rholland1951

Yikes! What sort of idiot does that?

rod

rholland1951

Took the Rambouillet out for a spin up the eastern shore of the Mystic Lakes late Saturday afternoon, with a little excursion past Shannon Beach to the site of the aqueduct that carried the Old Middlesex Canal across the water, some 200 years ago.


The storms had barreled through a little earlier that afternoon, and there were some pretty respectable puddles on the Mystic Valley Parkway. One of them filled the whole northbound lane, and cars were charging through it at speed, splashing extravagantly.

rod

rumrunn6

don't know why I can't use the normal quote feature. let's see if this works

dunno. not a dog person. we're cat ppl. I imagine it must be fun to let a dog run free. our cats certainly do. it was early morning, so other ppl & dogs were few & far between, so the woman probably thought it would be safe. but she sounded like she knew the dog had issues

rumrunn6

the whole ride, not too exciting, except for the bite! hehe

rholland1951

That's a pretty wonderful ride video. It also documents the dog owner's negligence. Responsible dog owners obedience-train their pets. Cheaper than attorney's fees.

rod

bike_tom

Wow. Sorry that happened to you. I ride through there all the time. Seen lots of off-leash dogs, but never had one do that. Worst thing I had to do is maneuver around dogs that were a little too friendly.

I think that dog was at the Bedford Town Meeting where they debated the Bikeway Extension. He voted "no".

rumrunn6

haha that makes sense since they like to let their dog run free
but I like the dirt path too
& yeah, me too, completely blind sided me. thought it would be another happy dog ride-by

rumrunn6

oh thank you so much. really excited to see more color soon. I'm liking the new to me camera (gopro8). I may never watch an old video of mine ever again. so happy about the image stabilization. even w/ the camera on the bars

but I'm having an issue w/ my home computer. I bought a used MacBook Pro which is new enough for some things but not new enough for some other things. they make it hard to match up software applications for an older version of the Mac OS. consequently I have a mismatch of software w/ a known bug that washes out the video image. only fixed by upgrading the software, which I can not do. consequently have have to manually rejuvenate those values but I can't get it super great. lack of summer color makes the image even more nauseating, to me. I can use an even older iMac but it's not as powerful so I have to keep those vids shorter. but thank you!

rholland1951

Had a ride planned for Sunday afternoon that involved heading North. After rolling the Ebisu out of the garage, one look at the northern horizon suggested a more or less literal rain check on that route.


When in doubt, head for the Minuteman. If nothing else, it provided a better look at the stormy weather.


The willows would like to confirm that Spring is here!


All of this weather entailed a stiff breeze, at various times a headwind, a tailwind, and a troublesome crosswind that at one point produced a 2-meter transverse displacement in the course of 10 meters of forward motion, at speed. Kept the rubber side down, but it was an interesting experience. The rain did catch up with me from time to time, mostly in the form of blowing drizzle. The Taiga shell kept both the rain and the wind in check.

rod

rumrunn6

yay, finally some color, when do the trees blossom on Comm. Ave & Marlboro St. I wonder
& wow side wind can be powerful, was it near the great meadows area? it's so open w/o trees
today looks like a great day for a ride

rholland1951

The Invisible Hand was encountered just off the Minuteman, where Winslow Street starts from Russel Terrace, descends past the Knights of Columbus watering hole and rises to cross Mystic Street and gain access to the Town parking lot behind Arlington Center. This is my normal departure from the Minuteman, setting me up to pedal into East Arlington and home. Winslow Street is a short and sweet roller coaster, with a rapid descent, a quick climb that doesn't quite consume all the gravity well karmic merit from the descent, and a couple of quick decisions to be made about traffic at the top. It can also be a bit of a wind tunnel, if there's a wind with a significant N or S component vector.

rod

rholland1951

Monday I claimed the rain check from Sunday's ride, and headed North on the OAC Rambler, the yellowest bike in the stable. First things I saw were sailboats dancing on the Upper Mystic Lake; I took that as a propitious omen of Spring.


After turning off Mystic Valley Parkway to Bacon Street, Winchester, I crossed Bacon and picked up the Tri-Community Greenway. This runs alongside water (the Aberjona River, mostly) or railroad tracks, or both, through Winchester, Woburn, and Stoneham, on a cobbled-together mix of paved, off-road trails and on-road segments marked with sharrows and bike route signs. This improvisation works surprisingly well, providing pleasant bike access through an area where road riding can sometimes be a bit dodgy.


I worked my way through the water gardens of Winchester Center...


Through an on-road segment through a residential neighborhood presided over by a hilarious bear...


On through another on-road segment that led through a district of Jewish cemeteries in Woburn, thick with the histories of individuals, families, and communities...


Never far from the Aberjona River for too long...


Soon enough, within spitting distance of I-93, the goal of this ride was reached: the site of the big old Jell-O factory that had fruitily perfumed its neighborhood in Woburn for decades. I had heard that it had been demolished, and had even had a dream about that. Turns out it was true. Some remnants of some structures seem to have been preserved, so far, although for what is not immediately obvious; perhaps Mr. Google will know. In any event, the Tri-Community Greenway skirts the perimeter of the site, so it will be easy enough to keep track of its evolution.


