bikinggrrrl

WoooHoooo! Tandem made its spring debut on Sunday through Carlisle, Concord, and Bedford. What beautiful weather! Choruses of spring frogs and peepers, the smell of old leaves turning into earth, dogs and folks walking everywhere. So warm it is, this March, that the ice cream stand in Bedford is already open.

himespau 

So your hip is doing better? It was your hip that you hurt jogging, right?

bikinggrrrl

Thanks for asking! Hip is in serious trouble, but cycling doesn't hurt nearly as much as running. My feet are definitely off the road for a while but I couldn't ask for better cycling weather. Will be on the road again today with 3 year old in tow.

bikebadger14

Gorgeous day today. Bright and warm with a nice breeze. Rode along the Charles from Newton through Waltham and back to Newton. Mostly a leisurely ride with lots of stops to watch the birds and the river, and a picnic in one of the parks in Auburndale. Did test my speed on a short stretch just for fun, and hit a new personal best (23mph).

jimmuller 

Did my usual 25mi round trip commute today, metro-Boston, Rhode Island division. Lovely day, cool and foggy this morning, bright and sunny on the return.

rholland1951

Quick ride to Lexington Center and back after work, 10 miles, all I had time for. The Minuteman was mobbed, most folks had shed their Winter lumpy layers and were lightly-dressed, presenting anatomical miscellany--some of it tatooed--for mutual inspection and conditional admiration, lots of smiles all around. Birds everywhere, chirping their little heads off, a woodpecker at the Arlington-Lexington line hammering so loudly it stopped foot traffic. Must be Spring, a bug flew up my nose. I asked myself why I haven't resumed cycle commuting, didn't get a convincing answer.

rod

Bishbike

38 mile in and out from Waverly Square to Carlisle. Could not get out til 5pm. Air was perfect for riding, and great to see so many people out on there bikes.

bikinggrrrl

Executed our first turtle-crossing-the-road save of the year while on a short ride of Carlisle/Concord/Bedford/Maple Street. Kiddo slept during most of the ride. I'm a tad concerned that he has developed a little fear of going fast and need to help him renew his love for speed.
Not that I go fast when I cycle alone anymore. But someday...

himespau 

Dropped the daughter (and trailer) off at day care on the way to work this morning. Still trying to get her used to it. She doesn't seem to mind riding in it (it also converts to a stroller and jogger), but once you put the helmet on her, she freaks out. I've been trying to get her used to the trailer (going for walks with her in it sans helmet), but this was the first time in a week or so I tried pulling her in it as a trailer. She seemed calm until I got that helmet on and then she got upset. I took off to see if she'd calm down. She did after a little bit, but when we got to the day care I found out why - she'd managed to pull the helmet off. The ride into work was great though. More and more other people riding out on the streets. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. Glad to see other people out there, but in a way it was nice when I had the bike lane mostly to myself. And we're getting to the point of the year when I have to stop riding on the esplanade.

cmolway

rode 40+ miles after work yesterday. Passed quite a few cyclists on my normal loop. https://app.strava.com/rides/5520381

rholland1951

Sounds like the helmet is the problem. Is she willing to wear it and simply play (absent the trailer)? It could as simple as something that pinches or rubs, or perhaps the weight of it. (Apologies for wallowing in the obvious...)

rod

himespau 

Thanks, I think this weekend we're going to try having her in it just briefly around the house. She hates having hats on in general, so it's not a huge surprise that it's an issue, but hopefully we can work on getting her used to it.

rholland1951

Sunset ride on the Minuteman. The Night Chorus at Great Meadows is really cranking up now, lots of froggy-buggy voices that weren't there a week ago.

rod

rholland1951

Sunset ride to Lexington again. The sky was mostly empty, aside from a few high cirrus clouds and contrails, and there was a longish period when everything seemed to glow: the sky, the clouds in it, the forsythia and cherry blossoms in yard plantings, the not-yet-regenerated tall grass in Great Meadows, the surface of pools of water seen through the trees. This has been a long, strenuous week, and a gentle spin and peaceful ride were restorative.

rod

jimmuller 

45 miles on the tandem today.

Concord, Carlisle/Westford, the Bruce Freeman up to Chelmesford, back to Carlisle, Bedford, the Minuteman to Lexington, back to Bedford, then back to Concord. It was great! Cool compared to this past week, quite pleasant. We stopped for some lunch at Heart Pond on the Bruce Freeman, then for a snack in Lexington. Lunch and snacks are what it's all about anyway!





On the way back to Concord, maybe 4:30 on Old Bedford Rd, we passed another tandem going the other way. The stoker was a beautiful redhead, I believe. Kat, was that you, by any chance? Sorry, I didn't notice any other detail. I think the bike might have been blue. At least, I think there was a bike involved.

bikinggrrrl

*Snort* Wasn't me, but your comment made me

bikinggrrrl

I'm just throwing this out there for thought ... would you consider allowing her to ride in the trailer without the helmet? You don't have to respond here and I am certainly not telling you what to do or what not to do. But I can share some of our thoughts behind helmet in trailer. When we bought the trailer and were preparing to get ready to cycle, I was convinced that my LO must absolutely wear a helmet. After all, I'm wearing a helmet and I felt that I must instill safe riding practices right from the get-go. But then I started reading and thinking about it... My passenger is not *on* a bicycle. He is a passenger in a trailer. He is secured by a 5-point harness, surrounded by a metal cage and fabric. His center of gravity is very low and stable by two wheels out on either side. IF the freak thing happens, and his trailer flips over, he is still secured in the harness.
If a car hits us from behind, a helmet is NOT going to provide adequate protection. It is created to protect from a ride off a bicycle. It is not a car-crash helmet.

