rumrunn6

*sigh*

rholland1951

Thanks for that. Good reading.

rod

Ghazmh

Just took delivery of my new rain/winter bike. I’ll keep the studded tire on the cross bike for those days.

mr_bill

So pretty! But why the forbidden LBS is forbidden.

(Though my spouse will remind me that I bought three bikes and ended up with one. N-2?)

Anyhow, good to get out in the cold today.

Zero wind, great Sun, and even though the air
was cold the day was not.

-mr. bill

Ghazmh

After the dust settled from a whirlwind of driving around as Dads free ride share service to and from birthday parties and dance classes I got out on the new bike early afternoon for 35 miles.. It was delightfully cold and an omnipresent headwind added to the experience every direction I faced. The bike rode like a silky dream. Shimano has closed the gap between Ultegra and Dura Ace with the newest itirations that the user experience was indistinguishable to me. The 33mm tires coasted over the ruts and roadside bumps while the perfectly fitting frame soaked up the harshness. I just mounted my 1500 Lumen headlight and my Bar Mitts for tomorrow mornings early AM ride.

Ghazmh

I got out just before 6:00 AM for 31 miles with my new bike. It rides like a dream.

bike_tom

Rode out to Concord today on the Minuteman and Reformatory trails. It was one of those days where the wind was gusty and changing direction a lot, but it was still a great ride. Overall, it was quiet. A far cry from those crazy busy weekends in the summer. The Reformatory trail definitely has that late fall, nature-going-to-sleep look. Very pretty:



To follow up on Ghazmh's report about the water fountain in Concord Center being turned off: the fountains at the Bedford and Lexington Depots are also turned off. The Bedford Depot shop was open, but I had the circle of benches all to myself when I was there. My lower limit for riding temperature is about 40 degrees, so I am savoring what is left of the season. I hope that will be until mid-December.

mr_bill

After I came back this afternoon from Dave’s Fresh Pasta in Davis Square with a pound of fresh spinach ravioli and San Marzano tomatoes, pretty much yeah.

If I had to drive, nope nope nope. But it was a quick easy (and delightful) ride.

When the hardest thing is locking up your bike (twice)....

-mr. bill

jimmuller 

I managed to get out yesterday (Sunday) on the Masi. 45.66 miles. Not many cyclists out. Maybe the temperature had something to do with it. About 28deg when I started, pushing 40deg when I got back home.




The usual haunts were deserted.

jimmuller 

I rode my commute today, and a small part of it yesterday.

Yesterday I started out, felt the bike slip a bit after a few blocks, saw one person knocking ice off his car windows, saw more suspicious road surface, turned around after maybe 3/4 mile. Walked in the door and heard my sweetie say she was glad I came back then. So I grabbed some car keys (the Porsche, can you blame me?) and drove in, heard lots of black ice reports on the radio (which is what had prompted my sweetie to start worrying).

Today's commute was on wet roads but no direct rain this morning, so the bike got filthy but I didn't get wet. The weather was supposed to clear for the afternoon, but it turned out to be raining until I got halfway home. So I got wet and the bike got filthy again. Great fun!

I did see a nice sunset.

rumrunn6

The man has a Porsche but bikes to work - impressive

top506

He HAD a Triumph GT 6 but abandoned Anglo-Saxon purity of purpose for Teutonic creature comforts. So what if the Porsche starts every day even if it's damp......

Top
(who misses the absolutely infuriating frustration mingled with very occasional joy of owning a classic English sports car).

jimmuller 

Mom! Somebody has actually been reading my posts again!

jimmuller 

Ah yes, the joy of getting nauseous from leaning under a dashboard on a hot summer day, the smell of gasoline in one's nostrils from trying in vain to sync a pair of SU carbs, the thrilling shove in the back from an engine capable of going form 0 to 60 in 5 seconds if you give it an additional 5 seconds.

Sharon used to insist that noise-canceling headphones on my way to work in R.I. Then I got stopped by a state troop who "reminded" me that driving with headphones was illegal here. I handed him the phones and told him there was no music going through them. Ht looked at them for a moment, handed them back and said the law said no headphones but didn't say anything about ear muffs. I can still hear the roar of that engine. And after driving for an hour just barely hear anything else!

