bike_tom

This afternoon I rode the Minuteman out to Bedford and then the Reformatory Branch Trail out to Concord.
I have good news to report: the RBT is now very rideable!
A big change from just a couple weeks ago.

The MM is definitely looking Spring-like:




Most of the RBT was dry and looked about the same as it did a few weeks ago:




The pleasant surprise was the big improvement in the section that was basically underwater when I was last there. Now there's stiff rutted mud in the middle and a very firm and rideable shoulder the whole length:




The dappled shade and sun in this section near Great Meadows Road is always soothing:




The Checkpoint and I took a break at the turnaround at Lowell Rd:



This was the first time I had ridden the Checkpoint the whole length of the RBT since I fitted the Gravelking SS's. They acquitted themselves very well.

I couldn't really tell how high the water was in the ponds at Great Meadows, but they certainly made a nice backdrop:




Stopping at Depot Park on the way home I enjoyed the flowering trees which may be near peak right now:



I continued home to Arlington on the MM. The total ride was a very enjoyable 28 miles.
I'm hoping the RBT stays in good shape for soon to come rides that combine it with Battle Rd, etc.

Tom

rumrunn6

how nice, thank you for sharing this

rumrunn6

ta da! yahoo! must be spring for real now!. thank you

rholland1951

Friday, took the Ebisu All Purpose Bicycle for a mental health ride in the 54° sunny-breezy afternoon, up the Mystic Valley Parkway, along the Eastern shore of the Mystic Lakes. Stopped at the Bacow Pavillion on the Upper Mystic Lake to take a couple of photos of the quiet scene, then rolled away home.


Such excitement as was to be had was furnished by the Route 60 rotary, coming and going. Do you believe in the Rule of Law? Spin the Wheel and find out!

Good to be on the Ebisu again. It's frame geometry is agile, the Paul cantis and the Suntour Power Ratchets give me the illusion of control, and the 3x9 drivetrain gets me over the hills as needed. And the Jitensha Studio back story is a good one..

rod

rholland1951

Saturday afternoon I took the Ebisu All Purpose Bicycle and rode East.


If we meditate with sufficient focus, the traffic will disappear. Om mani padme hum....


Om mane padme hum...


Getting there... Om mane padme hum...


Om... Much better!


Of course, steering and pedaling are material aids to making the traffic disappear. Every wheel a prayer wheel.

rod

rholland1951

Took the Rawland Nordavinden, sleek, fast, agile, with a lively frame and low-trail geometry, out on the Minuteman in the late afternoon. Nice to be able to do that when there's still some daylight to play with. Made very good time, got my legs, lungs, and brain working. The combination of slender, butted tubeset--with a heat-treated top tube--and bomb-proof wheels with Chris King hubs and supple 32mm tires gets me wherever with a minimum of fuss. This is one of the bikes that Tyler Oulton built up for me. It holds its own with any sport-touring bike I've encountered. This afternoon I rode it like the wind.


I narrowly escaped karmic entanglement with a couple of bunnies who were chasing each other across the path.. There were a fair number of very young riders who were nearly as reckless. I took care to avoid them. Spring is here.

rod

bike_tom

I hadn't ridden the Narrow Gauge Rail Trail yet in 2024, so I included that in today's ride. I chose the Cannondale hardtail, for variety as much as capability.

It was balmy when I set out about 10am, so shorts were the order of the day. As is typical when I head west, the ride began by taking the Minuteman out to Bedford Depot Park, by way of Lexington Center. I had put off taking this ride on the weekend, as I expected the MM would be hectic. Today I was rewarded with the typical quietness of a Monday:



Picking up the NGRT from the Depot I found the surface conditions to be very good. It was bone dry - the only challenge on the main part of the trail being the usual sandy ruts near the VA hospital.
A typical section:




As expected, the 1/4 mile or so north of the gate at the Billerica line was a loose, bumpy obstacle course. Here's a view looking back south down that from Springs Rd:




This section will be the southern end of the Yankee Doodle Bikeway that, in theory, is going to commence construction this coming winter:

https://www.town.billerica.ma.us/534/Bike-Path

https://hwy.massdot.state.ma.us/proj...asp?num=608227

On the return trip I stopped at Fawn Lake:



I came back through Lexington center right about noon. Almost immediately the weather really changed. The wind picked up and was now a headwind out of the east, and the temp dropped about 10 degrees. I was glad I wore a long sleeve jersey.

