Metro Boston: Good ride today?
10-26-18, 04:56 PM
#7826
What??? Only 2 wheels?
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I've had reason to avoid the bike most commutes these last two weeks. But I did ride once last week and again today. Temp about 30F when I started, not too bad. As usual I was sweating by the time I reached Arlington.
It has gotten so that at least once a week riding the MM raises my blood pressure and stress level. ***-ing millennials with their faces stuck in cell phones and no clue about what's going on around them. I'm looking forward to going off DST so that I'll be in total darkness. Maybe the idiot pedestrians and sunny-day commuters will vanish.
It has gotten so that at least once a week riding the MM raises my blood pressure and stress level. ***-ing millennials with their faces stuck in cell phones and no clue about what's going on around them. I'm looking forward to going off DST so that I'll be in total darkness. Maybe the idiot pedestrians and sunny-day commuters will vanish.
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Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
10-26-18, 07:40 PM
#7827
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I've had reason to avoid the bike most commutes these last two weeks. But I did ride once last week and again today. Temp about 30F when I started, not too bad. As usual I was sweating by the time I reached Arlington.
It has gotten so that at least once a week riding the MM raises my blood pressure and stress level. ***-ing millennials with their faces stuck in cell phones and no clue about what's going on around them. I'm looking forward to going off DST so that I'll be in total darkness. Maybe the idiot pedestrians and sunny-day commuters will vanish.
It has gotten so that at least once a week riding the MM raises my blood pressure and stress level. ***-ing millennials with their faces stuck in cell phones and no clue about what's going on around them. I'm looking forward to going off DST so that I'll be in total darkness. Maybe the idiot pedestrians and sunny-day commuters will vanish.
rod
10-26-18, 07:47 PM
#7828
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It was a brilliant day, on the boundary between cold and cool.
I took the LHT and rode East.
Fiddled with layers and more or less got them right.
rod
I took the LHT and rode East.
Fiddled with layers and more or less got them right.
rod
10-27-18, 08:51 AM
#7829
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This morning I rode 33.25 saturated and soaked miles. No amount of Goretex or claims of waterproofness kept my fingers and toes from being soaked. The highlight was being able to sing I'm-riding-in-the-rain-just-riding-in-the-rain. Otherwise it was an arbitrary experience.
10-27-18, 07:50 PM
#7831
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inspired me to get out for an hour today on the Assabet trails. the visitors center was closed but their outhouse was open. nice to have a sanctuary from the wind & rain
10-29-18, 12:05 PM
#7833
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10-29-18, 07:28 PM
#7834
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Took the venerable 1987 GT Karakoram out on the Minuteman after the rain stopped, a cool, gray, breezy ride.
The sun gilded the tree line for a minute at the far edge of Arlington's Great Meadow.
Night fell, and as I parked the bike before putting it away, the headlight beams reflecting off puddles projected wraiths on the garage doors, getting a jump on Halloween.
rod
The sun gilded the tree line for a minute at the far edge of Arlington's Great Meadow.
Night fell, and as I parked the bike before putting it away, the headlight beams reflecting off puddles projected wraiths on the garage doors, getting a jump on Halloween.
rod
10-31-18, 09:44 AM
#7835
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Over 250 miles “walking.”
In Lime news: “Captain Richard Flynn of the Arlington Police Department told the Advocate that e-bikes are allowed on the Minuteman Bikeway in Arlington but could not speak for other communities.”
Lime anecdote: A friend who hasn’t ridden a bicycle in DECADES has fallen in love with the Limes. Saw her running errands on Mass Ave yesterday, her long gray hair blowing behind her purple helmet. Wish I got a snap of her smile.
-mr. bill
In Lime news: “Captain Richard Flynn of the Arlington Police Department told the Advocate that e-bikes are allowed on the Minuteman Bikeway in Arlington but could not speak for other communities.”
Lime anecdote: A friend who hasn’t ridden a bicycle in DECADES has fallen in love with the Limes. Saw her running errands on Mass Ave yesterday, her long gray hair blowing behind her purple helmet. Wish I got a snap of her smile.
-mr. bill
10-31-18, 12:31 PM
#7836
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heart warming, but I hope you offer a some updated safety coaching. as we know, Mass Ave has lots of hazards
10-31-18, 12:36 PM
#7837
What??? Only 2 wheels?
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It was a stretch of the MM with the surface covered with leaves hiding acorns, the occasional branch, and the occasional root heave. A fraction of a second later or earlier and I might have swerved 6 inches and we'd have collided. By that anecdote an ebike is more dangerous than a scooter or motorcycle because it can go just as fast but make less noise to let others know of its approach.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
10-31-18, 12:54 PM
#7838
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It’s not the vehicle, it’s the operator.
Arlington police will give you a talking to if you are unsafe on the Minuteman. What they won’t do is hassle people who are safely riding a bicycle, safely riding an ebike, safely walking, safely pushing a stroller, safely....
That said I got used to the scooters in Taipei because they were loud and on the road.
But I never got used to the scooters in Amsterdam because they were loud and not on the road. The eScooters were no better or worse, but also not on the road. eBikes were a non-issue.
In Copenhagen there were few scooters but lots of eCargobikes. They were wide, pretty quiet, but not fast.