Just food for thought.

pocky

Took the pooch to Stony Brook Reservation today. Great day for it, and just like every other time I've been here, almost nobody was around. Just me (on the burgundy KHS hardtail) and Finnegan (in the tan fur and no tail). Even though there's signs posted that say dogs must be on-leash, I've never seen a dog on-leash here and there's so few people I'm pretty sure there's never a problem.



The bottle you see in my bottle cage is a "Thirsty Dog" by Lixit. The blue part is flexible rubber, which folds out and inverts to form a dog bowl, and the spout tab squirts directly into the bowl. With the bowl folded back, you can suck on the spout without swapping spit with your buddy, who as you know puts questionable things in his mouth. (This is the best design I've found -- I've also had two "Gulpy" bottles, which don't fit well into a bottle cage, you have to unscrew the bowl for the human to take a drink, and the bowl is made of hard plastic which broke on both of them.)

Trail map is here: https://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/trails/stonybrook.pdf We entered at the skating rink parking lot, rode the paved trail down to explore the southernmost point, and then back north with a bit of singletrack there. Nothing exciting here -- last time I came we parked up at 37, and I think I'd just do that again to avoid having to cross Reservation Rd and Dedham Parkway to get to the better trails. Going north of the rink, we took the paved trail around Rooney Rock, and played a bit in the Thomson Center -- the ruins of what was once a playground for the physically disabled, since taken over by graffiti artists. We encountered one person here, a cyclist with a hybrid, just chilling at the ruins of a picnic area.

The labyrinth maze to the sand-filled-in pool and the winding mass of buckled, rutted out pavement gone back-to-nature was fun to ride...

...but we were looking for some doubletrack, so we rode north along the paved trail and crossed the road at Dooley Playground (several children were playing here), and another cyclist chilling at a table at entrance 17. Then across Connell Fields to cross the next road to entrance 21. Saw one road cyclist here, but couldn't tell if he was going in or not. Then taking unpaved trails up to Turtle Pond, where I took the two photos on top, then continuing north to blaze 250. Some nice rocky uphills and fast downhills here that were just what I was looking for -- a workout but not too challenging for me. By then we were starting to lose the light, so back south along mostly the paved trail past the golf course, with a couple of side trips onto singletrack, and then back across the streets to the parking lot.

We encountered two kids with hockey sticks at around blaze 104, one dog walker with two dogs at 220, and a trio of people with one dog around 241. Along with the three cyclists and the kids at the playground, those where the only signs of civilization we saw the whole ride.

sherbornpeddler

Great stuff. Hip, helmets, turtles, tandem and dog bowl.
I find this all inspiring enough to want to get some myself.
So I did.

On my favorite early season, mile building Dover Sherborn Westwood route a hawk swooped across the street right in front of me with it's wings flared wide and thumped down on a meal in the grass. It stood there with wings flared and wide eyes to warn me off. I took the hint and rode on.

20 minutes later a Subaru swooped in front of me then off the edge of the pavement and back on again. A car behind honked to alert and complain on my behalf but the cell phoning, drinking or just bad driving Subaru continued on. I controlled my bike and bladder and had more adrenalin than needed for the next mile or two.

I'm in favor of helmets and getting out.

sherbornpeddler

Nice Helmets!
Daughter of Himespau may be impressed.

himespau 

You know, I've been thinking about that and haven't really stressed that much when she's gotten it off (also we've mainly been on MUP's and low traffic roads near home). Still, if my wife's going to let me take her on long rides on roads (or bike lanes next to roads) where there is traffic, I think she's going to have to wear a helmet, so I'd like to try getting her used to that. Unless, the helmet ends up making an already very hot ride (not sure how much circulation there is in those trailers) even hotter when summer comes. Might have to reevaluate then.

pocky

I think you're going to have to squeeze yourself in for a ride in the trailer, to thoroughly evaluate the ventilation situation. I would pay to see this.

himespau 

Yeah, that might be "interesting". Not sure anyone would be able to pull me to get the full simulation.

rholland1951

Took a cool, damp ride in the late afternoon and early evening, 20 miles to Bedford and back on the Minuteman. It's still March, but we seem to be back in Massachusetts again. Not so many folks out today. Scientific Discovery of the Week: a flock of turkeys will draw the correct conclusion from a rapidly closing bicycle repeatedly ringing a loud bell, and get the hell out of the way; this puts them somewhat higher up the scale of Darwinian fitness than many similarly-sized groups of teenaged pedestrians. On the return, reached Bedford Street, Lexington, by sunset, and heard the Great Horned Owl calling again. I'm guessing there's a nest there, this is getting pretty reliable.

rod

sherbornpeddler

Rod,
Pretty funny. Between the turkeys, teenagers, bicyclist, and owl, what is the Darwinian ranking? I was swooped by a fellow human in a Subaru so I've an idea where Darwin would put me.

BTW, I've only heard Darwin the owl pretty late or very early. I wonder if like bicyclists, the unusual burst of warm weather accelerated their strutting about in spring time plumage?
https://www.massaudubon.org/owls/