Vintage bikes are so much quieter.

top506

Having a hardtop, you missed the fun of assembling the soft roof from a bag of parts in a downpour......

Top

Ghazmh

62 miles today on my new Honey Allroads. 42 with a group from RSC. Up to 6915 miles for 2019 so far.

mr_bill

Just quick errands today. First out to Wegman’s to get a tiny kosher turkey for stock, drove. Then into Davis, rode.

Finally dawned on me. When my destination is outside of 128 (let alone near 495), I drive. Inside 128 I walk, ride, and T.

House smells good. (And a tiny turkey makes lots of stock.)

-mr. bill

Jim from Boston

FYA, @mr_bill, et al I have previously posted, mostly for non-Bostonians:

Ghazmh

After grocery shopping with my touring bike and Nomad trailer for the second morning in a row (not due to a limitation of hauling capacity but a limitation of me remembering to get everything in one trip) I rode 21.5 miserable soaking wet cold miles on my new Honey Allroads. The full length fenders kept the tire spray at bay. My fingers quickly reminded how nice the Bar Mitts would have been today as my waterproof Goretex gloves are waterproof in name only.

rumrunn6

you rode Sunday? impressive!

NomarsGirl

More like crazy. I didn't even want to go out in my car.

mr,grumpy 

I am not a very good internet cyclist. I forget to set my Strava and never take pictures. Heck, I rarely stop to take in the sites. Yesterday though, I had an appointment that brought me back to the "old neighbourhood" and I took the chance to take a ride on the Bruce Freeman Trail, where I used to ride with my wife when we were courting. I started up by the ball fields as the end closest to the tower (the old Wang Building) is usually crowded with office workers walking on their lunch breaks.


I took off across the street and up the trail. I passed behind where the old Bike Shop stood for decades before the Millenials made them close. I pedaled up to the center of town and tried to re-create the difficulty that another member had with crossing the intersection. I failed to do so, crossed without trouble and went back to my journey. The church in the town center was chiming so I took a picture of it to share the moment with you all.


My wife went to girl scouts here as a child and even knows someone who fell through the roof (under what circumstances is somewhat unclear).

I passed the new condos that stood where the old ambulance base used to be and out through the marsh. It wasn't very exciting or scenic and there were not a lot of people using the trail for a while then I notice that there were more frequent Office Walkers and I knew I was getting close to the Lockheed Martin building and, therefore, my ultimate destination, Kate's Corner.


An old fashioned country store with apost office right inside. It is surrounded by buildings owned by the First Baptist Church which is the place that my wife and I got married. Behind the store is the local gas station that used to fill up childrens' bike tires and do on the spot repairs for free and behind me, up the road just a spell, is the fire station. To the left of the store is the church itself and three doors down is the local Agway. Nestled quaintly between the church and the Agway is the barbed wire surrounded structure housing an outpost of a multi billion dollar defence contractor. Utterly charming!



After a short water break on the porch of the store I took a not particularly interesting trip back the way that I had come. The path out of the town center has a steady uphill grade to it, to the ride back was all downhill and was therefore slightly faster and more fun. In short order I go back to the town center and considered that there is a possibility that the official path might have been re-routed when the new condo were built. This might very well have been part of the issue that the other user encountered, but not I as i sailed down the "old" path and across the intersection without much difficulty. In short order I was back at the car and the ride over and I headed home. It was nice to have the chance to revisit a part of the world that was so important to my not so distant path and reconnect with some good memories.

rumrunn6

am I remembering correctly, did they once have a sign for homemade root beer?

mr,grumpy 

Yes they did! I didn't even think to look if that was still a thing there though.

mr_bill

I don’t know what the fascination is with church roofs and bell towers with youths, but it’s nearly universal(ist, or is it unitarian?) that if there is an unsecured access, someone will explore. (Though Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame does a good job of catching the joy, if not the danger.)

In Eastern Mass you can pretty much use the UU and UCC churches as waypoints while out riding. The minister’s roads which connect them are now paved, and sometimes stroaded though. Many of the old churches (like this one) were also town halls, and if you’ve ever wondered why some are nicknamed “the new church” it is because it’s the second (or third, or...) meetinghouse, the earlier churches having been lost to fire.

p.s. That’s some great “internet” cycling.

-mr. bill