After Thursday's heat and ozone, and with thunderstorms predicted to the West, I headed East this afternoon, seeking a sea breeze and lower temperatures along the
Bike to the Sea route. I put together
a 27 mile route through Arlington, Medford, Malden, Revere, Saugus, and Lynn, about half on gravel (Revere, Saugus) or dirt (Lynn). Started getting that sea breeze on the East end of Malden, and dropped a good 10 degrees by the time I got to Rumney Marsh. The tide was in flood during the wet parts of the ride, the Saugus River was high. I rode to the end of the Saugus segment of the Northern Strand Community Trail, and continued on the dirt path alongside the railroad tracks in the not-yet-approved, not-yet-developed Lynn segment, turning around at the Lynn Common, a charming space that's a real asset to that city.
Paying my respects at the stupa in Medford has become a personal custom.
Likewise, the Bell Rock Cemetery in Malden, where I picked up the Northern Strand Trail.
The Revere segment of the Northern Strand has a fine view of Rumney Marsh. Those with sharp eyes may be able to pick out the
Wheelabrator Saugus plant on the horizon, a
waste-to-energy operation that turns 1500 tons of solid waste per day (including my garbage, I think) into 37MW of generated electricity and a large quantity of toxic ash, currently buried in a landfill that is, well, filling up. There's apparently
an application pending to expand the landfill. Guess we'll see how that story ends soon enough, but I always notice the plant in the distance as I'm gawking at Nature here.
The Saugus segment, also gravel, offers a green tunnel on a hot day for most of its length, and then opens into to Saugus River estuary. Lovely!
I was riding the Surly Trucker DeLuxe with the big Compass Rat Trap Pass Extralights, 52mm with supple casings and a file tread, pumped to 30/35 PSI, just the thing for the mix of smooth pavement, rough pavement, coarse gravel, fine gravel, dirt, roots, rocks, and the occasional shards of defunct beer bottles that they were called on to roll over at various times.
I like the Lynn railroad bed that, with luck and persistent advocacy, will become the terminal segment of the Northern Strand Trail. Right now, it's a socially-constructed proto-railtrail, and people are finding their own uses for it. It starts by traversing an extended causeway through the Saugus River estuary, which is really stunning.
The two derelict railroad bridges on this segment have received some useful repairs since the last time I rode through, and now have plank walkways that some will ride over (I walked the bike across, but that was a less exciting proposition than previously). Bravo to whoever did this!
After the causeway, there's a really pleasant, secluded wooded section, that today featured a half-dozen mourning doves walking along the trail.
From there, the trail continues through urban neighborhoods, and I left it at Spencer Street, to ride up to the Lynn Common. This is a long, thin ellipse of greenspace, used for soccer games, concerts, and when I was there today, some sort of religious gathering. It is fringed with buildings in an interesting mix of architectural styles; this deco phone company building and neoclassical war memorial will have to represent the more complex and interesting whole. I think the Lynn Common is one of that city's civic assets.
A little gawking at the pocket devil's weather radar suggested that if I turned around just then, I might win (or at least tie) a race with the violent thunderstorms that looked to be approaching the I-495 belt on a course that would take them through Arlington, so I started backtracking along the Lynn path, crossed the Saugus border, and picked up the official (rather than potential) Northern Strand again. I detoured to investigate one of those little side-paths that one sees and mostly ignores, this one an extensive paved area leading down to the river, something that might have been the parking lot for a long-forgotten drive-in movie, or ... I noticed an osprey flying in tight circles and vocalizing repetitively... then I noticed the old power pole with a big osprey nest on top, and realized this was
maternal defensive behavior. I turned the bike around and moved out of the area, and was pleased to look over my shoulder to see that the bird had returned to the nest, watching me go. Whatever that place once was, it belongs to the ospreys now.
I cranked along, the late afternoon sunlight showing me all the glass I hadn't noticed on the outbound leg, none of which seemed to want to tangle with my big, soft tires. The storms decided to go North, rather than Northeast, so I didn't get wet. Soon enough, I lost the sea breeze, but you can't have everything.
rod