jimmuller 

Someone should chev his head is a bucket of cold water?

spare_wheel

I note that you call my comment stupid but offer no rebuttal.



Please explain how clearing an intersection when "the coast is clear" (e.g. no oncoming traffic) could possibly be less safe than waiting for the magic suspended orbs to turn green and jockeying for position with distracted/spacey drivers operating multi-ton heavy machinery.

mr_bill

Jim didn't call your comment "stupidest." Someone else did - he just included your "stupidest" comment for context.

I want 38 minutes of my life back. Listened to Howard Louis Carr, Jr.'s podcast "Shares His Opinion on Bicyclists." Talk about a low-energy rant, the guy is phoning it in to his own talk show with an ever diminishing audience. Even Sandy sounded tired and bored.

Turns out he rides a bike too - but only on the sidewalk and bikepath - in Palm Beach, for a couple of miles.

-mr. bill

Jim from Boston

Please see the comment in context:

I’m the one who originally posted the “blindly rampaging dinosaurs (automobiles)” post that Lanovran considered “a very poor analogy.”

Actually, spare_wheel, in a preceding post in this discussion on this thread, I quoted you apreciatively, but not by name:

as the composer of that list.

spare_wheel

Sorry...your comment nesting judo bested me.

Jim from Boston

A couple weeks ago I posted about my "comment nesting judo."

PS: I used to use smilies more until a couple years ago, I read a quote by Lance Armstrong in a sports magazine (when he was still doing endorsements, or it was an old issue in a doctor's office). I don't recall the product, and I'm sure the quote had nothing to do with the product, but his tough-guy quote was something like: "Real men over thirty don't use smilies...period"

PPS: I googled the quote.

sherbornpeddler

Sigh......this winter thing. I don't recall wondering when summer would ever end.

rholland1951

On the bright side, the first snowshowers of Spring have arrived...

rod

Ghazmh

Anybody know the ride-ability of the CCRT?

rholland1951

Dawdled away the morning and so missed a chance to ride in the (hopefully) increasingly-rare snow, but got out this afternoon for a nice ride in the thaw, out to Depot Park, Bedford, and back on the Minuteman, 20 miles. There was a bit of ice--thin slush, mostly--on the trail on the way out, and I'd burn some bandwidth here giving a detailed conditions report, except that by the return leg it had all melted. Water was everywhere, in puddles, freshets, swollen streams, with Elm Brook, Tophet Swamp, and the Shawsheen River running high. The fenders turned out to get more use than the studs on this one. It all freezes up tomorrow, so won't change the tires on the old GT just yet. Plenty of snow left on the ground to keep things cool.

One trail condition that is worth noting is a plowing error near Russell Place, that swings the trail wide to the left, leaving one lane paved and one in the mud. We've seen this before, random walk with a snow plow. This can cause various sorts of mischief when things get congested, and is likely to be with us for awhile.


Noticed a fresh crop of graffiti in Arlington, including a likable bit that I read as "Brrr"


The Egg has made it to Spring, and continues to twist slowly in the wind.


Peepers Pond is still covered with snow, presumably resting on ice. While I was admiring that, I noticed a little swarm of insects in the foreground. Guess it's their time, snow or no snow.


Skeletal forms and tree structures are still prominent, not yet obscured by leaf nodes. Enjoy 'em while they last.






Spring bounces back...


Good to get back to Bedford on the bike; first time since the blizzard buried it.


Some of it's still buried, of course...


rod

sherbornpeddler

Great report and wonderful public service. Thank you Rod.

rholland1951

Had a sunset ride on the Minuteman, Lexington Center and back, 10 miles, temperatures falling through the 20s, a stiff headwind outbound, a friendly tailwind inbound. Today's sun and wind cleared up the trail surface, it was clean and dry throughout Arlington and Lexington, with a bit of black ice in Arlington and a few frozen or freezing puddles in the usual spots in Lexington, the worst sitting just East of the Maple Street overpass. All in all, it was a perfect Winter ride, studs helpful but probably not necessary, except for the small detail that it's Spring now...

Had another look at the graffito I insist on decoding as "Brrr", however likely other readings may be. Now more than than ever...


Turns out the Minuteman has a shamanic portal to the Lower World... Who knew?


A bit of ice at Drake Village, but mostly bare, dry asphalt all the way.


Mill Brook looked cold, mirroring clouds? snow?


The sunset colors were subtle tonight.








