Go Back  Bike Forums > Community Connections > Regional Discussions > Northeast
Reload this Page >

Metro Boston: Good ride today?

Notices
Northeast Connecticut | Maine | Massachusetts | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New York |Rhode Island | Vermont |

Metro Boston: Good ride today?

Old 07-22-13, 05:46 PM
  #2851  
sherbornpeddler
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sherbornpeddler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New England
Posts: 1,378

Bikes: 3 speeds, mountain, road and recumbent

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 53 Post(s)
Liked 31 Times in 18 Posts
Great ride gabedad! 56 miles and looks like a great route and good weather. Please tell me you didn't spin a max of 222 rpm! Very impressive data. How was the route in terms of pavement quality, traffic and, something I've been paying more attention to lately, shade? I know you rode Sunday so I expect there wasn't much traffic.

Today, IN SUB 80F WEATHER I tweaked my long wheel based recumbent derailleur enough for a test spin and bumped into a neighbor with a new handlebar stem and rear cluster and our bikes agreed to what turned out to be a 32 mile test ride. I made up a flat as possible ride through Millis, Norfolk, Walpole, Westwood, Medfield and back to Sherborn. My 65 year old Nairo Quintana neighbor has a snappy new carbon fiber Giant so I was in search of.... no, in avoidance of, hills. Recumbents take special conditioning and I ain't it.

Early in the ride, sailing down a mild down hill, mild twist, superb Nason Hill country road I was comfortable but couldn't calibrate speed with sound, wind or effort they way I/you/we can with our usual, tried and true, no surprises, did you miss me, regular bike.

All went well and I coasted down hill and felt the "feel the burn" on the occasional uphill. I tried to simulate a diamond frame rider's pace. Nairo likes his longer stem but suffered a little with his "you won't notice the difference" Tiagra rear cassette. I suffered what there was for hills but in the end burned less than normal on the flattest 32 mile loop I could dream up.

I didn't map it like gabedad and will improve it next time but it is a nice loop. Nobody say anything; the weather is.......nice.
sherbornpeddler is offline  
Old 07-22-13, 07:24 PM
  #2852  
Jim from Boston
Senior Member
 
Jim from Boston's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,384
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 800 Post(s)
Liked 218 Times in 171 Posts
Hello, Metrowestopolitans.

This weekend, I rode my bike to the mysterious and fabled Metroeast to a city that the natives call “Hull,” meaning “the frame of a large boat” (bigger than a canoe). The wonders that I saw, unbeholden by so many Metrowesterners!

Ocean views:


Beach Houses:


Hon ky-tonk:


I’m planning to go back and establish a trade route from West to East. We’ll send BMW’s, brie, and chardonnay in exchange for dune buggies, hot dogs, and cotton candy. There are fortunes to be made I tell you.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg
DSCN0201.jpg (55.8 KB, 60 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0202.jpg (94.0 KB, 64 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0200.jpg (71.2 KB, 62 views)

Last edited by Jim from Boston; 07-22-13 at 08:22 PM.
Jim from Boston is offline  
Old 07-22-13, 07:41 PM
  #2853  
jimmuller 
What??? Only 2 wheels?
 
jimmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,452

Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10

Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times in 232 Posts
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
Hello, Metrowestopolitans.

This weekend, I rode my bike to the mysterious and fabled Metroeast to a city that the natives call “Hull,” meaning “the frame of a large boat” (bigger than a canoe). The wonders that I saw, unbeholden by so few Metrowesterners!
...[nice pics]

I’m planning to go back and establish a trade route from West to East. We’ll send BMW’s, brie, and chardonnay in exchange for dune buggies, hot dogs, and cotton candy. There are fortunes to be made I tell you.
Ooh, are you looking for investors? I've heard there might be a market for tea. I've been to Hull, played music there but never ridden a bike either there or to there. I'd be afraid I'd end up in the water.

I did ride today, just my usual commute, 27 miles round trip. Today I rode this for its first voyage since I completed it, an '87 Centurion Dave Scott Ironman Expert. The flower is an Acroclinium roseum from Sharon's garden.



__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
jimmuller is offline  
Old 07-22-13, 08:44 PM
  #2854  
sherbornpeddler
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sherbornpeddler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New England
Posts: 1,378

Bikes: 3 speeds, mountain, road and recumbent

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 53 Post(s)
Liked 31 Times in 18 Posts
Jim of B,
Great report and be careful there. Land or sea?
Jim of Acroclinium roseum, Beautiful bike!
sherbornpeddler is offline  
Old 07-22-13, 10:18 PM
  #2855  
Bishbike
Senior Member
 
Bishbike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 251

Bikes: 2002 Bianchi Eros, 2013 Peter Mooney Custom

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Lot's of riding lately, but been lazy about posting.

