jimmuller 

Yeah, Sunday was (as I write this it still is) a great day for a ride!

I took my Motobecane out for 65 miles today, home in Waltham to Carlisle and back, all by shall we say less than direct routes. My only wish for something different was that the various public water fountains were turned on. Alas, they were all off, so a stop at Ride Studio helped on the return.

Carlisle conservation land:


Fern's wasn't quite prepared for the onslaught. Too many bikes:

rholland1951

Beautiful day, for sure! I got out too, put the Rawland Nordavinden on the road for the first time since December.


It was a real pleasure to go nipping right along on that, very different from crunching along on studded tires. Lots of people out taking the air on the Minuteman.


Encountered a man running through Arlington Center wearing fire gear: hat, mask, respirator. Specialized physical training, I guess.

rod

JohnHuth

All right!!! Took off the studded snow tires yesterday and am back to the normal ones. It knocks at least 10 minutes off my commute. Yippee!!

Not only that, but I'm in higher gears the whole way.

jimmuller 

I rode my Motobecane, sew-up tires, 2x5 gearing, to work today. 'Twas a lovely morning, but I was overdressed for the return. Windy too. Dang it was a rough headwind coming home.

Have any of you noticed how incredibly wretched, angst-filled, nervous, and voluminous the traffic is becoming? Today was a real stress machine. But the bike ride was nice.

rholland1951

I've certainly noticed the cranky traffic. Maybe they're disoriented by the nice weather.

rod

JohnHuth

Yes! It didn't affect me much, but the back-up at the IHOP circle on Soldier's Field Road/Nonantum Road was the biggest I've ever seen it. Thank go I was on my bike.

Ghazmh

The water fountain at Concord Center was on this afternoon!!!! Spring now feels so much more official. When do they unlock the restrooms at the Old North Bridge?

jimmuller 

Great! And they were open yesterday. Today was awesome!

rholland1951

80s!!! Short pants and short sleeves!!! Summer shoes, Summer bike, Summer tires!!! Winter body, but you can't have everything, and that will find a new equilibrium soon enough. Kept a Summer pace on an evening ride up to Lexington Center and back, the Rawland floating along. In Lexington, a pyramidal red table-umbrella on the deck of a white house briefly evoked a vision of the Citgo sign, worthy of a double take, then gone.




rod

mr_bill

So, just a couple of quickies.
Yes, folks are getting used to the weather du jour.

The nicest thing about bike lanes is they give you more room to drive by braille.
The driver of the Prius was checking the road every dozen seconds or so. What could possibly go wrong?
(Luckily this time - nothing went wrong. Which is why people text and drive.)



And while people are out contemplating the wonderful weather, they sometimes forget to contemplate where they are.
(Luckily this time - nothing went wrong. But the apologies were so sincere, I doubt they will ever do that again.)


-mr. bill

rumrunn6

nice shot of the plate & so much for looking both ways, huh?

qcpmsame 

Wanted to get this out early, I am not going to be able to make a ride, pretty much every minute we have up in New Hampshire with our son and daughter-in-law is booked up. I don't want any hard feelings in the family so please excuse me this time. To little time with the kids now that they are away from the nest so I have to keep things on an even keel with everyone here. My apologies for any inconvenience.

Bill

jimmuller 

Too bad but da fambly comes first. The roads will still be there, most likely anyway. Enjoy your visit to New England, and New Hampshire in particular.

I see this sort of stuff all too often. Bike defensively, everybody. A lot of those drivers are courteous but a lot of them are brainless..

qcpmsame 

Not totally giving up Jim, if it goes better I will post here and send you a quick note/call you. fingers, toes and eyes are crossed.

Bill

Ghazmh

I loaded up the Smoothie's seatpost bag and handlebar bag with all the gear il be needing for my upcoming 200 mile weekend long CC ride and did a 82 mile shakedown test ride to Nashua and back yesterday. The weather was awesome!
I have a few changes to make with that list, less than 5 miles out the dry bag containing my rain gear that was strapped to the top of the seatpost bag fell off while I hit a patch of rough pavement. I resecured it and had no further problems.

jimmuller 

It was pretty awesome, wazznit?

