Bishbike

Jim M. & DBrim, glad you made it home OK!

Bishbike

62 mile out and Back to Harvard today.

DBrim

All's well that ends well, right? And now I know how fast I go when I'm *really* in a hurry.

jimmuller 

Sometimes there is value is going fast! Or at least there is dryness.

sherbornpeddler

Congrats for clipping in and kit wearing!
We get that and you hit the nail on the head a few times describing key things we do. Spun, breathed and contemplating the next ride. Well done and it is nice to hear from you.

Bishbike

Great news!

Bishbike

What was suposed to ba a quick jaunt on the Minuteman turned into a great ride out to Concord and Carlisle.

Minute Man, Concord, Carlisle Ride - Belmont, MA


Stopped by the farmers market in Lexington. Heard a sax player in shorts, t-shirt, and wearing a tricorne atop his head play a medley of polkas.



After hitting Concord, headed out Lowell Rd. to Carlisle, and stopped by Ferns for a snack.




Saw some turkeys on Old Bedford Rd.

Jim from Boston

On Sunday, another incredible riding day, I borrowed my brother’s heavy duty comfort bike for a ride of about 15 miles. The photographs below illustrate how straight, wide, and flat the roads are in the northern suburbs of Detroit where I rode. That major road in the first picture usually has fierce traffic, but fortunately has a sidewalk for relatively safe riding. Sidewalks are not much used by pedestrians in the the extended suburbs of the Motor City. Geographically from downtown Detroit and economically, I think these suburbs (Sterling Heights and Troy) would be approximately equivalent to say Walpole and Canton, but much more sprawling.



In a thread on the Living Car-Free Forum, I recently corresponded with a Michigan (Lansing) subscriber to this thread, ”Sprawl-free vs. car-free:

The above is hopefully FYA, to realize what a cycling paradise Metro Boston really is.

We arrived back in Boston on Monday, and since I had Tuesday off I did an approximately 50 mile loop from Norwood to Kenmore Square via Concord. I did my usual route through Westwood and Dover to my new-found route of Maple and Whitney to Rte 126, then northward through Framingham to Baker Bridge Rd. On my last two rides Northbound on Rte 126 (“Old Connecticut Path”) after crossing Rte 20, I have mistakenly taken Old Sudbury Rd (Rte 27) instead of Concord Rd (Rte 126), but got it right today.

A favorite rest stop at that intersection is the Wayland Depot as pictured below (file photos), but this time from peering in the window, the place looked like it might be going out of business since the inventory was sparse. Just my impression.



On Baker Bridge Rd, even after all my trips, though usually in the opposite direction coming from Boston, I had never noticed the entrance to the Gropius house, and how close it is to the road. Unfortunately I had no camera to take a picture.

My ride was about 50 miles because somewhere on Trapelo Road, likely on a fast down hill on some rugged pavement before the Cambridge Reservoir causeway, I lost my computer; my last mileage check was about 31 miles at Baker Bridge and Concord Rd. As a self-professed mileage junkie, I can’t do without my “works,” so I spent about an hour of my of my precious day off retracing my route back over two fairly steep up-and–down hills looking for it, and then another hour then going back and forth with my two bikes to my shop get a new computer installed (synchronized for both bikes).

DBrim

I know the guy who designed that US20 shirt, Jim. He lives in Lynn! Cool guy, did a day trip drive with him last year.

jimmuller 

Welcome back home, JimFB.

A question, if you please. What is the legal status of riding on sidewalks in Massachusetts? I've always assumed it was discouraged and perhaps illegal by town ordnance. Arlington has such a sign where the MM comes in from the west (but of course that stops almost no one from riding the sidewalk over to A.Center and then bombing diagonally across to continue into Cambridge). If I can ride a road at all, I do that. I figure if we ever want real accommodation as vehicles then we must ride as if our bikes were real vehicles and show that fact by example. (I stop at most red lights too.)

Your Norwood-Concord route sounds interesting. One day (like real soon, yeah ) I must trace it out on a map. I have never really understood how to go south from metro NW. The MassPike/Rt20/Rt9/Natick/Framingham/Newton/Wellesley complex always seems a formidable barrier.

hubcyclist

Jim, my understanding is that it's ok to ride on sidewalks as long as you aren't in a central business district (I think that's the official language). Of course, I saw lots of sidewalk riders in Malden and cops never enforced it (but maybe different somewhere like Arlington).

DBrim

My research on the legality was similar. My work is on Lynnway, so my commute involves riding a bicycle on Lynnway. I do not consider riding on the street on Lynnway to be safe, so I briefly ride on the sidewalk there. I have not been bugged about it yet.

Jim from Boston

Thanks for the reply.

I too assume that riding sidewalks in Metro Boston is illegal. As I mentioned in my Michigan post, sidewalk riding is survivalistic, since most busy roads have NO shoulder. The sidewalk pictured is unique, because many side walks along those major roads end capriously and then may be present on the other side of the road further on down. Pedestrian traffic is almost nil.

I may ride a short distance on a Mass sidewalk for example within a block in a business district if I’m stopping at a store; more often to circumvent a line of cars. Right or wrong, I think of bikes as amphibious. Like an amphibian, a cross between a fish and a reptile, I use my bike as a cross between a vehicle and a pedestrian, though rarely and carefully as the latter.

