sherbornpeddler

Way cool track bike trip! The idea is cool and the execution sounds creative. You must have the satisfaction of a grand adventure.
I presume you rode fixed gear? Brakes? How'd you carry tarp? What gear did you carry and how'd you carry it?
I keep wishing my Garmin Vista HCx will be easier than stopping every 3rd turn to put on reading glasses and reading a map. Last year Garmin recalculated umpteen times when I veered off it’s high traffic Rt. 128 service road routing. This year my Provincetown trip with map and GPS took us off course only a few times. In terms of infallibility, it was three way tie between map, gps and my judgment.
Last year I used a new modern, screened tarp tent with sleeping bag, change of clothes and can opener. Light weight touring is a blast and your Boston-coastal version ambitious. I like your inventive train portion and night time bolt home. Lights?

jimmuller 

And I'm wondering how they managed right turns.

sherbornpeddler

Now I know bicycling Metro Boston and sharing adventures, sights and wit contributes to our physical and mental agility but this is nimble.

sherbornpeddler

I signed up for the Great River Ride in Westfield, on the western side of Metro Boston. Never done it or any other RUSA sanctioned event. https://newhorizonsbikes.com/articles...2010-pg161.htm

jimmuller 

I've been called a nimbskull more than once. At least I think that's how they pronounced it.

(Thanks. I think.)

Several of us are signed up for PastorBob-In-New-London's Oct 2 C&V ride. It could maybe be called Metro Boston's extended northern annex. Resident's of NH may disagree with the association.

sherbornpeddler

JimM,
Bon voyage! Enjoy your classic and vintage adventure in New London, NH. It looks like great scenery and a carefully prepared route by really nice folks.

Beautiful day today! I rode with old friends on an old route from Bruegers in Wellesley up to Concord (Rt 126 was busy and Rt 117 in Lincoln is still hellish) and back for coffee at Peets. Tomorrow, maybe vintage but pretty sure not classic, I expect to meet new folks on what is for me a new ride in the Major Taylor Century out of Whitinsville, MA, swooping through Chepachet, RI, Thompson, CT and Grafton MA.

We should all have interesting reports of a classic fall weekend!

ZIPP2001

Have a good time tomorrow doing the Major Taylor Century. I went and did my Worcester Airport route today, left at 8 am and it was cold. Now its off with the wife
on a fun cruise with the Smart car, and find another new spot to eat.

MacCruiskeen

I rode out to Carlisle this morning. Stopped at the Farmer's Market at Kimball Farm, fortunately the ice cream stand was not open. However, I did end up buying a blondie bar from a kid with a table. Didn't need any produce, as I'd just picked up my CSA share and the fridge is full. Crossed down to Concord, and then along the way back I stopped at the Minuteman park, which turned out to have a ridable trail through it. Well, basically hard-packed sand covered by a lot of acorn tops. I cut back to the street after a while. Turns out that riding over acorns gets tedious.

sherbornpeddler

Major Taylor was a hill climbing wizard, world champion and loved the Worcester hills.
I'm no Major Taylor; not a wizard or even an apprentice but I did finish the MT Century tour from Whitinsville, MA to RI, CT, all the way up to Grafton, MA (I think it is required that every eastern MA century go through GRafton) and back to the start. The start was cold and stayed cool all day....except when riding up hills. I warmed up about 3,000,000 times. There are a fair number of hills. I heard estimates of 6K and 7K ft of climbing. I kept my estimate of 3,000,000 ft to myself. The volunteers were friendly at the rest stops 1/3 and 2/3s of the ride and at the finish. The riders were all pleasant and quite a few seemed very experienced and focused; others were determined to make it a pleasant outing chatting with buddies.
It is a fascinating fall tour of topography, industry, stone walls, colorful woods and grand view, NE farming and current developments. There are beautiful conservation lands, lakes, ponds and back roads along with old urban factory towns and suburban commute towns.
Oh, and there are hills.

jimmuller 

Congrats on that century. It sounds like a grind, but such a fun grind! I'm sure that 3,000,000 ft of climbing is accurate. Oh yeah. Absolutely.

I did no riding today. Spent the day (6 hrs) in a canoe on the Nashua River. Stretching the quads out and working the upper body. It was lovely but cold.

sherbornpeddler

Saturday my wife and I went for a canoe ride on the local pond. Fall colors and clear sky reflected in the pond. Time to bring the canoe home.

sherbornpeddler

Zipp Smart Car cruised, I canoed on the pond and JimM quad-stretched the Nashua. Is it just me or does anyone else notice when MetroWest cyclists cross train with spouse there isn't that much hill climbing involved?

