mr_bill

I was descending Naggog Hill in Acton at 25 mph, beautiful new pavement until the Littleton town line, where the pavement is not horrible (pretty smooth on my line), but not so good either (really bad down the center of the road).

Littleton really likes to seal cracks in the road, and rubberized asphalt sealer is *slippery*, especially after a light rain which lifts the oil off the pavement.

I added a bit more rear brake and I slipped the rear wheel on the mass quantities of rubberized asphalt.

These stills might give you a better idea of how quickly I got myself in trouble. One moment the motion blur is blurring the right way, the next moment the motion blur is blurring the wrong way.

(My friend behind me was sure I was going down.)




-mr. bill

rholland1951

Took the GT out for 10 miles on the Minuteman in the sultry evening weather that was occasionally improved with a few drops of cooling drizzle, sometimes watching people, sometimes watching out for people, plenty of opportunities for both with the throngs that turned out.


rod

rholland1951

Good job staying upright: those were some exciting milliseconds you had there.

rod

mr_bill

Far better to not lose control of a vehicle at all than to regain control of a vehicle.

-mr. bill

rholland1951

I'm informed by a colleague that in some circles, this apparition is known as "PonyHenge". Turns out it has its own hashtag, and a Google search is productive...

rod

rholland1951

Cooled my hot head by starting this evening's ride in the gentle margins of a shower, which gave the streets an oneiric sheen, setting the tone for the whole ride, even the dry bits.






rod

LindaB

Seeking info on how to get from Logan Airport to Alewife MBTA station to start riding the Minuteman Trail. I've spent a bit of time on the MBTA website, and have come up with the following: Take the Blue Line from the airport station (after 9 am) to the end of the line at Bowdoin. Cycle up Cambridge St. to Charles MGH station, board the Red Line (after 10 am), get off at Alewife. Comments on this plan?? Alternate suggestions?? Very much appreciate your comments & advice. We'll be making this ride on Thursday, Sept. 3. (We are 4 cyclists with panniers on the bikes.)

Jim from Boston

That looks right. I didn't realize (and I don't think) there are different off-peak hours for the Blue and Red Lines (no bikes at all on the Green). The cycling segment is a direct route, estimate about 1 mile, and it's a pretty wide street; I can't recall if there is a bike lane.

mr_bill

Alternative A - take the Logan Ferry to Long Warf, change to Red Line at Aquarium Station.

Alternative B - if you can take your panniers off and carry them as luggage, take the Silver Line SL1 from Logan to South Station. You'll have to split up into pairs on the Silver Line. Change to Red Line at South Station.

Unless the Ferry is suspended due to severe weather, take the Ferry.

-mr. bill

mr_bill

Oh, you can get off the Red Line at Charles/MGH and ride the Paul D White bikepath along the Charles River (one of the oldest bikepaths in the country) to Harvard Square, ride Mass Ave to North Cambridge, pick up Alewife Linear Park at Cedar Street which brings you to Minuteman.

And you can skip the Red Line altogether. Biking through Boston from South Station or Long Wharf is very doable, you can even take a pleasant diversion through the North End.

Don't recommend biking all the way from Logan. The loop through East Boston/Chelsea/Charlestown is longer.

-mr. bill

Jim from Boston

Nice alternatives suggested by mr. bill.

Re alternative A, the Aquarium “Station” is on the Blue Line and you would still have to connect to the Red Line. (By way of introduction to Bostonspeak, the subway is known as the (T)…encircled “T,” pronounced “TEE”; and stations are “stops.”)

RE alternative B, I didn’t know that the Silver Line, actually a special dedicated bus line, takes bikes. It would put you directly on the Red Line at South Station, to proceed to Alewife. I don’t know much about the Ferry, and if it would be faster to get to the Aquarium T stop.

