Originally Posted by
Ghazmh
whoops, I should have replied with quotes. I believe I saw RHolland.
Yup, I think you probably did. I think I saw you, too. Good day for a ride! I was on Monument Street as part of a ride to and through the Estabrook Woods. But to begin at the beginning...
Ever since I got hold of a pair of
Compass Rat Trap Pass Extralight tires and mounted them on the Surly Trucker DeLuxe, I've had a yen to take them for a ride on Estabrook Road, in Estabrook Woods, to see what these light, supple, 52mm tires would make of a rocky, rooty "abandoned carriage road", what passes hereabouts as a Class 4 road, and the nearest one I can ride to from my house. Did that, and threw in Two Rod Road, the other 18th Century road in the Estabrook Woods, for good measure.
Rode out the Minuteman, of course, and realized that what I had been thinking of as Autumn had unmistakably become Fall... Leaves down all over the place, and more on the way, blowing around in the gusty headwind. Long stretches of the Minuteman were covered with them. Twice, a falling leaf fastened itself on the left lens of my glasses. I resolved to photograph a third occurrence of same... so of course that didn't happen...
Displaced punkinheads started turning up on the trailside, first in Arlington's Great Meadows, later along Reformatory Branch (but I'm getting ahead of myself). They didn't seem too happy. Reminded me of a refugee encampment I stumbled over in Paris...
Lots of folks out on the Minuteman (and the Reformatory Branch, too, but I'm getting ahead of myself again). This one was a contender for the Best In Show award... the only other serious contender was the young woman with snacks and other riding supplies memorably tucked into the waistband of her bike shorts, but I didn't get a photo of that...
Rolled down to Depot Park, Bedford, and continued on down Railroad Avenue to the Reformatory Branch trailhead. The dry conditions lately favored the ride I had in mind.
Great Meadows NWR has suddenly traded in its greens for browns and tans...
As I was crossing the margin of the field in the Concord segment of the Reformatory Branch, I managed to catch a leaf in flight, one of perhaps 10,000 seen today, in a photograph. The sky looked colder than it really was.
Plenty of leaves down on the Reformatory Branch, and lots of little traffic jams with oncoming families on bicycles, on foot, with their dogs: opportunities to ride through the deep leaves on the trail margin, crunching and hissing.
Soon enough, came to Monument Street, and followed that a short way to Liberty Street, which led me to Estabrook Road.
To be continued...