Yesterday we held our Nth biannual mostly-C&V-ish CCRT ride today, Dennis to Wellfleet to the Atlantic, round trip 46.70 miles. It was cool and sunny, prob'ly cooler on the Cape than in the Boston area, great for biking except for some stiff wind on the return.

At the start. L to R: Top506, otg, spiker, my sweetie Sharon, Prowler, Gany, me. Gany isn't a BF member but is dating Top's daughter. (Ah, better learn to ride, Gany.) Top had fitted him with a nice Cannondale.


23.35 miles later, the end of this particular road:


A brief stop in Orleans:


At the Wellfleet end:



Lunch at the Wellfleet end:



Resting at the Harwich rotary on the return:


At the end, where we discovered that all seven of us were still standing!

otg 

A fine time was had by all!

rholland1951

Didn't ride yesterday, in favor of a day of wrenching on the Ebisu build. That's getting close to a first ride, but not quite yet. At times it seems to proceed from error to error, but I'm learning at every turn.


Had a ride this afternoon in the more-than-metaphorical Easter Parade on the Minuteman. Warm winds and cheerful crowds with only a vague sense of choreography and right-of-way made the trajectory a little more random than it might otherwise have been. Blossoms and buds are starting to refresh the scenery, a welcome change.










rod

Ghazmh

Got out for a splendid pre-sunrise ride this morning. I think the first pleasant scents of spring was in the air. That was accompanied by the sun rise over the trees on Baker Bridge road made it a splendid ride indeed. I had the misfortune of experiencing springs other scents Saturday. Someone in Dunstable had obviously fertilized their field with the most aromatic of manures available.

mr,grumpy 

Universe: Hey! Lets make the first ride of the year one you do with a 28 year old Spartan Racer Yuppy-kid on is Brand New Carbon Fiber Niner!
ME: Sure! Sounds like fun.
Universe: Sucker!

Yes, my computer-geek money step-son bought himself a bike with some computer-geek windfall money. And he wanted to go for a ride. The kid's fitness level is, generally, through the roof but he's not a cyclist at all. I thought that I stood a chance. Nope. The only times I got a shot at greatness was when the path got dirty and rocky. My old Tricross was able to plow through where he feared to tread. It was good though, because there's no way that I would have been using that hard on my own. 10-11 miles roughly making good speed for most of it. Also, I was able to get e new water bottle and some high-vis summer gloves (so no one can say "I didn't even se him" if they run me over now!). It was a good way to sped some tie with my boy.

rholland1951

Came home from work a little early and had a vigorous ride up to Lexington Center and back, pursued by a migraine. I dropped the migraine during the speedy return leg, and enjoyed the blossoms and sunlight. A pair of swans were inspecting the property at Peepers Pond; perhaps they'll stay. Spring, hurrah!


rod

qcpmsame 

Not that I want to quote myself, I have been granted a dispensation and a bicycle is making the trip up with us. I sent @jimmuller a PM to let him know, and if he and Sharon haven't made other plans I hope to meet them and those that are free to get together. I apologize for the confusion, if there is a ride that y'all have put togetheron Saturday 4/20, please let me know.

Bill

jimmuller 

We are definitely up for a ride on Saturday as long as it isn't snowing! I'm envisioning we start at Depot Park and go northwest, but it really depends on q's schedule.

I rode my Grandis to work today. Wow, what a nice day to be out and about on a bike.

qcpmsame 

As best I can tell from the Weather Channel's forecast, it should be mostly sunny to partly cloudy on Saturday. Just a little cooler than we are down here in the backwoods of the Deep South. Packing the appropriate Arctic weather riding gear this afternoon, and getting to bed early tonight so we can get to the airport early enough to satisfy TSA. See y'all on Saturday morning.

Thanks for those concise directions Jim, should be a breeze to find my way to the starting point.

Bill

jimmuller 

Okay, Ghaz, mr,g, rh1951, rumrun, and anybody/everybody else! Wanna' join us? The current plan is to meet at Depot Park ~9:30, ride to through Concord Carlisle, back to B'ford depending on timing. Sharon and I will probably do an additional run north to "the road that time forgot" just to sooth our souls.