I enjoy bicycling through Boston, even the downtown (as a comfortable urban cyclist). One downside to a visitor might be that it is easy to get lost. I would estimate the ride from South station to the Minuteman at about 30 to 45 minutes, faster but more confusing on roadways, and the PD White bikepath is a great way to quickly see Boston. I agree that to ride directly from the Airport is pretty confusing, and gritty urban.

PS: South Station is a "station" because it is a train station, as well as a (T) stop on the Red Line.

mr_bill

I haven't had espresso yet, so sorry about misplacing the Aquarium on the wrong line. Blush.


Don't bother taking the Blue Line from Aquarium, it's only a few blocks from Aquarium to South Station to pick up the red line, and an easy ride on a bike lane on the most unimaginatively named "Surface Road."

The MBTA web site insists that bikes are allowed on silver line buses at all times. I know that didn't use to be the case - I have clear memories of silver line busses without racks, and silver line busses with racks. But it would be good to double check that they have bike racks on the SL1 dual mode busses.


Sort of related, DC Metro has Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Silver lines, but they abbreviate Silver as SV.

On the day of the Obergefell V Hodges decision, the station display monitors turned the Silver Line Violet. Should have taken a picture.

-mr. bill

LindaB

Thanks for all the transit information. I'm going to investigate the ferry & the path along the Charles River some more.

My first plan was the bus to South Station, but read yesterday on the "Bikes on the T" page MBTA > Riding the T > Bikes on the T that SL1 and SL2 now use electric buses which do not have bike racks:
"Bicycle racks are mounted on all non-electric MBTA buses (although a particular bus may occasionally have a rack that is out of service until it can be repaired). As of May 2015, electric buses are used on routes SL1, SL2, SLW, and 71."

For Jim from Boston - that same web page lists different restricted times for various stations, and 3 stations where bikes are never allowed.

Thanks - LindaB

rholland1951

If the weather gods smile, you could do worse than taking the ferry, then riding from there. That would get you the Rose Kennedy Greenway, among other things. Out of curiosity, what's your final destination? This sounds like the beginning of a longer trip.

rod

LindaB

Thanks, rod! I have some reading to do about the ferry and the Rose Kennedy Greenway, which I haven't heard of!

Happy to share the details of our trip. Four of us (experienced bike tourers all) fly to Boston from CA Sep 1. Staying at an airport hotel, which will store our bike boxes/cases. Sep 2 touring Boston (prob. without the bikes). Sep 3 Head to from Logan Airport to Concord via Minuteman Bikepath; Sep 4 Cycle Concord to Woonsocket, RI via a route worked out by wT2 and Jim from Boston/JfB on the Northeast thread; Sep 5 Cycle down Blackstone River Bikeway to Providence (very short day; time to tour in Providence); Sep 6 cycle Providence to Middletown, RI; Sep 7 Layover Middletown -more time in Newport; Sep 8 Cycle Middletown to Fairhaven, MA, with time to see New Bedford; Sep 9 Cycle Fairhaven to Tobey's Island, Cape Cod.

On Toby's Island we'll join others from our bicycle club (Davis Bike Club) for the second part of our vacation - a sagged trip around Cape Cod planned by 2 couples from the club who have vacation houses on the Cape. My husband and I have ridden on the Cape twice before, but it's been a number of years since we've been there, so are looking forward to that!

Jim from Boston

What a great trip; we look froward to hearing about it.

I had the pleasure of chatting with LindaB recently on this Northeast Regional Discussion Thread, ”Need Route Advice - Concord MA to Providence RI”. Fellow MetroBostonians may be amused at the advice we gave, including,

Linda, since you’ll be a short time in Boston, I posted to an inquiry from a Houston BF subscriber who will soon briefly visit Boston as a stop on a Grand New England Tour:

That family was not visiting your intended destinations:

And Leebo also replied:

rholland1951

10 miles after work in the cooler, drier, clearer air we had today, New England weather on its best behavior.


rod

antimonysarah

The Rose Kennedy Greenway is the linear park they put in when they tore down the Big Dig -- it's pretty, the boulevard on either side has decent bike lanes (although also a lot of traffic), and there's some really nice public art in it right now between the ferry terminal and South Station.