Got in a 45 mile ride today. Belmont to Strawberry Hill loop and back. Great evening for a ride! Finally getting the fit dialed in on the new bike.

Jim M., I am digging that Centurion!
Bishbike is offline  
Old 07-23-13, 05:54 AM
  #2856  
rholland1951
Senior Member
 
rholland1951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 532 Post(s)
Liked 1,696 Times in 872 Posts
Originally Posted by bike2bike
Hi Everyone,
We are dealers in all models of bicycles, our bicycles are brand new, we give you the privilege of test running our products before making payments.
Our price range are the cheapest you can find around.
Email: OhbummerIgotBANNED!@spamIam.com
Thanks.
I forget: how do you report spam on bike forums?

Last edited by Siu Blue Wind; 07-23-13 at 06:34 AM.
rholland1951 is offline  
Old 07-23-13, 07:08 AM
  #2857  
rholland1951
Senior Member
 
rholland1951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 532 Post(s)
Liked 1,696 Times in 872 Posts
I'm impressed...
rholland1951 is offline  
Old 07-23-13, 08:20 AM
  #2858  
sherbornpeddler
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sherbornpeddler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New England
Posts: 1,378

Bikes: 3 speeds, mountain, road and recumbent

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 53 Post(s)
Liked 31 Times in 18 Posts
Originally Posted by Bishbike
Lot's of riding lately, but been lazy about posting.

Got in a 45 mile ride today. Belmont to Strawberry Hill loop and back. Great evening for a ride! Finally getting the fit dialed in on the new bike.

Jim M., I am digging that Centurion!
Bishbike, sounds like a great ride and getting dialed in is a nice feeling.

Boston seems to have exclaimed the wonders of bike riding for some time; really exclaimed.

David Herlihy's "Bicycle, The History" published by Yale University Press noted on page 110 " ....a Boston writer praised the vehicle for breaking the fearful habit of joining drinking with every amusement.... and another suggested that the bicycle would take men away from the gambling rooms and rum shops, out into God's light and sunshine and Susan B. Anthony envisioned a graceful, healthy and useful exercise for all women."

The June, 1883 edition of The Wheelmen, Vol. ll, No.3 began a report from The Massachusetts Bicycle Club with " All who joy would win must share it; happiness was born a twin" and began their report with, "The fortunate man who rode the first bicycle must have felt a thrill of joy at the new sensation which even we who ride can hardly realize: but to offset this, he must have had a lonely time of it until the second one was made. Adam could scarcely have experienced a greater joy when he beheld what had produced from his missing rib, than did this first wheelman when a companion appeared at his side; and we may be pretty sure that the two very soon began to talk up the formation of a club. They "who joy would win" upon a bicycle must indeed "share it" with some other riders...."

Last edited by sherbornpeddler; 07-23-13 at 08:29 AM. Reason: clarity
sherbornpeddler is offline  
Old 07-23-13, 08:37 AM
  #2859  
sherbornpeddler
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sherbornpeddler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New England
Posts: 1,378

Bikes: 3 speeds, mountain, road and recumbent

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 53 Post(s)
Liked 31 Times in 18 Posts
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
Hello, Metrowestopolitans.

This weekend, I rode my bike to the mysterious and fabled Metroeast to a city that the natives call “Hull,” meaning “the frame of a large boat” (bigger than a canoe). The wonders that I saw, unbeholden by so many Metrowesterners!

Ocean views:


Beach Houses:


Hon ky-tonk:


I’m planning to go back and establish a trade route from West to East. We’ll send BMW’s, brie, and chardonnay in exchange for dune buggies, hot dogs, and cotton candy. There are fortunes to be made I tell you.
Atlantis?

Great report!
sherbornpeddler is offline  
Old 07-24-13, 08:55 AM
  #2860  
rholland1951
Senior Member
 
rholland1951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 532 Post(s)
Liked 1,696 Times in 872 Posts
The rain blew out to sea, and I took a 10-mile ride to Lexington Center on the Minuteman before breakfast.


Encountered a Chinese gentleman who patrols Arlington for returnable bottles on recycling days. As I passed, I heard a rhythmic clicking and saw his rear tire was flat.


