Began my 52nd year today on the Gitane, up the CCRT and back with a side run to the Old Colony RT in absolutely stunning autumn weather. Anyone else have a great ride today?

Top

Happy birthday!
I took my vintage mtb on a nice ride in the woods for a shakedown ride after rebuilding it. Went well , had a blast!

Happy birthday, Top! I also had a great ride today with several friends: from Arlington to the Minuteman Rail Trail to Lexington and then noodling around back roads and dirt paths to the Minuteman National Historic Site, where it was all dirt paths, then to Concord Center. The group was going to do a great dirt trail from Concord to Bedford, but I had to head for home from there, which was in falling darkness on busy roads. I even got hit by a car in Watertown, but no serious harm to me or the bike. The weather was gorgeous; hard to believe it was mid Nov. in New England.

Neal

Happy B'day Top. . .

YES, I had a great ride today!

People think of the entire Midwest as flat, but some of the towns North of the D are called Blankety-Blank-Hills, or Spankety-Blank Hills, etc - for good reason.

The air was crisp and lightly scented with distant wood fires, and I had no place I had to be, so I just kept riding up and down all around.
The TA18 (below) climbs like a champ. . .
(The patches of coarse gravel on the way down got a little unnerving though. )

You must have been riding with your Guardian Angel today, because I've found getting hit by a car usually results in not such a great ride.

Happy B-day - mine was yesterday. I longed for a ride but 40 degrees and 20 mph wind meant I wasn't brave enough to venture out. I hit the indoor trainer instead. Hoping to get out tomorrow.

happy birthay, top506! what fun to have a great ride on your birthday.

today i had a strenuous, albeit short ride, as i was the "engine" in a train with two stoker cars (the stoker cars ran out of coal pretty early on). it was only about 10 miles, half of which was in and around the city and the other half on the charles river path. of course, a stop at a playground along the way was of paramount importance.





yikes! what happened, neal? glad you're okay!

Happy Birthday top506!

Went out for 10 or so miles with my sweetheart It was chilli but well worth it!

Cheers,
Chris

Great pics, Anton. What a happy family!

I'm fine. A scraped knee and elbow is the worst of it. The bike--my Dawes that you saw yesterday--seems fine, too, once I straightened the handlebars. It was likely my fault in that I was making a left at a busy intersection, but the car that I thought was also turning left was actually heading straight (though she might have been in a left-turn-only lane). When I glanced over as I was hurrying to make the light, I realized the driver was bearing down on me quick. I'm not sure how much we actually collided, but before I knew it, I was on the pavement, immediately hoping not to get run over by another car. I was up quickly and dragged my bike to the sidewalk, initially thinking that my fork was borked. The car's driver stopped and asked if I was alright, and I uttered a few choice curse words, which must have convinced her I was fine as she sped off. It probably didn't help that it was around 5 p.m., just getting dark (though I had front and rear lights and a reflective sash). Just another day of biking in the big city!

Neal

oh wow, Neal, glad you're ok! I'll get my turn tomorrow on the mean streets of Bean Town!

Top, happy birthday, lucky dog to be on the CCRT today!

Scott

Happy birfday. I turn 50 in January and am looking forward to it.

Happy 52nd. Mine's coming up later this month.

And it was a beautiful day to ride. About 50* at the start, 65* at the end of a ~40 miler, but at least we got a little climbing in.

Happy birthday!

My only riding today was a couple laps around the block to verify adjustments I made to the '83 Raleigh Super Course I picked up yesterday.

Scott, it was just coming out of the entrance to the Blue Heron trail that I had my mishap! Be careful out there!

Neal

What could be finer than tooling along the Charles with your kids on a day like yesterday?
As to Neal's little mishap, I believe the pejorative 'Boston drivers' says all that need be said. I've always hated driving in Boston, even when I was driving a patrol car.

Top

Thanks Neal for the warning. My head will be on a swivel ...

Scott

What are the chances of two C&V members having an accident at the same intersection one day apart? This after Neal warned me??

I went down today at the same spot .. while coming up off my saddle to make sure I kept the green light, my drive side pedal came off, I went down pretty hard. I was with Anton (SouthPawBoston) and about six other riders. They assisted me out of the way of the stopped traffic and I made it to the sidewalk. On further examination, it looks like my pedal was coming loose and the with extra pressure of me standing on it, it ripped right out, partial stripping the threads on the crank arm.

We tried to thread the pedal back in, no way. My riding for the day was over ... mmmm, unless I could call someone for the assist. Guess who I called? Neal! After all, he knew exactly where we were. Neal was kind enough to drive over with a pedal tap and wrench, some other tools. We cleaned up the threads from the back of the crank arm and the pedal went on like a charm. Perfect. Almost.

When I went down I hit the back of my head pretty hard, cracking my helmet. I wasn't dizzy but I had a bit of a headache. I decided to quit the ride and Neal was kind enough to drive me back to the start of the ride where my car was waiting.

Moral of this story? Always where a helmet, of course .... but ALWAYS have a good friend like Neal whose willing to drop whatever he's doing at a minutes notice and drive out to help.

Thanks again Neal, you're the real deal!!!



Scott

scott, you jinxed yourself by saying that! i hope your headache goes away. i'm glad it wasn't worse. sorry you couldn't stay for the rest of the ride, but going home was probably the best thing... if you think you got a concussion, be sure to watch it.

the rest of the ride was great, our leader really knows his way around the area, huh? i was glad to get to ride the blue heron path for the first time without figuring it out solo. and yes, major props to neal for coming through with the tools and ride!

Glad I could help out, Scott, and that you're okay. That spot is a Bermuda Triangle for bike riders! Stay away!!

Neal

Thanks guys, I've already appealed to Rich to lead this ride again ... no concussion, just a stiff neck, bruised elbow, and bruised left thigh. Top tube? Saddle? I'm more embarrassed about having a improperly mounted pedal more than anything. Here's a post accident group photo:



Anton, any photos of Rich's Clubman?

Scott

Happy Birthday! Rolled around the some of the Parks in Union Co. NJ with a friend who gave me a little history lesson about the Battle of the Ashbrook Swamp. Lucky us, they closed the Ashbook Golfcouse (which was the site of the British encampment) and left the cart paths for cyclists and pedestrians. Picture perfect day in NJ.

sorry, top506, for derailing (or is it derailleuring? :-)) this thread.

scott, the only photos taken with my camera are these two, at the moody street falls. no closeups, though.





we never got that raleigh group shot, did we... and i second the plea for an encore ride (minus the pedal mishap!)!

Happy birthday, top! This was a good weekend to ride (around Boston at least), and good for birthdays too. And a good weekend for mishaps.

Neal, Scott, I do hope you are okay and nothing either biological or mechanical got hurt.

Tomorrow I will turn 62. Four of us did a metro-west ride yesterday (before I met up with Scott later). It was a great ride but I had a significant technical glitch too. Nobody hurt, nothing broke. Ride reports start here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post11782332

Today.... I went with my 5 1/2 yr old son on his first real ride around our town. WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS !

Scared out of my wits as I watched him dart there and here, sometimes covering both lanes of neighborhood roads or paying more attention to his shadow then the way in front of him. But boy, I sure was proud too. Laughing all the way, he did go where his handlebars pointed.

Happy Birthday to you, you got 2 yrs on me. 3ss

I usually stuff a pedal wrench in a jersey pocket on group rides, but didn't thing to bring taps. Thanks for the tip.

Top