rholland1951

Ten miles on the Minuteman this evening. Lubed the LHT before I set out and was rewarded with a fast pace. Sighted another run of Burma Shave signs in Lexington.




rod

sherbornpeddler

Rode my comfy, LWB recumbent 8 miles to Holliston last Friday then 6 miles Saturday and yesterday a nice, fairly flat 20 mile ride down Pleasant St in Millis/Myrtle St. in Norfolk to new pavement on Grove and Union., then north through the rotaries in Norfolk Center, north on the new pavement on Fruit St and back up Nason Hill. Nice to be able to post a ride after a crash 8 weeks ago.

rholland1951

Yikes! That interval off the bike suggests the crash wasn't negligible... Good to have you back and pedaling!

rod

sherbornpeddler

Thanks Rod. I've had a number of bumps, knock downs and close calls over the years but the last bike/car-crash-hospital was 54 years ago. As cars and bikes get better at all this and my ability to bounce gets worse, I really hope to go more than 54 years before another. I'm still on the mend and do not enjoy seeing the news coverage of crashes in the Tour de France. I walked across a couple of intersections I normally ride. Nice to be back and happy to contribute pavement repair news.

jimmuller 

sbp, welcome back to active cycling! And posting too, for you have been missed.

We did 515 miles on the tandem today. Oh wait, that's not right. Um, 51.5 miles, yeah that must be it. Saw Rod H in Arlington helping out at a counting station, ticking off how many people entered or left the MM. Had a nice chat too.

Today was cool, threatening rain which never actually happened after the morning rain stopped. We rode the MM out to B'ford, took a few picks of a mom and her children near the far end.



The kids were pretty well hidden. I did manage to sneak a pic of one.



We had a nice lunch in Concord before continuing on to Carlisle.

rholland1951

Started today's frivolity by riding over to Arlington Center to take a 2-hour shift in the Minuteman count (coordinated with Lexington and Bedford, I believe). Who should immediately stand up to be counted but Jim and Sharon! Got things off on the right foot.


After handing over the clipboard to the next counter, and having a pleasant lunch at the Kickstand Cafe (good eats!), I got a little confused about what to do next. I'd been thinking about a run out the Northern Strand, but decided to put that off until the newly-surfaced Revere segment is officially opened (did I just say that?). I reflexively started out the Minuteman, figuring I'd come up with a route by the time I hit Depot Park. After about a mile, however, I remembered I'd promised Tyler I'd stop by Paramount Bicycle Repair to talk about a project that's coming along (more on that in a few weeks), so I turned around and headed to Ball Square, Somerville. While there, I had a chat with Tyler about how to get to Charlestown from Broadway, via Sullivan Square, and he gave me the kind of directions that are necessary to overcome Boston street signs, which after all are designed for people who already know where they're going. Off I went down Broadway, which has bike lanes most of the way, and had a nice time climbing and descending Winter Hill before reaching Sullivan Square and the Schraft's Building.




Tyler's instructions (take the second right on the rotary, and watch your butt) did the trick, and up Bunker Hill Street I went. Another entertaining climb and descent followed.


I found my way to the Bunker Hill Monument, and enjoyed the architecture, nicely restored, on the hill.


From there I bombed down Monument Street, out of the gentrified precincts and through a block of public housing and onto Terminal Street. Said howdy to the duck, passed under the Tobin Bridge, and made it to Charlestown's section of the Boston Harborwalk.










Boston, seen from here, seems tightly-folded, as indeed it is, with Charlestown, East Boston, the North End, and Downtown crinkling together along the fractal-form boundaries of land and water jointly formed by man and nature. If you want the sensation of inhabiting a Cubist painting, an hour here will fix you right up.

To be continued...

jimmuller 

I took the Masi out for 35 miles this morning trying to get home before it got too hot.



And just because the Old North Bridge gets all the attention: