jimmuller 

Hey boss, you want me to take down this thing?

We're supposed to be cutting down the knotweed. That's not weed.

<Whack>

rholland1951

The neighbors were just disturbed by howls of laughter...

rod

sherbornpeddler

No parades, Minuteman egg of the people or howls over here on the western front but well pleased with a 34 mile loop de loop on my single speed. That's my longest ride in a long time. The roads up Strawberry Hill in Dover into Westwood then up to Powisset Farm and the headwaters of Tubwreck Brook are all in fine shape. Pine St. to Farm and back to Sherborn. The tree shade was appreciated as was the bike. Not Rod's new bike but a fairly stretched out frame, 35c tires and a Brooks saddle helped. I am curious to experiment with Rod's ideas of tires and tire pressure.

sherbornpeddler

I rode my retro Raleigh OneWay single speed with a little lower pressure today on a ride through Natick, Dover, Medfield, Norfolk and Millis. No photos like you all stars but I can report pavement is much improved over last year. Causeway St in Medfield crosses the Charles River west towards Norfolk and Millis has been transmitted from Paris-Roubaix to the back seat of a Lincoln Continental smooth. Glen Street in Natick from South Natick to Dover was smoothed up a year or two ago and is very nice. My radius is still small but expanding and I look forward to reporting on more substantial, enticing rides out our way. Charles River Wheelmen have regular rides out in these parts to enjoy shade covered, winding country roads.

As a side note, not only am I getting back to biking but I'm getting back to bike repairs. I dug up a pair of replacement brake pads from the back of a drawer and installed and readjusted the cable adjust, pad bolt adjust and little 2 mm spring adjust and it all worked fine. Life's little successes! I admired my little success several times during the ride.

rholland1951

Put some more twine in my pocket and took off on the Rawland this afternoon, stopping to finish the repair job on the Egg.


The Minuteman was in full Easter Parade mode, with a spike in the prevalence of families on bikes, complete with zig-zagging sprats. Made good time regardless, and turned around at Depot Park. The cool leafy sections were especially welcome on this warm afternoon.


Turned off the Minuteman at Wiggins Avenue, then picked up Preston Court and crossed the Shawsheen River on the foot bridge to Bridge Street.


From there followed Shawsheen Road to Page Road, and made the staged climb up the hill to Lexington, past the Corey and Wright farms, then zoomed down the other side on Grove Street, hitting 34 mph and exceeding the posted speed limit (whoopee!). This was, of course, data-gathering on the new bike's climbing and descending characteristics (it's happy to do either, and the low trail seems to bring with it less wheel flop on climbs), but it was easy to lose track of that and just enjoy the ride. Picked up the Minuteman at Revere Street, and rolled home, 23 miles in all.

Over the last three days' rides, I've encountered an unusual incidence of erratic driving: people improvising really strange, negligent maneuvers. Anyone else seeing that, or did I just get lucky? I assume they're simply distracted because they noticed how nice the weather is...

rod

rholland1951

The good news is that I have no original ideas about tires and tire pressure: I get all that stuff (plus most of my tires, these days) from Jan Heine, of Bicycle Quarterly and Compass Bicycles fame. But I've been having experiences that tend to bear out what Jan is saying...

An on-line collection of Jan's work on tires can be found at https://janheine.wordpress.com/categ...ponents/tires/. Lots of good posts from Jan's blog there; perhaps the best place to start is https://janheine.wordpress.com/2015/...re-revolution/.

rod

mr_bill

I've been falling behind putting rides in for a few weeks now, which means that my Good ride today's are getting put in the queue behind the Good ride the day before yesterday, and looks like I may never get out of the backlog.

So, I've decided to to get out of this error I'll change from FIFO to LIFO, and if I ever go back to the older rides I'll warn.

So from Saturday:

New field at the Arlington High School being laid down.


The extension of the Community Path to Lowell Street is *OPEN*!



BUT, the ramp and stairs to Lowell Street is still *CLOSED*! Sigh. But on the glass half full, it will absolutely be done in time for the next year's Vernon Street Open Studios.