Met with a woman jogging with a brace of whippets, fast for her, slow for them. Nodded to a turbaned Sikh who gave me a cheery Punjabi greeting in return.

rod

Last edited by rholland1951; 07-24-13 at 09:15 AM.
rholland1951 is offline  
Old 07-24-13, 09:16 AM
  #2861  
jimmuller 
What??? Only 2 wheels?
 
jimmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,452

Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10

Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times in 232 Posts
Originally Posted by rholland1951
As I passed, I heard a rhythmic clicking and saw that his rear tire was flat.
Last Sunday as we were returning on the MM we caught up with a woman whose bike was also going clickety-clickety-click. I noticed she had a totally flat rear tire so I asked if she wanted some air in it. She stopped and said thanks and babbled about just hoping to get back to Arlington Center (we were almost there) and having just pulled the bike out after a long hiatus and she didn't know what to do about the tires and intended to stop at the Bike Stop in Arlington and didn't know the protocol on the MM but appreciated the offer and wondered if it had a leak and...and...and... So we stopped and pumped up her tire. I think the valve stem must have been leaking slowly when the bike was in storage because it held air. The tires looked some dry-rotted though and I mentioned that to her. I also examined the rim and decided she hadn't damaged it. Sometimes good fortune follows the innocent.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
jimmuller is offline  
Old 07-24-13, 09:06 PM
  #2862  
rholland1951
Senior Member
 
rholland1951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 532 Post(s)
Liked 1,696 Times in 872 Posts
Rode over to Paramount Bicycle Repair, Ball Square, Somerville, for another shake-down ride on the travel bike that Tyler Oulton has been building up for me on a Surly Trucker Deluxe frame (with S&S couplers) and mixed bag of retro-grouch components. The rear rack and fenders are on now, and the bike now looks like itself.


The shake-down ride took me to the gravel extension of the Somerville Community Path, what might be thought of as the Eastern-most Ultima Thule of the Minuteman. Here it is with the sun at my back:


When I turned around, the glare of the low sun picked up all the broken-glass fragments in amongst the sand and gravel: scary. The 44mm Compass Bicyle tires shrugged it off, this time, anyway, and handled well in the gravel without getting holed by the glass. The ride did what it was meant to do, help with trouble-shooting the build. This is fun. Rode home in good spirits.

rod
rholland1951 is offline  
Old 07-25-13, 08:46 AM
  #2863  
rholland1951
Senior Member
 
rholland1951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 532 Post(s)
Liked 1,696 Times in 872 Posts
It was 60degF when I set out for a before-breakfast ride on the Minuteman this morning, cool enough for long sleeves and full-finger gloves, a gray sky with a breeze that seemed always to come from the least-convenient quarter. Stayed down in the drops a lot, both to make time against headwinds and to stay a little warmer.

I'm starting to get a sense of who the Minuteman morning regulars are. Saw the Whippet Lady and the Returnable Bottles Guy again: he seems to have fixed his flat.

The sumac is in bloom out near Peepers Pond. My late father-in-law called it a trash tree, and it does grow like a weed, but our neighborhood Persian restaurant serves its dried, powdered fruit as a table condiment.


Saw a very small, very young snake crossing the path. Noted that several others of its cohort tried the same thing and didn't make it. Good luck to the little guy.

rod

Last edited by rholland1951; 07-25-13 at 09:34 AM.
rholland1951 is offline  
Old 07-25-13, 09:54 AM
  #2864  
sherbornpeddler
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sherbornpeddler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New England
Posts: 1,378

Bikes: 3 speeds, mountain, road and recumbent

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 53 Post(s)
Liked 31 Times in 18 Posts
Originally Posted by rholland1951
It was 60degF when I set out for a before-breakfast ride on the Minuteman this morning, cool enough for long sleeves and full-finger gloves, a gray sky with a breeze that seemed always to come from the least-convenient quarter. Stayed down in the drops a lot, both to make time against headwinds and to stay a little warmer.

I'm starting to get a sense of who the Minuteman morning regulars are. Saw the Whippet Lady and the Returnable Bottles guy again: he seems to have fixed his flat.

The sumac is in bloom out near Peepers Pond. My late father-in-law called it a trash tree, and it does grow like a weed, but our neighborhood Persian restaurant serves its dried, powdered fruit as a table condiment.


