Metro Boston: Good ride today?
10-27-13, 05:55 PM
#3051
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Mass
Posts: 197
Bikes: 2014 Trek Madone 5.2 2012 Canondale Synapse 6 alum. Gary Fisher Wahoo Panasonic DX 2000
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Chelmsford to Sudbury and back - 46 miles. Not too bad of a day today. Stopped at pedal power on the way back and test rode a roubaix - Did not fit me right. A little too compact
10-27-13, 08:50 PM
#3052
What??? Only 2 wheels?
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,434
Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10
Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times
in
232 Posts
Impossible? You have that backwards, I think. Your rides are inspirational, and after having ridden with you I'm sure you could ride us into the ground!
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
10-28-13, 07:46 PM
#3053
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,175
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 1,741 Times
in
890 Posts
10 miles on the Minuteman tonight, before the ball game, temps in the upper 40s, gentle headwind on the outbound leg, tires hissing through drifts of leaves. Go Sox!
rod
rod
10-28-13, 07:56 PM
#3054
What??? Only 2 wheels?
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,434
Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10
Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times
in
232 Posts
Did my commute again today. T'was cold when I started this morning but I warmed up eventually. The ride back was pleasant. I think last week's driver angst must have been induced by the full moon. Or that start of the Series. Or something.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
10-30-13, 07:25 PM
#3055
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,175
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 1,741 Times
in
890 Posts
Uncomplicated 10 miles in the dark on the Minuteman, temperatures falling through the 40s just into the 30s. A few puddles, some catching off-trail sodium lights like earth-bound moons. Home in the second inning, in time to hear Victorino hit the 3-RBI double on the raido. Go Sox!
rod
rod
10-30-13, 08:18 PM
#3056
What??? Only 2 wheels?
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,434
Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10
Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times
in
232 Posts
Did my commute again. It was awesome.
GO SOX!!
GO SOX!!
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
11-02-13, 01:20 PM
#3057
Senior Member
If you haven't gotten out on a ride yet today, saddle up -- it's the most perfect cycling weather there ever was out there. No pretty pictures, since I forgot even my cell phone, but I headed out to Bolton to play with my new gearing setup on familiar hills and gawk at the last of the fall foliage. Which was beautiful, but you'll have to imagine it. 
11-02-13, 04:01 PM
#3058
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 251
Bikes: 2002 Bianchi Eros, 2013 Peter Mooney Custom
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Sarah, you could not be more correct. Wonderful day for a ride!
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/1973761
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/1973761
11-02-13, 06:23 PM
#3059
What??? Only 2 wheels?
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,434
Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10
Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times
in
232 Posts
We rode with BF member otg today, did 65 miles, Bedford to New Hampshire and back. Avg spd 12.5, above our usual. Max speed 28.5. I shouldn't have hit the brakes so much, I guess.
Taking a break for lunch on a grassy triangle somewhere in the middle of nowhere:
Our destination:
We took a break by the Graniteville millpond on the return:
Across the road Halloween lingers on in Graniteville:
And just downstream the old Graniteville mills, a combination of different eras:
Tired at the end:
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Last edited by jimmuller; 11-02-13 at 06:34 PM.
11-04-13, 08:47 PM
#3060
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,175
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 1,741 Times
in
890 Posts
I didn't ride at all over the weekend, spent what little bicycle time I had on maintenance chores, but got out tonight for 10 miles on the Minuteman, temperatures ranging from the mid-30s down to the high 20s in the unpaved cold spots near Arlington's Great Meadows, exhilarating; mercifully, there was no ice, but a few puddles may freeze overnight. There was a surprising amount of bicycle commuter traffic out, along with a few dog-walkers, a couple of Invisible Pedestrians, and one intrepid skater. In the little park at Bow Street, Lexington, a man with a flashlight was throwing a florescent yellow tennis ball for a very happy-looking golden retriever, playing fetch in the dark. When I got home, I discovered that the toe of my left shoe was covered with a clear, pungent liquid: perhaps I was peed on by an owl...
rod
rod
11-05-13, 04:44 PM
#3061
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 251
Bikes: 2002 Bianchi Eros, 2013 Peter Mooney Custom
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Got out for a late afternoon ride on the Minuteman today. Love the sound of leaves crunching beneath my wheels.