Finally, now I have to use my brake on the downhills when I “walk” on the Minuteman.
-mr. bill
Last edited by mr_bill; 10-31-18 at 01:11 PM.
11-01-18, 04:34 AM
#7839
What??? Only 2 wheels?
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Of course it's the operator, not the bike. The same could be said about scooters or motorcycles on the MM too, and carrying swords or sidearms on public streets, yet those are mostly forbidden because of what the "operators" can do with them. I'm not advocating outlawing ebikes, just wishing in vain for better judgment by all MM users, wheeled or afoot.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
11-01-18, 06:37 AM
#7840
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my hot spot is heading west, west of Lexington, on the long downgrade. but I think I max out at 26 or 27 mph. but only near dusk or early evening when the trail is empty. I need a steeper hill to get over 30 mph. I think this is the section
Last edited by rumrunn6; 11-01-18 at 06:42 AM.
11-01-18, 02:40 PM
#7841
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Great “walk” today, from BIDMC on Brookline Ave back to home. Not wanting to curse myself, doc is happy so I’m happy. Surgical wound is finally on a healing track. New dressing protocol is working better, so more surgery is back on the back burner. (However, still not cleared for weight bearing, let alone PT. But it no longer feels like indefinite hold.)
Other than that, October marks the first month since that bizarre February that I haven’t been on a bicycle.
-mr. bill
Other than that, October marks the first month since that bizarre February that I haven’t been on a bicycle.
-mr. bill
Last edited by mr_bill; 11-01-18 at 02:43 PM.
11-01-18, 02:47 PM
#7842
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Great “walk” today, from BIDMC on Brookline Ave back to home. Not wanting to curse myself, doc is happy so I’m happy. Surgical wound is finally on a healing track. New dressing protocol is working better, so more surgery is back on the back burner. (However, still not cleared for weight bearing, let alone PT. But it no longer feels like indefinite hold.)
glad to hear it. how fast can you go on that kneeling skateboard 
11-01-18, 06:05 PM
#7844
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11-02-18, 01:19 PM
#7845
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my hot spot is heading west, west of Lexington, on the long downgrade. but I think I max out at 26 or 27 mph. but only near dusk or early evening when the trail is empty. I need a steeper hill to get over 30 mph. I think this is the section
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqJ_6prVc9A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqJ_6prVc9A
https://www.strava.com/segments/10949765?filter=overall
My beef with e-bikers is if they're going too fast*, acting like they own the bikeway, or pass silently with no warning (all of which some of the roadies on the path do as well).
*going too fast without building up to it means possibly not having the critical thinking skills and reaction time to avoid dangerous situations
My preference lately has been for views like this, though I haven't had many opportunities to get out there:
Fewer e-bikers, roadies, cars, people walking their dogs on a 10-foot leash.
11-02-18, 02:27 PM
#7846
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11-05-18, 04:32 PM
#7847
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Got out on the Rawland Nordavinden this afternoon for a little ride between the showers on the Minuteman, low clouds and temperatures in the lower 50s. The Mile 4.0 Cairn Builder is back at it; this is somehow reassuring.
rod
rod
11-05-18, 05:40 PM
#7848
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I believe the stretch of road right past Rt 4, past the robot signs, over 95 by the swamps, near the no-longer-stinky Lexington compost dump is the longest downhill stretch on the MM going west (going east, that would be either Woburn St to Arlington Meadow in Lexington or TJs to Mill St. in Arlington). Yeah, you can go pretty fast here but only if no one's around.
https://www.strava.com/segments/10949765?filter=overall
My beef with e-bikers is if they're going too fast*, acting like they own the bikeway, or pass silently with no warning (all of which some of the roadies on the path do as well).
*going too fast without building up to it means possibly not having the critical thinking skills and reaction time to avoid dangerous situations
My preference lately has been for views like this, though I haven't had many opportunities to get out there:
Fewer e-bikers, roadies, cars, people walking their dogs on a 10-foot leash.
https://www.strava.com/segments/10949765?filter=overall
My beef with e-bikers is if they're going too fast*, acting like they own the bikeway, or pass silently with no warning (all of which some of the roadies on the path do as well).
*going too fast without building up to it means possibly not having the critical thinking skills and reaction time to avoid dangerous situations
My preference lately has been for views like this, though I haven't had many opportunities to get out there:
Fewer e-bikers, roadies, cars, people walking their dogs on a 10-foot leash.
11-06-18, 03:24 PM
#7849
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I've had a few nice Sunday rides, a few cold mornings rides and a few nice morning rides since my last post. The rain has kept my miles lower than I was hoping it would. Poring rain can be tollerable, the dark can be tamed. When you mix the 2 together than I sometimes think twice.
I figured I'll share the first ever pic of my new bike. So new it's still being built. I went to see the Seven factory today.
11-07-18, 09:29 AM
#7850
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I’ve now “walked” 500k.
From a couple of days ago on the minuteman, the rain got busy painting:
P.S. He who is always walking still says nothing, but now huge smile and waves to me every time we cross paths.
-mr. bill
From a couple of days ago on the minuteman, the rain got busy painting:
P.S. He who is always walking still says nothing, but now huge smile and waves to me every time we cross paths.
-mr. bill
Last edited by mr_bill; 11-07-18 at 06:44 PM.