Rode home in the cold and dark, bunnies scampering along the trailside snowbanks.

rod

rholland1951

After a very full day at work, the latest of a series, took the LHT out at 6:20, betting myself that: 1) ice wouldn't be a problem, and 2) I could make it out to Lexington Center and back before the big line of storms that was just west of Worcester at the time got to Arlington. Mostly won both bets: 1) only saw one, forlorn little plate of ice, lurking in the middle of a big puddle of the inbound lane on the Minuteman, near Seasons Four, and, 2) made good time, but started getting hit by something solid--sleet? ice pellets? hail?--during the descent down the hill from Arlington Heights, little bits of ice that stung when they hit exposed skin and made little impact noises when they hit the polypropylene jersey fabric. Not enough of it to be of any account, however. This was the first ride this year that started to feel like Spring cycling...

rod

Bishbike

Finally got out for my first ride since December of last year. Did a loop on Woodland Rd./Fellsway East, then onto South Border Rd. to Mystic Valley Parkway. Ended up on the Minuteman. Wanted to go all the way to Concord, but had teaching and gig commitments to tend to, so Hightailed it back home to Malden.

Great day to be on the bike. Saw some other riders out there, all were smiling and in great spirits.

Ride link:
03/25/15 - Medford, MA

Jim from Boston

So I wanted to add this ride description as a coda to my previous “Chronicle of This Historic Winter.” Last Tuesday (3/24) was the first ride on my carbon fiber bike since January 1, because I keep it pristine, only ridden on dry, salt and debris-free roads.

This past week I was in Boston for conference near my home in Kenmore Square. When I attend conferences, here or elsewhere, I' like to get in an early-morning ride, because the entire day is spent sitting. On Monday evening I needed to go to work in Norwood to finish up something so I took the train with my carbon fiber bike to Norwood. As I left home to stay overnight, my wife said “Watch out for the potholes.”

I had hoped to leave Norwood at about 5 AM so I could ride comfortably far to the left to stay away from most of the potholes, and curbside debris since commuter traffic usually starts up around 6 AM. My usual commute from Kenmore to Norwood is in the reverse commute direction, but that morning I was traveling with the auto traffic.

Unfortunately I left Norwood at 5:30 AM (and 19°F). It was still dark, and usually the ambient streetlights and my Cateye light are sufficient illumination. However, now I really had to be able to illuminate (and avoid) unanticipated potholes, including on some particularly dark stretches in Dedham, while watching for more frequent upcoming traffic behind me.

I reached the VFW Parkway by about 6 AM with commuter traffic in full force. The road shoulders were free of snow, but with lots of debris, and I had about a six-inch clear path on the shoulder immediately next to upcoming traffic. One subtle and unpleasant feature of cold weather riding to me is that I think the cold air carries sound differently then makes a roar of car engines passing you this sound louder and more ominous. So riding the VFW was so nerve-racking that I would occasionally just pull off the road and let a bolus of cars pass me by until I could comfortably get back in the travel lane.

The route through Brookline had less traffic but with more narrow shoulders, and some visible residual ice (while on my narrow 25 C slick tires). All the while, particularly in Brookline, old well-known and new unrecognized potholes were prevalent; but by 6:15 AM I had sufficient daylight. All in all, it might have been premature to ride that route on my CF bike, but it still was a pleasure.

Family duties kept me from riding the Wednesday and Thursday clear mornings, and Friday was raining. I had hopes of removing the studded tires on my beater bike on Friday, and even riding to and from Norwood on Saturday on the CF, but of course today it snowed. Anyways I considered the above ride a sign that this Historic Winter is over, but nonetheless a difficult ride due to the road damage by the severe weather.

ADDENDUM:

On Saturday I did the round trip: to Norwood on my beater bike in a snowfall that did not stick to the road surface, and return in a “wintry mix” that stuck to my goggles. Many puddles dotted the road. Last year a thread attempted to list Rules for the Commutinati (Commuters) along the lines of the Rules for the Velominati (Roadies).

On that gray day, I had to get very close to the puddle to see the road surface beneath the reflections on the surface, all the while watching in my rearview mirror for upcoming cars in that Saturday AM and PM (daylight) traffic.

So while I tried to adhere to the above Proverb of the Pothole Perceived as a Puddle, Jim’s Law of the Road also prevailed, “No matter how well-paved, or lightly- traveled the Road is, a vehicle is likely to pass you on the left, as you approach an obstacle on the right."

jimmuller 

I took the Gazelle out for about 3-1/2 miles this morning as a warmup for the real ride. Over to Belmont Wheelworks. They were still closed. Temps in the low 30'sF. That bike is quick and requires sharp attention. Then I took the Masi around the block just because. It's pretty quick too. I guess I haven't ridden enough in the last 60 days.