11-05-13, 08:29 PM
#3062
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,175
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 1,741 Times
in
890 Posts
Ten miles on the Minuteman in the dark with the other lanternfish, temperatures a hair warmer than last night.
rod
rod
Last edited by rholland1951; 11-05-13 at 08:45 PM.
11-06-13, 08:22 AM
#3063
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Scouting report: WDC
Probably for security reasons Washington DC restricted a lot of car parking near the Mall and is more bike friendly. Biking is the best way to visit sights like the FDR Monument, cherry trees around the Basin and MLK.
Hotels provide bikes, helmets and locks and the WDC version of Hubway was very popular. WDC has several bike lanes and a dedicated bike road partitioned off from a major road. Like driving in Europe, I needed extra time at intersections on a two way bike path sectioned off from a oneway motor vehicle road. It just seemed odd biking what would have been the wrong way had I been in a car.
Back in MetroBoston yesterday, I rode (the right way) on a leaf strewn 26 miles. I did have cold toes and hot head and need to recalibrate my seasonal clothing selection. Nice to be back.
Probably for security reasons Washington DC restricted a lot of car parking near the Mall and is more bike friendly. Biking is the best way to visit sights like the FDR Monument, cherry trees around the Basin and MLK.
Back in MetroBoston yesterday, I rode (the right way) on a leaf strewn 26 miles. I did have cold toes and hot head and need to recalibrate my seasonal clothing selection. Nice to be back.
11-06-13, 03:40 PM
#3064
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Shorts and a sweater fit this fine afternoon weather. Now I need to work on 4:30 PM lights. 20 miles to loosen up after desk work and before evening meeting.
11-07-13, 04:51 PM
#3065
Senior Member
Thread Starter
A short ride on the Upper Charles Trail in Holliston this morning and I saw prints from a range of human shoes, bike tires as well as dogs, horses, and maybe raccoon and deer. A Great Blue Heron took off when I got too close. I admired the new trail work then had a nice chat with Herb in his front end loader volunteering time on the trail putting down gravel before the top layer of stone dust. Herb is active in a range of other community causes including an assistance program for Veterans. He figures good deeds are paid back and then some. I figure he is in for a lot of good fortune.
Biking is not so fast you miss paw prints, a heron and folks like Herb.
Biking is not so fast you miss paw prints, a heron and folks like Herb.
Last edited by sherbornpeddler; 11-07-13 at 04:52 PM. Reason: and
11-08-13, 08:50 PM
#3067
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,175
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 1,741 Times
in
890 Posts
Friday night ride on the Minuteman, temperatures in the mid-30s. Not a lot of company tonight, the solitude not absolute, but pervasive. The Night Chorus was still present in an attenuated form, a few hardy individuals of a few hardy species, still singing for reasons they find good and proper. A fat crescent moon rode low in the West.
rod
rod
Last edited by rholland1951; 11-09-13 at 06:22 AM.
11-10-13, 03:59 PM
#3068
What??? Only 2 wheels?
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,434
Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10
Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times
in
232 Posts
JJScaliger and I did our ride today. The threatening weather made us cut it shorter than the originally projected mileage, ended at 68.55miles, Bedford, MA to Nashua, NH. That's okay though because it still made a metric century and bettered my birthday-ride requirement (by 3.55 miles). And it was 5 days early. JJS rode his Dawes, I rode the Bianchi. That Dawes is quite lovely!
Cold (mid-40's at the start), damp, wet roads, but predicted to become sunny. Yeah, right.
