Got out on the GT in its icebike persona towards the end of the day, riding the Minuteman as far as Lexington Center; assessing conditions on the trail was most of the point of that route today. Arlington was clear, but the icy sections in Lexington that have cut into the usefulness of the Minuteman since the last snow storm (and, in some cases, before) seem to be stubbornly persistent. These will freeze up hard again overnight, along with some melt-water puddles that will make shiny new black ice in the morning. Here are a few samples, by no means the whole collection:
I rode most of them with the studded Nokians, but dismounted and walked once or twice, as much from Winter Cylcing Fatigue as anything else. Frankly, this season is starting to remind me of the faun's complaint about the weather in Narnia: "Always Winter and never Christmas." To be fair, I do dimly remember having Christmas sometime ago, but it has been Winter for quite awhile now, and I'm getting tired of it. Still, it does have moments of its own beauty, even if the novelty has worn off...
... but I'm definitely ready for Spring.
Picked up Mass. Ave. at Lexington Center, and rode that back East to Fottler Ave., admiring the great berms of frozen and blackened slush the plows have left us on the roadside, then picked up the ice-free segment of the Minuteman and took that home. There was a sunset, barely detectable, and somewhere along the route night fell.
rod