Saw a very small, very young snake crossing the path. Noted that several others of its cohort tried the same thing and didn't make it. Good luck to the little guy.

rod
Bicycle riding is good stuff. In a foul mood on a familiar route, I don't see much, grumble about traffic and grind the miles; sort of a bike tire half full or half empty. In a heads up mood or in the case of these posts, put some air in the tire and Sumac becomes an interesting food spice and glass fragments are a constellation. Thanks Rod!

Circa 1960 Boy Scout teachings differentiated tasty, Moroccan leather dye red berry versions from Poison Sumac but being vague on the details I just avoid it and move on. With your message I recall childhood mixtures for Robinson Crusoe/Treasure Island/Huck Finn tea parties and dyeing homemade things as well as fingers, pants and shirt fronts. Thanks again.

I rode the recumbent 37 miles at a pretty good pace and other than a very, very near miss by a contractor's van (grumble and resolve to add a blinky and maybe spray my head in fluorescent paint) it was a good exercise ride.
sherbornpeddler is offline  
Old 07-25-13, 10:00 AM
  #2865  
kingsqueak
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: NJ cellphone central
Posts: 468

Bikes: Surly Ogre // (old and gone) Cannondale ST400, Rockhopper Sport

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I've been in and out of Boston and Cambridge a lot lately for business...stuck in traffic it makes me jealous that I don't have a bicycle with me for sure heh.

I have to say, not sure I have the brass ones for 25+ mph in a gap between stopped traffic and parked cars like so many do. Pretty frequently I see it with a 4 foot or so gap. It's amazing to see so many people flying along though.
kingsqueak is offline  
Old 07-26-13, 12:37 PM
  #2866  
sherbornpeddler
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sherbornpeddler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New England
Posts: 1,378

Bikes: 3 speeds, mountain, road and recumbent

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 53 Post(s)
Liked 31 Times in 18 Posts
Originally Posted by kingsqueak
I've been in and out of Boston and Cambridge a lot lately for business...stuck in traffic it makes me jealous that I don't have a bicycle with me for sure heh.

I have to say, not sure I have the brass ones for 25+ mph in a gap between stopped traffic and parked cars like so many do. Pretty frequently I see it with a 4 foot or so gap. It's amazing to see so many people flying along though.
KS,
I feel the same way when I drive.
When biking in Boston and Cambridge I go 5-15 mph or 2x faster than the traffic. I really like bike lanes and the separate paths but bikes and cars are more and more learning to get along. More cars and trucks look for bikes and fewer bikes weave and zip between. Park and rent a Hubway bike! It's an upright, regal ride, not a bike messenger fixie and glides past bolloxed up, hydrocarbon burning behemoths.
sherbornpeddler is offline  
Old 07-26-13, 06:06 PM
  #2867  
rholland1951
Senior Member
 
rholland1951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 532 Post(s)
Liked 1,696 Times in 872 Posts
20 miles before supper to Depot Park, Bedford, and back on the Minuteman, dodging in and out of gentle Summer showers, trees dripping, puddles splashing. A little girl pedaling away behind her father on a tandem trailer sang, "It's raining, it's pouring...". The real weather was visible, but at a safe distance.


The Shawsheen River has a healthier flow today than during the recent dry spell, but a muddy band on its banks suggests that it could do with a bit more rain.


Overheard conversational fragment in Lexington Center, between a young couple on new-looking road bikes:
He - "That has to be the most-run Stop sign in America"
She - "Why?"
He - "I never stop there."

rod

Last edited by rholland1951; 07-26-13 at 06:21 PM.
rholland1951 is offline  
Old 07-27-13, 08:28 AM
  #2868  
rholland1951
Senior Member
 
rholland1951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 532 Post(s)
Liked 1,696 Times in 872 Posts
Rolled out to Bedford at 7:15 this morning, getting out ahead of what looked to be a very full day, and keeping a good pace while doing it. That early on a Saturday morning, the Minuteman is more crowded than the practically-deserted Mass. Ave., which begs the question, why wasn't I simply riding the roads? In my pre-caffeinated state I pedal better than I think, so that question went unanswered this morning, but I filed it away for consideration some time when my brain is up to it.

Lexington had a couple of crews out whacking the weeds on the shoulders of the Minuteman between Bedford Street and Hartwell Avenue, raising clouds of vegetable particulates including an unknown fraction of poison ivy. * HACK, COUGH *

A medium-sized group ride charged by outbound as I was returning, possibly the Quad Cycles folks. My old friend Walter hailed me from their midst; Walter is one of my distance-cycling role models, though I never caught the group-ride bug.