High fiving a tourist guide on a Segway on the Cambridge Side of the Sinusoidal Bridge:


Still getting used to the frequency of tropical storms in the Northeast.
Watching the rainstorm ahead and estimating will our paths intersect (in this case, definitely yes).
But will it be raining there at the time of our intersection (in this case, no):



But, in the not all rainbows and sunshine, heading to the Post Office in Arlington Center, and caught the red light at the Pleasant Street/Mystic Street/Mass Ave intersection, so I'm the first "vehicle" in the right lane clearly going ahead. On a Saturday afternoon, *most* drivers get it, and queue in the left lane.

But one car has to pull in behind me, and as I travel up the two blocks I'm getting the aggressive tailgater filling my mirror, then the Vrooom with passes me with a foot of clearance and HORN alongside Tryst as extra punishment, even though there were no cars in the left lane.

And the driver of course turns right, into the Post Office. I arrive within seconds as she's getting out her car with a package, she glares at me, I say "Have a nice day" and she starts yelling at me to get out of the way and off the road. I did not deescalate and said harsh things including expletives and decided that this was not the time to mail the letters and continued on.

So, my bit of unadvocacy for the day. Sigh.

-mr. bill

mr_bill

Patrick Wanninkhof

-mr. bill

rholland1951

15 breezy miles on the Minuteman between the heat of the day and the cool of the evening.

rod

jimmuller 

I would have been as polite as I could but probably said a few tings - I'm sorry if I cost you a few seconds but risking the rest of my life surely isn't a good tradeoff. I hadn't been on my bike I'd be in my car and then you couldn't pass me at all. I have a right to ride the road. State law requires you to give me 3ft of clearance. You however took the wrong lane which was clearly marked. Should I email a copy of the video my camera captured to you or to the police?

I just rode my commute again. Pleasant weather, light traffic. I do see selfish idiots often enough, and overly polite drivers too.

rholland1951

She's thinking, "If I honk enough, maybe all those bikes will go away." Poor dear. Perhaps the expletives got through to her. I've been known to roar them at parked drivers after similar incidents, public shaming.

rod

rholland1951

Thanks for explaining that, mr. bill. I hadn't understood it when I encountered it.

rod

jimmuller 

No pics again today. Just another (successful) day at work with a bit of fun getting there and back on a bike. Had a threat of serious t-storms for this evening but dang one came close just to the south of us as I was preparing to head north to work. Got rained on lightly for about a minute. Experienced what the NWS calls "localized flooding", in this case the kind of very localized flooding we call puddles.

The ride home was a different story. Half an hour before I'd normally leave a monster cell came across dropping 1"-diameter hail. The sky got so dark it looked like night. So I waited for maybe 45min, and then it was all over. Radar showed another smaller cell coming that could clip my route in an hour or more. I left for home, got light rain for maybe a minute, saw the sun come out. Had to dodge much bigger "localized flooding" and some large downed tree branches. Debris in the road was a minor problem. Traffic was light and courteous though. What a ride!

rholland1951

15 miles on the Minuteman after work and after the deluge, took the LHT because it had fenders (none on the Rawland yet) and isn't bright spanking new and shiny (which the Rawland definitely is). Got to enjoy the LHT's virtues, principally stability (no shimmy here) and the big, supple, Barlow Pass tires. Transferred to the LHT some of the riding style that the Rawland has evoked, bombing along, the weather radar and the sky suggesting that I might get rained on, providing an incentive for speed.


All very well, until my rear tire flatted near TJ's. I set to work changing it; finding the cause (a sliver of glass, buried in the tread) took a bit of time. I routinely change the Compass tires without tire levers, and did so this time, which led to several offers of tire levers from helpful people riding by. All set, thanks.


The tire reflated, I resumed bombing along, turning around at Bedford Street, Lexington.


An energetic sky was fun to watch, but didn't drop any more rain or hail.


As the air cooled, a fog or haze rose, lit golden in some places and sliver in others.


I rolled home, along the way noting with satisfaction that the repaired Egg had weathered today's storm.

rod

datlas 

Lurker/visitor, rode from city (Beacon Hill) out to Blue Hill. Did the climb up to the top twice, then rode back. I got a nice escort to Blue Hill from @Jim from Boston, but found my own way home.

There is a nice pic I took at the summit, but I can't post it....it's on my strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/361721782

rholland1951

Nice ride, nice pic!

rod

rholland1951

After upping the pre-load on the needle-bearing headset a bit, took the Rawland out for 15 miles on the Minuteman on a beautiful Summer evening.