Frequently when riding the MM I have been passed by a guy riding an electric motorbike. In East Lexington today I finally got a picture of him as he blew by me going at least 25mph:



Full face, moto style, helmet, leather jacket. I couldn't tell if it had pedals, but if it did he wasn't using them, so obviously throttle controlled. I just don't think that thing belongs on a "no motorized vehicles" MUP.

Rant over. It was a good ride!

Tom

rholland1951

Another afternoon ride on the Minuteman on Monday, quick in both senses, on the Rivendell Rambouillet this time, yet another steel-frame sport-touring bike set up with friction shifting and supple 32mm Stampede Pass Extralights, with a geometry somewhat different from both the Rawland and the Ebisu, like them, except when it's not. Agile, quick, and pleasing to ride. I guess I should try to characterize the differences, but not today.


Did I just give myself some homework?

rod

rumrunn6

might as well report it before he knocks down an old lady or kid or me!

EVlove

It certainly doesn't, and that description makes it a motorized bicycle under MA law, which means not only are MUPs off limits, but the driver needs a license and registration.

bike_tom

So, it's complicated. If you look up Mass laws on mopeds and motorized scooters, you find this: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/mo...n-requirements
Which says:

• You may use bicycle lanes next to various ways but are excluded from off street recreational paths.

Good, but that defines a moped or scooter based in engine CCs, so doesn't apply to electric bikes.

I found this article on ebikes: https://www.massbike.org/ebikes
According to the article:

Class 1 and Class 2 electric bicycles are not considered to be "motorized bicycles" as further defined in MA law, as such no license is required to ride them and they're allowed on bikeways and bike paths. However a local jurisdiction may regulate and prohibit their use on bikeways/bike paths, but only after a public notice and public hearing.

What that guy was riding clearly had a throttle, so its not Class 1 or Class 3. And he was exceeding 20mph, so also not Class 2. Does that make it a "motorized bicycle", which brings us back to the moped laws, which don't talk about electric power.

Then I found this: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ma...-c85-ss-11b-34.
Section (d) of that bans electric bicycles from natural surfaced paths but not paved ones. Unless, the local municipality imposes such a ban. This is basically what the massbike.org site says.

Question: what laws really apply to something beyond any of the three ebike classes?

rholland1951

I've temporarily sidelined the 44mm Rene Herse Manastash Ridge Extralights with Schwalbe SV-17 tubes on the Seven in favor of a pair of 44mm Rene Herse Snoqualmie Pass Extralights with Rene Herse TPU tubes. This is the beginning of an experiment (probably at least a year) with the TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) tubes. The Snoqualmie Pass tires are a known quantity, well-designed all-road tires with 2225 miles logged on the LHT. The TPU tubes are a novelty, with an intriguing technical story. I intend to ride them hard over the coming season. I got started with that this afternoon, making a quick run up the Minuteman to Lexington Center and back on the Seven. My initial impression was of swift comfort. We'll see what the verdict is in a thousand miles or so.


Meanwhile, the Mile 4.0 Cairn Builders are back to miniatures, and lots of them. I could get used to that. Story time!


rod

EVlove

I looked it up before my post, and found most of the same information. I didn't closely follow the 2022 update to specifically include class 1 and 2 ebikes, but it looks like they forgot to clarify the "motorized bicycle" (moped, to you and me) category at the same time. As you say, it still references gas power only. However, electric mopeds definitely fell under that category prior to 2022 (we own two of them and got one registered for road use for a while) and that shouldn't have changed just because those new, lower-speed classes were added.

Unfortunately, I think this is a case of someone getting away with it because it would be too dangerous to enforce the law. People ride unregistered ATVs and dirt bikes right past my house in the summer, and get away with it. Can you imagine the cops going after somebody on a trail?

rumrunn6

I certainly don't know, that's why I suggested calling it in. that's how I found out Concord does not have a mandatory leash law

rumrunn6

& if it's not reported, the cops have no reason to go looking or have another plan. I don't make the assumption that nothing would be done or could be done. my role is reporting. if nothing is done & someone is injured or killed it's not on me

rumrunn6

we had a loose dog show up on our security camera. I sent the pics & vids to our local police. I wasn't making any assumption that they wouldn't do anything, or couldn't do anything. I merely reported what I saw & where I saw it. it was up to them to either do something or not. later in the day, they contacted me to thank me for the pics & vids & that the dog was reunited w/ it's owner. they didn't say my pics & vids had anything to do w/ it. it's not my job to connect the dots, but if we don't provide the dots, the ppl whose job it is to connect the dots, won't have any dots to connect

if someone comes racing out of the woods on an illegal ATV after they committed a crime & the popo has a clue where they went, that's a good thing. I have no idea what happened prior to what I saw, only what I saw

how severe would someone person's actions have to be, before we said something, or did something? what's our threshold?

rholland1951

And that's the heart of the matter.

rod

bike_tom

FYI, I sent an email late yesterday to the Traffic division of the Arlington police department. I described my siting of the electric motorbike and included the same picture I posted here.
I got this reply early today from an Arlington police officer:

"So, you're essentially saying you saw/are seeing a moped on the bike path. E-bikes are allowed because they do not fall under the new definition of a "motorized vehicle" and the town has not elected to ban them from our section of the trail; mopeds still aren't allowed.