ZIPP2001

I tend to use my Saturday trips with my wife as scouting missions for future cycling rides. I found a real good climbing route
out of Orange center that I might try to ride before November. Out and back from my house it would be 63 miles with most
of the climbing toward the second half of the ride. I like to find rides with plenty of climbs. Even know I ride a Tri bike and
am not as light as yesteryear I just enjoy climbing.

jimmuller 

Unfortunately, due to a few minor physical issues that may eventually be okay my wife doesn't do any biking these days even though she has a nice custom bike we built for her many years ago. But she was never a fan of being aggressive, neither on hills nor in traffic. It just didn't come naturally to her. We hope soon to start her on a trainer again for short intervals, hope she doesn't re-injure anything. If that works out we'll start back out on the road and maybe consider a tandem.

sherbornpeddler

Jim, Sorry to hear about your wife's difficulties and glad to hear optimism. I was way to obscure in a failed attempt at humor trying to note a lack of hills on our respective canoe trips, water being pretty flat. My wife and I enjoy biking rail trails away from traffic and hills. We contemplate a tandem from time to time but haven't borrowed or bought one yet.

Zipp, Orange sounds like a nice destination and, as I recall, in a hilly area. I bet you like it.

I discovered 30c Grand Bios tires won't fit on my Raleigh Cadent 1.0. I'm contemplating using it (triple front chain ring) for the Great River Ride. Unlike the flood plains of the Concord, Sudbury and Charles, there are rumors of 8000 ft of climbing.

cmolway

wet commute into Boston this morning--though not nearly as cold as I was dreading.

Hope my gear/clothes dry out enough to put them back on at the end of the day.

sherbornpeddler

Sooo nice to get out! Cmolway braved the rain.

It is officially time to re-learn what to wear for rain and cold weather.

I used the wet weather to play with wheels and tires one my Raleigh Cadent 1 and take it for a spin with 28c tires. I'm trying to soften the ride up enough to take it on a hilly century where I want to ride a triple.
Do I wear shoe covers, gloves and tights for the forecasted (dry) 36F? if it is going to warm up to 60F during the ride?

Cmolway, Did you wear rain gear? Fenders?

ZIPP2001

Great start to the Holiday weekend. Friday the wife and I spent the day in Boston walking the city, and today I was able to get out and roll 65 miles.
For me this is the start of my weight gain season, just hope I can keep below 200 this winter.

jimmuller 

Alas, no riding for me today. Hd a gig to play.
I recommend x-c skiing. The aerobic demand is akin to cycling and it keeps the legs in shape. Of course, you can't always do it without driving further north.

ZIPP2001

jimmuller the problem for me is the cold weather. The only thing I like to do in winter is drive in it, and shovel my driveway. I'm more like a bear that goes into
hibernation, but I continue to eat. Even this weather is tough on me, when it dips below the 60's I don't ride as much. I just love heat, heat, and more heat but
that ain't happening in New England. I do try to get the most out of whatever rides I do, by making them a hammerfest, just put it in TT mode.

sherbornpeddler

It was about 35F at the start of the Great River Ride and I had 3 layers on top, shorts and tights, toe booties, gloves and gloves, balaclava. By noon I was down to normal gear except I kept the tights and zipped open jacket. It is difficult to keep comfortable with big temp swings compounded by heating up going up hills then big drops in temperatures in the shaded valleys.

Still, it was a beautiful day.

cmolway

rode from Ipswich out to plumb Island and back yesterday. Beautiful weather and scenery (which we only occasionally noticed b/c our paceline was suffering in a killer headwind/crosswind for most of the 50 miles of the ride). It was about 47 or so at the start so I simply rode with the addition of arm warmers, a wind vest and pedaled a little harder.

sherbornpeddler

Note to self: this is just the Fall, not Winter and I'm once again overreacting to change. A few more rides and I'll wonder how I ever rode in summer heat.

Ok, maybe not, but I will, I will become comfortable going for Fall rides in the right clothing. I also will eat like a bear and gain weight although I will resolve not to. I will wimp out at the first snow and angst over slush and a mucked up bike. I'll plan on a ton of indoor trainer miles and ride about 1/3 of planned and get off to a slow start back on the roads and then, then I will wonder what 2011 will be like.

ZIPP2001

Hey SBP ! I got out for a quick 25 miles after work today, it was 53 degrees when I finished. I was thinking that if we get a spot of weather like that in Jan. or Feb. we'll think we're having a heat wave. Your winter riding plans seem to follow mine, just not a winter person. I gave my rollers to a friend two years ago because they were collecting dust. Keep telling the wife we should join a gym but have yet to pull the trigger on that yet. I did hit one goal this year and that was to beat last years millage which I did with my ride on Sunday.

sherbornpeddler

Z,
Congratulations on achieving your goal! Topping last year's miles and you still have 2 1/5 months to go. How'd you do it? What did you do differently this year?

I have 1108 miles to go for my goal. My kids are fans but I've not been much of a gym person. I do like my trainer but haven't topped 1000 trainer miles in a year. I can patch in favorite MetroBoston routes and videos of famous rides but nothing beats the real world even if it is a bit soggy and cold....I guess.

Nice weather today though! I only went 19 miles but it sure was beautiful out to Hopkinton and Ashland.