Then we finally got to the main event, 20 miles on the tandem, the full length of the Minuteman Bikeway from Bedford to Alewife and back. It's our first tandem ride of the year. There is still a lot of snow on the ground but the bikeway was mostly clear except for a bit of snow/ice under the Maple St bridge in Lexington.

AlexGS1

I had a great ride today...until I saw a pedestrian get hit by a lexus in a crosswalk by the Landmark Center on Brookline Ave. I stayed with victim until EMS arrived. He seemed ok, but, who knows how he'll feel when the adrenaline wears off. The driver was annoyed and did not once ask about the well-being of the pedestrian she hit. Be careful out there!

mr_bill

Thank you. That's always been a bad stretch, and with the construction forcing peds to cross cross cross, it's gotten worse.

-mr. bill

rholland1951

Jim, that's a beautiful bike! I'm guessing a story goes with it...

rod

rholland1951

So, not so much a hit-and-run as a hit-and-sneer? Hope she wasn't terribly inconvenienced...

rod

jimmuller 

Thanks, Rod. From 10ft away it looks great, especially that pearlescent white. Closer up you can see its scratches and touched-up paint, but what the heck, it's a much-ridden old bike. That fade-to-gray paint is pure 80's, and one of Gazelle's style peculiarities is the block lettering all over, such as down the front of each fork blade.


I was recreationally browsing ebay back in January when this frame jumped off the page at me. Sharon had already told me to look for another project and she urged me to go for it. A week later this big box arrived from Amsterdam. Gazelle is a large Dutch company of course, making mostly utilitarian bikes but also competition bikes handmade by gnomes over in a secluded corner.


That is a 1986 champion mondial AB-Frame. The AB-Frame (on the drive-side chain stay) was a pure-race variant with short chain stays, no-eyelet dropouts, steep geometry, made from 531c (the "c" is for competition). Information in English about Gazelle models is scarce on the Web, but BF member Italuminium helped me learn more. They had been making the champion mondial for maybe 15 years. That model and their right to wear the World Champion colors stem from their victory in 1968 when all the big teams were so busy trying to make sure Eddy Merckx didn't win that no one noticed these other two riders in a breakaway.

The champion mondial and especially the AB-Frame was sold as both a bare frame and a complete bike. From what I can glean from the Dutch catalogs, by 1986 the complete bike was generally equipped with Shimano components. So I felt no compunction to go all-Campy for this one. However I had originally built those wheels with Campy NR hubs and Torelli Master rims for the Masi, and since the Masi now has sew-ups these seemed right for the Gazelle. So far I have ridden it all of about 4 miles, some sort of weather event having gotten in the way. The biggest problem I have now is finding yet another interpreter to follow all the conversation going on in the UN satellite office down in the basement.

rholland1951

Took the LHT for a ride to Lexington Center at sunset, cool, quiet, contemplative, and energetic, temperatures falling into the high 30s. Tonight's meltwater may be tomorrow mornings black ice... or maybe not... looks like we may not get a freeze tonight... welcome, Spring!






rod

sherbornpeddler

I went for a 25 mile, 15.6 mph back roads tralala through Sherborn, Dover, Westwood and back. Very nice day and felt good to be off the trainer and lean into turns. The real world has better contrast than my computer screen.

Seasonally appropriate sand was as much a concern as potholes. Even the driver who looked right through me to gage the approach speed of the car behind me was seasonal. She pulled out and didn't notice me until I was swerving behind her. A little late this year but we are clearly in that special time of year when drivers re-learn to look for bicyclists instead of snowplows. No worries.

mr_bill

Sure signs of spring.

First street sweeper of the season - Main Street in Concord center has been swept! So there's actually a few hundred yards of sand free pavement out in the wild.
Lots and lots of runners getting ready for the Marthon.
Next week sunrise gets back to where it was before DST kicked in.

-mr. bill

jimmuller 

I did my first bike commute this morning. Temperature about 29F when I started. It was great to be back in the pedals. Of course I'm only halfway through, still have to ride home this afternoon.

At least one of the roads had been swept, but dang now I've forgotten which one,. Wait, now I remember. The 1/4 mile or so of Sycamore St before the left turn onto Belmont's Lexington St into Waverley Sq. Not a great victory, but considering I suffered three flats from the debris on the stretch last year the clean sweep was nice to see.