Home too soon, on with the day. One virtue of this schedule is that I get to listen to A Hillbilly At Harvard without feeling it's delaying my departure time.

rod
rholland1951 is offline  
Old 07-27-13, 09:53 AM
  #2869  
jimmuller 
What??? Only 2 wheels?
 
jimmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,452

Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10

Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times in 232 Posts
Like Rod we got an early ride in this morning, though not quite so early as his. From home through Belmont to the bikeway extension that enters Alewife from the south (I guess it is), continuing on to Mass Ave on something signed as the Linear Trail, then back west to Lexington. 20.45 miles. Actually 20.4513372141597 miles, but I rounded down. We have company visiting later so that's all we could squeeze in.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
jimmuller is offline  
Old 07-27-13, 10:03 PM
  #2870  
jimmuller 
What??? Only 2 wheels?
 
jimmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,452

Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10

Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times in 232 Posts
Our out-of-town visitors have a tandem back home, and it turns out they liked the idea of riding today. So they rented a tandem from Bikeway Source and we rode the MM into Alewife and back. This brings today's total to 42.23 miles!

Almost had a head-on collision with another bike as we were leaving Alewife. Due to some lack of concentration in a tight pack (I think) she swerved into our side of the path. So I aimed further over to our right, intending to run onto the grass. Except she panicked and swerved even further over. I had millisecond visions of our tandem t-boning her, a truck hitting a compact car. It would not have been pretty. I can still see her brains scattered across the pavement. So I just squeezed the brakes as hard as I could and she did the same. We came to a stop with our front wheels about three inches apart.

After we'd both regained out balance I asked "What the hell are you doing?" She was extremely apologetic. She knew she'd screwed up. I don't think it struck her at that time just how close she came to being severely hurt, not to mention us too. Maybe it dawned on her a minute or two later. Whew.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
jimmuller is offline  
Old 07-28-13, 09:53 AM
  #2871  
rholland1951
Senior Member
 
rholland1951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 532 Post(s)
Liked 1,696 Times in 872 Posts
Almost had a head-on collision with another bike as we were leaving Alewife.
Yikes! There are a lot of folks out on the Minuteman in little bubbles of self-absorption. Sometimes a good, loud bell is the most useful thing on the bike...

rod

Last edited by rholland1951; 07-28-13 at 10:00 AM.
rholland1951 is offline  
Old 07-29-13, 08:41 AM
  #2872  
Jim from Boston
Senior Member
 
Jim from Boston's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,384
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 800 Post(s)
Liked 218 Times in 171 Posts
On the Fifty-Plus Forum, we have an Annual Ride in various parts of the country in conjunction with a formal ride organized by a cycling club; previously in Colorado, New York Finger Lakes, Michigan, and Tennessee. I’ve been to Numbers 2 and 3, so I saved some time this year by proposing the Ride in conjunction with the Mass Bike Summer Century and Family Fun Fest held Saturday from North Acton.

Our group of four was just as eager to tour Boston, as do the ride, so we did the 30+ miles route that included a trip through the Minuteman National Historic Park, which I had never seen. We also were on the Bedford end of the Minuteman Bikepath which I likewise had never ridden.

The posts about the weekend begin here, and this is an excerpt with photos about the ride. We are still waiting to read posts from a couple others.

Originally Posted by missjean
It was so nice to meet Jim, Diane and her husband!...

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
… we assembled at 6 PM on Friday at our condo in Kenmore Square for a leisurely bike ride along the Charles River…

Saturday was a perfect cycling day. Marc and I took a ride through downtown Boston from about 7:30 AM to 9 as the City was waking up for a fun-filled July Saturday. At about 10:30 AM the Kentons, Marc and I left in our cars in a caravan on a smooth 45 minute drive to North Acton. The starting point was a verdant gem of a hidden suburban park with a beach on a small lake. We had previously decided to register for the 30-mile ride vs the metric century (or the imperial one). I have to say this was one of the nicest but more adventuresome routes I have ridden in Massachusetts in my 30+years riding around here,

The route took us on leafy, well-paved and lightly-traveled roads though the ritzy suburbs of Carlisle, Concord, Bedford, and Lexington. I have a personal term for such roads as “enchanted,” and the stretches I encounter on my usual routes are very short, but here they went for a few miles each. We had a few segments of more major roads of not more than a half mile, and these were not bad either, with decent shoulders.

