Monday afternoon seems to have been a good time to change plans on the fly. I went out to the garage at 12:30, intending to take the LHT for a spin, only to discover that its rear tire was flat. I pumped it up as an experiment, then took the Trucker DeLuxe instead, leaving the LHT to leak or hold its air as it would. I headed West on the Minuteman, the ride plan predicated on the weather, and my (mis)understanding of what the Weather Underground app was telling me about it. Around Brown's Homestead, a drizzle started. By the time I reached Lexington Center, this had become a rather assertive shower, so I parked my bike under the roof of Lexington Depot to check the weather radar again.
What I saw was that large sections of the area to the West had recently changed over to light rain, the way the atmosphere is allowed to do if it feels good, wet, and ready. So I got back on the bike and headed back to Arlington. I hadn't counted on staying dry on this ride, but figured I'd get as many nice, cooling raindrops as I could practically use by the time I reached home, and there was no reason to overdo it. Conditions were like a photographic negative image of those of the ride on Sunday: then, pavement under the open sky was hot and to be avoided, pavement under the tree canopy was delightfully cool(er) and to be sought; today, the open sections were wet and cool (whether delightfully so is a matter of opinion), the covered sections were dry and relatively warm, and the approach-avoidance tropisms were reversed.
By the time I got to Arlington, the rain had stopped, and it was clear that no more was in the immediate future. I really didn't feel like stopping just yet, so I continued down Broadway through East Arlington and into Somerville, climbing Clarendon Hill and transiting Teele Square, Powder House Square (empty!), and Ball Square, the end of the line for Broadway, just now.
In better days, I would have stopped at Paramount Bicycle Repair, but that requires a Time Machine now. The bike I was riding was built to spec by Tyler Oulton, and embodies the best of Paramount and its proprietor, and so evokes the shop every time the wheels turn. Instead, I roamed the back streets of Somerville until I reached the Somerville Community Path, and caught up with what's doing there. Elly the Elephant, for example...
Some serious gardening...
And the further evolution of my favorite demotic public art installation. I don't know who did this work, and would be grateful for a pointer to the back story.
I made my way home after that, dry and happy.
When I put the bike away, I noticed that the rear tire on the LHT was, once again, flatter than a flounder. Guess I'll have to fix that, but fixing a flat in the garage beats fixing a flat on the side of the road. Fewer people stop to ask if you need help, for starters...
rod