Lots of folks out tonight, enough to trigger misanthropy if I hadn't been on my guard against it, and chose to engage in people-watching, instead. Did get a couple of good sprints in when the trail opened up.

The pre-load tweak seems to have helped, I'll leave it alone for now until I get some indication that more is needed.


rod

Jim from Boston

Thanks for the mention, @datlas. I hope you don't mind, but he and I also rode out to the Minuteman from Beacon Hill on Sunday, and he posted to a Road Cycling thread. It's such a focal point of this Metro Boston thread.

I did refer him to some of @rholland1951's photos.

sherbornpeddler

There is no correlation between headset preload and misanthropy is there? I should check my bike.

My single speed headset seems okay because yesterday we went on a nice ride on the Old Colony Rail Trail to Chatham and appreciated well mannered trail use and crossing traffic.

Last night I admired the Dover Time Trial in their 20th year. Regulars and new folks get together 6:30PM on the first Wednesday of summer months and test themselves and their bikes. It is an all-are-welcome mix of serious aero and first timers who just took off the fenders and bike rack to give it a try.

datlas 

Disappointed today. Showed up at Back Bay Cycles at 5:30 for the posted 30 mile CRW Boston-Dover ride. Was told by the shop that the ride is canceled due to the leader's schedule. Apparently same thing happened last week. I understand but would have hoped they would update the ride listing/calendar which still shows the ride as on.

Sigh.

P.S. I did have a lovely 5 mile run along the Charles this morning. The city seems more runner oriented than cycling.

sherbornpeddler

datlas,
Good for you for going for a run and still looking for a ride. Cross training is a good idea and can lead to fresh perspective.
I did a 7 mile shake down ride of my old Raleigh Pro with new old Mavic wheels and sew-ups. I've adjusted bike things as they were in 1980 but for some reason the bars feel too low..... That implies I'm the one that needs adjusting. I think I'll go for a run.

jimmuller 

While some of you were out riding wonderful empty roads up endlessly high mountains and across endlessly flat plains and along endlessly lovely coastlines, I just rode my commute again. But today was different.

I left the house 20 minutes earlier than normal hoping to get a good start to the work day. I rode the Gazelle so I could zip along quickly and indeed I zipped through a bunch of green stoplights (golights?). The temperature was cool and the humidity was way down, an ideal later summer morning in New England. All was going just grand when 4.8 miles from the house and about 11 to go I notice a problem with my chain. What the' ? The cage spring on the 1st-gen Cyclone RD had broken and the chain was flopping loose.

Now what? There were several bike shops in the area but ain't none of 'em open at that hour. Do I turn around or keep going? Either way I'd have to be able to keep pedaling. So I shifted to the large ring and sprocket to consume as many links as possible and rode on. Twice I tried shifting to the second largest sprocket but both times the looser chain ended up jumping around so I resigned myself to running without higher gears. The worst problem was getting started at stoplights because whenever I'd rotate the crank backwards to pick up a toe clip it would throw the chain onto the BB, but I managed.

I rode about 7 miles and all was going just grand until I heard a curious thumping coming from the front wheel. What the' ? The front tire had picked up a big screw. But surprisingly it still held air, about 140psi! I was afraid that if I pulled the screw out the tube might rupture through the hole. So I rode on. I got about another mile and a half when it finally went flat.



That's when I discovered that though I had my pump and patch kit I did not have a spare tube or tire irons. There is no way I can get those tires off those rims without irons so I just walked the rest of the way to work. Total time home to the office, 2hrs.

In the serenity of the office I patched the tire; it needed two patches and still had a slow leak. Then I worked out a solution to the derailleur.



I had to ride home on a single-speed, and stop to put air in the tire every 30 minutes. But I made it. All in a day's work.

rholland1951

Jim,

You've independently discovered the studded bicycle tire! Ready for Winter...

rod

rholland1951

SBP, I suppose it all depends on what you pre-load the headset with; in this case, I seem to have opted for the Milk of Human Kindness, rather than the Hard Cheese of Irritation...

10-mile ride on the Minuteman tonight, sweet and quick. On the return, noticed a block-long, somber line to the doors of Saint Agnes Church on Medford Street, Arlington, people paying their last respects to a 16-year-old girl.

rod

sherbornpeddler

Yikes! Brilliant, resolute, clever, best use of cable ties award!
I'm going to re-inventory my tool kit to check for tire irons and add some cable ties. Jim you are amazing.