The adventuresome part began in Lexington where we were directed onto the Minuteman Historic National Park. This is a 5 mile long roughly-paved to hard pack to slightly sandy trail with historic makers. It traces the path the British took to return to Boston from the fights at Lexington and Concord. There are signs that are marked by descriptions of, and the time of day that various skirmishes occurred during the march. I had never been there and I switched from tour guide to tourist along with the others.

Also a few historic houses and visitor centers are along the route, such as the Capt. Wiliam Smith House pictured below. The family tended to a mortally wounded British soldier for his last few days and he gave them gold sovereign he had hidden in his coat. Captain Smith was cousin of Abigail Adams. While riding the trail, we saw a demonstration of how the Minutemen loaded and fired their muskets.

The ride was fascinating, but the Kentons and I were on 25 C road tires so the going was slow, but the company was marvelous….While the route was pretty-well marked, we did get puzzled at one point on the “Reformatory Trail.” Tom used his GPS, and the two of us perused the cue sheets and we searched out some dead end directions. Meanwhile, Miss K and Marc simply asked for directions and got us back on track. Otherwise, Tom had a flat and Miss K a slipped chain, all not too disastrous. A few miles before the end of the ride we rode over the Old North Bridge where “Here once the embattled farmers stood / And fired the shot heard round the world.”

Most of my usual cycling is solo on well-traveled routes with definite destinations and schedules, so I always enjoy these rides where I am lost to time and place. We arrived back at the starting point just before closing time and had some delicious barbeque sandwiches and local Sam Adams brews (second cousin of Abigail Adams’ husband John). We arrived back in Boston by about 6PM...
Attached Images
File Type: jpg
DSCN0204.jpg (93.7 KB, 45 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0206.jpg (100.2 KB, 48 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0208.jpg (99.6 KB, 44 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0210.jpg (100.5 KB, 45 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0213.jpg (100.3 KB, 44 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0215.jpg (104.3 KB, 47 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0217.jpg (102.8 KB, 48 views)
File Type: jpg
DSCN0216.jpg (101.2 KB, 46 views)

Last edited by Jim from Boston; 07-29-13 at 08:46 AM.
Jim from Boston is offline  
Old 07-29-13, 09:14 AM
  #2873  
rholland1951
Senior Member
 
rholland1951's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 532 Post(s)
Liked 1,696 Times in 872 Posts
Quick ride to Lexington and back on the Minuteman before breakfast, 10 miles. Better weather than last night's forecast had suggested.

rod
rholland1951 is offline  
Old 07-29-13, 11:14 AM
  #2874  
jimmuller 
What??? Only 2 wheels?
 
jimmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,452

Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10

Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times in 232 Posts
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
On the Fifty-Plus Forum...
JFB, that sounds like a nice day! (Welcome to Metrowestcentricity. )

Since we did parts of the MM twice on Saturday, once end to end and back, we might have crossed paths. Simultaneoulsy even. I've never ridden the Reformatory Trail though.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
jimmuller is offline  
Old 07-30-13, 07:10 AM
  #2875  
Jim from Boston
Senior Member
 
Jim from Boston's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 7,384
Mentioned: 49 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 800 Post(s)
Liked 218 Times in 171 Posts
Originally Posted by jimmuller
JFB, that sounds like a nice day! (Welcome to Metrowestcentricity. )

Since we did parts of the MM twice on Saturday, once end to end and back, we might have crossed paths. Simultaneoulsy even. I've never ridden the Reformatory Trail though.
Here is a link to the trail: https://www.traillink.com/trail/refor...nch-trail.aspx

We picked it up on Monson Street off of Rte 62 in Concord, and took it to Monument St. It's narrow dirt, and was muddy in spots. Do they make wide-tire mountain bike type tandems?

That end of the Minuteman in Bedford was a nice spot, with store, railroad car, and large air-conditioned rest room there. I had to wait for a roadie to emerge, with his high-end bike. He claimed the bike had to go.

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
...Most of my usual cycling is solo on well-traveled routes with definite destinations and schedules, so I always enjoy these rides where I am lost to time and place...
So I can't really say what time we were on the Minuteman; I would estimate around 1-2:00 PM, and we rode it for less than about two miles. When we first entered a commercial section of Bedford [strike]might have been from Davis Rd (I don't have my cue sheet here)[/strike]on Rte 62, I had to ask a pedestrian what town we were in.

Mis Kenton from New Jersey commented how there are no street signs around here. I certainly would have liked to know the names of some of those beautiful roads for future reference.

Last edited by Jim from Boston; 07-30-13 at 04:53 PM. Reason: Found my cue sheet
Jim from Boston is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.