If you have a usual time and area where you see this moped on the trail, please let us know and we'll try to have someone monitor the area to gain compliance"

My interpretation is that he is stating that an electrified bike that does not meet any of the three ebike classifications, and is therefore a moped, is not allowed on the MM. If we (concerned users of the MM) can narrow down when/where this moped can be observed, they are willing to attempt compliance.

Tom

rholland1951

I got out for a walk on Thursday afternoon: lovely and warm. Had a bit of time for a ride a little later in the afternoon, and dressed for lovely and warm, got windy and cold. It's all relative, of course, but the short jersey, short pants, and no gloves were still a bit of a mismatch as the wind blew cold raindrops my way. However that might be, I was having great fun with the Seven and its new shoes. The TPU tubes held their air so well that I felt I didn't need to pump them up before riding (heresy!), and I took to heart the fact that I could operate the brifters from both the hooks and drops, as well as the familiar hoods. This more aggressive approach, to say nothing of the new Snoqualmie Pass Extralight tires and TPU tubes had me flying along, fastest time on this course thus far this season. The speed kept me warm.


I thought this bike would teach me a few things. That appears to be coming right along.

rod

rumrunn6

I like that color, especially in that light

rumrunn6

excellent. well done

rholland1951

I've never been too much a fan of riding two-abreast on a bike trail, but a Friday afternoon ride on the Minuteman with my son John is causing me to rethink that. We rode out to Depot Park together, chatting the whole time, and had a good, content-rich conversation while we pedaled along, he on his Soma Pescadero, I on my 1982 Specialized Sequoia. Aware that John's Pescadero was a steel bike set up with STI machines, I opted for the old Sequoia, which was compatibly equipped due to a recent refit. While STI was designed around the needs of racers, the ability to easily match speeds and stay synchronized serves the ends of conversation as well.

John on his Pescadero.


I on my venerable old Sequoia, which was feeling its oats.


On the outbound leg, we stopped at Battle Road Bikes, to replace a little fender hardware that seems to have gone out for a beer. Jim got us out the door and back on the trail in record time.

A good ride and a good talk were had. And I see two-abreast riding in a different light.

Me and my shadow (also, John's left foot).


rod

rholland1951

What to do with a sunny Saturday, just a little on the cool side? I took the Seven and rode East.


This was the quasi-weekly hills-and-traffic drill. The Seven leapt up and down the numerous hills, paved relics of the Fells escarpment, and took its place in the Medford and Malden traffic, accompanied by a regular fanfare of car horns, plus one very loud turkey who chimed in in East Arlington. In addition, the newly-installed 44mm Snoqualmie Pass Extralight tires set up with TPU tubes, all from Rene Hearse, shot through the miniature canyonland of broken pavement in Medford, Malden, and Melrose without pause and without deflection. I made good time throughout.

While leaving Medford, I paid my respects to the fine old time machine there, still time-travelling after many a year.


Note: Once upon a time I did think of parking in that spot, and immediately got a flat tire.

The Malden Bike Kitchen appears to be a going concern on the Northern Strand now, although not actually open Saturday afternoon. Good luck to them.


rod

rumrunn6

Wifey & I often try it but then we usually go into single file swapping who leads. usually due to other traffic

rholland1951

Tuesday was the second day of extraordinarily good weather in a row and the the trail was thronged. For the most part, I avoided photographing the throngs, and I absolutely avoided colliding with any. That seemed important. Here's a fair sample of the good weather, and a homeopathic dose of throng.


I rode the Rivendell Appaloosa from Arlington to Depot Park and back.


With its long-wheelbase and 55mm tires, the Appaloosa is a horse of a different color.


Good to stretch out a bit on the ride to Bedford.


A cautionary tale was told to any who could listen.


Meanwhile the Mile 4.0 Cairn Builders extended their series of miniatures. Please do not throw the sculpture.


rod