IMO, the main barriers from NW Metrowest to the Southerlands are Mass Pike and Rte 9. I usually ride numbered routes in the North-South direction, such as 126, 27 and 85, but usually on early weekend days; otherwise not the most pleasant routes. If though you inspect a map closely for roads that cross Mass Pike, and usually also Rte 9, one can find nice alternatives. For example:

rumrunn6

I would probably agree ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cImkF43O6O4

godshammgod

I miss Ferns. Back in '09/'10 I was there pretty much every weekend. They had these little coconut clusters that were the best mid-ride snack...

rholland1951

Continuing the riding-on-sidewalks theme, my understanding is that Massachusetts pemits it except in business districts, where it is forbidden, but provides for a local option that permits towns and cities to impose further restrictions.

rod

godshammgod

Another short ride this morning (about 10 miles). I met a cycling friend I haven't seen in many months to drink coffee and take a short spin. He remarked during the ride that he forgot how much he enjoyed "social" rides like the one we were taking. I had to agree, and it just added more proof to my belief that the joys of cycling extend far beyond the physical. In my time off the bike I certainly missed the physical aspect of riding, exerting myself, etc., but more than that I missed the camaraderie of shared experiences on the bike. A 5:00 a.m. ride with a friend is certainly invigorating mentally. Plus, a delicious iced coffee never hurts!

Sorry for the philosophical detour, but I've been in that kind of a mood lately.

Jim from Boston

I’m posting about my 30 mile extended pleasant commute this morning from Kenmore to Norwood because my route was through the little-reported sector of the Metroverse on this thread, of Dorchester-Quincy-Milton-Canton. I left about 5:15 AM through Back Bay and the South End as the City was waking up. I went down Morrissey Blvd and over the Hancock St Bridge spanning the Neponset River (photo 1). I noted a MUP under the bridge on the Boston side. I have heard about a harborside MUP from downtown, perhaps still in the planning stages, but on an early morning outbound commute, the Road is the best.

Hancock St through Quincy is light commercial/residential, Then on Adam Street is the Adams Historic Park (photo 2) followed by about a half mile of a wide street with a wide shoulder passing by elegant homes (3). Adams then becomes much like Hancock into Milton.

Milton is a great place to ride. It’s an elegant to ritzy completely residential suburb with nice streets. The terrain is pleasantly hilly with gradual ascents and corresponding downhill runs. Milton borders on the Blue Hills Reservation with totally forested roads with low traffic, and perfectly newly paved roads (4). I took Unquity Road to the busy Rte 138 / Rte 128 intersection in Canton but soon got off onto the enchanted Greenlodge and Elm Streets with a screaming downhill run past a secluded golf course. Canton into Norwood was a tolerable ending.

The whimsical house in Norwood with the second floor animals is not on my usual bike route, though it was today, but on a car commute. Back in the Spring it was totally dilapidated, and I have watched the progress. The movie “The Money Pit” comes to mind (5).

godshammgod

I work in Milton and have commuted to work via bike on a few occasions, and I would agree that Milton is indeed a wonderful town to ride, although it can get busy at high traffic times.

Jim from Boston

During my South side sector commute this morning I too was in a reflective state and intended some comments below as a separate post, including a personal message to you, ghg.

Last week I finished my 10-Week Century Training Schedule as published a few years ago by Bicycling Magazine. I didn't really have a Century in mind as a goal, but the daily mileage quota gets me out on the Road more than I would otherwise. I was totally committed to it, but work, family, and climatic conditions allowed me to complete 967 of the 1522 miles over ten weeks (63%). Nonetheless, I feel that I am into a state of what I call “hyperfit” for me at least, but usually only attained in the summer at about week 8. I hope to maintain my mileage at that level for the rest of the summer.

I'm particularly motivated to ride currently because:

Note to godshammgod:

I have seen personally what a strong rider you are, and to approximately quote an aphorism I once read on Bike Forums, “My 15 mph is to me as your 23 mph is to you.” So I posted my above experience referable only to me, and I didn't want to bum you out.

You may have heard that I had a fractured sacrum from a cycling accident in June 2012, and I was off the bike for about five months.

My first return to cycling was a 2 mile ride on a Hubway step-through cycle; then partial four mile commutes to work via Commuter Rail; then full 14 mile commutes during the winter, and I resumed Century training the next summer. It seems to me that you have the confidence that you will return to full cycling too.

Early on in my convalescence, I knew that I would recover also, from this incident which I described in a PM to a fellow local BF subscriber:

godshammgod

Thank you for the inspiring message Jim! I'm glad that your recovery has gone well, and indeed I am in a more hopeful state recently. As I alluded to in my previous post, sometimes the biggest barriers are mental and not physical. Case in point-- today while riding alongside my friend I felt no pain, and was not even thinking of pain. Distraction is wonderful sometimes.

OldsCOOL

Jim, simply incredible. A fractured sacrum is a tough one to avoid in this endeavor. Way to go, man!

Jim from Boston

Thanks for your comments guys. I’m glad to hear about your progress, ghg, since it’s been a long time. In fact while searching for that Ben Hogan anecdote, I came across a post from you about your back injury in Jan of 2013. Our brief encounter on a morning commute was a few years before that as I recall.

When you’re in the throes of such an injury, there’s a lot of uncertainty about what the future holds. Hopefully your caregivers having the breadth of experience in dealing with such problems and the outcomes, and other "survivors," can embolden your hopes.

Welcome to this thread, OldsCOOL. He’s a paisano from Michigan, and we’ve corresponded a bit on and off the Forums, including this comment about my Century Training Schedule:

And now back to our regularly scheduled ride reports, already in progress.

Bishbike

Hammered out and back to Concord and back via the climb on Concord Ave.

Out And Back to Concord via Concord Ave. Climb - Belmont, MA

Got a flat and got to put my newly aquired Lezyne Road Drive pump to the test. Worked like a champ. Got the tire up to 100 psi or so with no problem!

Bishbike

Their brownies are pretty good too!

Played it healthy and got a Power Bar and some water.

Kimball Farm for ice cream is also another favorite, but I have to bring my sweetie to help me, because even their small is bigger than the large at most places.