A quick stop at Fern's in Carlisle turned up this C&V bike. My eyes hurt:
JJS hunting up some interesting gravestones in Carlisle
On the way outbound to New Hampshire JJS had to stop and look for the source of bump in the rear tire. (He rides sew-ups.) We found this.
Our destination, New Hampshire before noon!
The ride back was uneventful until mile 55 when we heard a rifle shot. Guess what that was?
The only other noteworthy events were the two times the Bianchi threw its chain onto the BB when I went to downshift. I guess St. Tullio was getting back at me for not riding the Masi. The sun came out for a while, but in Dunstable just after we started back home the temperature fell and brought with it a few drops of rain or sleet. Otherwise it was a great trip! We even managed a moving average of 14.5mph, not bad for this C&V engine.
Cold (mid-40's at the start), damp, wet roads, but predicted to become sunny. Yeah, right.
A quick stop at Fern's in Carlisle turned up this C&V bike. My eyes hurt:
JJS hunting up some interesting gravestones in Carlisle
On the way outbound to New Hampshire JJS had to stop and look for the source of bump in the rear tire. (He rides sew-ups.) We found this.
Our destination, New Hampshire before noon!
The ride back was uneventful until mile 55 when we heard a rifle shot. Guess what that was?
The only other noteworthy events were the two times the Bianchi threw its chain onto the BB when I went to downshift. I guess St. Tullio was getting back at me for not riding the Masi. The sun came out for a while, but in Dunstable just after we started back home the temperature fell and brought with it a few drops of rain or sleet. Otherwise it was a great trip! We even managed a moving average of 14.5mph, not bad for this C&V engine.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
11-13-13, 11:48 PM
#3069
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 251
Bikes: 2002 Bianchi Eros, 2013 Peter Mooney Custom
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Cold 30 mile loop from Belmont out to Bedford on the Minuteman, then on to Concord and back to Belmont via Hanscom.
11-14-13, 07:11 PM
#3070
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,175
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 1,741 Times
in
890 Posts
14 miles in the moonlight on the Minuteman, temperatures in the low 40s to high 30s, calm air, almost all trail users festooned with LEDs of various sorts, evoking a Winter Carnival atmosphere augmented by the happy racket made by a girls' soccer practice in progress at a playing field near TJ's. Saw my first three dozen Winter Moths of the season, and cordially damned them to Invasive Species Hell. Didn't eat any. First ride on the LHT since it received a new chain and cassette: after 8800 miles, the teeth on the old cogs had been sculpted into little shark's fins. The new bits worked nicely.
rod
rod
Last edited by rholland1951; 11-16-13 at 09:45 AM.
11-15-13, 11:09 PM
#3071
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 251
Bikes: 2002 Bianchi Eros, 2013 Peter Mooney Custom
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
11-16-13, 08:25 PM
#3072
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,175
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 1,741 Times
in
890 Posts
After one of those too busy, too productive Saturdays (at least the leaves got raked), got a ride this evening on the Minuteman, 14 miles, temperatures in the 40s. Nobody much out tonight, half a dozen cyclists and half a dozen Winter Moths; other than that, just me and the Beaver Moon, riding to the accompaniment of the diminished Night Chorus.
rod
rod
Last edited by rholland1951; 11-17-13 at 10:36 AM.
11-18-13, 09:36 PM
#3073
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,175
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 1,741 Times
in
890 Posts
10 miles on the Minuteman after work and before the Pats game, through puddles and drifts of leaves from the morning's storm, a quiet ride in the moonlight, temperatures in the now-balmy-seeming 50s.
rod
rod
11-20-13, 07:54 PM
#3074
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 3,175
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 1,741 Times
in
890 Posts
10 miles on the Minuteman tonight, cold and clear, stars to start, then the moon rose. Below freezing for the whole ride, got a little ice in the water bottle for the first time this season.
rod
rod
11-22-13, 06:56 AM
#3075
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Your observations always seem to hit the nail on the head but did you have to mention, "ice in the water bottle" so..., so..., gosh, so soon? If you didn't mention it would cold weather come any way?