That done, I indulged myself in a trip through the bike tunnel under I-93, beautiful with street art. I stayed on the Greenway as far as Montvale Avenue, then decided against riding on the roads to complete a big loop: the traffic seemed to be getting a little thick, and the hills were higher than I remembered. So I simply turned around and ran the tape backwards, 15 miles through Arlington, Winchester, Stoneham, and Woburn, on a beautiful Spring day.


rod

rumrunn6

wow you really know the area & go thru some interesting places! entertaining gifs!

rumrunn6

since the ole Trek FX 7.0 Alpha was already out of the basement I pumped up the tires & put it back on the car, for ride after work, on the Minuteman

it was a lovely cpl of hours. no canine assaults ... ;-)

got to watch some boaters at Spy Pond

& I got back just in time for sunset. no lights required! 1st time since last Fall!

saw this new water quality sign at the pond. also saw a cpl of the young men in the water, up to their ankles, but they were horsing around & one fell in & got pretty wet. here's hoping they washed off the cyanobacteria afterwards!

since my hard fall in February I was on the fence about riding the raised walkway (which isn't for bikes anyway) but as I rode past the clearing I saw it was empty & didn't hear any voices. if I ever came across a pedestrian I don't know what I would do. but it's my guilty pleasure, so I turned around

it was a nice test of the gopro8's image stabilization. during the winter, my ride over it was quite jittery, but not this day. I'll export a vid clip at some point I guess because it's so smooth now

rholland1951

Sometimes a good trail can really open up local history for a good ride.

rod

rholland1951

The longer daylight is a real gift, this time of year! Yesterday was lovely! Sounds like a great ride.

rod

rholland1951

I put the Rawland Nordavinden back in the rotation this afternoon, and sallied forth in shorts and short sleeves for the first time this season (unless I'm forgetting some even more anomalous weather, always possible). It felt good in the 70° weather, and being back on the Nordavinden felt even better than that.


The Nordavinden is a low-trail bike, until recently, the only one I had any experience with. The OAC Rambler (yellow bike) is also low trail, and handles similarly in some ways, differently in others. While I'm still getting the differences sorted, I'm finding that riding the Rambler is informing the way I ride the Nordavinden, calming my hands when I steer. It's interesting, and not necessarily something I expected.


Meanwhile, the Mile 4.0 Cairn Builders are back to having some of their classic dyadic kind of fun, Neolithic drama as a little relief from our own post-modern stuff. Looks like the Sphinx posing her famous riddle to Oedipus, but perhaps it's the one about Gilgamesh and the Three Bears; you never can tell with sphinxes.


rod

bike_tom

Greetings. I've been enjoying the picture laden ride reports from my fellow posters.

This morning I did another "first time this season" ride: the Narrow Gauge Rail Trail (NGRT). Last fall I added the NGRT into my regular rotation, after not having ridden it for many years. It's actually quite a pleasant ride. The conditions were good today. A few wet spots, but no significant mud.

I started out by riding the MM to the Bedford Depot. The trees at the seating circle are budding and will likely pop soon:



I always stop to enjoy Fawn Lake. It was a bit ripply from the mild wind:



Here's the view looking along the NGRT just north of the lake:



The northern terminus of the trail is at Spring Road in Billerica. Here's a view looking south from the turnaround:



As you can see, that section is narrow, with a very sandy rut down the middle.

The blurb about the NGRT on the Bedford Depot website mentions that Billerica has considered developing it as the Yankee Doodle Bike Path.
There's some info about that on their town website: https://www.town.billerica.ma.us/570...Path-Committee

Similar to the Reformatory Trail, I have mixed feelings about development, though I would really like to see increased off-road connectivity.
In any case, probably best not to hold your breath for this to be happening.

I retraced my route back home. A very pleasant morning!

Tom

rholland1951

Took the Ebisu for a quick sprint on the Minuteman up to Lexington Center and back before dinner, a fast-for-me time.


Again in shorts! Spring is definitely growing on me.

rod

Ghazmh

I’ve been keeping the wheels spinning the past few weeks. So far for 2022 my weekend rides seem to be the same as my weekday rides. Early and not more than 35 miles long.

rumrunn6

I remember the 1st time I hit that soft spot. caught me off guard!

rumrunn6

you reminded me of my Park & Pedal Experiment!

rholland1951

Took the Rambouillet out the Minuteman on a breezy day, temperatures in the low 50s. No short pants for me!


Kept a good pace and enjoyed the verdure that's emerging, to say nothing of the early blooming this and that.


About 2/3rds of the way through the ride, I realized that I had forgotten to wear my helmet, apparently tricked by the helmet liner, which was nice and warm. Oh well, what could happen?


A bit after that, I got a call from an old colleague, and found a quiet spot for an engineering discussion, a pleasant change of pace for my retired self. And then I rolled home. I had noted that the front derailleur needed adjustment, so I put the Rambouillet on the back of the car, added the GT for good measure, and took them both to Battle Road Bikes for a little work.

rod

rholland1951

That's the most beautiful photo of Ponyhenge I've seen in a long time.

rod

rumrunn6

cpl years ago, on a hot July 4th, Wifey & I went out for her 1st ride of the year. it was so hot she didn't want to wear a helmet & I sweat just standing still, so we went without for the 1st time since before we had kids (25+ yrs ago). naturally, that was the day she crashed into a bike path bollard & broke her wrist