down into West Medford, crossed the Mystic to East Arlington, and pedaled home.


rod

EVlove

Back on a bike as well yesterday, for the first time in almost three weeks in my case. An attempt to clear my head. Literally, from a still-lingering cold, and figuratively, from news of an old friend from college days passing. We hadn't been in touch for many years, for no real reason other than the usual different turns of life. Which lessens the pain, but if anything, heightens the regrets.

I set out on the Van Dessel in 52x16 single speed, so hills were to be avoided. Got to Chelmsford center by car, and rode on the BFRT a little past West Concord and back. As it turned out, in time for a "holiday stroll" put on by local businesses, mostly indoors, but also at stalls arranged around a brazier in a parking lot. I dutifully strolled, managed to avoid the sidewalk Santa, and was even offered temporary shelter for my lock-less bike. Thoughtful, but I had no desire to shop, and no way to bring anything larger than a greeting card home.





I had picked my outfit with more vigorous exercise in mind than strolling, however, and was beginning to feel cold. Back onto the bike and the trail, heading further south just a little, before realizing that the afternoon just wasn't quite as mild as expected, so I turned back towards home. PSA: There is still a porta-potti at the BFRT parking lot across from MCI Concord.

Tucked in and cranking away, I still noticed this unexpected view next to the trail just north of the tennis club:

That's a late 50s/early 60s Renault 4CV in what looks like reasonable shape. Very neat.

24 miles and 472 vertical feet.

rholland1951

Took the Rivendell Atlantis out on the Minuteman for a change of pace (slower), as the temperatures dropped into the low 40s and Aeolus blew us a nice West wind solo. I was more or less dressed for the show.


Overnight, we got all the rain we could possibly want, plus a couple of inches most of us didn't want. The low places were good and wet. And the best of them were reflecting sunset colors. I managed to photograph that, a little, once. I didn't go chasing after it, but may do so some other day. As might be expected, some trees were down, but had already been dealt with by the Tree Fairies.


The Atlantis is interesting to ride. I feel I may get ticketed for Impersonating a Mammoth. Today I hid out in the middle of a crowd of electric unicycles and bakfiets, and nobody seemed to notice. Finding the right gear ratios to spin without bringing my knees to grief seems to be trying to come naturally, without quite succeeding yet. Climbs are interesting, descents are fun.

rod

rumrunn6

black ice is back!

just walked to get the cars & almost fell on my a*s. careful out there folks!

rumrunn6

sorry for your loss. wishing you nothing but the best memories

rumrunn6

remembering a ride during these holiday weeks along the minuteman, I think in Arlington, & hearing church bells, seeming to play a melody of some kind. do you guys ever hear that?

rholland1951

The Catholics, the Baptists, and the Methodists (I think) all do this. It's a regular Battle of the Bands if you catch it at the right time.

rod

rholland1951

I've installed studded Nokians on the elderly GT. We'll see if I ever manage to get out on the road early enough to benefit from them.

rod

bike_tom

I too had been off the bike for a while, but today I got out for the first time since Dec 1st. Headed out to Depot Park on the Minuteman before lunch.
The temperature ranged from 38' at the start to 42' by the time I got back home. Bundled up I was very comfortable and enjoyed the bracing cold immensely. That cold apparently also kept most cyclists off the MM, as I saw only a few other riders the whole time.

Here's a typical view in Bedford, showing how low the sun is at this time of year:



That low sun was reflecting off the bricks at the Depot:




Back at the Lexington Visitor's Center, the shelter domes have been repositioned closer to Meriam St:




I ventured into one to eat my mid-ride snack. Out of the wind, with the greenhouse effect, even with the low weak sun, it was quite comfortable.

From there the empty path allowed for a quick trip back to Arlington.

A very pleasant, not quite winter, ride.

Tom

rumrunn6

early enough? once the white stuff flies I think they'll be useful any time of day. no?

rumrunn6

just remembered, pretty soon the days will start getting longer again. haven't had a single night ride yet due to afterwork weight training & continuing my work on my shoulder. I really like night rides tho. what to do, what to do

rholland1951

True dat. But (crossed-fingers) that's mostly January/February stuff. I've still got my November/December brain installed. Early morning bike commuters have a special place in the ecosystem. There are seasons in the day, and 7 a.m. is Morning Winter. ;-)

rod

rholland1951

If a group ride in the woods at night would do the trick, Battle Road Bikes has a regular Wednesday evening Woods Ride


Check their Instagram page for status (tonight's a no-go, for example).


I was hanging around the shop today, bikes coming and going, toing and froing, and noticed they had this weekly ride. Enjoy if it fills the bill...More about the bikes later.

rod
.

rholland1951

I took delivery of a Seven Evergreen today. I won a Seven custom build in a raffle last year, and this is what became of that. Thanks to @Ghazmh and to Jim Caidenhead of Battle Road Bikes for helping me navigate in the unfamiliar waters of the build. I'm going to ease into this bike, learn to cope with its novel peculiarities (compared to the retro steel frame and rim brake universe that is my comfort zone), and do some riding.


The shortest of parking lot rides today suggested possibilities.

rod

Ghazmh

Congratulations Rod!