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Old 07-12-11, 04:52 AM
  #1169  
Jim from Boston
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Originally Posted by JandersUF
stretching the definition of metro Boston
Originally Posted by mtalinm
…but I would swear I saw Jim From Boston heading west on Route 16 in Newton around 11:40 a.m.![on Saturday, July 9]
This Saturday I did my Century Ride in Michigan, the “One Helluva Ride” organized by the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society. Since Ann Arbor is the home of the University of Michigan, and Michigan is considered the “Harvard of the West,” I’ll use that premise to stretch the definition of a Metro Boston ride.

The major reason to attend that ride so far away, other than to also see family in the Detroit area, was to meet by mutual agreement with several subscribers to the Fifty Plus subforum of Bikeforums. I posted a long report about the ride to the thread on Fifty Plus, “Ann Arbor, Michigan, 3rd Annual 50+ Summer Ride, "One Helluva Ride" Invitation.”

I invite you to read about it if interested, but here is an excerpted cautionary tale about an unusual hazard of hot weather riding:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
I had my crash at 94 miles. I was immediately assisted by some bystanders who claimed I was KO’ed for a bit, and the ambulance and police soon arrived. The upshot was spending from about 4:00 to 8:30 PM in the Emergency Room, with abrasions on my arms, knees, and a couple ugly ones on my face; and a gash about 1 inch long requiring 18 stitches to close. But not to worry, I’m OK, though I haven’t checked out the bike.

Wha’ happened? I was riding about 5 mph on the main street, and on that road surface were these strips of tar, the policeman called “tar seams,” apparently a cheap fix for cracks. In the 90 degree heat they became soft and sticky and grabbed my tire, and since I was going slowly, one pulled me down. The officer said that they had also received complaints from motorcyclists about these tar seams. I think my brand new eyeglasses made the gash. Ironically, since I had a corneal abrasion a few weeks ago I have been wearing goggles over my eyeglasses and I have to wonder if the goggles pushed the eyeglasses into my face. The frames were pretty damaged and unwearable though I had a spare pair in the car. Everybody was very nice and professional and I could take the episode in stride, but...
I’m still OK, with some general achiness from the crash on the drive back to Boston on Monday, and I’ll be riding Wednesday; stitches out on Thursday. The front wheel was taco’ed so I’ll take it into the shop today (Tuesday). If you look at the accompanying photos, at the dinner table I’m the one against the wall, in a striped shirt. I took the photos of the assembled cyclists so I don’t appear.

PS:
Originally Posted by sherbornpeddler
...As for myself, my wife and I biked rookie miles around Gloucester and Rockport. No Ferraris, no epic rain or power miles but we did stop at a few beaches and enjoyed very fine dining…
For about four summers, the family spent a week or two in Rockport and I did a lot of cycling both up to, and around Cape Ann. The perimeter of Cape Ann was also a favorite besides Rte 127 A from Beverly, as well as out Rte 133 from Gloucester to Essex and then Rte 22 to Danvers. That red shack in the picture is specifically known as Motif Number 2, having replaced M#1 after the Blizzard of 1978.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motif_Number_1
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